Once again, I’ve been away from writing this blog. But this time, I’ve been busy in a good way. Sure, I’ve had my emotionally down times, but I seem to be edging closer to a brush with happiness.

For one, I have a freelance job in the arts. It’s as part time as you can get – only Fridays – but it’s something. For one, it’s not Phipp’s. And two, it’s writing!

I took on this position about six weeks ago. It pays better than my retail job, even if it’s only ten hours a week. It’s a car payment with a little insurance thrown in. But most importantly, I’m doing a job that gives me great satisfaction.

So where is it and what do I do?

A local arts organization needed someone like me to write the copy for its press releases, website, and other promotional pieces. Do some grant research. Go out into the community and shake hands. Network with artists and tell them about all the resources available to them, especially those who live in several cities in the county where I live.

It’s also a valuable resource to make connections. By being out in the community and shaking hands, I get to know people…and they, me.

Recently I had the good fortune to speak to the executive editor of our local well-regarded newspaper. We started chatting about a reporter friend we both knew and it led into a conversation about writing in general. I told him I was a writer and briefly, the circumstances that led me to my present state of affairs. I didn’t want him to feel sorry for me. I just wanted him to know that through it all, writing’s been there for me. Like a good, steady friend, one that understands that even if being attentive is spotty at  best, once reunited it’s like no time has passed.

The editor responded that people like us can’t explain why we need to put pen to paper, we just have to do it. Sometimes there’s sacrifices to be made, or writing’s the lifeline that keeps us going. Regardless, to a writer, it’s like food and air – without it, one withers.

That’s what writing has been to me – a lifeline. It’s led me to this freelance job. And it’s led me to my agents. I meet with her in two weeks. She’s had an associate read my novel and the associate didn’t like it…she LOVED it. Really, truly loved it. So we’re going to meet for dinner and talk about what comes next. The agent already asked me for a fact sheet and one page synopsis (for the nonwriters out there – composing a synopsis is an invitation to hell) so she can refer to it when pitching it to editors.

Of course, I dream that this might actually work out. And although I’ve put in more applications for jobs I probably won’t get, maybe once, just this once, someone will take me seriously and offer me a contract.

I managed to get a freelance writing position. I managed to get an agent. Now maybe, the next phase of my writing life will blossom.

I can dream, can’t I?