By coscooper
Job hunting is almost a full time job, but the tasks are tedious and frankly boring. I mean, if you were asked by your current employer to search through a myriad of job sites, poke through every company web site you’d like to work with looking for that perfect job description hoping that they magically posted a new option, writing compelling, relevant cover letters and going through every variation of a job application, you’d tell your boss you were nuts, right? Well, that pretty much sums up my mornings, among other things.
When people ask how it’s going or what’s your status, I tell them I’m still “underemployed”, meaning, I work, but not enough to pay the bills. Besides reaching out to my network, following up on leads and the dreaded seek and apply work, I also do other things to stay busy. While it’s not a stigma anymore to be “underemployed” for a period of time, it does look good that you’re busy filling in your time with related work rather than catching up on the latest soap-opera or catching all those “new career” commercials. (Okay, I watch a little daytime TV, but not much.)
Besides the job hunt, I find myself writing a lot more than before. I bang out more blog posts, like this, and I pump out a number of articles for various online venues like Examiner, eHow and several others. Elance also has some freelance optional work, but it’s hard to land projects with all the “off-shore” contractors. Along side the article freelancing, I’ve been really catching up on those two novel projects I’ve worked on and off the past few years. In fact, I’m finished with one, High Lies, it’s now on the back burner, I’m letting it settle out of my brain. I’ll pick it up in a few weeks to review my handy work and decide if it’s worth selling to an agent or not. Jodi says that being a novelist is my retirement plan, we’ll see.
In my spare time, I also come up with every business idea I can think, Pro-Services company, news website, IT Project Management company, several software ideas for the iPad, to name a few. I hearken back to the early days of Jeff Bezos and J.K. Rowling thinking that if something pops into my mind for a good business plan or a great book, maybe that will work out. Pipe dreams to be sure, but I’m busy, underemployed really.
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By coscooper
I am working on two projects right now that are consuming my creative writing time. High Lies is an early work in progress, so the synopsis may change as I weave the story along. White Rain is a project I’ve been working for over a year. I’m interested in any feedback. Good, bad, ugly, indifferent or what ever thoughts come to mind.
High Lies
By – Shane Cooper
Synopsis: Security company owner, Jon Sydney, is thrown headlong into an investigation centered around legal marijuana dispensary owners being brutally murdered by a religious zealot. As the FBI ramp up their investigation focusing on his companies security service, Jon’s business teeters on the brink of disaster. With time on his hands, he throws himself into the investigation uncovering more than he bargains. Jon finds those he trusted aren’t who he thought, loved ones doing things he’d never dreamed and murder more horrible than he’d imagined, shattering any illusions of the ideal ordinary life in Boulder Colorado.
White Rain
By – Shane Cooper
Synopsis: During a blizzard, Nate Sheridan, discovers a young woman, shot, but alive along the narrow mountain road near his cabin. Nate, threatened by her assailant, has to make a fight or flight decision. Caught between being accused of attempted murder by a vengeful sheriff and the truth, Nate gets entangled with the kidnapers, a missing girls sister and his own past demons. Taking matters into his own hands, Nate chases the Russians between Colorado ski resorts only to discover there’s a connection linking the towns. He and the twins sister, Sam, embark on finding her missing sibling only to uncover an ugly side of the rich and famous.
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By coscooper
Some may know or may not know, but I’ve been a closet writer for several years. I mean “closet” in that it’s just been a hobby and/or passion that I’ve kind of had for years and I’ve not really talked much about it, so “in the closet” in that as a general rule, it’s not something discussed in open. I talk with Jodi, Dylan and have recently mentioned it a few times to people I know, but have kept it on the down-low for the most part.
I guess you could say, I’m kind of “coming out of the closet”. Not because I’m getting over embarrassment or shame or anything like that, but in that I would like more people I know to be aware of my interests as it becomes more “real”. I kind of use the “closet” metaphor (sexual orientation aside) because it sort of fits. I’ve been dabbling for many years with several novel ideas, but rarely if ever discuss it with anyone. I’ve written a ton of short stories, started a few novels, wrote a bunch of outlines & synopsis, but haven’t started or finished any real project. I’ve also worked on formal proposal stuff for work (boring), but nothing in the non-fiction arena. So, I’ve spent time honing skills, but never really done it for more than just that, honing word skills.
Right now, I’m working on three different projects. Two are in the outline stage (I attempt to outline to give myself direction, but find that I deviate a lot). One project I’m working on heavily, like I dream about the story, different scenarios and scenes, that kind of heavy. I took a short story idea and have expanded it. Here on my blog I put out a short story, Snow Blind… and have re-titled it, “White Rain”. I’m very close to getting the story down on paper, err electrons anyway.
Synopsis: In the middle of a snow storm, Nate Sheridan, an aimless, college graduate, ski bum, discovers a young woman, a twin, sitting along the narrow mountain road near his cabin, shot, but alive. Nate is threatened, then forced to kill her assailant, a Russian mobster tangled in a sorted kidnapping ring, who’s brother attempts to exact revenge. Nate, caught between being accused of attempted murder by a vengeful sheriff and the truth, gets entangled with the kidnapers, then becomes the only link to other victims. Taking matters into his own hands, Nate chases the Russians across various Colorado ski resorts only to discover there’s a connection linking the towns, where he and the twins sister, Sam embark on finding and freeing the kidnapped.
So, where do I stand? I’ve had a goal of finishing the rough draft by the end-of-the year, 2009. I’m close. Just today, I’ve banged out a number of chapters, nearly 8,000 words this weekend alone. Whew. I’m right at about 75,000 words and normally 100,000 is average for a full length novel.
So close…
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