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How once woman went from being a SAHM of four to a published freelance science journalist |
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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. |
 13 June 2005Hi all, just killing time here. DH has taken the toddlers out of town, so it's just me and the baby. I slept until 11 today, <sigh> and haven't done a single bit of writing, even though I need to. My plans for this week, however, are for the Sally Ride Summer camp. I am going down to ASC tomorrow and check it out. It should be fun. They have some stuff going on from 8:30-10, 10:30-12, and then lunch from noon to 1:45. I will probably swing by around 11, 11:30, with the baby and go from there. That should leave me some time to talk to Amy over lunch, and let the baby play. And I can talk to some of the girls during lunch, as well. I need to go over my research, but it should be a blast! As for today's accomplishments: I folded two loads of laundry, washed my sheets, and slighly cleaned up my bedroom. Not much, but a little. I need to straighten the living room so I can vacuum, blagh. I need to make a plan for this week, as well. I am thinking of getting a binder or some sort of time device, like a day planner. I have the planner, somewhere, I just need the calender part. Wonder where that is. Anyway, I can write my weekly goals and go from there. I need to be more organized. What is this week's focus? I can't remember. Oh, yes, I was going to do the piece on Laura. However, that seems to have fallen through, since I can't seem to locate any of the information I was expecting to find on the web. How come she isn't listed anywhere? She is just trying to stress me out. Okay, I could do a variety of things. I could polish up the old query letter and send it anyway. I can probably swing that, because, hey, she has to have such info as birth and death records, right? That will give me a swinging good shot. I can continue trying to track her down, and when I get more info, I'll be set. So that is what I am going to do. I will continue my research but go ahead and query. But I need a writing clip for a children's magazine. I need a sample, nonfiction clip for children. Something I am familiar with, something on topic. How about something genealogy rated? Perhaps a story about my great grandfather. That would a) give me exposure in the genealogy forum. Okay, now what about him? What kind of article about his death would appeal to children? A very broad, categorial one. I will write the clip, post it on-line, and then beg for R&Rs. Okay, let's do that tonight. Also to do this week: I will write and polish the summer camp article. Maybe I can call the folks at SR and do an interview. Sally Ride herself? I would kind of like to hold that up for an interview. Perhaps I can call and determine what type of availability she has; then my queries can note that "I have spoken with officials and they have responded positively to requests for interviews," or something to that effect. That is second; Laura is first. I will write the piece and post it, any R&R would be great, and then write the query letter. The whole package will be mailed Friday. That is the plan. Okay.
word count:581 |
| 12 June 2005 I spent most of last night in ER. Not for me, mind you, but for my mom, who is alright now. She suffers from migranes, but last night was the first time I remember (she insists the second time ever, the first being about 14 years ago) that she had to go to the hospital for it. My brother called me in the middle of the night, about 30 minutes after I fell asleep, and asked me to come drive my mom (who lives 30 mts away) to the hospital. Should you wonder why he couldn't do it, well, he's just shy of 15. No license. So I got the baby ready, since he's not on a bottle, and drove my mom & bro to the ER. We got there around 1:30 a.m., were put in a dark, quiet(er) waiting room around 2, and went back to the exam room around 4. The docs said it wouldn't be good to take the baby back there, and I was mildly irate with myself for not thinking "Bringing baby to ER = bad!". I went with my mom, and, oddly enough, my teen, anti-baby brother volunteered to take Jimmy for a bit. At that point, I'd spent two hours wondering what my little 4 mos old might be exposed to, and freaked out by the nurses' frequently telling me it wasn't a good idea to have him here, so I decided to take him home. My bro wanted to go home to his house, so I took him and got home at 6. My mom had a CAT scan to be sure it was really migranes. Everything was fine, no problems, and they doped her up with something while I was there, so no pain. I hated to leave her, and was mildly irked that my bro did. If I could trust him to drive, I would have let him take the baby home and stayed with mom! Anyway, you'd think I would sleep but no. I 'watched' the kids (okay I dozed on couch) from 7:30 until 10:30. Then dh took the toddlers (I still slept with the baby) until about noon. Then we went to my grandparent-in-laws house for some family gathering around one, and I came home around 3. I tried to sleep, but my sis returned my call, and then my mom needed me to pick up and fill her prescription because the migrane was back! I got back home around 6, 6:30, and have been trying to get the baby to sleep. I finally gave up and am letting him cry, which he just stopped doing about two sentences (30 secs) ago. So I will be gone soon. Real quick for story thoughts, things to remember (shameful, isn't it?):  They made mom do some exercises before medicating her, to be sure nothing was wrong with her nervous system. She had to put both arms, palm up, in front of her and close her eyes. She had to touch her nose, then the doc's finger (straight in front) back and forth several times. She had to "butterfly" her hands. She put one on top of the other, both palms up, then flipped the top one palm down. Back forth back forth, like a flutterbye.  She did that with both hands. Then she pointed to me with her eyes closed. Then she rubbed one foot up and down her bare leg (sitting), then the other. Then she was pronounced okay.That needle for the IV was LONG. They put it in the top of her hand and it went nearly to the wrist. They taped it down. My line: "I think the IV is the worst part about having a baby." (I qualified it with "as long as you have an epidural.") Not fully true, but close.The sense of helplessness that just overwhelmed me. I held my mother (50 last week) while she sobbed in pain. She clenched her hands to her head. She would tip her head down low, to her knees,w hile sitting, then sit up and tilt her head back so the blood would rush out and it would feel relatively less painful. I tried rubbing her back, her neck, her head, but essentially could do nothing.The wait in an ER if you aren't hemmoraging is 2-3 hours. And the baby just started crying. My bro - always impatient - was ready to go out and yell at the nurse, and kept muttering "This is ridiculous." He would make for a great scene all by himself.The ER will provide diapers if your baby blows out and you foolishly rushed out without your diaperbag. Grudgingly, with comments about how "she'll be asking for milk next", but they'll do it.Bathrooms in an ER waiting room have signs on how to clean yourself for a urine sample, a shelf of plastic cups with markers, and my favorite, a pull cable in case of emergencies.The exam room is small and very bright. Two lights; one overhead, one over the sink. Technical stuff, I know, but who knows when I can fit it in a story? <guilt complex sinks in>Most important of all - don't bring a baby to an ER. But if you do, the nurses will all love him! Especially if he talks and talks ever so sweet!Now, I would like to sleep. I don't know about the possibilities or how long, but I would also like to play Stronghold and veg out. I'm going to try feeding the baby again and sleeping, and I may be brain dead tomorrow. word count:938 |
So I was all discouraged, and now I'm feeling so much better. I put out the Going Pro! newsletter today, and got so much nice feedback. It really lifted my mood. And then I looked in the Going Pro! forum, where I'd posted my dismal mood about my phone call, and I got a sweet comment from Diane  which lifted my mood. She said Keep trying and they'll eventually give in to one of your article ideas, if nothing else other than to stop you from calling! Then, once they see the brilliance of your writing, you'll have a steady place to submit. I know she was just being kind, but it gave me the warm fuzzies.Anyway, I am putting the kids down for their naps now, waiting for them to fall asleep (at least my son; my daughter is on the couch, but once he's asleep, I'm putting my daughter in the 2nd bed in that room). Then I am going to do the research for the Laura Ingalls Wilder genealogy story. I need to locate what documents I can find pretty quickly, and then put together a query letter, stating which documents I can get original copies of. Then I can put it out in other directions. Some thoughts include: Highlights, if I get rejected from the Cricket pieceHome Education, a home school magazine. They are always doing stuff about Laura, and I think a genealogy piece would also be appealing.American History, though I have to read up some more on that to see how best to fit it inand possibly a genealogy magazine, though I'm not sure how best to work that one, either.So look, five potential markets if you count the original, and only two (the first & second) are competing. That is a good rinse. Okay, let me check on ds, and then move dd, and we'll begin working. I'm back to being fired up, and I will shoot to have this query letter in the mail by Monday, since the deadline is July 1st. Wish me luck! |
| 10 June 2005 I know, dh says I'm always down but whatever. I called the Dekalb Neighbor today and got pretty much brushed off. I am trying to be positive, to remember that he said that they would call me if they decide to send a photographer out, and to forget he thought I had sent them a press release instead of a query letter. I am hoping that he will be all for an article. I am really hoping because... dh got a job offer. It will be making about $10,000 less a year than he allegedly was making. Realistically, that's not quite true, since they kept lopping money out of his check. But we're going to come in about $200 under, and I was really hoping that I could at least partially supplement it. We had a discussion about that last night, and I was hoping today would be "the day". So we have to find some way to chop $200-300/month off our budget; not an easy task. Especially since we don't eat out or other things, so we are already pretty tight. I despise being tight. And since I'm already in a funk, I'm also in a mood about the 'baby' fat still hanging around. I'm sick of either wearing maternity pants, which are too big, or pants that I can't button. I'm afraid to go buy new pants that will fit because I don't want to get used to that size. I'm just in a mood. Last night I resolved to give up junk food, at least until I am down to close to prenatal weight, but now I'm in such a funk, I just want junk food to console me - bad, I know. I am trying to be positive and not to want crap to eat and drink, but I'm just overly bummed out. I think I need to get out of this house. I wanted to take the kids to the park and burn energy, but dh has to go in for some job stuff, which is good, and I'm not sure if I can take 4 kids to the park alone. If I go, however, not only will they burn energy, but I can let them walk around the trail with me and I'll burn energy. And maybe I'll feel better. I miss my best friend. She is on vacation for two weeks..just a week and a half left! I need someone to talk to. Please don't get me wrong because I am glad dh has found a job, and he even thinks it will be one we enjoy. I'm sure I can find a way to make it work, but it looks like we'll be cutting out some of the "fun" things - like DSL (not sure how joyful internet research will become on dialup, but I will be doing less wandering and my blogs will be composed offline) and satellite. I hate money, and I hate unemployment. I wish I could get things together and be a "real" published writer, but the funk I'm in today says "yeah, right". How can I be discouraged after only two rejections? Pathetic, I know, but it's not just the rejections, it's everything. mostly it's money, which is always a depressing subject for me, especially when we don't have it. Which we don't. word count:556 |
| 9 June 2005 Okay, the new mod duty is giving me the tizzies because I have to check out everything. I keep bringing up the same forums repetitively - they are high-post forums - to read all the fun stuff. I need to back off on that. I am also trying to use some of my features to R&R newbies, but I need to soften the edges; they seem to get intimidated by my extra long form. I was posting in the "Show Some Leg" forum about markets and had a thought regarding the couponing story. I wonder if BJs would be interested for their magazine, BJ's Journal? That's something of a trade magazine, right? I thought a piece on saving money while grocery shopping might be helpful. Though I'm not certain of how. Hold on. I have to think, because they don't have sales. The 'buy in bulk' seems to apply, but then we worry about wasting food. I am not fully certain of the best way to write that story, other than to advise coupon usage. They have some human interest stories, family and parenting and the like. Perhaps I can use that as a market, but I'm not fully sure of how. I don't know. I need to get back to submitting, but I haven't been doing too well the past two weeks. Part of it is the added stress of having Madison here, but I need a way to cope with that. I need to get back to a plan. I wrote and revamped my short story for the children's magazine, and I've gotten some positive feedback on it. I like the idea of making it humerous, but I'm not altogether certain of what to add other than what was suggested. Maybe ... maybe... nope, I got nothing. I had this great plan, and then we went on vacation and everything got loopy. I think I need to go back and read some more on what I wrote before, to get remotivated and reinspired. I think I need to start making about $300 a month; that would help out a bit. I wonder if I could manage that with writing? That's really only one article sale a month. I can do that, can't I? I wonder how much the local paper pays, I don't know their prices but I submitted anyway. I can scour local papers for events to cover. I bet I could handle that. Shoot, I could even submit one "living" article to various papers around here, if it were applicable - like the couponing one. Sorry, the no-couponing one. Or the produce picking one. That would work as a secondary for the neighborhood newspapers, if they were interested. I have no idea what they tend to pay per word or article, but I can try. Maybe I can go to various upicks for that. I'll have to write checks, though, to keep for tax purposes. So I'll go write a query for the neighborhood papers very quickly. Then, if I get rejected for the space camp, I can resubmit there, as well. I am also waiting to hear info on the alumni newsletter. That would be great. Okay, two query letters done tonight. One for the Dekalb Neighbor, the freebie newsletter (though, as I think, I could probably hit up various farms with the various papers they have...hmmm). The other was the query for the Atlanta Parent. I have a newsletter due <gasp> tomorrow, and I need to clean it up somewhat, so I am out of here. Wish me luck! My first newsletter. Don't tell but..I don't know how to send it to a group!! word count:610 |
| I can't believe it! I finished the last blog and checked my email, and I'm a moderator! I can't believe they promoted me! It certainly couldn't have come at a better time! I am so...okay, yes, I'm in tears, I am so touched. I confess. I just can't believe it! I am in a state of shock! Wow! Wow! Wow! |
| 7 June 2005 I need steam, I think I've run out. I've been working so very hard to get published, and now I think I am tapering off. Part of that is the multiple-way pulling. I am now watching Madison, my friend's 3 yo daughter, so that means several things. First, although she is very well-behaved, it means I am more tired at the end of the day, and have less time to sneak away (I have a laptop & wireless internet so it's not as bad as it sounds) to do research on various things. Second, I am trying to keep my house cleaner and more presentable - not just picked up, but I am trying to vacuum daily, to actually sweep. Really, it means that all the weekly cleaning chores I have let slide since my last trimester of pregnancy, I am trying to do now. That takes another chunk out. So this is what I think is a big inhibitor lately, as well. I decided to do a catchall - to not be so focused on one subject each week. This has led to the "what do I do"s, which is confusing. I think I am going to go back to that, and if I have to take an acceptable slide - if I find a new market for a story, for instance, I will do that. Or, maybe, I will just make Friday my "catch-all" day. I can submit queries off-topic on that day. I can keep a running list. Okay, this week's subject is girls' math & science camps. I haven't really done anything with that lately. I need to. I will go ahead and do some research on a couple other camps and gather them together. I will try to hit around the country for good spots. Then I will start pulling together queries. If I can find more in Georgia, that is a good one for Atlanta Parent magazine - although I can probably do a story on just the Sally Ride camp. I can also look to Child and Parents, both national magazines. Another good submission would be the local paper next summer, as the deadlines approach - perhaps the AJC, if not the Dekalb paper. Oh, and I just had a thought. I wonder if the alumni news is doing anything? They might be interested in an article on how many alum have attended (how long is that camp?), or a good camp for their daughters. I should contact them. In fact, I'll do that in just a second. I didn't do much with my essay on saving money, mostly because I was hoping to pass it on to the local papers first. I am also checking (even as I type) to see when I queried The Gwinnett Post. I need to give them a followup call on my produce article. I have a 'followup' date of the 15th - that's two weeks. I guess I'll wait that long. Okay, I submitted on the 31st; that's a week ago today (Tuesday). It seems longer. I will give it another gut-wrenching week. Today: research girls' camps. Also contact the alumnae association and, if nothing else, get my address corrected so I can get the alumne newsletter. I am working on that now. I don't think I can stand the tension! No more local paper queries! They will make me NUTS!! word count: 565 |
| Well, today was an interesting day. In addition to having Madison (my friend's 3 yo), I also went grocery shopping, a stressful venue on the best of days. Thankfully, I didn't have Madison for the shopping - she was here from 1-7. It would have been 1-6 but she wanted to stay for dinner instead of leaving with her daddy. Very odd, especially since she was so happy to see him. I guess she had a good time today. I did two things today: the aforementioned Statue story, which was actually kind of fun to write (and now in need of a market), and I just did a great exercise. I felt like my strawberry story had too much dialogue, so I wrote one version with no dialogue or thoughts. It was all action and description. Oddly, it was quite a bit shorter and, I think, better, even allowing for the weird ending. I am trying to decide about merging the two tonight or doing it tomorrow. I should do it now while I can, huh? I wish I had a highlighter. Anyway, I will shoot for a short piece and then maybe go ahead and mail it to Highlights. No, wait, I will merge it tonight and then maybe on Wednesday or Thursday read over it for review. I need an offline writer's group, or some folks I can trust for the reading. I need to get some contacts on here to R&R off-line. I'd love to get some feedback. I'd also love for my kids to go to sleep. DH borrowed the computer after they went to bed, then was like "I didn't know you'd want your writing time". DUH! <eyeroll> Okay, I'm going to merge the two and retype, so we'll see how that goes. It should be interesting to say the least. Then I will have to go. I don't know what tomorrow's plan is, I guess to research girls' camps for a quick bulletin-like approach. That would work as a short piece for the nationals. Incidentally, I am ready to die if I don't get a response from one of these local paper folks. How long do you wait for a query for a local newspaper? Aaaack! I'm going to go insane! I think i'll post that at 'going pro'. |
| 6 June 2005 Trying to do a little "fun" writing, so here goes the brainstorming. The prompt is supposed to be an artist creating something that reveals something about his character. The easiest artist would be a writer; the most obvious would be a painter. I like the sculpter idea. I did a story for that way back when, pre-Writing.com, for a contest prompt type deal. A Grecian statue, I believe was the prompt. Let me think, I don't remember the story but I like that image evoked. A woman, hand outstretched, the portrait of loveliness. Tears coursing. What is the story? Perhaps the artist killed her lover. No, worse, killed her, and she is his love. How did that happen? An accident, I'm certain, and now he is in the throes of grief. No, I like her reaching out to her love. Yes, there we go. He was judge and he sentenced her lover/husband to death then found out he (the dead one) was innocent. But she later killed herself so now he has two souls on his conscious. Or, better yet, she and her children starved because there was no provider and they were ostracized. Yes, her husband was convicted as a murderer, most vicious. So the statue is her in her grief, reaching out, while the children cling to her skirts. In reality, he has saved the children - took them in to his own home - but still feels responsible for orphaning them. In fact, he raced to her home when he found out her husband was innocent only to find her dead on the floor, her children sobbing. I think I can do this one! SG edited to add: I forgot to think about her husband and his crime and why he was seen as guilty and how he was found innocent. His crime was murder, and perhaps he was at the wrong place - he was a guard and a man in a guardsman's uniform was seen leaving the murder. And then he was found nearbye. But after he was put to death, another young woman (young women are so tragic) was found strangled in the same manner. And so we find it is in fact someone else committing the crime. How do we know it's not a copycat? Because the murder was done very precisely - no that won't work. Because because someone found the blood-soaked uniform after he was dead but he didn't have time to change; it was a few short minutes. Yes, the uniform surfaces (doubt) and then another murder takes place, and so he realizes the original guard was innocent.
word count:438 |
| 5 June 2005 So tomorrow I start half-heartedly babysitting a 3 year old girl (turned 3 in May), in addition to my almost-4 yo daughter (4 in July), 2 yo son, and 4 mos old son. What was I thinking?! I am not sure yet how this will cut into my writing time. I would like to try to hold to the same schedule, writing in the morning and at night, but I'm not altogether certain I can. I really should go to bed now so I can get up when dh gets up for work. OH, good news! DH starts his new job tomorrow! Two weeks of unpaid training  followed by work! Yeah!! The down side is we don't know what they are paying, and no benefits. BUT they are working on getting benefits for the contractors (that's what he'll be). Anyway, while good, this makes things a little harder on me, too.I am not sure what is happening this current week. I don't know yet what my plans are. I had a thought about the strawberry short story, since I think it involves too much dialogue; I thought I would write a "no-dialogue" piece and then try to mesh the two. Probably a bad idea, but if I actually go through and highlight the best parts and then retype the whole thing (rather than cutting and pasting), it has possibilities. So we will see how everything goes with that. I may try that one out. Speaking of which, didn't I have a story query for Highlights? Oh, yes, it was the nonfiction piece on girls' camps, right? I'm not sure that is altogether right. Let me skim to be certain...Good, glad I'm not going crazy, I didn't think a girls' camp piece would quite work for HL. However, a beginning astro piece would go well, I think. I just need to check through a few things. Let me see if I can think my way through tomorrow. What do I need to accomplish? I need to do some research on a girls' science camp - this is seasonal, however, and would need to go into an April issue for the following year (query six months in advance, that's November, grr). But still good. So I will do some research per se. I need to check out a few girls' markets - maybe Brio? That's a Christian girls' magazine, but I think I could work it in with some manipulation. There are a few other girls' magazines to do, also. I also think I will work on my short strawberry story. I would go strawberry picking next week but I will have Madison, my friend's daughter. So odds are that is out. Then I had a few markets for that, didn't I? Once I work it out some more; I'm not sure his change is overly credible, or the challenge is so apparent. Then again, I can give it a shot. I will submit it to Highlights and not do any simaltaneous submissions. I have a couple things I would like to submit locally, but until I hear back, I am uncertain about them. I don't want to flood them with queries. I think my query for the "no coupon cutting" story is written, so once I hear back from GP I'm set. So what is this week's focus? The short story - that's only one market, but still. Followup with research on girls' camps. Of course, I can't actually do any submissions until hopefully after my piece is published in the local paper - that will be big for syndication. After that, a local Atlanta paper - Atlanta Parent? I think that's good. And then I can follow it up later, but I can't do much at present (think, national: child and other parenting magazines). OOOOOHHHH! How about "how to build a rocket" for Highlights? Or better yet, Boys' Life? That would be great, probably better with BL but we'll see. For that I'll check with Amy and see how things get placed and taught there. Do you think they've done any other rocket building lately? I'd like to see. Too bad I can't say "I helped out at the Sally Ride..."; if it weren't for the kids, I'd volunteer. Maybe if Brit is here, I can. That would be sweet. I need to check BL for how well it would fit and how to slant it, exactly. I also have some American History magazines to read through. I checked them out and I'm sure I could write something for that. That would also help me gain entry into Cricket's history magazine (whose name I forget). Alright, going to make my to do list. This will be an interesting week, since a) it's my mom's birthday so I will be sacrificing one work night for her and b) it's possibly going to be my 'going out' night, which really stinks. word count: 820 |
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