I Am (Dare I Say It?) Caught Up

I entered the month of December in a state of panic.  Three huge projects loomed on the horizon along with the usual myriad of smaller writing jobs that make up my life.  There were a few days I felt physically sick as I approached my desk, there was so much on my plate. What if I couldn't get it done or (infinitely worse in my opinion) got it done but had to turn in substandard work?

The good part about this state of panic is that I was terrified of missing a deadline and dove headfirst into work, pumping it out.  Yesterday I sent off the last of the big projects and heaved a sigh of relief.  All I've got on my plate for this week that has to be done is an interview today at 10 with a woman who breeds Tibetan Spaniels, I'll need to transcribe that and 2 other interviews from earlier in the week, and write two 500-word articles.  If I get really adventurous (which I might), I can start writing my article on Tibetan Spaniels, which isn't due until the first of February.

To reward myself, I indulged in a morning of luxury.  I got up and eschewed exercising in favor of showering immediately, then plopped down on the couch for two hours with the book, Bait & Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream by Barbara Ehrenreich. 

I immensely enjoyed her earlier work, Nickel & Dimed where she went undercover as one of the working poor to see how they get by.  In this work, she positions herself as one of the white-collar unemployed and tries to land a job.  It's well-written and gets better as it goes along, but her naivety in the beginning is so absurd it's off-putting.  Bullet points on a resume are news to her?  Networking as a primary means of finding work is a surprise?  It made me wonder what la-la land she'd been living in.  But once she gets her resume in shape and starts attending (hilariously useless) networking functions, the book picks up speed.

Right now, I'm in the throes of an allergy attack, probably because we spent 3 hours cleaning last night, kicking up dust.  I'd take an allergy pill, but even the "non-drowsy" formulas wipe me out, so I need to hold out for at least five hours and get a bit of work done.

A bright bit of news: Our local papers did a feature story on Lessons In Stalking in yesterdays paper and the front picture is of Lucy and the books cover (see left).  The article was good, although I was disappointed it didn't mention my illustrator, Linda Santell, or the art shop in town where the book is available, The Fat Cat.  But I hope the piece brings a little attention and spurs some Christmas orders.

And now, off to transcribe some interviews.