The New Normal (Not The TV Series!)

I hate... HATE waiting to hear from a client after sending them the first batch of work after being hired. It's a nail-biting experience as you wait for them to review the material and decide if:
a) Your writing sucks and hiring was a huge mistake
b) Your writing is OK but didn't fulfill the brief, and can be fixed with a few tweaks
c) Your writing is adequate and you took instruction well
d)Your writing rocks and you fulfilled the brief

Most of the time, I'm happy with option c and try not to cringe too much when I hear I didn't fulfill the brief. However, I still live in fear that some new client will read my first batch of work and decide that I totally suck and he/she should never have hired me in the first place.
Most of the time, the client asks for a few adjustments to better meet their editorial requirements. Sometimes you even have to make changes twice or more. Still, the waiting never feels like "business as usual" to me. I suppose that fear is what makes me keep trying to improve my writing.

So yeah... I'm waiting for a nice big client... new... who offered me work on a very interesting subject I'd really love to explore, to give me feedback on the work I've done for them.

So what have I been up to?

My writing life has reached a new normal in the past couple of weeks.

The creative wasteland that was my mind  was finally taken over by shiny, interesting ideas, which I hope will translate into good projects. I'm currently reading Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit.

The book is a huge help in establishing new parameters for my writing life.


Mma is  doing exceptionally well. That was after a number of bad patches lasting until June this year. We even reached a new low when I thought, maybe I was fighting a battle that was not mine to begin with, and should just let her go. And just when I reached this terrible milestone, she rallied back and life is taking on an even keel...even enough for me to even consider taking on new clients in addition to the few I kept through the past year, and starting new projects.

I'm still co-writing the publishing course for a client. The project hit some glitches (convenient when life issues were all-consuming), but everything is now going more smoothly and the deadline for final material is February 2014. Actually I should be doing research for one of the course modules right now, instead of stressing about things that are out of my control (like whether the new client thinks I suck:-).

A portion of the veg garden (the left side)

My gardens are also coming along very nicely. The past winter gave me enough time to prepare the soil, plant the seeds and get ready for a bountiful Spring. I'm spending a lot of time outdoors, bending, digging and carrying stuff. And yeah, we're selling some of the stuff coming out of the garden.

Right side of the veg garden, from the garden entrance

As a result of all this physical activity, I've lost more than 14kg (around 30lb) in the past 18 months.

Yeah, some of the weight loss is probably due to stress and caring for a sick person, as this gave me very little time to sleep or eat [some days I chose sleeping, even when I was very hungry, because I was too tired to even think about chewing:-( ].

But a big chunk of of the weight came off from being more active, I think.

Anyhoo, as I've said, we've reached a new normal, and hopefully, this phase will last for a long while.