I am not 100% yet. I’m still using cough drops at a decent pace, but I can speak without it hurting, most of the time. I also am getting tired out a little faster than I should be. Such is life, I’m sure it’ll be all better soon enough.
Scrum Master jobs aren’t exactly plentiful out here right now. Personally, I’m thinking the local economy might be slowing a little. My father-in-law has been seeking employment for longer than I want to think of and the plethora of jobs that I was applying to last summer just aren’t there anymore. I am putting in for the ones I find though, and have gotten through the initial phone screen a couple of times even. Unfortunately it hasn’t gone past that yet.
As for writing. I received an “experience” for my birthday to help me figure out how to move this forward. Basically, a team of writers opened up their process for coming up with an idea and writing a novel to people who were interested enough to purchase it. Originally it was a KickStarter project but now the archives are available for sale on their site. They put themselves on a very tight time limit, 1 month. They then recorded all of their story meetings, published all of their drafts and edits as they went, talked about the process as it unfolded, and basically just let everyone see how the “sausage” was made. I feel like I’m not a bad writer, so for me it was all about seeing the process they use. As I finish that journey I am going to take what I can learn from it and try finding my own process. In fact, I’ve already started.
I’m working on writing short fiction, up to the 100-word stories now, to help hone my writing. I’m learning what schedule best balances writing and job-searching for me. I’m building a world to write in, and it’s not the world I originally though. Finally, I’m also poking into what it would take to do freelance writing for income until I build enough fiction to make money. Does all this mean I’m hanging up the IT hat? No. I’m still looking hard for that job as a Scrum Master, Software Project Manager, or Software Development Manager. There just aren’t a lot of them now and I’m not ready to write code for another 5 years. (Good thing too since DRC was 90% VB.Net and most places are C# or Java.)
I had originally hoped that by now, assuming I hadn’t been hired, I would be working on a novella and have some actual short stories published to this blog. Being sick for the last month has really slowed that wagon down though. Instead of letting that get to me I am moving forward. By the end of this month I anticipate having short stories on this blog and making good progress on a novella/novel. There is one wrench I’m seeing right now though. Due to the competitive market for the jobs I’m hoping for I am going to split some of my fiction writing time off and work to complete the Agile basics book I had envisioned two years ago. That isn’t just talk either. I have 3,500 words (11 pages) down already. Granted this is largely the copy from previous blog posts, but it’s in the right place to become a book.
With that I’ll leave you the last few short fiction stories I’ve done in case you don’t see them on Facebook.
55 word:
3/1/2016
“It all fit!”
That was an exaggeration really. The drive would not be comfortable. “More like it barely fits.”
“So this is it. The big dream coming true.”
“Maybe. I still have a long way to go.”
“You’ll make it though. You always do.”
After a hug I got in the car and drove off.
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
Not again. It’s getting hard to function with these constant interruptions.
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
Three days? A week? I don’t even know anymore.
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
How did this happen anyhow? Why do I deserve this?
<Silence>
“Mr Cooper. The test is over. At the agreed $50 per hour you get $150.”
100 word:
3/7/2016
Sara was crying when she called. “Bridget? Are you busy?”
Of course I’m in the middle of an experiment, but I always have time to help a friend in need. “No, what’s up?”
“My grandma died last night. That’s why I wasn’t in school today.”
“The silly Grandma?”
“No. Grandma Hamilton. I, I didn’t know her as well.”
“Do you know what happened?”
“Dad said she was old and it was her time. We’re leaving tomorrow to see the rest of the family.”
“You can call me anytime you need to.”
“Thanks Bridget, I knew I could count on you.”
3/9/2016
Bridget burst into her shed clutching the package tight. She carefully cleared a space on the workbench before putting it down. She had been waiting for this since last time Grandpa took her to the science museum.
She opened the toolbox and got out the box cutter. She worked her way around the package, careful not to push the blade into the box. When she had all the tape cut she first put away the knife, then slowly opened the package.
There it was, her own soldering iron. This would bring her experiments to a whole new level, adding electricity.