CornerScribe

Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category

I know the posts have been pretty scarce lately. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my writing and where I want to go with it. That, of course, includes the blog.

For a long time I’ve waffled on whether I want to pursue full-time freelancing or just continue to do it “on the side” as I have so far. If I hated my job, then the decision would be pretty easy, but I don’t. In fact, I really like what I do, most of the time. To complicate matters, I’m not sure I’d be happy staying home and writing; I think I’d miss the interactions I have at work.

Even so, I look at the other side of the argument. I enjoy writing like nothing else I’ve done, including what I do now (programming). Although I like my job, there are plenty of days when I would just love to pull out a notebook and go outside and write instead of staying in my office coding. It’s not just a spring fever itch either; these feelings have been there for quite some time.

Recently, another factor was thrown in that’s pushing me even more to pursue full-time writing. That isn’t something I want to talk about on the blog, mostly because my husband is a bit more private than I am. Let me just say that it may be easier for him to do what he wants if I can take my job with me.

So, I’ve decided to get serious and work on building a freelancing business. Does that mean I won’t write fiction? No. Quit blogging? Nope. What it does mean is that I’ll spend more time doing what I think I need to do to build the freelancing business, and I’ll continue to talk about writing, freelancing, and what’s working well for me here.

So, the blog isn’t going to change much. I’ll keep you filled in on what I’m doing, what’s working, what isn’t, etc. just like I always do. Stick around, it’s going to get interesting.

I’ve been struggling to keep up with everything, and we’re finally ready to tell everyone what’s up, and what’s been taking so much of my time and attention.

We’re pregnant!

I found out around the first of November. I’ve been excited and very distracted. I’m behind on everything; we just got the Christmas tree up last night. Shopping isn’t finished. Christmas knitting is WAY behind. I’m not writing regularly, and you know how well I’ve been keeping up with the blog.

I’m working on getting myself pulled together, but I’m more tired than usual, so there seem to be even fewer hours in the day now. I promise to post more regularly and keep you posted on how things are going.

Note that I added my Google Reader shared items to the sidebar. I love how easy it is to do this. If you haven’t had a chance to try Google Reader, you really should. It’s a terrific way to keep up on your blogs.

So, we’re back from Virginia Beach. We took a week off and knew we were going to do something, but we decided to be spontaneous and not plan it out. It turned out great, and it turns out that mid-September is a great time to visit the beach.

Here’s a picture of the beach at sunrise. The wind was pretty strong,
and cold, but we were comfortable just in our long sleeves. The picture
doesn’t do it justice.

This was taken about 4:00 or so in the afternoon. There were only a handful of people on the beach, although the weather was really nice. The water was warm enough to swim (no pics!).

Here’s a shot of the fishing pier. We did see people out there pretty frequently through our vacation.

I took a notebook and got absolutely no writing done, but that’s okay. We had a blast, and we both needed the down time. If you’re looking for a great fall vacation, I’d highly recommend Virginia Beach.

My postings have been pretty sporadic lately, as has my writing. That should change shortly.

I’ve been finishing up my grad degree, and I have five (count’em five!) more classes to attend. I’ll finish up mid-May, and then I’ll have more time to get back to what I really want to be doing.

Stick around (and thanks for sticking around so far!), and you should be seeing more from me in the near future.

My husband pointed out last night that it might be a good idea to introduce myself. Okay, so I was thinking about the writing and never really considered putting in something about me.

First, I’m Jo. I was (and am) jkay on the NaNoWriMo and NaNoPubYe forums.

I’m 36, married, no children. However, my husband and I have one dog, one cat, two guinea pigs, and two rabbits. Yes, we’re hopelessly outnumbered by our pets, and you can imagine who’s really in charge here.

Right now I’m working as a programmer, but I taught freshman English for almost ten years. There’s a whole story there, but I’ll skip the career switching for right now.

I’ve been writing as long as I can remember, and I’ve published in a couple of small presses (but nothing serious). I’ve started more than one novel (don’t ask…) but never finished one. That’s where NaNoWriMo came in. I needed something to force me to keep writing and actually finish a rough draft.

My ultimate goal is to publish the novel I’m working on (the NaNo novel), but I haven’t decided if I’ll pursue the traditional route of agent and publisher or consider self-publishing. First things first — I need to finish the novel!