Archive for January, 2010

in my quest to blog more: writing about the job search.

Jan 27th, 10 / 0 Comments

So yeah, having been unemployed for going on 3 months has been frustrating, occasionally amusing, but mostly it’s been testing my patience.

I’ve decided to try and get back into the marketing game, scouring all the job sites, uploading my resume, and sending it out to the places I think would like to have me. I’ve applied to a couple of copywriting jobs, and maybe a couple of freelance jobs, but man.

What’s been interesting is that I’ve noticed that the marketing listings on Craigslist have been very, very different from, say, CareerBuilder. I know, Craigslist: it’s not like you’re expecting top notch posting (even some of the listings for Writers are misspelled… Uh, yeah.), but there are some actual postings from actual companies. Right, I know, it’s Vegas. People are looking for folks to pimp their clubs and whatnot, hostess in the VIP section, whatever. But “marketing” means “sales,” apparently: I get that there are sales elements to marketing, but dressing up in a Statue of Liberty costume to wave signs isn’t a marketing gig. Or am I just too dumb to get it?

On the upside, I have more time to think about and write fiction. Not necessarily write about it, really. I’m not good at reviewing books. Seriously. I’m barely good at reviewing music.

But I’m going to start jumping into Crime and Punishment, so take that however you will.

  
Music : Pat Benetar - Love Is A Battlefield
work

the sun is setting on January. already?

Jan 26th, 10 / 0 Comments

I’ve been very good at keeping quiet on the blog. I keep saying that’s going to change, every year. And then every year I keep saying it’s going to change every year. Stupid, vicious cycle.

There are things going on though, writing-wise. I’m almost at the end of transcribing the novel, which is great, but at the same time, I have to rewrite the ending, which I’ve been dreading ever since I finished the longhand draft. And I’m thinking on rewriting the beginning as well, but I wanted to see what people thought in the Beta Reading round (which will be soon, I promise! There’ll be a call out and everything!)

And folks have been asking me about the “12 Months/12 Stories” project. I’ll be posting the first story next week.

Basically, because my head’s been in this novel and I’ve written 2 new short stories within that 2-year span, I figured now that it was a new year, I needed to get more interactive with the blog in some sort of creative endeavor. And, being that I keep locking myself in the box of “I’m a marathoner, not a sprinter,” and the fact that I wrote 6(ish) new stories in 6 weeks at Clarion, writing 1 story a month in 2010 shouldn’t be hard. So what I’m going to do is write a new story every month and post it on the blog– and it might not even be a narrative, it could be a monologue or a one-act play, or playing with storytelling techniques. Obviously, they won’t be perfect, but that’s the point: this is a year-long exercise to stretch my creative fiction muscles and try to keep my writing fresh on the short fiction front. Think of it as an experiment in being productive all year round.

And it’s also a chance for me to work on issues that are missing from my fiction, because let’s be honest: I really step near the line of race fail and gender fail. Trying to address those issues for me is always a learning experience.

Plus, productivity! While I’m on Unemployment! Wee!

The video below will not show up on Facebook Notes. It’s on repeat right now:

  
Music : Public Enemy - Fight The Power
writing

.

Jan 10th, 10 / 0 Comments



  
Mom

a year and its soundtrack, 2009.

Jan 4th, 10 / 0 Comments

2009 was one of the best years on record– or, at least 10 months of it was. Getting published? Awesome! Personal life? Awesome! First draft of the novel finished? Awesome! Getting laid off right before the holidays, which are the worst time of year for me anyway? Shitty! But we soldier on and build.

I usually post songs after each month, but I think for this year, I’m just going to post a bunch of songs/YouTube videos at the bottom of the post as a sort of mix of the music of the year. I don’t think these will show up in my Facebook “Notes,” so you’ll probably have to come to the site to actually see them. I think.

To see what books I finished reading this year (not a whole lot), check the “books09″ tag over at Delicious. (RIP Magnolia!)

Read More

  
2009