Outline Approved (Whew!)

Received an e-mail yesterday evening that my outline for the cat book was approved and "they loved it."  Thank you, God!  A few minor revisions, but nothing major.  She didn't set a new deadline so I've self-imposed one on myself--revisions to first three chapters completed by this Friday, remaining three chapters completed and submitted by next Friday.  And I'm sure there will be tweaking and revisions after that. 

The past few days I've been working on other projects - I completed a draft of an article due in October, bid on a few jobs on Guru, sent out some queries, etc.  And I was surprised at how much I missed  working on the cat book, stress and all.  I really enjoy focusing on one big project.  That's part of the reason I'm stressing about doing a stellar job on this book.  One, I want anything with my name on it to be quality, but also because they put out a number of these type books and I'd love to work on another one. 

I did land a new Guru assignment.  I will now be writing articles on....bankruptcy.  I know, what a hoot!  Me, who can't add 2+2 without using a combination of fingers and a calculator.  But there's a a company that helps people straighten out their credit and they're launching a magazine for the "average Joe" on how to have good credit, tips for avoiding bad credit, what bankruptcy is, how it affects you, etc.

I applied for the job because in my former position at the Women's Resource Center we held workshops on credit counseling and I'd seen the toll bad credit could take on a person's life and just overall attitude.  So I applied, thinking I could write the touchy-feely articles.  Instead, I've been assigned to explain the new bankruptcy laws coming out in October!  I spent most of yesterday reading about bankruptcy and it's much more interesting than I ever would have thought.  I never before really knew the difference between a Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 filing. 

And these new laws are scary. For example, if you file, your expenses aren't based on actual prices but rather on pre-determined "allowable expense" limits.  So if you live in an area where the price of housing has skyrocketed and your mortgage or rent payment is higher than the "allowable expense," too bad for you. (Don't I sound at least a little bit like I know what I'm talking about?)

Anyway, my last two new assignments are for writing about cars and bankruptcy.  Soon I'll be writing PR for Republicans and my transformation to the Dark Side will be complete.