work

I have tons of writing work coming up. At this point it looks like I'll be on continuous deadlines from now until the beginning of April. The bestest part is I'll be writing full-time - no need for a day-job anytime soon. The months since we moved have been the first time in my life I've written full-time. I'm still amazed and thrilled about it.

As usual, it's feast-or-famine. If you freelance, you're undoubtedly familiar with this syndrome. I had a cute little plan to avoid a massive work pile-up, but Real Life looked at Cute Plan, laughed mockingly, and tossed it aside.

My second Ancient Civilizations book assignment was supposed to start in early September. The Plan was to keep my work for the Winter issue of Kids On Wheels very light, concentrate exclusively on Ancient Civs, then write a big chunk of the Spring KOW.

However... the Ancient Civs calendar was greatly delayed, and I'm only now getting my assignment, in late November. Meanwhile I'm committed to several big stories for Kids On Wheels, as well as some other magazine work, all due at the same time. This is going to take some fancy footwork and organizational skills, and still be very challenging.

I remind myself that while I was writing the first Ancient Civs book, I was coping with my upcoming BLC, a critically ill dog, and a part-time day-job. And it was my first project for the series - there was a steep learning curve. Now I have none of those stressful distractions, and I already know how to do the work. So if I'm super-organized and make good use of my time, I should be able to get it all done. I hope.

Of course this means I'll be less available in comments and by email, but please don't let that stop you from chattering. You folks will help keep me sane.