Happy holidays...now back to finding writing leads!

A doodle of mine for your enjoyment!

Well, Christmas has come and passed and we are just about to enter a whole new year...yikes! Where does the time go?! I'm excited as Santa was quite good to this freelance writer and artist this year...hehe. Actually I was really happy to get a bunch of great new art supplies and such, but the best part was being able to spend some time with my younger siblings. If I have not stated to before they are AMAZING!! But here I am back at home getting back to the grind. It seems getting new leads and finding new freelance writing jobs around the holidays is obviously tougher being that many people are off enjoying vacations. So I've taken the time to getting ahead on some projects and then doing some work on the blogs, tying up loose ends, and organizing. Always the most fun, not really.

But in terms of my freelance writing career I've been doing some thinking about what I hope to achieve, what kind of work I want to do, and then where I hope to be a few years from now. I am not one to make New Year's Resolutions because I think that many of them fall flat after only a few weeks, but I think that with the New Year I do want to think about planning my writing and art career. I am happy that I am now at a stable point in finding freelance writing jobs that I am not so stressed out about constantly looking for leads and I want to start focusing on what I want to do next.

In terms of writing there are so many possibility and I think I'd like to get serious about finding an agent for my book, getting my blogs more traffic, and then doing more with my art. Don't get me wrong, I do love writing articles for my clients on various topics and will continue to do so, but I think it would be fun to decide what I want to write about. I'd also like to find higher paying article sources and do some magazine article queries. So I'm not setting resolutions but goals I guess. If anyone else cares to share some goals or thoughts (or resolutions are fine too don't let my bias sound like judgment!) for their freelance writing, freelance art, or anything else I'd love to hear them!

Educational Craft Projects

I have written dozens of crafts that are great for kids to do on a rainy day or any other time for that matter! Growing up the eldest of four kids it was often me left for babysitting duty and to keep everyone entertained I would come up with lots of fun projects and games. Today as a freelance writer I can then take some of my ideas and submit them to craft and learning sites. Here are a few samples of the crafts I have written as a freelance writing job for an educational site which ties in learning with each project:

Milk Carton Train

Play Pizza Toss

Scrapbook With Envelopes

Pop up Puppets

Make Recycled Plastic Wallets

Compete in the Maccabiah Games

Magnetic Menorah

Make an Oil Lantern

Latest doodles

Just wanted to put up some of my latest doodles! Enjoy, and you can see the full cards here: http://www.pigspigot.com/app/profile/user/62

A Little of This and a Little of That

Just a quick one today as I'm actually happy to say I've been busy. :P I think that it can be tough sometimes finding freelance writing work around the holidays because people are just about to head off for vacation or are out of the office and aren't able to reply to a query. It can be hard when you are left with time to fill, and then when you do get a freelance writing job it seems they all come in at once and there just aren't enough hours in the day! It can be unpredictable at times, but that's the nature of the beat I guess.

I'm trying to be able to do more art and stuff between freelance writing jobs because I miss not being able to do that as much. I'm actually happy I found another place to sell some cards to which gives me an excuse to doodle away instead of keep looking for freelance writing leads. I usually feel guilty if I'm not 'working' and instead having fun drawing and creating, so I'm happy I can find some paying freelance art jobs when I can. I would like to be able to venture further into that line of work as well, but like freelance writing it's about getting your foot in the door and that can be tough!

Okay, well I'm off, but wanted to do a quick one. If anyone is out there reading and would like to share what they're doing around the holidays, in terms of freelance writing or art feel free to leave a note! Heck if you'd just like to say what you're doing for the holidays in general don't be shy either. ;)

Pigspigot Card Contest

Okay, I'm not gonna lie I'm SUPER EXCITED because I won the Naughty Santa Contest at Pigspigot.com! This is a great site I spoke about earlier for freelance artists to get their work out there and create a buzz, hopefully leading to some more freelance art jobs. ;) Anyways if you haven't checked this site out yet, I recommend you do and upload some cards of your own. They have other contests, one coming up in January, so put your thinking caps on. And even if you aren't so artistically inclined you can send out the ones that are already there and available from other freelance artists.

You can check out the results and see some of the other Naughty Santa Cards here: Contest Results.

Hope you guys are all having a great day and ready for the weekend!

Freelance Writing Jobs You May Not Have Thought Of

There is no doubt an ongoing search for work when you are a freelance writer, and finding jobs can be a bit hit and miss. Freelance writing jobs are definitely out there but sometimes it seems finding them is tough or the particular gigs aren't up your alley or are ones that actually pay that much! I do most of my writing work online for websites and blogs and I was looking for ways to sort of diversify my jobs. I've mentioned a site that I frequently go to, if not daily, for new writing jobs and I am going to speak of them again!

I found a really great post from the Freelance Writer's Journal which is really thorough in siting numerous places where writers can find different work. A lot of the suggestions I hadn't even thought of, and it was great in giving me ideas of where I could further look and connect with businesses and people in need of freelance writers. So I want to post a link to the article and hope it helps you too generate a few good ideas and leads!

Freelance Writing Gigs

My Query...

Hey there fellow freelance writers! Well, at least I hope a few of you are out there reading today. :) I'm actually excited because I've officially started sending out my query letter to literary agents about my book! I know it is going to be a long road and will be waiting weeks to hear back (hopefully!) but am happy that I got the first wave of them out. My goal is to just send a few out each day until I start hearing back and use that as motivation to really see this novel through. I really do love freelance writing jobs and writing articles, but creative writing is such an outlet for me and I've always aspired to be a published author. So in keeping with that, I've actually got my query letter below and would love any advice, tips, feedback, etc. So feel free to be brutal, be critical, or say what you like! :)

Kendra has always been mesmerized by the whimsy of lithe dancers on stage that tell their stories through movement. Even at the tender age of five, as she sat in the audience, entranced by the ballerinas of the New York City Ballet, she could feel them calling. While many would have assumed that dancing was simply in her blood, and expected the precocious child to follow in her mother's footsteps, that is not what attracted Kendra. She found that time stood still as she performed onstage; the troubles of her life seemed to slip away, and for those few precious moments she
was free of all burdens--weightless.

Abandoned by her mother in order to pursue her own career, Kendra is raised by her loving grandmother whose own health begins to fail. While the old woman is silently reluctant to let her granddaughter enter the very world that was the demise of her own daughter, she continues to be a pillar of support to Kendra. Amid the struggles of passing from adolescence into adulthood, Kendra must further cope with the cruelties of the dance subculture. With the ultimate dream of becoming the next great prima ballerina, Kendra is pegged as the girl to hate by her contemporaries. She is considered the bane of her jealous and retired mother's existence; a woman who finds it impossible to watch the illuminating career of her daughter ignite while only having dim memories left of her own. Kendra is now left to naively navigate the best she can.

As her career looks promising, she is taken under the wing of her coach and mentor, but inner demons of guilt, insecurity, and doubt continue to eat away at her. The doors of opportunity that begin to open up, may be shut inadvertently by her own hand.

DANCING IN THE DARK is a 57,000 word YA manuscript depicting a young dancer's journey to becoming a prima ballerina in her own right. She must step out from the shadows set by her mother's illustrious career, and find the confidence to stand on her own. Wrought with inner turmoil, fueled by passive-aggressive competitors, and pressed with the rigors of training, Kendra could fulfill the dream she is chasing or be left just outside the spotlight.

Thank you for your time and consideration.