A Funny Thing Happened on the way to NaNoWriMo

Life is strange, isn’t it?

Monday I was feeling so down that I basically spent the day sitting on the couch, binge watching Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory. I spent almost as much time dozing as I did actively awake. This wasn’t something new. I’d been gradually feeling worse about things for the last couple of weeks. I was not getting phone calls about jobs or I was getting the kind of calls that go nowhere. I mean, who wants to move from New York to Idaho for a two-month contract?

Tuesday

Tuesday wasn’t much better, but it was November 1st, so I got up and started writing my novel. I got over 1,700 words, more than the 1,667 that they recommend you do daily in order to finish on time. At the end of the day, I went out with my husband and son for dinner, we had a nice time and I was beginning to feel better about things in general. When we sat down, I said, I'm going to get a job so don't worry about what you order. (Ominous, fore-shadowing music!)

While we were at dinner, I had a call from a recruiter who worked with someone I had spoked to earlier. He asked me if I would be willing to take a C# performance test so he could look for development jobs for me. I agreed.

At about 9:00 Tuesday evening, I had a call from a recruiter with whom I had spoken before. He apologized for the last minute call, but he said that a company that to which he had submitted sample for me was now anxious to interview me the next day. I agreed to the interview, which was in the city.

Wednesday

Wednesday morning I woke up, took the C# test, and then got ready to get on the train. I did what I usually did and seated myself in the quiet car. Then, remembering that I was supposed to get a phone call from the recruiter with LinkedIn profiles for the people I was to talk to, I got up to move back one car. As I did, I received a phone call telling me that I had turned in a strong performance on the test, doing better than most other people who took it.

While on my way to the city, I was also contacted by a recruiter who had submitted samples for another job. She told me that they loved my samples and would like to do a phone interview the next day. At that point, I had not been to the interview yet, I had no idea what was going to happen, so I agreed.

I arrived in the city and went to the interview. One of the people interviewing me was someone with whom I had worked years earlier. I didn’t recognize his name because, face it, I’m horrible with names. But I knew that he remembered me from the earlier job and was looking forward to interviewing me. When I saw him, I remembered him too, so we had a pleasant few minutes talking about the other company.

The interview went really well. The person heading p the project talked to me for about two minutes and then declared that she had heard enough to make her decision. The interview ended on a high note. I talked to the recruiter and then hopped on the train to go home.

About 90 minutes later, I got a call from the recruiter for the job I had just interviewed for, saying that they wanted to hire me.

A short time after that, I got a call from the first recruiter saying that she had successfully set up the interview for me for today. When I explained that I had an offer on the table, she begged me to take the interview anyway. I agreed, more to not make her look bad with her client than anything else.

Thursday (Today)

How weird that, after two months of nothing, I’m suddenly the belle of the ball. While it’s nice, it means that I have some tough decisions to make, decisions that have nothing to do with the presidential election. Today I’m having trouble focusing. I’m having trouble keeping one thought in my head for more than a few seconds. Trying to think coherently is rather like trying to herd fish (way harder than cats!) and I’m just not up to it.

Of course, my novel is still nudging its way into my thoughts too. I’m simultaneously in the present trying to make decisions, and thinking about 1972 and the two girls I’m about to set on a grand adventure.

Needless to say, I did no writing yesterday. I don’t know if I will write today either because I have the interview and then a doctor’s appointment.

Will I catch up? Yes. I know that I can and the story is real enough that I know that I will. If I accept the job for which I interviewed yesterday, I won’t start until the 22nd of November. That gives me 19 days to write 48,000 words. I can do it. This is only a minor detour.

In the short run, it means that I have no chapter for you today. But don’t worry—I’ll be back!

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Who is Irene P. Smith? I am an author, programmer, and web designer. A former Contributing Editor to PC Techniques Magazine, I have written about computers and programming since 1989, and began publishing fiction in 2003. My home is in New York State, along the Delaware River, where I live with my husband and son.

You can also find me elsewhere on the web:

• My "other" blog: An Irene Thing
• My Author's Website: irenepsmith.com
• My Professional Website: irenesmith.com
• Facebook: IrenePSmithAuthor
• Twitter: @Story_Teller

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