On Wednesday I finished what should be close to the final draft of Whatever Happened to Suddsy Watters, a project I started in earnest just four weeks ago. It is now awaiting rigorous inspection from a good friend and Editor up in Pennsylvania before it gets unleashed on an unsuspecting world.
The story is about a local television kid's show host who disappears at the end of a twenty year run. Suddsy is essentially a kid in a man's body who has had some difficulty growing up. Many of us have that same difficulty - at least that's what I'll admit to.
Freely
I did it this afternoon as a matter of fact. I had a second interview at a place about 38 miles from my front door with a woman who is the co-owner of an agency I had considered joining. I had decided that I wanted more than just a "job" this time out. I want something more substantial. So, I told her that I was still deciding what I wanted to be when I grew up. Yep... I'm still deciding.
I won't take up any potential offer at the agency I was dealing with. There have been several other opportunities come up much closer to home. Besides, there only seems to be one note - one product to sell and the intimation that there is a high washout rate. My discovery process about the particular offer mentioned and another one tossed my way on Friday seems to indicate that there are companies who prey on those of us who are out of work.
It's a damn shame, really. Both companies hold out the carrot of six figure paychecks and all the gold that we can eat if we really apply ourselves and buy into their companies. The hook is that our job will be to "help people". The reality is that a high percentage of folk who go into the companies with high hopes end up finding themselves even more broke and more desperate than when they started. All that happens is that the money goes out faster than it had before dealing with those people.
Knowing what I already suspected was part of that growing process I was talking about.
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Part of the reason I am enjoying the writing is that it's helping me discover some aspects about myself and in the process it's helping me grow up. In the four short weeks from concept to a semi-finished product, I have come to the conclusion that some ideas grow faster than others. Sometimes they grow in unexpected ways.
For instance, I did a quick 1500 word story about cookies. The basic premise was that a Pastor's wife was in the middle of making cookies for a pot luck dinner (or a carry-in) and was told no. She didn't need to bring anything. She took the cookies anyway, only to discover that everyone else brought cookies! The story has an additional element which will help to tie it in with other short stories which will appear in a collection I am tentatively calling The Magnolia Chronicles. It was that additional element which happened to sneak into a simple little story which reminded me that sometimes stories, like life, grow in unexpected ways.
This writing gig isn't too bad. If Suddsy does well and the story hits a nerve, I might consider writing to be more than just a hobby. There are two other books (at least) in the works as well as the potential to commercialize this blog. Nah... I won't commercialize the blog, at least quite yet. I'll just keep writing until I hit more nerves than I have.
In the meantime, I'm still looking. Don't know where I'll land or even if I'll grow up. Will keep you posted.
Be Seeing You!
bdharrell
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