nyj69: book deal finalized with Random House


Yup, the writer business is well night official. Signed the contract Sept. 23, got the money a few weeks later. Kicked off writing with a 10-day relaxation/research trip earlier this month, funded largely by my teaching income from Prep Co.

Yes, that's right: despite draining sessions here and there (turns out it's wise to eat before teaching 3-hour sessions), I finished my first GRE class last month. My schedule will be quite full in the coming months, between juggling two demanding freelance writing projects and working on the book, but only Prep Co. gives me access to health insurance. The savings and security that provides would be more than worth the ongoing 7-10 hour commitment per week.

Especially since my pants are getting loose again (sigh). It's not that I can't cook (I can, and usually well) but somehow lattes are never quite the meal I wish they were. And, well, grocery shopping is such a pain when you're out of the habit and overwhelmed by meal-planning for one (check, check). At least I've had a couple good meals here and there. While Mom and Dad were in town, they took me and some friends out for a fabulous, intimate dinner at my favorite Lower East Side Italian place. And just last week, I actually got a pretty good meal (well, cocktail hour + appetizers) on the tab of Cosmopolitan magazine.

How did I land this, you ask? Well, there was this contest. Basically a popularity contest for grownups: wherein people who work in media nominate some studly colleague for Cosmo's "media man" of the year. A certain friend of mine got nominated, and leveraged his blog for votes (which Cosmo encourages in volume and from repeat voters). Seeing as how voter fraud/obsession/loyalty are so central to the contest, Cosmo also set up a special category for the highly motivated/very lazy friend (depends on your perspective).

Having done my share of data entry years ago, I opted to spend more energy on this "special" route — praising, wheedling and otherwise cajoling the judges my friend should be their winner. Gimic of choice: rewriting overplayed pop song lyrics to stress my friend's virtues. A tepid "Hey Mickey" started things off but I warmed up to greater (and judge-persuading) brilliance with Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual" and Stevie Wonder's "She's So Lovely" (lyrics available on request). That did it for creative efforts, but those few songs were more than enough to win the judges and the Cosmo cocktail party.

When I heard about my win, however, and started planning the guest list, I found myself stuck at 6 of the 10-person party. Then it occurred to me this might be a boon. One of my more unusual freelance gigs this year has been giving editorial assistance to the friends whose first national release hit stores in August. I've thought a lot about Tremolo's message this summer, and the benevolent fund they launched along with the record (50 percent of net profits go into a fund controlled by record-buying fans, who decide quarterly which charity to benefit). Even the local concerts they play in San Francisco apply this radical 50/50 split to ticket revenue (though they have other sources of income).

So when I hit my guest-list snag, I thought, What if I applied that Love > Revenge model to this party? Surely Cosmo would be willing to give part of the budget to charity. And ever since Katrina, I've felt a little guilty about embarking on all-out indulgence — especially of the food and booze kind (surely one things N'awlins is known for, besides the music). Most persuasive: the friend at the center of this cocktail quandary is from Louisiana and spent days after the hurricane blogging on-site reports from friends back home, raising money for local causes, and listing things readers could send a friend in Opelousas. I asked Ken what he thought, then went to Cosmo with the plan: if we only brought 6 people, would they put the rest of the budget to a cause of Ken's choice?

They'd be "ecstatic." Throughout the planning the woman remained quite dubious I'd want to curtail our boozeathon just so half our budget could benefit Katrina clean-up. But none of we five who partied last Thursday regretted such a small sacrifice when half of our budget — $375 — was helping a damaged public school where Ken's friend works. Not that in hearing this story you should think me that noble. As my pastor recently noted, the chief distinctive of Christians should not be that we confess our sins but that when we confess our sins we also repent of the motives behind the ostensibly good things we've done. That, my pride informs me, is devilish tricky — part of why his words resonate as truth profound. But hey, if telling you gets a few more people thinking how they could practice a Love > Revenge mindset in their own lives, it's worth my keystrokes.

posted @ 04:32 PM on Wed - October 19, 2005 remark! Email |  as quoted:
before I said ...  but more recently: 

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