I love this job

Today was good, as was yesterday.

Yesterday I wrote several articles for www.helium.com. I wrote two more today. So in the last two days I wrote three articles for the Marketplace. The ones I wrote are for a Names website which, I think, is called www.name.com. Here are the three I wrote:
http://www.helium.com/tm/815570/something-keeps-cadence-originate
http://www.helium.com/tm/815348/modern-trend-taking-names
http://www.helium.com/tm/813905/logan-coolest-planet-because

I enjoyed writing them. The research was fun as well. You might notice some numerology stuff in there. I don't actually give it much credence, but it's fun to fiddle around with. But I did check my names on the numerology website I provided in two of the articles.

I checked the name that is on my birth certificate (which is not the one I have now) and the one that I have now. The two names are polar opposites! It's hilarious. I must be schizo. But what is actually interesting is that I can see quite a lot of both descriptions in me.

Anyway, I also wrote an article for the Pultizer Center contest that Helium is involved in. Here's the article: http://www.helium.com/tm/813765/remember-about-edwin-starr

Here's the overview of the contest:
http://www.helium.com/pulitzer-contest-overview/?ad=613&placement=forums&iw=45690

In short, participants in the contest write their best researched and composed articles to the titles the Pulitzer Center has given Helium. The top ten articles (when the contest ends) are passed on to the Pulitzer Center. Then the Pulitzer Center chooses one article from each title. The author of the chosen title is then a Pulitzer Center Citizen Journalist. Isn't that pretty nifty?

Also, today I worked on The Mars Betrayal and have one chapter to go. Probably. I don't see the rests of the action needing to be broken into two chapters. Plus, I think I am getting close to the length limit. It is going well and I am getting used to keeping the language simple.

It is nice to be close to finishing my second legitimate book. I mean, I know I wrote a book for my students in Taiwan, but it's pretty short. But it's not bad. I sent an electronic copy of it to a good friend, who is an ex-student of mine. She worked for a publishing company in Taipei, Taiwan. She suggested that she might be able to see if her company would want to publish the novella I wrote in Taiwan. It is called Neighborhood Thief.

Anyway, I also got a copy of the contract back today. I expected there to be a check with it, since part of the advance should be payable on signing, according to the contract. If it doesn't come this week, I will contact them.

Tomorrow I am going in to Charted Course's new offices to meet with the CEO/Founder. I imagine they will have a lot they need me to do. I should be pretty busy for the next few weeks.

I still hope to get back to The Cabin, though. Still want to have it written by the end of February, and then ready to be sent out by the end of March. Impatient, I know, but eager and ambitious.

I also need to finish the outline for the next graded reader I want to do. This one will be lower level.

And that's pretty much it. I am getting into the right kind of groove now. I just need to get started earlier in the day. I love this job.