A lazy day of freelancing

Today was a rather lazy day of freelancing.

First of all, I slept in rather later than I had intended — until about 11:00 am. (My mother-in-law and I had gotten on a later schedule while she was here, because we'd be up late talking and then we'd both sleep late the next morning.)

When I got up I really didn't feel like doing much, so I hauled my laptop to the couch, wrapped myself up in a blanket, and parked myself there. I also worked in my pajamas all day — something I haven't done in a long time, although I used to do it all the time.

Whereas I usually would have ridden my bike up to visit Panama in the afternoon, I decided to stay home and work until Michael got home. As a result I got a lot of work done, despite my lazy attitude!

After about two months of having horse responsibilities to attend to every day in addition to my freelance work, today felt like a vacation — even though technically I worked. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy those lazy freelance days!

My first deadbeat client fights dirty

I blogged Monday about my first serious deadbeat client. (Not editor — that was bad terminology on my part. The owner of the magazine is the deadbeat, and he isn't paying the editor either!)

Today I have more news: My deadbeat client is fighting dirty! Today in an email he threatened to intentionally not pay us if we report him. (On Monday we sent an email stating that if we were not paid in full by September 26th, we would report him to a whole list of organizations, including WritersWeekly.com.)

Considering he is also admitting to near-bankruptcy in his email, I'm not sure what he thinks is different about that, unless of course he wants the additional bad publicity of having threatened us.

Stay tuned, because the way this is looking I'll be broadcasting his name on a very public level soon enough!

My first deadbeat client

It seems I have run into my very first deadbeat client.

I've had a couple of clients try to stiff me in the past. One was over a paltry sum — a client tried to get away with not paying me the remaining 50 percent on a small project after it was completed. (I got the first half up front before I started work.) Another client claimed he wasn't happy with my work (a classic case of him not giving me information and materials on time, and then getting mad at me when as a result I couldn't meet deadlines) and tried to refuse paying me the last installment, until of course I threatened to report him to the propert authorities.

Both situations were brief, however, and were won out by my persistence. This time, I'm not so sure there will be a happy ending to the story. The owner of a small local magazine I write for is now more than two months late on a hefty payment. He has been giving me the run around for more than a month, but in the past week he started ignoring my emails altogether. I've been in touch with the other writers and the editor, and they are all in the same boat.

All of us conspired to write an email threatening to report him as a nonpaying employer/client if he doesn't pay us all within ten business days. Stay tuned for more information — if he doesn't pay (and I fear he won't), I plan to make sure the entire freelance writing community knows not to write for this guy!

Another thing I love about freelancing

There is very little I don't love about freelancing. Even the stress of meeting deadlines is far outweighed by the advantages: working my own hours, not having to commute, doing what I love for a living, etc.

Today is a good reminder of one of the benefits of freelancing. I am actually taking the day more or less off — I took care of some admin things this morning, and I am planning on spending the afternoon with my mother-in-law, who is visiting us for a couple of days. It was on short notice, but after my productive week last week, I definitely think I deserve an unscheduled day off to spend with family!

Of course, being the workhorse (ha ha) that I am, I will probably do a little bit of work this evening, while my husband and his mom hang out, just to make sure the unexpected day off doesn't set me back too much this week.

Spam legalized in Virginia?!

I suppose this is good news for some of our clients, but for everyone else it's just a d*mn shame:

Va. Supreme Court Strikes Down State's Anti-Spam Law

And how did they manage to justify this? Well, the lawyer of the defendant (Jeremy Jaynes, "one of the world's most prolific spammers") argued that Jaynes's, er, correspondence was protected under the right to free speech.

I don't know about you, but I don't think the Founding Fathers intended the First Amendment to cover sales pitches such as "Increase pen!s size" and those selling stock market scams. Most importantly, the court is forgetting the fundamental premise of American freedom: that we are free only insofar as our actions don't infringe on others' rights.

A good day for a cup of hot cocoa

It's been raining pretty much nonstop since late yesterday afternoon. We don't get many days like these in Colorado, but we do get a few! Usually they make me just want to curl up with a cup of hot chocolate or tea and a good book.

Today, unfortunately, I have some work to finish up, so instead I'll be curling up with my laptop. The good book part will have to wait!

Back to work as usual

After last week's difficulties, I am pleased to report that this week has been very productive.

Now that I'm no longer cleaning stalls in exchange for board, my work load — which I had reduced somewhat over the last month and a half to accommodate my stable duties — needs to be ramped up again. Although last week I was a little depressed and found myself unwilling to work, this week my outlook has changed: I am taking on more work, and actually find myself looking forward to my work again.

This week I also started riding my bike to visit Panama, as he is now a little closer to me than he was (about a 5 minute drive in the car — 20 minutes on my bike thanks to the big hill I have to ride up). It makes me feel good on several different levels: financially and economically, for using less gas, but also physically, as it replaces cleaning stalls as a source of regular physical exercise.

Of course, this also means I get to sleep in regularly for the first time in a couple of months, since I no longer need to take Michael to work so that I can keep the car during the day. Getting up at 10:00 am every day has definitely helped to improve my outlook as well!