Cleaning off the Desk
I’ve had a busy week. Once again, it never quite goes the way you would hope, but it can be busy anyways. My main projects this week were to get some critiques finished up, and get my first draft of a haunted doll story written. I managed the critiques: two short stories and a novel. I also finished reading Kelly Armstrong’s Frostbitten
So what happened this time? Other than getting to enjoy a fantastic summer storm, I found out about an interesting job opportunity for Algonquin College’s Student Association that ties in well with my program, gives me the exact number of hours that I need on top of OSAP to afford to live in Ottawa. The job will be a wonderful feather in my cap if I can clinch it. Working for student associations is seen as a big bonus on a resume, especially if the task is related to your field. So what’s the job? They’re looking for someone to work as a member of the Promo Team for events. Yup, event promotion. I’d say that’s really closely tied into what I’ll be doing with my event management program. I know I mentioned it in my last blog post, well, now I’ve actually taken the time to fix up a resume and cover letter, and send it out. I lost most of last Thursday finishing that off, and then a good chunk of Friday and Saturday with edits.
Other than that, a couple movies, and the stack of critiquing mentioned earlier, that’s all I’ve really done. I’m biking to work most days, and dealing with really hot and humid weather by enjoying the power of central air. I’ve also done some more packing, and completed two good scrapbook pages of my event portfolio. The event portfolio scrapbooking stuff has been sitting on my desk untouched in the to-do pile since May 1st, so getting that started is good. Basically, I’ve been getting some stuff cleared off the desk, slowly wiping out the stuff that needs to be out of the way before the big move south.
I received a letter from my Mom today. Normally I wouldn’t bother mentioning a letter from my Mom as they would have nothing to do with this site. But my Mom’s a little different. She actually tries to help out with my writing. Not by reading it or editing it or anything like that. My Mom will only see my writing when it’s published. The thing is, I think she knows that and WANTS to see the writing. Why? Because every now and again she sends me notification of another writing contest or writing market that’s taking submissions. Today, the letter contained a pamphlet for the 3-day Novel Contest. Basically, the challenge is to write a novel on labour day weekend, and send the unedited first draft out for judging. 1st place gets a publishing deal, 2nd and 3rd get cash prizes. The catch: $50 entry fee. Normally I wouldn’t bat and eye at a contest with an entry fee, and I’ve overlooked this contest in the past. I’ve shrugged it off with “I’m going to be working most of that weekend” or “I’m already in the middle of a WIP” or some other excuse. This time, I know I’m not going to be working that weekend. I also know that I don’t have any big projects planned as I’m trying to clear off the desk. So I’m tempted. VERY tempted.
I don’t have money for the entry fee though. And I know I won’t have money for the entry fee because of the big move that I’m doing at the end of this month. So, I’ve decided I’ll take up a collection. If people want to challenge me to do this (or other writing competitions with entry fees), there’s a donate button in the sidebar of my main site. Feel free to drop a few dollars in there. For the 3-day Novel Contest, the registration/payment deadline is Sept 3rd. So if I have $40 in donations by Sept 2nd, I’ll register for the contest and bite the other $10 myself (my personal reading/contest fee max). If I have less, the money will sit there for the next pay-to-enter contest, which I will announce here as well. All money will be cleared out and restarted at website renewal time as anything in there will go toward renewing the domain and host. Anything earned via Amazon sales will go the same way I think. This sounds like a good plan. Once again, no one is forced to donate or buy anything from my amazon store. If you feel like it, it is appreciated and very helpful.
So here’s my to-do list for July 16 – 22:
- Write 1st Draft of the haunted doll story
- Complete Outline of Hedged In rewrite
- Complete 2 more pages of Event Portfolio Scrapbook
- Finish sorting & packing up the basement
