Tag Archives: writing

books, books, books

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$5 = library sale score

I love my library! I love it lots and lots and I use it like crazy: books, movies, knit night, summer camp, and of course many great conversations. So when the annual book sale rolls around, I can’t help myself. The books are all so cheap that there’s no way I could possibly buy enough to equal the value I get from this place. Plus, the topics cover everything under the sun. There were business management and resume guides (maybe appealing to people looking for accounts executive jobs), spirituality books, art books, yoga books, and of course lots and lots of fiction.

We went Saturday and all five of us picked up some books (well, I chose a few books for Laura — she didn’t exactly pick them out herself, although I am confident she will love Olivia and Olivia Saves the Circus).

Anyway, yesterday was “Bag Day.” You pay $5 and get a big shopping bag, and then fill it with as many books as you want. Looking at that photo I’d say we did all right! Jake went with me and half of those books are his, LOL… I think the pièce de résistance for me was the 2009 Writer’s Market. I’ve been considering purchasing the new one, but can’t really justify it at the moment. Right now I can barely keep with the (downsized by design) amount of writing work I have. Adding more to my plate isn’t a great idea at the moment, but I wanted an idea of what markets are out there. But finding it right there on the table? And a relatively recent edition? Yes, yes, yes! It was like a sign. There were a few other writing books I picked up, so maybe the universe is trying to tell me something. Or at least offer a little encouragement.

Yes. I do indeed love the library book sale 🙂

i’ll melt with you

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DSC_0105

Ah, I’ve been enjoying a brief taste of spring this week! I’ve been waiting and waiting for a bit of a thaw and it has finally arrived. Naturally, a cold has arrived with it. I’m feeling so sneezy, stuffy, headachy, and generally blah. With the crazy fluctuations in temperature, I can’t say that I’m surprised.

Otherwise, it’s been a busy week and I’ve been trying hard to keep my head above water. I had a bunch of writing deadlines, the laundry has been piling up, and I had a stack of clothes that I needed to take to the consignment shop (which I finally did today). I also still have to transfer a bunch of files off of my old laptop onto my new one.  My husband’s computer has been giving him a lot of trouble lately. Maybe with our tax refund he can get a new one. I saw him checking out Compaq laptops the other day.

Well, I am going to keep this short. I just wanted to check in. I promise a more interested blog post tomorrow. But for now, I just want to get into my jammies and finish my book before zonking out!

2011 goals: writing

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Last year I feel like I made some good progress with my freelance “career.” I use quotes because I’m not persuing it full-time; right now I am just trying to keep my toes wet. With that said, however, I did land a couple new clients and that was very exciting. This year I want to take things up another level.

  • Write an average of five articles per week for Demand Studios. I wrote many articles for them last year, but I got lazy.
  • Continue writing interesting stories about Hudson Valley businesses and people. I currently write for both a local paper and an HV-focused online magazine and cover all aspects of life here, from finding Hudson Valley lighting boutiques to great real estate agents to reviewing local restaurants. I love writing about where I live and the people I meet.
  • Write more informative posts on my blog. I’ve been writing this blog for 10 years now. It hasn’t changed much and last year I found myself in quite a rut. I think that approaching my posts as mini-articles will be beneficial for everyone. I’m excited about the changes and I hope you will be, too!
  • Give myself the freedom to write fiction again. This is what I always thought I’d be doing. In fact, when I met Drew I was taking graduate-level classes at Emerson College, planning to earn an MFA in creative writing. Things change, of course, and also — fiction writing doesn’t pay so well. The editorial path I ultimately chose was much more lucrative. It’s hard to write fiction when I’ve been writing nothing but non-fiction for years now. But I’ve got some ideas brewing and I want to give myself the creative license to just let go and see what happens.

These will be the hardest goals to meet. My children are my priorities, so everything else (yes, including writing) has to fit into the pieces of free time I can squirrel away throughout the day. As Laura gets a little older, I think it will be easier to set a schedule for myself, but for now this is a start.