In the weeks following a short story’s release on my fiction podcast, Not About Lumberjacks, I record a short behind-the-scenes audio essay about the story. Sometimes I focus on the mechanics of the story or what went into recording, while other times, I focus on something thematic surrounding the story. Most recently, I spent six […]

I am the sole provider of income in our household. I pay the bills as a technical writer. Last Friday, I left the job I had for six years, nine months, and twenty-three days. It’s the longest job I’ve ever had. I start a new job this Wednesday. Changes I think about what I’m giving […]

And so we close the door on 2018… We’ve all seen more than our fair share of year-end lists, I’m sure. I won’t add to that. Instead, I’ll just say this: During a time when layoffs at work resulted in me taking on another writer’s job, I swore to myself, “I will not work overtime […]

Around Christmas, 2017 — I released an episode of my fiction podcast in which I shared a handful of very short fiction, instead of the usual single story for the episode. This year, I continued that tradition, releasing three stories last Sunday. With the rush of year-end work, polishing a novel, and a general busy […]

I usually go to bed at a decent time and sleep through the night. But there comes a point near the end of a draft of a novel when my sleep pattern changes. My sleep also changes with the seasons. I think one of the many reasons I prefer autumn and winter to spring and […]

Today, this little blog turns nine years old. In that time, I’ve been laid off from a long-term job that shut down most of a department. I freelanced with an airline in Guam and edited maintenance work cards for a major airline. I worked at a massive bank during the mortgage crisis, and have had […]

I’m still here. It’s been a busy time with work…and a busy time writing. (Also, it’s been remarkably rainy for August in Texas.) I cannot complain…especially about the rain and being busy writing. A Change in Schedule I normally wake up very early to write. I still wake up early, but I’ve not been writing […]

It’s not that I don’t take time off from work, but it’s rare that I take full weeks off. Long weekends happen somewhat frequently, but in over 5 1/2 years where I work, most weeks off have been stacked around Thanksgiving. Taking last week off [I think] was the first time I’ve taken a week […]

I try not to use The Juggling Writer to complain about things. Sure, I talk about work sometimes cutting in line before writing and other things like that, but…it is a blog about all the things in life competing for time with writing. But I’m going to complain in this entry. Hell, I might even […]