near wild heaven

This is now, this is here, this is me, this is what I wanted you to see.

The First of Fall

It's been awhile since I've written here, but I"ve kept meaning to. My life has taken on some different dimensions since my last post.

I'm temping. All day I sit in a cubicle and enter data--I "code" and "enter," to be more specific. It's not so bad. My cube is arranged such that nobody can see me unless they specifically want to come see ME, the temp, and I opnly get a few visits per day. I can listen to all the conversations going on all around me. I can hear those honking Minnesota acents.

This kind of work does not really suit me, but for now it is okay because I am not expected to do much except steadily contribute my share of the work. I go to Starbucks for a cappucino at 10 am each day and nobody cares. I take an extra 15 minutes at lunch and nobody notices. I can surf the internet as much as I like, so long as I contribute my aforementioned steady share. I can wear jeans and tennis shoes, I don't have to tuck in my shirt, I can grow a beard if I want to.

I spend a lot of time looking up job listings for tenure-track professorships in creative writing. I don't have the requisite qualifications to be a serious candidate for these jobs--despite my three post-secondary degrees, including a degree from one of the best programs in my field, a nice little mound of debt, teaching experience--because I have not published. But I know from my own past that things can change quickly. I say this because I sent my finished, completed, done-ass book to a New York agent yesterday. Let's call her LB. She's the agent of a friend from Irvine, part of a big international firm. She only takes on new clients on suggestion from a current client, so this is Case #1 of Zithereen exercising his Irvine connections. Because she woulnd't have asked to see my manuscript without the blessing of my Irvine buddy.

Who knows how long this will take. It took my friend a year and a half just to get an agent; another Irvine buddy was snapped up by the first agent he met. If I know myself and how things usually go, this isn't going to be an easy process. But I'm willing to wait and see.    

posted by: zithereen at October 07, 2005 08:56 | link | comments |