Updates

July 19, 2006, 3:11 p.m.
Believe it or not, two months have passed since the last update. The lack of updates is not because of a lack of news, just a lack of time.
It has been a productive – and fun – two months. I have been working on several articles and nearing the finish line on the book project. Since the last post, I have been writing for USA Weekend, Arthritis Today, Modern Bride, Better Nutrition, Fit Pregnancy and Women’s Health and Fitness. Of course, I am also still writing for the Portland Tribune.
I have also been pitching like mad. I am trying to break into For Me, Cooking Light, Women’s Health and others. I figure that if I send enough targeted pitches, the editors will decide to give me a shot.
I am such an impatient person which makes it hard to play the waiting game that is a huge part of freelancing. I check my e-mail a million times a day, answer the phone on the first ring and run to the mailbox at exactly 11 a.m. hoping for good news (an odd thing to do considering I haven’t sent a query via snail mail in a couple of years).
Last weekend I got to experience a freelancer’s dream – instant feedback from editors. I was at the One-on-One conference in Chicago where I met with five different editors. I was able to pitch them ideas for their magazines and find out whether they were interested enough to have me follow up with queries.
I had several really productive meetings (and a ton of fun). I arrived home very late on Sunday night and set to work putting together queries on Monday morning. My hope is to have the last query sent out no later than Friday. Hopefully I’ll start getting some (positive) responses by the end of the month.
In the midst of deadlines, J and I traveled to Japan. We had a fantastic time! It is such a beautiful country. We spent a few days in Tokyo, traveled south to Kyoto on the bullet train and then took day trips to Nara and Himeji before returning to Tokyo. We took tons of photos (I would post some here but I have no idea how) and saw some amazing sights.
One of the highlights for me was trekking to Monkey Mountain, a mountain in Kyoto that a group of macaques call home. We were just a few feet away from dozens of monkeys! One of the littlest babies approached me, put his hands on my shoe and then reached forward to climb up my leg before his mom snatched him away. It was a surreal experience, especially since we only see monkeys in cages at the zoo.
I have struggled to adapt to four different time zones in under a week but slowly feel like I am getting back on schedule. In the meantime, stay tuned for a complete website update (and, hopefully, more regular posts).