Happy August!
So sorry it’s been a little hit-or-miss these past few weeks! Honestly, I figured the most topsy-turvy time for posting to my blog would be while I was moving in July, but that ended up being fairly straightforward.
I had expected my summer to be filled with lots of freelance work, but for May I had a few jobs and then it got quiet. And I started to worry.
When I sent my résumé and cover letter to a bookstore (despite their website saying they had no open positions) and I got an email back saying they actually had a part-time position open at one of their two locations, I got so excited and thought it was an answer to my prayers!
Things were moving quickly and I went to my interview. I seemed to click immediately with the general manager of both locations and the manager of the branch they said was hiring. Then, while there, they informed me that they actually had a position open at both locations—which could potentially be a full-time position, especially for someone like me who lived equidistant to each.
And, as you know from my previous posts, I did not get the job. And I couldn’t understand what went wrong. I needed the income and it seemed like a perfect fit.
I. Did. Not. Understand.
Until August 1 hit.
Since the beginning of August, I have been splitting my time between a steady stream of proofreading work and writing a full-length novel. Now, the novel started with about 28,000 words (I had already been writing it but paused during the move and prepping for the bookstore job interview), so it wasn’t like I started the writing of the novel in August with nothing.
My aim is to try to be finished with this draft of the novel by September 5. It’s the first week of classes of my last semester of grad school. Since one of my classes meets on Mondays, I don’t have to worry about it until the following week (the 2nd being Labor Day), but I can’t guarantee my Tuesday night professor won’t assign homework, hence giving myself the whole weekend to do anything necessary for that.
What seemed like a devastation at the time (not getting the bookstore job) turned out to be a huge blessing in disguise.
August has been truly the best month of my life. I have been able to do everything that I absolutely love—editing, writing, attending church—and I wouldn’t be able to do all of that while also working full-time at a bookstore, traveling 30 minutes each direction. The proofreading has been steady enough that it pays my bills and allows me the security to write in my free time.
I know this season won’t last forever (though I hope it lasts a while longer), but I will enjoy it while it lasts and thank God every moment that it does.
Oh, and Kota is loving life right now too.
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Brittany Stonestreet 