My biggest client just retired
Staring unemployment in the face
Somewhere along the line, my main client retired. This wasn’t a surprise. I knew the day I started working for him that he had taken the role for a limited time, and I had plenty of clues that the end was nigh last year. So it’s not a surprise, but it’s still a bit … yikes.
Despite having a decent amount of warning, my final day just sort of came and went, and it is only now really sinking in that I am unemployed. Years of never-ending client contracts came to an end and I just… watched it happen.
Don’t get me wrong, as the date approached, I spent my time beavering away, trying desperately to get these books ready to publish (why does it take me so long to edit?), but I also buried my head in the sand.
The fact is, despite not believing in Magical Thinking, I’m the sort of person who will clench her teeth and hold her breath and hope that is enough to get the car through a tight spot in a Cornish street. In this case, I have tried to order from the cosmos: a nice break followed by time to finish my books, followed by a shiny new contract just before the savings run out.
This may still happen, but things could get hairy. Cosmic ordering is not an exact science, after all. I’m sure Noel Edmonds would say that same.
Still, I have used the time wisely. I have nearly finished a fourth book, I have nearly finished editing a giant gardening video update for my neglected gardening YouTube channel and I have nearly got my bean bed ready at the allotment. Lots of nearlys for me! I call that nearly a win.
LinkedIn: the best place for an existential crisis.
Some time has been less wisely spent, however. Probably too much has been squandered titting about on LinkedIn. It’s a weirdly enjoyable experience (once you’ve muted the grifters using someone’s attempted suicide as #content, or turning their dad’s early death into single line paragraphs on the importance of work-life balance1). I follow enough interesting people to make it yet another good distraction for people like me who much prefer reading to writing.
Currently, if you’re interested, there is an awful lot of existential chat from creatieves about the threat of AI.
The ever-clever Nik Roope shared this
I shared something about how I am no longer using AI art in my newsletters (sparked by a Note from Tasha Goddard) and attracted comments from men eager to be seen as AI influencers/specialists. What thrills.
So, yes. I am unemployed, which means I really need to crack on and get these books out. I am currently finishing off a comedy sci-fi book. I started it years ago in NaNoWriMo as a palate cleanser from all the death and seriousness in the crime books. Then I stopped because it wasn’t what I was meant to be doing. Then I thought, screw it, it’s really fun to write, I’m going to finish it. So I have allowed myself the treat of writing it despite the fact that I still need to edit the crime fictions. I really am a chaotic boss for myself.
If anyone wants to be an early reader (aka ARC Reader) for that one, let me know.
I’d best be off now. I have this insanely chaotic boss who thinks I can achieve four hundred things in a day while also reading every single thing published on the internet and in books.
In the meantime, if anyone wants to offer me some very well paid ghostwriting/consultancy work in about a month (or maybe even after summer hols – let’s really push this to the wire), feel free to email me! #CosmicOrderingFTW
Some links
I kinda hate the internet now too – even more so after I read this and found out about the AI pictures of dying babies trend.
Back To The Future is obsessed with r@pe
Go Willow! This is an absolutely blinding set from Willow Smith. Listen and enjoy the amazing bass, the blinding vocals and the exciting time signatures. What a way to use your privilege – to do something really interesting.
I don’t mind people mining their pain for content, by the way. How would female scriptwriters get anything made otherwise? Just don’t make the layout make it look like you’re flogging Phase One of your customer sales funnel. And maybe skip using emoji as bullet points for one post.
Hope all the projects go well! Happy to be an ARC reader! 😅 Sounds a bit like me re projects. I mean I am super impressed you’ve written four books. I have a day job and have written half of my first attempt at a book. Then, I do Substack, reading novels, reading Substacks, and editing my Grandad’s memoir. No wonder I’ve not also had time for guilty pleasure TV (like the new Bridgerton). Hope some amazing ghostwriting comes along soon. 🤞🏻🫶🏻
The Enshittification of the internet continues