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Herding Cats

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Relaxing on the hotel’s king-sized bed. October, 2017

As one who has lived with cats for nearly thirty years, I know all too well what it means to say that something is “like herding cats.” (For those unfamiliar with the expression, it means that you’re trying to gather and organize disparate items/events/personalities and it seems that each has a mind of its own and wishes to go off in a different direction.) Even when you love the cats dearly, as I do, herding them can sometimes drive you a little bit nuts.

An apt corollary would be “like indie publishing.”

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Draft 3.5

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Olivia, editor-in-chief of Tuxedo Cat Press, feels it is her duty to oversee my work

Turns out that when it comes to keeping my hands off the manuscript, I kinda suck at it.

It probably didn’t help that last week, three major projects that were on my schedule all went away. (None were my fault—cases settled or were withdrawn by a party.) Then, when I opened my emails Monday morning, I discovered that the only remaining project on my desk was on hold, which meant I had literally no billable work.

Which, in turn, meant I had two choices. 1. Panic. 2. Take advantage of this unexpected free time to work on something else.

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The First Ten Years

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Santa and me at Winterfair, 2022

July, 2013. Work was beyond summer-slow. In fact, there was nothing on my desk. Which wouldn’t have been so bad except that the client who still owed me a lot of money for an appeal had decided he didn’t have to pay anymore. So no work and no cash flow. It was grim, to say the least.

I sat at the table on my back porch, contemplating my next move. Should I wait for the legal research/writing work to pick up? Or should I start looking for a job working for someone else? Was my time up as an independent contractor?

The notion of going to work in someone else’s office, on someone else’s schedule, made me shudder. But what was the alternative?

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Deadline Met!

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Danny and Draft #2

Delighted to announce that Draft #2 is done! Many thanks to all the kind and lovely people who continue to support and encourage me in this endeavor. I adore you all!

February 18 was my modified deadline for Draft #2. As you may recall, my original deadline was February 1. When it became clear that wasn’t feasible, I moved it. Unlike deadlines in my day job, I didn’t have to seek permission or file a motion—I just reset it. The first date was up to me, and so was the second. I simply picked what I thought was reasonable and got back to work. (Note: in case you were wondering, it’s very freeing to be able to change a deadline without getting permission from a judge. Made me feel quite powerful.)

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