tim_pratt ([info]tim_pratt) wrote,
@ 2008-03-15 22:10:00
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Feast Or Famine (And We're All Out Of Feast)

New River pictures! (Plus the view from our balcony.)

My story "From Around Here" from John Klima's anthology Logorrhea is being reprinted in the next edition of The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror! This is my second appearance in the series, which I've been reading for, oh, more than half my life. Always nice to be there. This makes three year's best appearances for the year, with three different stories (one SF, one fantasy, one horror). I think that's my best year yet!

I got my tax info from my accountant last week. Oy. I owe a lot of money. It's the outside edge of the most I thought it would be. We made enough last year to be bumped into the next tax bracket. Great, but also not so great. My savings have just vanished in a puff of oily black smoke, reduced literally to single digits. Oh well. It was nice having a savings account while it lasted... I made a lot last year, but threw almost all of it at credit cards (and reduced my debt by two-thirds, which was nice). What didn't go to credit cards went to funding Heather's maternity leave and buying us a new (used) car. Alas, paying down debts isn't tax deductible. I wish I was as rich in fact as I look on paper.

This means I should really get scrounging on making more money this year, especially with River's medical expenses providing a sudden shock to our local economy. My current contract will be completed in a couple of months when I turn in the fourth Marla book, so I've been talking to my agent about future plans. There's a lot of work ahead of me, generating proposals and such, but it's mostly exciting work. I may start reviewing books again, because at this point, a $50 book review actually has a noticeable impact on my quality of life. This writing life is feast or famine, y'all...



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[info]nihilistic_kid
2008-03-16 05:15 am UTC (link)
I just made $50 writing a two-page history of the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile.

See you next week I hope. You should pitch me articles for CW.

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[info]tim_pratt
2008-03-16 06:39 am UTC (link)
Yeah, I was just talking to Heather today about your upcoming visit. Should be fun!

I'm slow at writing non-fiction, which is why I don't do much of it, but I'll give some thought to possible articles.

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[info]desayunoencama
2008-03-16 11:18 am UTC (link)
I'm slow at writing non-fiction, too. Which is a shame for a freelancer, because nf tends to pay much better than fiction, and often you can sell it before you have to write it.

Good luck with the reviewing, and finding other income streams, and congrats on the reprint!

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[info]rosefox
2008-03-16 06:42 am UTC (link)
I wish I was as rich in fact as I look on paper.

I think every freelancer feels like that around tax time. My accountant cheerfully reminded me that the rest of the year, it's great to have a business that's pure profit! It's just painful when itemized deduction time comes around and you realize you have nothing to itemize or deduct.

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[info]sovay
2008-03-16 04:22 pm UTC (link)
My story "From Around Here" from John Klima's anthology Logorrhea is being reprinted in the next edition of The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror!

Congratulations!

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[info]feyrieprincess
2008-03-16 06:31 pm UTC (link)
I only made $5,000 last year.
So I don't have this problem....

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[info]tim_pratt
2008-03-17 05:15 am UTC (link)
Ah, I remember living on that kind of money! (Of course, in the bay area, $5,000 will get you a studio apartment for seven or eight months... and that's in Oakland. It wouldn't go nearly that far in San Francisco.)

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