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How once woman went from being a SAHM of four to a published freelance science journalist |
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I'm revising this intro after more than 15 years to better reflect my intention When I started this blog in 2004, I was a stay at home mom to two small children, a college graduate with a degree in English and Astrophysics. By 2007, I had four small children, ages newborn, 2, 4, and 6. For several years, Writing.com was how I kept my sanity. This blog began, first as a way of staying connected. Later, when I worked on a novel, I used it to stoke the writing fires as I plotted out short stories and the next step of my novel. Ultimately, I moved my writing preparation to "Invalid Item"  In 2010, I became a single mom who had homeschooled her children for several years. I had a 2, 4, 6 and 8 year old and had never had a "real" full time job, since I was married while in college. Everyone told me that I would have to buckle down and take on a "real" job. Instead, I decided to attempt to live my dream: to make it as a writer. I knew that if I didn't try then, I would never really dive in. I counted my money and set a deadline. If I hadn't began making a decent (defined) amount of money after so many months, I would suck it up and get a J-O-B. After some thought, I decided to play to my strengths. I served an internship at Sky & Telescope magazine while in college and enjoyed writing about space and astronomy. With an astrophysics degree, I thought I would be able to sell myself more easily, and a small niche should be easier to penetrate. It's been about ten years since I was first paid for an article on Space.com. In that time, writing - journalism - has been my primary moneymaker. I've often thought about setting up a blog on my website - www.astrowriter.com - but just haven't gotten around to it. There are a few things I would like to share for those who are interested in scientific journalism in general. Now that I'm back on WDC, there's no reason not to combine the two and use the site blog for that sort of interaction. There are certainly plenty of folks on this site interested in the publication process. So while I'll probably meander around some, that's the intention of of this blog: to share some of my struggles as a published journalist and to help answer oft-asked questions. |
| Yesterday was something of a hectic day with work. Knocked out an interview with NASA - I still have grumpy feelings toward PIOs (press information officers). For instance, I requested a document from the PIO via email at the beginning of March and they didn't even bother to shoot me down. I have continued to request it, but yesterday I asked for it in the phone interview, as well. (NASA PIOs sit in on phone interviews. ...) At that point, the PIO told me I needed to request the document via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Why didn't they tell me that two months ago, or at least when they made that determination? Fortunately, I requested the document through FOIA back in March. Still haven't received it, of course. Today's 30 day blog topic asks, which fictional character would you like most to meet? With the subsequent why and what would you like to ask and so forth. That's an interesting question, and I'm not sure of the answer, to be honest. I'm a voracious reader - I usually knock out 100+ books a year, and I'm already at around 60 for 2020. Most of those were pre-coronavirus lockdown. Last night, I wound up staying up late reading "The End of the World Running Club." I can honestly say it didn't end the way I thought it would. [Don't worry, no spoilers.] What I really liked about this book is that the main character is a pretty typical but crappy dad who is basically leaving all the work of caring for two little ones (baby and 3 year old) on his wife. As a former stay at home mom with four little ones, this resonated with me. What I liked about the guy is that, at least to himself, he admits it from almost page 1. The premise of the post-apocalyptic novel is that he is trying to get back to his family, who has been helicoptered something like 500 miles from Scotland to southern England, to take a boat to somewhere less devastated by the asteroid strike. If I ever ran into this guy in person, I think I would like to ask him if he has learned to do more than big, grandoise, in the middle of an apocalypse gestures and is doing a better job with middle of the night feedings and diaper changes. The day before, I wrapped up Joyce Carol Oates book, "Hazards of Time Travel." I've read a few Oates books, and even met the author back when I was in college, so I was pretty surprised to find a science fiction novel in her repertoire. I think she does a pretty good job of carrying it off. The main character - again no spoilers - is a 17 year old sent back in time for punishment for, essentially, thinking for herself, something which is frowned on by her Orwellian government.I don't particularly care to meet those in charge of her sentencing, but it does seem odd to send someone from such an oppressed time back to when things were relatively less oppressive. The character isn't really a stellar example - she's no Katniss Everdeen and becomes a rather pathetic figure - but what I liked is how Oates uses Skinner's behaviorism, which the teen is studying in college as part of a psychology degree, to hold up to society at large. No questions for her, but definitely a book you should check out. I suppose the stereotypical answer for a space writer should be a desire to meet Ellie, the character from Carl Sagan's Contact, later played by Jodie Foster in the movie. But while that movie apparently inspired several of my colleagues, it was just sort of meh to me. I still need to read the novel, though, which will hopefully be better. I don't know - the idea of fictional characters coming to life is a bit tetchy (and an entire genre of science fiction on its own). It seems like you're not going to get what you think you would because that person will become even more well rounded and three dimensional than even the best author can make them. My brain is flashing to Schwartzenagger's movie "Last Action Hero" or the episode of Charmed - are any of you old enough to remember that show? - when Phoebe's favorite movie character steps out of the movie. Both of those characters were admittedly flat, and I suppose the idea of both was to show that fictional characters are limited by virtue of being fictional. But I think it could have easily gone the other way. I'm sure there have to be science ficton novels that attack that subject with a vengeance lol. I'm trying to think of how Elizabeth Bennett - who has, of course, been expressed in all sorts of mediums - would change if she became three dimensional. Darcy, too, is somewhat stereotypicaly flat - of course, I think Darcy is the premise of the stereotype, so that may not be fair. That could make a fun story, at least. After all, Austin was limited by the proprieties of her time. It would almost be funny to find out that Mr. Darcy actually had a serious gas problem and was farting all the time!! I suppose none of these quite hits the prompt but it is definitely interesting to think about. |
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