Recently, my husband and I had the opportunity to purchase a 4×20 plot in a community garden. We have absolutely no gardening experience, so this will an interesting experiment for us (can we actually grow edible veggies)?

Since I was in desperate need of a new creative project, we decided to create a blog about our first-ever garden. We’re calling it Two Green Gardeners. We’ll document our journey along the way, sharing our newbie perspective on gardening. We’ll include lots and lots of photos, video (I hope — I still need to get a new camera), results (good and bad) and details on how much money we save (assuming we do!) by growing our veggies. And, since I am a wanna-be food writer, I also plan on posting some recipes I create with our garden goodies.

So far, this month’s projects include:

• A Winner’s Circle story for Competitor NW.
• A mental health story for MyRegence.com.
• Two stories for a custom health publisher (a brand-new client!).

I just received payment on an invoice I submitted exactly one week ago. I love it when this happens, because so often we writers have to wait and wait and wait for our checks to arrive. This particular client always gets the check in the mail super fast … even though our agreement is something like net 30. The fact that they don’t make me wait and wonder encourages me to continue working for them, even though they don’t pay as much as some other clients. A smaller check that arrives in a timely manner is, imho, better than a larger one that arrives six months late.

In my 7+ years of freelancing, I’ve worked with some incredible editors. Editors who are kind, responsive and encouraging. Editors who help me improve my writing; editors who give me opportunities to cover interesting topics. Editors who believe in me. So, it really means a lot when these editors have nice things to say about my work. I just updated my updated my home page with some new testimonials, and I can honestly say that I could just as easily write glowing reviews about every editor on that list. They make my job feel less like work and more like fun.

I know it is only Thursday evening, but all my deadlines are met for the week so I’m starting my weekend NOW. I’m looking forward to a visit from one of my dearest friends (whom I don’t get to see often enough) and her two kids, along with running on Saturday, shopping on Sunday and a trip to the Zoo on Monday. I’ll be back at my desk on Tuesday to write queries and start in on stories due in the coming weeks.

I love today’s blog post from Angie at 420 Creative (the fabulous designer who created this web site back in 2005). The post addresses what Angie considers one of the most frustrating parts of web design: content. Clients, she says, often drop the ball when it comes to delivering their content on time … and many of them don’t want to pay for copywriting services.

As a writer, this frustrates me as well. Writing is a skill, and it takes a lot of hard work. The ability to spell, read and use a keyboard does not make you a writer anymore than my ability to update this blog makes me an expert in web design.

Actually, it reminds me of something that happened a few months ago when I told some friends about how I wanted a web site re-design (I even posted on this blog that a new look was coming soon), but discovered that it isn’t in the budget right now. Among the comments I received? “Just DIY. It’s not hard! Anyone can do it!”

Um, no. I don’t think so. As a professional who wants to portray a polished image, this would be a ginormous mistake. Just like a non-writer attempting to write compelling content is a huge mistake.

Ten years ago, my husband and I had an idea. Our idea was ahead of its time. We mapped out our strategy and spent a ton of time working on it. But then we ran into road blocks, and we started to feel apprehensive about the project. So we let it go. A few years later, we realized that the idea was actually a pretty cool one. Such a cool idea, in fact, that a ton of other people started doing the same exact thing we had planned to do.

I often find myself wishing we hadn’t given up.

Today, I’m in a similar position. I have a list of ideas … projects I could start up on my own with essentially no cost (aside from my own time). I think about them a lot, but my enthusiasm ebbs and flows. This is a problem, because it keeps me from starting said projects. And if I never start them, they will never come to fruition … until someone else makes it happen, that is.

If you happen to see the March 2010 issue of Competitor Magazine’s Pacific Northwest edition, be sure to pick up a copy. My friend Megan McMorris signed on as editor earlier this year, just in time for the magazine’s re-launch. I’m super-impressed with the publication … it has tons of great info on running, cycling and other endurance sports. My favorite piece in the magazine is on page 13, where Megan discusses the new leash law in Portland’s Forest Park. I just love, love, the story’s headline: If you like it then you should have put a leash on it (if you don’t get the reference, it is probably time to update your running playlist).

I didn’t write anything for this issue, but I did get to contribute to the April issue (which will be out in a few weeks!).

So, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks researching children’s lit agents and trying to learn as much as I can about the process. And while I have pretty much decided which agent I will query first, I also know that my story is by no means ready for submission. In other words, a major revision is in process. I suspect this won’t be the last time I revise, either.

Did you see this piece on Gawker.com last week? The gist of the story: Conde Nast is suing an advertiser for late payment. The irony, though, is that certain Conde Nast publications are known to do the same thing (i.e. not pay on time) to freelance writers. While I’ve only written for Conde Nast once or twice and haven’t had a problem, I’ve heard story after story from other writers who say they have had to wait months (sometimes even a year or more!) for checks. Independent writers generally don’t have the resources to fight back, so we sit and wait. And wait and wait.