%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |
How once woman went from being a SAHM of four to a published freelance science journalist |
|
I'm revising this intro after more than 15 years to better reflect my intention When I started this blog in 2004, I was a stay at home mom to two small children, a college graduate with a degree in English and Astrophysics. By 2007, I had four small children, ages newborn, 2, 4, and 6. For several years, Writing.com was how I kept my sanity. This blog began, first as a way of staying connected. Later, when I worked on a novel, I used it to stoke the writing fires as I plotted out short stories and the next step of my novel. Ultimately, I moved my writing preparation to "Invalid Item"  In 2010, I became a single mom who had homeschooled her children for several years. I had a 2, 4, 6 and 8 year old and had never had a "real" full time job, since I was married while in college. Everyone told me that I would have to buckle down and take on a "real" job. Instead, I decided to attempt to live my dream: to make it as a writer. I knew that if I didn't try then, I would never really dive in. I counted my money and set a deadline. If I hadn't began making a decent (defined) amount of money after so many months, I would suck it up and get a J-O-B. After some thought, I decided to play to my strengths. I served an internship at Sky & Telescope magazine while in college and enjoyed writing about space and astronomy. With an astrophysics degree, I thought I would be able to sell myself more easily, and a small niche should be easier to penetrate. It's been about ten years since I was first paid for an article on Space.com. In that time, writing - journalism - has been my primary moneymaker. I've often thought about setting up a blog on my website - www.astrowriter.com - but just haven't gotten around to it. There are a few things I would like to share for those who are interested in scientific journalism in general. Now that I'm back on WDC, there's no reason not to combine the two and use the site blog for that sort of interaction. There are certainly plenty of folks on this site interested in the publication process. So while I'll probably meander around some, that's the intention of of this blog: to share some of my struggles as a published journalist and to help answer oft-asked questions. |
| Well, I have no time, but I thought I'd stop in and share all the fun stuff with you. I am about to get back into my "serious" couponing (see "Invalid Item" for details on that), which is very time intensive. This will be my first time doing so with THREE children, and I'm -> terrified. Serious couponing means taking the kids to the grocery store, and means you shop at the store where the sale is. So right now, my plan is Monday -> Publix & the day-old bread store (bread for .50 loaf or less!) (also working part-time) Tuesday -> get the coupons (no details there) and stop at Walgreens & CVS while kids are with my inlaws Wednesday -> NOTHING! but I have to do my part-time job; and I'll probably use the time to run into the CVS nearbye Thursday -> Kroger (that's when I've got the marked down meat time figured out) Friday -> BJs, but not every day So a full week. Plus Tuesday is library day, and somewhere in there I have to visit teach. And I'd like to take the kids to the park sporadically. Then I have to work in writing. I have so much going on on-site -> Pixie's review raid starts tomorrow (well, actually, in 1.5 hrs but I'll be asleep by then), I have a newsletter coming out next week (luckily I'm finished),I'm going to do the ReSolution Solution deal this month (an essay & an article), I still have my Muses' Alley short story rattling around...did I tell you I won the Dialogue 500? With "Invalid Item" -> 5000 gps. I have to figure out what to do with them. Usually I move half my winnings into the savings account, but I need to start putting gps in my contest account. Maybe I'll put half there. I am doing the Secret Admirer stuff, so I need to do some reviews, and I need to come up with a gift. I think that's it.Tomorrow I don't have to work - don't start yet on Monday's - but I need to go shopping and get the house clean. I need to get things in gear, but I'm wiped out. Not sure how well I'll manage a port raid in this state, but we'll see. And I need to do my mod duties; there's been a nice overhaul. I guess most mods didn't think to do a keyword search for offending items, so there is a backlog. I've been working my way through but it's nice to know everyone else was doing so, also. But then you have to keep up with it all. Okay, well, bedtime and I want to read a little. I'll be back tomorrow for the port raid, that should fill up my week. Over a hundred items, but most of them are images; I'll save them for last. I want to get the statics done first. 40K for the first to finish, but I probably won't make that. <sigh> But I guess I'll try. So maybe I'll wait to go to Publix on Tuesday, sans kids. We'll see. |
| Okay, really, I knew you make more of a commission as an agent if you are selling a novel rather than a short story. But it seems like - argh - I'll never get published. The whole research venue is killing me. The sample copies are unbelievably priced. Even the net is hard to follow. And for some reason, I can't seem to figure out what my 'genre' is - if anything, I'd say, maybe, slice-of-life or drama. But when I read magazines in those areas, I don't seem to fit. I am going to take myself over to writersmarket.com right now and look for some magazines with on-line info. Oh, wait, I have to feed the baby. Thankfully, the kids will be at my in-laws tomorrow morning/day (except the baby) so maybe I can get some stuff done then. Some time I have to write my story for Muses' Alley. And I had a thought which I'd better follow up on now - did I have a deadline of August or September for my contest? I think I meant to do September but did August instead. ARGH! So I'll check that, then the baby (he's playing happy right now in his bed, I can hear him), then writers market. I think I'd like to try for Snowfall. I love that one. I thought it worked out well. Wish me luck! (do I end that way a lot?) Edited to add: Well, I sent in "Huh" to an online magazine, so we'll see how that goes. I've eyeballed a couple others, but I've about decided that I'm just going to fill everything up with submissions. I can still send out two queries a week. If I could just chisel the "me" writing time. Hopefully when dh isn't working two jobs I can do that. Some time to write and some time to email. And the contest runs til the end of August/beginning of September, so I'm good there. <whew> |
| So I was hanging up clothes and thinking, and I thought, "Gosh, what I really need is someone to research markets and send out my stories." Then I thought, hey, that sounds like an agent. Do agents do short stories? Maybe I should check that out. <muses> I know someone who just got their novel to an agent. I wonder if that agent takes short stories? I think I am going to do some research on agents and see how it goes. I believe they don't generally do short stories, especially for someone who is unpublished but (big immodest high self esteem statement coming up) I think I have a decent shot if anyone does. Probably not, but it makes me feel good to think it.  Anyway, the question is, do agents do short stories. So I'll check around and see what I can find. I just don't have the time/energy/resources to investigate and seek out publication. I need to but if I could conceivably get an agent, that would be a big help. If anyone wants to refer me, I'd be thrilled! |
| As if she heard me, Darkin posted the new prompts for "Muses' Alley". I saw one that seized me immediately; something to the effect of 'what we found at the garage sale'. Well, I thought of Caroline and her desire to become a bio person; start with some doctor tendencies. I think this one should be a good ole Caroline story, something warm and fuzzy. I thought a biology book, but that seemed too flat and stale. Perhaps it was 'her hopes and dreams', but that might be too hard to work. I have 2000 words, and I have to think about this story. I like the 'hopes and dreams' factor, but I need to integrate it more smoothly into the item. Something to direct her future. What if it were a good 'old fashioned' book? Everything at that time is automated and computer-dated. Online. And the cost of a computer book is more than her family can afford. So Caroline finds a "real" book, and settles into it. It sears itself on her brain. I need a good book. Not a medical book. Maybe something like The Time Machine but that's too obvious. Something to pique her interest in medicine and biological experiments. Something to drive her to become a doctor and save lives. Something to give her a dream. I have to think about this. Meanwhile, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! (Caroline is going into the field of medicine and will, as an adult, develop a forumla to prolong cellular life, making someone able to, basically, live forever and not die of old age; this is the dream I need her to start in on with this key book) I'm thinking about the classics, although Wells comes to mind. Hmm, what about Frankenstein? I think that might well be it. A good sci-fi, a good medical drama. Cheating death. Prometheus. I'll have to reread that book pretty quick and soon. I think that's where I'm going, unless I hear or think of a better title. |
| Today, I will write a story. Really. Or at least get one so planned out that I can't help but write it when all the kids are in bed at eleven. Who needs sleep, right? Actually, I will have the night off, so tonight is perfect for writing! Score! Okay, can someone tell me what my story is about? LOL Seriously, I've seen newbies on this site asking "how do you get story ideas?". The ideas are everywhere; it's the writing that is hard. Of course, you have to have a story idea that you want to write; that helps bigtime. Right now, in my other window, I am loading up the writing prompts from the Ultimate Writing Workshop. I'll write something for that and post it. Maybe I can do a good story from my novel, though it's been so long, I'm not sure I can accurately remember my poor neglected characters. Hold on, let me skim.... (you know the baby will wake up any minute). I see two prompts that work - one from the short story and one from the emotional writing. The short story is looking for writing from the high seas. I like that idea but can't seem to wrap my mind around it. I don't think I have enough deep sea adventures for it. I'm thinking...remembering my last trip to the ocean. A collassal flop. I've always wanted to scuba dive, but my ears wouldn't pressurize. We took the class in the pool and I had a little trouble but shrugged it off; in the ocean, however, I couldn't make them work. I wound up on the boat for an hour or two while my hubbie explored the reef.  To make it worse, the swells were 8-10 feet, so I was quite seasick.Did you know that the fish come up to eat your puke? <blech> Too much detail, I know. Oh, I think I'm nauseous just remembering it. Anyway, it wasn't a good trip. How to work this into a story? Really, I'd like to work it into one of my novel shorts. What if I take Alex, our great physicst who is in need of a vacation, on his honeymoon? With his wife, whose name I forget (poor girl). Make him very very young - but wait, how did they afford it? They aren't exactly flush with money. What if she's been saving every nickel and dime? Romantic but not practical. Not that everyone is practical. What if that's how they do it, she surprises him with tickets, and then later, after she dies (outside of this story) he remembers the hard time he gave her and regrets it? What if he is the one who is seasick and can't dive? Or maybe they could go on a sunset cruise, that was neat. Maybe going out he is stressing but going in he relaxes? Maybe he remembers earlier in the day when he was diving and pukey? Maybe I can combine the whole thing... I like this idea, and I think I will work on it. I will submit it for the "Invalid Item" , not a contest (so no gps) but still cool.So - start with the cruise, remember the scuba diving, and then he comes to terms with it - when? The nice sunset? Or maybe they fight and she goes to the front of the boat and he 'repents', to use the religious terminology. I like that. We'll see how it goes. Wish me luck! I'm excited. |
| Did you think I was missing in action? Probably. It's been chaotic around here. My husband has been working extended days - he is up and at work at either 6 or 7, depending on the day. From his full-time job, he goes over to help a friend build his house (the same friend whose daughter I watch). He gets home between 8:30 and 9. Saturday, he works all day on the house. You would think that this means not much to me, but it's not true. For one thing, because he is so tired, he can be a tad bit cranky (understandable; I appreciate his hard work and am not complaining). He also tends to forget things I have said or told him, and then insists I never said it, which is a little annoying. It means that I am doing all the stuff around the house, even the few things (like the dishes) he used to do to help out. It means that he wants to see the kids when he comes home, so rather than putting them to bed at a decent bedtime at 8, I get them all ready by myself - baths, teeth, pjs - and then keep them up until he comes home. He puts them to bed at 9:30 and then he goes to sleep, so I get to spend an hour keeping them in bed. Since the baby is in my older son's room, I can't put him down until my older son is asleep. So after my two big kids fall asleep around 10:30, I spend another 30 mts putting the baby to bed. Since no one but the baby takes naps anymore  , I now have, at 11 p.m., my first time to myself. Sometimes I stay up. Sometimes I just take a book and lay down in bed. Either way, I'm exhausted, and the kids are back up at 7. So I'm pretty much worn out, with no down time.From a writing perspective, this means I basically have no time to write until 11 p.m. I can steal a few minutes here and there, and sometimes the kids will lay down and rest - not nap but lay quietly - though that's been less and less frequent this week. But I tend to write in spurts; I need at least a full uninterrupted half hour, if not an hour or more. So I haven't been writing much. I can still R&R, but I haven't done much of that lately, either. Mostly because I'm burnt out from the Pirate Port Raid. I have hopes from the scavenger hunt, too; I think I finished it pretty quickly - the kids were in bed, not sleeping, when it started, and dh wasn't home so I didn't have to feel guilty for neglecting him - and I'm confident in my answers; no blind guesses. But I don't know when they are going to post that; I just hope it's soon. I don't know if I can handle waiting until the middle of August to find out the results of the Port Raid. <argh!> I have less than one month's worth to collect for my upgrade; then I can start being highly generous, something I am looking forward to. I have a few merit badges floating around that I would like to award; also a couple of icons. I am playing with the idea of a premium membership, but I think I can manage one more year. Especially if I keep slacker-not-writing. I'm going to have to start doing something for writing. I need to get some stories done. I also have some items to send out. I have a nonfiction article I want to mail to the New Era; I just need to review the guidelines to make sure it fits. And I'd really like to get some more writing time. My husband, I think, will be starting a new job. I pray everything goes well; he will be in sales. The base pay is $50/month more than he is bringing home right now, plus he gets commissions. It is an office job; he will be calling people, but they already have the information, so it won't be cold calls. It doesn't have any insurance, which is <blech>y, but in three monthes I guess we can put the kids on Peachcare, which is the state health insurance. The company owner said he hopes to institute health insurance and 401Ks in the next few months, but no promises. However, if my husband can do well with this job, he should be able to quit his part time work and be home with us. Which will make all of our work much easier. And I may have some writing time. He's going to work at his second job for another two weeks every day, and then the hopeful plan is for him to scale back to maybe two days a week (so as not to leave the guy in the lurch, and still bring us a big extra money). I have my three hours at present, watching kids at the gym, and we've bounced the options around. I think I'm going to keep them but not add more. My husband said I should keep that as "my" money, but I'm leary about having an account of my own; I hear that can help cause problems, especially if I'm using it to treat myself and all of "his" money goes to the bills. I think we'll hold off on everything, but my thought is that most of "my" money will go to paying off the credit cards, or perhaps we can use it for our date nights. Hmmm. We'll see. (and babysitting...) Anyway, the point of this entry, other than to get my blog to stop emailing me, is to tell you that, while I'm not writing, I plan to be soon. And I have a few ideas for my drama newsletter, at the very least. So hopefully things will work out. |
| Just a quick FYI to let anyone who was reading the last entry know that we still have our kids and that, after a quick heart attack, the DFCS lady and the police detective that came have no concerns at all regarding the "anonymous" allegations. They said they have to "follow up" (ie talk to folks who know us, namely both grandmothers [who live nearbye] and a family friend) and should any concerns arise, they'll come back to talk to Dawn, but that they don't forsee any problems. So I'm glad that's over with. I'll probably come back and fill in some details later. In the meantime, it's certainly good story material, and if any kids (hmm, thinking of Caroline) ever get investigated by DFCS (Dept of Family & Child Services), I'll have good material. Especially for the terrorizing, gut-wrenching fear that grips a mother when you know two people could take your children, despite the fact that you are innocent. Thankfully, that didn't happen here. I have to go chill; the past week has been a very tense, stressful one (ie from Thursday when they called until today (Tuesday)). I need some down time. |
| Well, it seems this week is going to be one of my worst ones yet. I'm ready for it to be over. First, my mom is in surgery today. Nothing surprisingly major, but she's having her gallbladder out. Last night, I found out that our ex-neighbor's friend died during surgery when the surgery accidentally punctured something that wasn't supposed to be punctured. Then, at the same time, I found out that my mom's sister had complications and was in the hospital for a month because something was unnecessarily punctured. So I'm a bit worried. Second - and I've hesitated posting this but whatever - DFACs is coming tomorrow (Tues) because they "had a report on our family", whatever that means. I'm a good mother, I don't beat or abuse or whatever my kids, but I'm still nervous because they have the power to take them away while they "investigate". And lately Georgia DFACs has been having serious problems - kids have been killed in homes that DFACs investigated and didn't remove them from. So I'm worried about itchy trigger fingers. All in all, I'm ready for this week to conclude. It doesn't look like it will be a good one. I'll be back later to discuss publication, but as with the rest of my life, it looks as though it's going down the toilet. Figures. |
| I know, I'm a whiner, but I think I've about completed my professional journey. I know it takes a great deal of time to "break in", but I don't seem to be doing well. The more I think about it, the less likely I am to enjoy writing nonfiction anyway. (consoling myself by an out-and-out lie, but who knows but me?) Seriously, I do prefer fiction, so maybe I'll just keep on writing here and maybe submit an occasional nonfiction story to various magazines, and one day maybe I'll break through. I do think I'm going to send out the telescope story. In the meantime, I'm going to start working on cover letters for some of the fiction I've posted on-site. Eventually I'll get there. In the meantime, having accepted the fact that writing is considered work by absolutely no one off this website except maybe my dad - not my husband, in-laws, or mom, who all bombard me with snide remarks (maybe they are jealous? <sigh>) - I am going to start working for a paltry $7/hour watching kids at the gym. We are about $400/month short after dh's full-time job (so 'just there' with him working his second, part-time job, but who knows how long that will last?). If I work a whopping three hours a week, that's $21/week * 4 = $84/month minus taxes, so maybe $75/month. O joy. In addition to that, I seem to be making about $140 a month watching Madison, my friend's daughter, so there you have it. Once the summer ends, I'll get another five hours working one night a week, for another $35/week or $140/month, putting us at $224/month before taxes (maybe $175 after?), so that's about half our expenses. If I really wanted to make money, be depressed, and die, I would work more nights a week, but that's just me and TWENTY kids. That's a stinking lot of kids. On top of that, I need to start diving for coupons once a week so we can actually maintain our $25/week plan. Which doesn't enthuse me, since my inlaws drive me nuts. Oh well. Who needs to write, anyway? I will probably wind up so exhausted I fall off the site. I hope everyone still loves me. In the meantime, I need to take a shower while the kids are sleeping, so I'll do that, and then maybe review a bit more. Incidentally, I'm reading all of the Harry Potter books this week. I should have the new one on Saturday, first thing. Woohoo. At least things are looking up. I'll keep |
It's been awhile since I've written a fictional short story, and since I haven't done much cleaning  in my week off, I've been rooting around for a contest to stretch my creative juices. On top of that, someone has been reading through my short stories from my "Help Me Get Published" file and has awarded me THREE icons! What a sweetie! So I feel somewhat motivated to continue developing these characters, with the hope of one day writing some more on them.That said, I found "Invalid Item" . The prompt is a summer vacation gone wrong. Oh boy, can I see that! I think I'm going to write about Caroline, since she hasn't gotten much attention and could use some lighter writing. Plus her family is in need of a vacation, and since they are on a budget, I can really see it mess up. I just have to think of how.In the meantime, I have eight, possibly nine, items for the newsletter next week. <whew> So that's taken care of. I have six items picked for next month's newsletter - themed, even. I have to find a few more, but I think I can pull some from my in-law contest - one or two - and go from there. I also have to come up with an article for next week's prospecting attempts. I've grown more nervous about the whole telescope thing since I've never actually made a telescope. I wonder if dh wants to make one with me...asking him now. He says he will, but the sucker wants an 8". What a glutton! He wants "the biggest (lens) we can afford". Okay, so I'll pitch the telescope idea and we'll make it for family home evening or something. So next week is the telescope idea. I need to find some home school magazines. Is that where I died out? Hmmm... Alright, guess I'd better take care of the baby. The kids are going loopy, too. I'll try to think of a good vacation scenario for poor Caroline. And I'd better write next month's article. I also need a "standbye" article. Ideas? |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
