ML, the Journalist??

I have something very exciting to share. I haven't written about it in here yet because, well....you'll understand why in a minute.

Earlier this summer, I wrote a blog post--"Perfectly Poised Under Pressure," mid-July--that made me think about writing again (not journals and blogs, but for papers and published things). And actually, it wasn't my post that made me think about professional writing again. It was more about the reaction I got from friends. Part of the reason I gave up on this mini-dream a few years back is because it is so difficult to get published. There are books on the subject, magazines dedicated to it, whole classes taught on the art of "what it takes to get in print." But I was lazy then...and young(er)...and I felt overwhelmed by it all. But all the recent friendly nudges pushed me to do SOMETHING.

Still feeling overwhelmed and lazy, I turned to what five years of real-world business experience has taught me: find what you need on the internet, network incessantly, and sell your products for a price that can't be beaten (free). So I googled some local papers, navigated to their websites, and found some random email addresses. I told them about myself, gave them a link to my blog and asked if there were ever interested in printing FREE articles from local residents.

This was in July and by the time birthday season hit, I forgot all about these little emails.

Fast forward to August 31st. Someone from one of the papers--herein referred to as the LBG--contacted me! This editor liked my blog, liked my style of writing, and thought that possibly I could write things for the LBG. We talked about my writing experience, what the LBG was looking for, the style of articles needed, my interests, etc. There seemed to be a lot of crossover between my interests/my style and what they were looking for. The editor said to call back a week later with some ideas for articles and we'd go from there. If I wrote an article and it was pretty close to being print-ready, and then it got published, I would go into the circulation as someone who could write articles on an as-needed basis. If things went well there might be opportunities for a column.

I could not believe this. I NEVER expected this to happen. I NEVER thought I could possibly ever write something that might make it into print.

So a week later I called LBG and we discussed some ideas. On Wednesday of this week I got my first "assignment." Well....I'm not really sure I can call it an assignment. It's more of a test. My test is to interview and report on a local DJ duo. If it is good enough, it will be included as a piece of a larger article about several different local DJs. It's small and it's only part of something bigger, but if it makes it to the paper I'll be a published writer!!!

I am still in shock about all this...but I can't be in shock for too long. My deadline is the 28th!