Our other jobs

Several of the threads have little hints about what we are doing in addition to writing in order to keep the wheels moving at home. I am curious to hear from you about what other types of work that you do to earn a living or perhaps to support your creative or entrepreneurial side in order to enrich your writing. If you are writing full time, perhaps you could share your story about how you made the leap.
For me, I do a lot of technical writing, which currently means that I am writing courses for business courses full time. I also facilitate several workshops a year on aspects of careers and life balance which gets me out of my bubble and talking to human beings and having some fun. I used to work for organizations looking after health and safety issues and career management stuff, but after finishing a big chunk of school decided I didn't want to continue doing that and working in someone else's office environment (I felt beyond burned out). I was very fortunate to find an organization that wanted a contract writer to write their course materials. I certainly am happy I made the switch, which gives me time to pursue my novel writing. I do find writing is much harder work than health and safety actually was, and yet my batteries are fully recharged and I LOVE what I do!
What do you get up to?

My main job right now is looking after my Dad. Cooking his meals, taking him shopping, bit of housework, that sort of stuff. My Mother is getting on a bit too and she needs taking to town to get her shopping and other bits and pieces. Gold panning ensures I get plenty of fresh air and exercise. Then there's Skribblerz, building Tomb Raider games, running forums and a few other bits and pieces.

I used to work for the NHS - the National Health Service, but took early retirement in 2006. And before you ask, I am no where near my 65th birthday! I spend most of my time walking my border collie, gardening, writing, and dare I say it, travelling the world!

I have been working for the City of Austin for 17 years. I work in the Vital Records department. In other words, the birth and death records office. I am the Deputy Registrar and I register all the births and deaths for the city. It's interesting, but I think after so long, it's made me a worry wart, seeing all those deaths day in and day out.

Apparently I wasn't signed in and my post shows me as a guest, mmm I didn't even know it would do that. But anyway, that was me.

Thanks George, Jenny and Pol- -it is fascinating to see those other sides of us. Cannot wait to see what everyone else is up to. This morning I have scoured my kitchen from top to bottom - I thought a bit of Spring cleaning was in order as a way to chase off this bloody ghastly weather - a little snow, lots of wind and it looks -and feels-just like winter again!

What a great question Pam.....always nice to know what everyone else is up to in addition to pounding the keyboard! I am retired (early - lucky me) and devote a majority of my day to trying to finish my second novel. I also write the occasional short story or poem when I get a bout of writers block on the novel. If writing isn't "working" for me on a given day I paint - oils mostly. When the weather warms up I'll spend more time outside in the garden and whenever we can, my husband and I LOVE to travel.

Another interest is working with the writers club at the local high school. The kids are great and they keep me on my toes!

I am a dental hygienist of over thirty years. Now, don't moan and groan...I have a good time with my patients, and consider them friends. We laugh a lot.

In addition, I am a massage therapist. I practiced part-time for a few years. When my mom moved nearby to an assisted living, I realized I needed to spend more time helping her. So, I retired from one of my professions, but I still practice in my dental office.

My goal is to be able to retire in a few years and write full time.

I love to see how we are all so different, tey the writing threads through everywhere. Lucky you Pam K that you are able to write as much as you want (or is that need?). I have tried painting but am terrible at it so turned more to photography. This year I do have some ambitious gardening plans, but have no idea how I will fit it all in.
Rhett now I understand your smile - dental hygienists must have great teeth right?

Yes...And, I do floss....

The smile...well, I did inherit my tendency toward good teeth from my dad's side. I got the birthing hips from my mom's. Hey, everyone has to have something...

I know what you mean Rhett! I blame my dad for my short legs and calves that only fit in an army boot (I always look longingly at those nice slim knee high boots that my daughter can wear) and my mom I can blame for my eyebrows going gray even though my hair isn't!
Personally I am so glad that dentistry has evolved like it has. My molars were all filled by the time I was 14, and yet my oldest daughter has never had a cavity (just braces poor kid) and the youngest had her wisdom teeth out last summer--what a difference a few years has made!

I have short legs too, Pam. All the women in my family did. And no matter how I used to stretch when was young, I didn’t get taller.

Oh Rhett, I'd love massage therapists. A good massage is a thousand times better than a tranquilizer.

As far as a day job, I’ve written for three different newspapers and now do a restaurant review and recipe column. I teach novel and short story writing and I edit fiction manuscripts.

my other job, by e. don harpe

I have a jello rental company called LeaseaJiggle that does extremely well in summer, but not so great in winter. We’ve been looking to expand by carrying a line of Texas Chili that will only be available from October through February, and will rent at a very reasonable price. Our jello rents for $25 a square foot for green and yellow, and $30 a sq ft for red. Red seems to be the most popular, and of course requires a much more secure barn to store it in. Jello barns are not cheap, buy they are well worth the cost because they allow us to keep the jello fresh between the times when we lease it out. Most Jello barns, due to the nature of jelloness, are roughly 200 yards long, thirty feet tall, and six inches wide. They do not withstand windstorms very well, but their sides can also be rented out to advertisers and/or graffiti artists.

I’m sure you’re all familiar with the Jello rental business, but I’ll go over the highlights briefly for you. Many people think they can make their own Jello and it will be just as good as our commercial quality product but that is a myth. A good commercial grade Jello will last three to five times as long as a home produced product, and this is important when you consider that many seven and eight year olds use it as a mat under their trampolines. When you rent your Jello instead of making yourself, you never have to worry about cows and other farm animals becoming contaminated by the leftovers, as we always haul them back and recycle them.

LeaseaJiggle is currently selling franchises in many northern states, as we’ve found that Yankees are the only people gullible enough to think you can actually rent Jello. In addition to being very bad drivers and the rudest people in the country, Yankees are not very smart, so they think noting of renting a truck load of red Jello for barbecuemitzas and things like that. Anyone interested in a franchise should visit or call 1-800- ALL WIGL

I'm sorry, I spelled barbecuemitzas wrong. It should be

barbecuemitzvahs

I don't know what got into my fingers when I was making up that word.

Hey Don. Good luck on your jello business. Bet it's a bit tricky hauling it around to customers, but you can call on Borax Abamy for assistance.

Did you hear about the woman who sells sagebrush? She does very well selling the things to the movies.

Borax Abamy's family was from Alibamy, and manufactured banjos for early settlers to take to Loueesianny on their knees. They also had a big tumbleweed business which they hauled in on a Wagon Train.

Did you know that the first person to sell commercial sagebrush was a dentist named Fuller. He called it a Fuller sage tooth brush, but it didn't catch on with customers. He eventually gave up on sagebrush brushes and began making them from small scraps of recycled porkyupine quills, which he soaked in Ranch dressing to make them white. Nobody bought one so he came up with the idea of putting them in Quacker Oat cereal as prizes, which gave that sailor kid the idea to put toys in boxes of Quacker Jack and Jills. Worked too, because now almost everyone has wheels on their cars.

Hi Don,

If the jello business ever goes wobbly, you could ask the diddymen for help. As you can see from the photo, they are a sensible group of guys:



Left to right: Evan, Nigel Ponsonby-Smallpiece, Mick the Marmalizer, Hamish McDiddy and Dicky Mint, who work in the Jam Butty Mines at Knotty Ash.

Jello Rentals? I feel a bit daft asking, but have idea what you mean, although I think I did manage to sort out Borax Abama and Mick the Marmalizer.

I'm a full-time writer. Most of my income is from novels, but I also supplement it with some comics work and over the last six months or so, I've been approached by a couple of game companies so I wrote a DVD game and some promotional stuff for an online game.

I used to work in publishing, as editor-in-chief of a small comics/books publisher called IDW Publishing, and before that as senior editor for an imprint of industry leader DC Comics. I'm also a partner in a specialty bookstore called Mysterious Galaxy, but anyone who thinks you can't make money writing books should try selling them for a living.

I made the leap about 3.5 years ago--sold my CA house at the peak of the market, bought a little ranch in AZ, used the rest as a nest egg. I write 5-6 novels a year, and as I said, some supplemental stuff, but the novels are the bulk of the income. There are scary times when checks don't show up when they're supposed to--but I've never been sorry I made the switch to full-time writing.

Jeff

Hi
I am Padma from India . Glad to meet yu all .I am on freelance writer and Journalist and so half the time yu will find me on the net . I have written lot of short stories , a few plays and a film script in English desperately trying to sell my work .
I was working as an editor in a shipping newspaper but due to ill health I am just writing at home .
padma

Whoa. Myterious Galaxy, up on Clairmont Mesa? How about that?

I lived in "Dago" for years, still go there yearly or so. Used to write for the Reader and Revolt and City Beat and such.

Cool. Moved there to be near the ComicCon? :-)

Isn't it funny to see what a small/big world we really write in. Jeff, not sure if you are saying that it is tougher to make a living selling books more than writing them, but I think that might be what you are saying. Look forward to finding out though!

I am manager of a independent bookstore in my town, as well as doing a fair amount of consulting work for the National Park Service, various Native American tribes, and running my consulting/publishing business. It's a lot of work, but I love it and things are picking up.

Writing only pays about half of my bills, but as it is going now I should be able to go "full time" pretty soon.

Jeff, I just caught up with this thread and read your post. I'm envious! Best of luck to you!

lin wrote:

Whoa. Myterious Galaxy, up on Clairmont Mesa? How about that?

I lived in "Dago" for years, still go there yearly or so. Used to write for the Reader and Revolt and City Beat and such.

Cool. Moved there to be near the ComicCon? :-)

Lin,

I moved away from San Diego about 3.5 years ago--originally moved there to manage the Hunter's Books in La Jolla, when there was one. We started Mysterious Galaxy when Hunter's closed its southern CA stores, because its passing left a hole in mystery and sf/fantasy in town.

I've read all those mags--good stuff. Reader regular John Brizzolara used to work for me at Hunter's.

Jeff