Busy, Busy

Posted on March 9, 2004    Posted by John Scalzi

To answer the question of many (well, some — well, a few), no, I haven’t been taking a hiatus, nor does the guest blogging stint at the Detroit News mean that I’m not updating here. I’ve just been busy with the paid work. Specifically I’ve been doing a couple of projects for AOL, finishing up contributing to another Uncle John Bathroom Reader (that’s two I’ve contributed to this year, and I may contribute to a couple more before the year is out), plotted out a project proposal and prepared for some financial messaging work — I’m having a conference call on that project tomorrow. And I’m trying to jam in all this work early in the week because I’m headed to New York later in the week to meet with publishers, agents, business clients and — yes — even a couple of friends. So, you know. Running around like a chicken with its head cut off has been the order of the week.

I love it. I love being busy; specifically I love being busy with writing work (being busy doing taxes, or cleaning the house, or hosing down the cats — eh). I like the fact that somehow I keep managing to get to do the writing thing without needing to get that second job as a Wal-Mart greeter just really tickles me silly.

I do wish there were more regularity, however. I have definitely noticed that writing work comes in clusters — there will be some months (like this one) in which I’ll have everyone knocking on my door, and then other months in which if it weren’t for the AOL Journal and the OPM columns, I’d be up a creek without a mortgage payment (so AOL and OPM — I love you guys. Don’t go changin’). But there’s not much to be done about it. And given the choice between too much and not enough, well. You know where I stand on that.

But it doesn’t seem like y’all have been missing me much — I note that message threads have been well and truly active in my absence. I’m so excited that people play around here even when I drop out of sight. It’s heartening. And I notice that by and large, you’ve been playing nicely which each other. It is, indeed, much obliged. It’s nice to see that a certain level of decorum can be achieved, even with people who have strenuously differing viewpoints. I’m just so damn proud of you all.

Anyway. Just to let you know I’ve not abandoned the place — although given work and traveling, the next week may seem a little sparse. Just talk amongst yourselves. Before I leave on Thursday I may leave an open thread posting (a la the Nielsen–Haydens) and see what mischief you kids have come up with when I get back. I can trust you not to break things, right? Right?