I'll get to today's post in a minute, but first, here are some important IWSG announcements.
The #IWSGPit Twitter Pitch party is now an annual event, and it's coming around fast! Less than two weeks, in fact. January 15 is the day when you can post your snappily refined pitches to be viewed by top agents and publishers. Successful books have been published on the base of a Twitter pitch - will yours be ready? Visit the #IWSGPit page for a full list of rules and genre hashtags.The winners have been chosen for our fourth IWSG anthology, which is set to be another great collection. Here are the authors and titles:
Sea of Sorrows by AV Brown
Behind the Catcher’s Mask by Jennifer Lane
A Diver’s Ball by Angela Brown
Fearless Heart by Deborah Solice
The Dark Charade by CD Gallant-King
The Cog Prince by Elizabeth Mueller
Flower of Ronda by Myles Christensen
Remedy by Chelsea Ballard
Charleston Masquerade by Carrie-Anne Brownian
Congrats to LG Keltner, whose story received the most votes and will give the anthology its title: Masquerade: Oddly Suited.
The IWSG will continue its partnership with Write...Edit...Publish for a series of exciting writing challenges throughout the year. Check out their site for more details. The full list of themes can be seen in the graphic below.
OK, time to discuss my insecurity for this month. I've opted not to answer this month's writing-related question, because truth be told, I haven't thought about my writing much the past few weeks. I wasn't sure how to write this post and quite how much to share - I like to keep things light and upbeat, but after all the whole point of the group is to share what's troubling us, isn't it? With that in mind, here goes nothing...
For the last 18 months I've held a full-time remote editing position for an American company. Our work had slowed somewhat although all were hopeful it would pick up. However, on December 10, I received a Skype call from my employer saying they could no longer afford to keep me on and were letting me go.
This understandably came as a blow, as we relied on this job to keep us afloat. The full-time nature of the work meant my freelance gigs had taken a backseat, so over the last few weeks I've been trying to rekindle those networks as well as applying for other full-time jobs. I've signed on with one company, although they have a lengthy onboarding process, so I haven't really started properly yet - but I'm trying to speed through it.
All this means that I haven't done any writing since that date, December 10 - I just haven't had a minute to think about it. I had started writing a new book, just trying to get a feel for my character, but she's still hanging around somewhere and I know I'll get back to it. It's just another example of how arbitrary forces can completely throw us off kilter, but right now I have to prioritise bringing in an income.
I do want to thank everyone who took part in and shared my cover reveal which had been set for December 17. At the moment, I'm still planning to go ahead with my blog tour which is set to kick off on February 11 - hopefully, things will have picked up a bit by then. I've gained new readers for part 1 of my series, which has been extremely heartwarming, and I hope they enjoy it.
Hopefully, I will post again before February's IWSG meeting. I'll certainly share any good news that comes my way. In any case, I will definitely see you here in a month's time.
How do you deal with unexpected events that affect your writing? Will you be getting involved in #IWSGPit and/or WEP this year? As ever, you can check out the full list of IWSG posters here.
32 comments:
Bummer news to get right before Christmas. Hope you can get set with the new company really soon and get back into the rhythm. And the cash flow.
Hi Nick, hope you can get a good job soon. I hope you enjoyed your Christmas and not let the job news dampen your spirits?
Hang in there, Nick! Fingers crossed for you....
I'm so sorry to hear about the work issues. Ugh. I'm sure things will work out, but I know that it's tough when you're working your way through this sort of thing.
Looking forward to helping you out with the blog tour next month.
Cheers - Ellen
All best to you in 2019. I hope the right job comes along that offers both a livable wage and time to write and be with family. You deserve it. You work so hard and do a wonderful job of building others up.
I'm hoping you find all the writing time this year! I struggled with writing this past year after getting a full time job. Sorry to hear about your news. Hopefully, you'll be back working in no time.
I hope the job situation works out and very soon.
I'm so sorry to read this. Keeping my fingers crossed that you get good news soon. Take care!
December is such a hard month in which to lose a job. I hope things change for you SOON.
When life and other issues crop up, it certainly is hard to write or find the time. I hope your job situation improves and you can find the time and energy to write again.
It sucks when writing has to take a backseat to real life issues. Hope everything goes well with your job situation very soon!
I'm crossing my fingers and sending good vibes your way.
There's never a good time of year to lose a job, but December has to be one of the worst times. I'm sorry to hear about your struggles, but I hope your job situation improves soon and that you'll be able to return to your writing!
That's tough news. I hope things turn around quickly.
I usually just journal, or write small lists of tiny things that make me happy in moments of stress.
So sorry about your job. I found looking for a new job and then adjusting to a totally different job than I'd ever done very time consuming. Hope it all gets straightened out for you and that you have more time and energy to write.
Not a great Christmas present! I'm so sorry for you to hear you had to spend your "holiday" scrambling. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you to get a new full time position right away. I dream of making my living by writing... I wish you all the best in this new year, and please, keep us up to date!
Sorry about the job. I have some friends who were doing what you were for some small presses and also lost their jobs. Scary for a lot of reasons, but it was really personal for you and them.
Good luck with the newest book.
That so sucks. I'm sorry. And yeah, economic instability really messes with the creative juices. I hope it all picks up soon, and good luck on your new release.
Good luck with the new job.
I missed the cover reveal, but would love to help with the blog tour if you still need stops. And good luck!!!!
Scary stuff, Nick. I know how those kinds of pressures can dampen the creative side, and make writing seem so trivial. I hope you and your family had a good Christmas and that 2019 brings you good things. Good luck!
Aw Nick, that was a Scrooge move to get let go around the holidays. I hope the panic and disappointment haven't knocked you down. Sounds like you're doing all you can to secure a new job--Godspeed. Your character will still be there when you have time to devote to her.
That's a hard one, Nick, and I'm sorry. I know you must be scrambling and scrambling gets in the way of writing. That I know. Here's hoping that you'll land another full-time position and things will improve this year.
So sorry to hear about your work issue. Typical. Downsize right before Christmas. Happened to my Hubs years ago. Made for a solemn holiday. Try to look on the bright side (hard, I know). You have time to write.
Wishing you well on your upcoming release. You're on my blog on Feb 21. Looking forward to it.
So sorry about your job.
I was made redundant a few years ago. I wasn't happy at the time, but it turned out to be an excellent thing for my writing as I had no excuse not to write more – and needed the income from the sales. I'm now glad it happened. I hope the same is true for you eventually.
I empathize with your sad news. Always when this happened to me, I went on to better jobs. It's hard to see it looking forward, but I bet after not too long, you will see this as a plus. Good luck!
So sorry to hear about the job. I hope you'll get another full-time position soon enough. Take care!
Wishing you all the best for 2019, Nick and hoping that things pick up. I'm so sorry to hear about the main editing work going as it's never easy to cope with that unexpected eventuality.
Preparing for such a possibility is something we all need to do, and I try to tell my step-kids that. When I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2000, I was forced to change my life and eventually retire from any lucrative work as a journalist. I was lucky as I had a few decades of working before the unexpected happened.
Stay positive like I know you can be.
Congrats to L. G. Keltner! Masquerade is a great name and best wishes for a smashing success!
Oh, gosh, so sorry to hear you lost your editing job like that. Such a harsh blow, for sure. It's more than understandable that your writing ended up taking a backseat throughout all this, as a result. Hope life eases up for you soon!
That's a tough break, and I've been there before myself. It plays havoc with writing. Remember it's okay to take a break from writing, you will get back to it:)
Sorry to hear about the job loss, Nick.
Hang in there... something will come up when you least expect it to.
Happy New Year to you and your family!
I'm going to say happy new year even though this is probably not the best and brightest start you've had. It's still a new year and open to new possibilities. I'm so sorry for the job loss and hope something comes through sooner than later, and that your freelance connections keep you in steady work through it all. Take care!
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