We’ve having a big party this weekend and are really excited! Since Ali’s birthday is three days after Christmas, she has a birthday party at the end of June each year, instead of December. We call this her half-birthday. This year, we were on the road in June, so her party is this weekend. It’ll be a 70’s theme and we’ve invited (gulp) 40 of our closest friends and neighbors. We even had to rent a big tent for additional shade in the yard.
Late last week, when downloading my mail, I was surprised to see a ton of returned email bouncing back to my in-box. At first glance, I thought somebody had spoofed our address to send out sp*m. On second glance, I realized that every email I’d sent to AOL users in the prior several days had been returned to our servers, in one fell swoop. I was stumped
Dearest Angela,
Headphones? I love it! Now maybe I can some work done around here!
Sincerely,
Sherry G (mother of 4, writer of not-enough)
—
Angela,
Enjoyed your bit about interruptions from the kids. Take it from me, it will never get better. I have a “kid” – age 42 – who lives downstairs. We both work at home, so learning not to interrupt has been an issue on both sides. I do a lot of transcription work; whenever I have my earphones on he stops dead in his tracks, but without them I am fair game. I must confess I tend to do the same to him, but I have learned to knock and, if he doesn’t answer, I know he doesn’t want to derail the train of thought. If I knock three times, he knows it’s urgent.
E.G.
When I first heard an editor mention my article had a good hed/dek, my first reaction was to offer her a throat lozenge. My second reaction was, what the heck is a hed/deck?
A meeting with my manager let me know my job performance was not up to snuff. My dismissal was inevitable, and after the obligatory flurry of tissue and kind words, I was sent on my way.
My manager assured me that I’d be just fine.
“After all, you’ve got all these stories in the newspaper. That must bring in some money.”
This Week:
I’ve been having a hard time keeping on task lately so we had a family meeting to try to get back on track with our work schedule. I am the children’s primary caregiver in the mornings and Richard takes over in the afternoons. One problem we’ve always had is that, even when Richard’s on kid-duty, the children still come in and ask me for things – i.e. “Mom, can you take us to the pool?”; “Mom, have you seen my robot?”; “Mom, do you think my favorite jeans are in the washing machine?” “Mom! Frank flushed my eye shadow down the toilet!” and “Mom, Max is giving Percy a haircut!”
If you feel something in your book may stir controversy, or bring critics out of the woodwork, don’t let your future critics get in the first word. Protect yourself and your reputation ahead of time by addressing your critics before the criticism begins.
This Week:
You’ve always wanted to stay at home and write, but can you really survive on an “eat what you kill” plan?
That depends on your determination to succeed. If you have tenacity, you’re in good shape, and, if writing is your passion, you can make decent money online.
First, you need a clearly written daily planner so you will be motivated to move ahead each day.
