The Story of How Dena Did Not Interview Anyone Famous

Regarding the World of Opposites update posted on Friday, I decided not to do the profiles of the four semi-famous people.

I can't tell who the people were, but I can give general background since a few of you asked. One is a creator/producer of a popular TV series, one is a musician, one is an executive at an auto company, and...hmmm...I've forgotten the last one. Maybe a model? I can't remember.

Anyway, the gist of the assignment was a 500-word profile of each person due by September 5th. The old Dena would have thought, "500 words is easy. I'll take the assignment." Experienced Dena wondered:

• Has the idea of being interviewed for this magazine already been broached or am I cold calling these people?
• What's the focus of each profile? (You can't cover a life in 500 words.)
• Am I responsible for having photos sent in to accompany the story?
• How firm is the deadline in case I can't get the interviews in time?

Turns out I would have been cold calling these people and selling them on the idea of their profile appearing in the magazine. Which is okay, as many people are eager for the publicity. But I know from experience that explaining who I am, what the magazine is, what I'm calling about, getting them a past copy of the magazine, and getting through their people, etc., etc. is TIME CONSUMING.  It's a flurry of e-mails and phone calls and arranging dates and last-minute cancellations and "I forgot we were supposed to talk then" excuses.

Then there's the research. No way am I going to interview these people without heavy researching their background so I know what the heck to ask and what should be expected that I already know. That's a LOT of uncompensated work time.

So for those two reasons alone, I turned down the work. As Blair pointed out though, at least I knew to think about the above. Two years ago, I would have just said "yes," not realizing what I was letting myself in for.

And I discovered something. When I thought about taking the work, I had a little pit at the bottom of my stomach. When I decided to take a pass, the pit went away. I think it comes down to I didn't care much about doing a profile on any of these people and the thought of having to interview them made me nervous and unhappy. So why do it? Plenty of other projects out there to choose from.

And THAT is the story of how Dena did not interview anyone famous.

The World of Opposites

It's happened again. The Universe gives you the opposite of what you ask for to test if you really mean what you say. And apparently, I don't. =)

I'm a goal setter. Luv me some goals, especially in the New Year. One of the goals I set each January is monetary--how much I hope to earn in the new year. I break the goal down by month so it's easier to track.

Last month I had a very lucrative project. So much so that I've actually already earned all of my August and part of my September income. Which is wonderful. The question then became: Do I keep pushing and try to stay ahead, or do I take advantage of the extra money to focus some time on creative projects I've pushed to the side?

I opted for creative projects. Grand plans to spend half days working on book and essay projects.

You can see where this is headed. I made my creative plans and I'm not kidding you, within 3 days my plate was overflowing with new work. There is:

• A new science/technical article for a breeding magazine. Very scary as it has an "I can't believe an editor would actually do this to me" short deadline, but I'm going for it.
• Writing a brochure, web site content, one-page, and promotional pieces for a new client.
• Editing an e-book
• Writing a keynote speech for a new client
• Accepting 4 (count 'em, four) new assignments from a local magazine
• Bidding on a new website content writing project that looks like it will work

Creative writing what??  I admit, I shoved those creative projects to the back burner and am doing my best not to be a stress case as I work through the above. The challenge of it all is kind of fun. EVERYTHING has a tight deadline. I believe every project listed above is due September 1st, with the exception of the science article which is due sooner (I will not think about it, I will not think about it, I will not think about it...)

Soooo... I guess I'll be creative NEXT month, huh? Cheers!

Cup of Comfort for Cat Lovers

I've just been informed two of my humor stories, "Dibbs!" and "The Great Cat Butt-Wiping Adventure" have been accepted as finalists in the upcoming Cup of Comfort For Cat Lovers book, to be published by Adams Media in Spring 2008. Fifty stories will be selected out of 56 finalists so I have a good shot at having both my pieces included.

I also recently learned, almost by accident, that I placed third in the "How I'd Like to Work Like A Cat" contest sponsored by I Love Cats magazine. I say I learned by accident because as of yet I've received no e-mail or letter telling me I won. Instead, I received in the mail the book, How To Work Like A Cat by Karen Wormald. There was no invoice, no letter, nothing with it. I was scratching my head, trying to figure out who sent me this book or when I might have ordered it when I glanced at the envelope and saw "3rd place" written in faint red ink. Ah ha! A clue! (Fine, so I'm no Sherlock Holmes.)

I vaguely remembered entering the contest months ago so I Googled the title and sure enough, Ms. Wormald is being kind enough to supply books to the top 3 essay winners. Never let anyone tell you there isn't glory and high praise in the life of a writer.

Seriously, it's a cute book and I'm thrilled to have placed. Now I just have to wrangle a copy of the July/August issue of I Love Cats the winning essays are supposed to have appeared in. Maybe that will magically appear as mail as well. Meanwhile, I'll keep watch for that Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes check because, obviously, miracles do happen...

When Every Minute Counts

Do you ever have those weeks where every minute of your time is scheduled? Starting at 7:30 tomorrow morning and ending at about 11:30 am on Friday, almost every second of my time is accounted for.  I have multiple interviews for upcoming articles scheduled for tomorrow morning, a new networking group to attend on Thursday, meetings all day Thursday, runs scheduled for Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, new client meeting on Wednesday, and the list goes on and on. 

I admit that while some people might complain, I actually thrive on such a tight schedule. When I'm busy I get things done.  There will of course have to be room for flexibility as I think I might flat run out of energy by Thursday if I don't schedule a break in there somewhere. Plus there's the unknown of what may come arise.

Today, for example, I ended up spending all afternoon writing a "need it by tomorrow" brochure. Fortunately, I love the subject matter and the client is a favorite of mine, making the project more fun than stressful. I also was up early and churned out the final draft of an article that's due Wednesday. Ah... I love it when the words just flow.

As it stands, it's 6 pm and I've got to get busy on some research I'll need in place for my interviews tomorrow. If you need me, have your people call my people and we'll schedule something... way, WAY in the future. =)