The Little Things

2014-10-212014-10-21 Miss Poison Being Real, Musings, Pieces Of Me, Poison In Lethal Doses, Unfiltered, Work, Writing Honesty, Laptops, Musings, Poison In Lethal Doses, Reading, Work, Writing

You know you’re a writer who lives and dies by her laptop when replacing your laptop battery is a big deal. What’s worse, you’re excited about the fact that you got it for a good price and it should be here sooner rather than later. The fact that I considered getting a second one “just in case”, is probably just a sickness.

The next thing I will have to replace on my “not even old laptop” is some of the keys. They’re all still firmly attached, but if you didn’t know where all the letters are on the keyboard naturally, you wouldn’t be able to read E, R, T, I, O, A, S, H, L, N, M, the period key, or half of the space bar. HP and I disagree on the pricing, so I’m definitely not replacing the keys through them.

One of my best friends and I would always laugh about this, because with longer nails, we both had to take Sharpies and write what key was what on our old desktop computer keyboards. Hers was a nightmare. I tried using it once and after Sharpie-ing all of the letters in, never touched it again. She came home one day and laughed hysterically at what I’d done, but it was necessary. Her keyboard was different from mine, but apparently we’re both rampant keyboard abusers. We won’t discuss how many times the tip of one of my nails gets stuck between the keys, which is always a sign for me to file them down to a more desirable length. This time, it’s happening Friday or Saturday. I want nice nails for my birthday, even though I have no plans. (Yes Riley, I’m being ever-so subtle here. You’d better be bringing me chocolate, diamonds, or chocolate covered diamonds, but I will also settle for chocolate covered strawberries. 😛 ) However, no matter what the plans entail, I will be watching The Good Wife. That’s definite.

I made it through a few more chapters on that read-through yesterday, but not before calling the intermediary to make sure I was protected in case this guy acts like a douche bag again and I am forced to back out of the job. I am protected, which gives me a sense of calm. I messaged him a chapter update and he seemed like a totally different person, but later sent me revisions to a chapter I have not yet read. Yeah, I know, I had the exact same thought. I did a little research and discovered that this guy likes to hire women to read his work. In nearly two years, I don’t think he’s hired a single man to read his manuscript. I have a theory on that, and it’s not because every woman I’ve ever met is thorough, has great attention to detail, and gives solid feedback. I honestly think I’m being misjudged here, AGAIN, but since I probably don’t have a lot more work to really do, I am going to try and stick it out. In the meantime, I am actively looking to line up something more challenging. I nearly fell asleep during chapter four. That doesn’t bode well, but it could just be the lingering whatever I have in my system that caused me to pass out yesterday afternoon. Even now, since I’ve been up since about 4:00 a.m., I am feeling exhausted. It helps that, thus far, it is dreary outside.

For now, I am going into my own work for the second time in two days. Yesterday I revised my acknowledgements, today I’m going to re-read the big fight sequence and see how it plays out in my mind. I am certain there’s more that can be added, but I don’t want to force it. When I don’t feel at my best health wise, it’s always okay to back off a bit on the external shit.

Sick & Tired

2014-10-20 Miss Poison Cats, Chronic Pain, Fibromyalgia, Honesty, Images/Photos/Quotes, Inspiration, Kittens, Life, Mondays, Musings, Pieces Of Me, Poison In Lethal Doses, Stress, Work, Writing Chronic Pain, Fibromyalgia, Honesty, Mondays, Poison In Lethal Doses, Reading, Rest, Sleep, Stress, TV, Weekends, Writing

I am sick & tired. Mostly of being both of the aforementioned. Because I have Fibromyalgia, my body responds differently to the weather and a lot of other external things that I, personally, cannot control. I have heightened senses, so a lot of smells make me sick and I often have to retreat to my bedroom, with the blinds drawn tight, because the sun and most sources of light just plain kill me. If you ever see me coming home at 2:00 a.m., it’s almost certain you will see me wearing sunglasses. This disturbs a lot of people, but it is a necessity for me. Most people I know that have light eyes also have the same issue, but it depends. Fibro, Chronic Pain, and/or migraines can affect anyone to this degree. And yes, I do have light eyes.

I did get some rest over the weekend, but really, the entire weekend itself was a blur. Reading, writing, sleeping, laundry, cats, hot chocolate, TV, and not necessarily in that order. My DVR wants me to play “catch up”. I think I’m secretly trying to see if it REALLY holds 200 hours of Hi-Def TV or if Verizon is just screwing with me. Of course, I have NO IDEA what the hell one does with 200 hours of television. I’m not sure anything is that interesting. I deleted a show off my queue entirely and deleted the two episodes I had not seen. Once you lose me, you lose me, there’s no sense in me watching the ship sink. There are far superior shows I will be VERY sad to see go, like Sons of Anarchy. The fact that I missed a few seasons and need to catch up on those doesn’t take away from how hooked I’ve become. Others I’ve been with since day one and I’m sure I will be much sadder to say good-bye to. Alas, nothing lasts forever. Except, apparently, Supernatural. I missed a lot of last season, so I’m glad this one is holding my interest and making me laugh. I have a twisted sense of humor, sue me.

Today I am going to attempt to finish Bones Never Lie. I openly admit to being hooked to these books, even when on the rare occasion, they scare the crap out of me. It’s only happened once or twice. Patricia Cornwell is much more apt to terrify me and make me double-check that I’ve locked all the doors. Her books have also made me think someone was hiding in my trees, but that’s a story for another morning. We’ll blame that moment on cold medicine I may, or may not, have been taking at the time. 😉

I want to take a moment and thank Nicholas C. Rossis for sending me a copy of one of his books. Go over to his blog and let him know I sent you. 🙂 It’s important for writers to support one another.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled “stuff” for the day. Happy Monday.

A Job Well Done

2014-10-162014-10-16 Miss Poison Editing, Musings, Pieces Of Me, Poison In Lethal Doses, Writers, Writing Authors, Editing, Experience, Half-Assing Work, Inner Critic, Poison In Lethal Doses, Quality, Skill, Talent, Writers, Writing

I feel good. I have completed editing over 94,000 words in less than three weeks, way ahead of schedule. I was invited to submit a proposal on an “invitation only” job and got it in a matter of an hour or so. It’s a read-through with notes, it won’t take me very long. I just have to stifle my urge to edit it. I refuse to do something I’m not being paid or asked to do in the job description. If you’re asking for a read-through, you’ll get it, but I won’t kill myself to give you more than what you’ve asked for. That’s only fair.

It’s also one of the reasons I keep my best work to myself until it is submitted for publication. I don’t need 100 opinions or thoughts, I know myself and I know what works. It’s not ego, it’s skill and experience. Not everything I write is for every single person on the planet, nor does it need to be. Know thy audience, but please yourself as the first person reading it.

Many writers deal with an “inner critic”. Basically, mine knows when I’m writing “filler”. In turn, I have no problem deleting it. It could be pages of crap, but I encourage you, as a writer, to know when it’s crap and remove it. It helps to avoid the “This is being cut.” remarks from an editor in the future. Know yourself, know when you’re putting your absolute best work forward, and know when to step back from it for a little while. Return with fresh eyes and a clear mind. If you agonize, it will always show in your work. If you were pushing yourself to meet a deadline, it will show and any reader with a lick of sense will pick up on it immediately.

Not that long ago I read a book from an author I read consistently. From beginning to end, the book felt forced, it felt repetitive, it felt unimaginative and about as unique as a paper bag, and getting to the end was like pulling teeth with your bare hands. The book went straight to #1 on the New York Times Bestsellers List. I wish you could have seen my face when I saw it. The book lacked quality, substance, a real plot, and damn near bored me to tears. It was the same old shit, in a different fucking book. It was, in all honesty, not that much different from a different series that the author writes, only the names and characters are slightly different. At the core of both, is the author’s pain, and she pours that pain into both of her lead characters. I respect her right for creative control and creative license, but that book made me lose a ton of respect for her as a person. When you’ve read all of a person’s work for closing in on 12 years, it is perfectly okay to be disappointed by even just one highly touted novel in a series, or in the series itself. I will pretty much NEVER publicly disrespect another female author, because I know how hard we work (Yes, male authors work hard too, but I lack the necessary equipment guys.), and I’m a girl’s girl to the core. For an author that once inspired me, I felt like she’d let her readers down. I read the reviews and while it remains at about a 4 star rating on many web-sites, pretty much every review was filled with anger, disappointment, and disgust. People were offended that they’d wasted $15-$30 on crap, depending on where and how they had purchased it and in which format, and that’s putting many reviews mildly.

Half-assing it shows. Maybe not to a new reader, but for people who have been with you from the very beginning, they will remember. They will determine whether or not the next book sells, and exactly how well it does. So, lesson to be learned? Don’t cheat your readers, but most importantly, don’t cheat yourself.

The Power Of Social Media

2014-10-11 Miss Poison Honesty, People Helping People, Poison In Lethal Doses, Respect, Social Media, Writing Arrow, Honesty, Poison In Lethal Doses, Social Media, Stephen Amell, Writing

I openly admit that social media annoys me. You can pretty much guarantee you will never see me using Twitter. I adamantly refuse. If you cannot read and follow it here, you don’t need to see it in an alternate place.

I have a minor addiction to Pinterest, which has waned a bit in the past year, but it’s still a fun form of social media that’s harmless, kind of like Candy Crush Saga, which I play on three different devices- because I’m a nut job! This platform has a Facebook presence, as do I, but that’s as far as I am personally willing to take the madness, outside of Goodreads, which I have been a part of since 2008. Aside from four utter whack jobs on Facebook, I find it all pretty tame, and oftentimes, quite boring and uninteresting.

One of the key issues I have with social media is that it takes away from the time I could spend writing. I don’t just mean writing here, but writing on a whole. Like any other artist, I don’t like being distracted. I can’t always listen to a person talking or even listen to music when I am writing, because I am so focused on what my brain needs me to type, that I cannot divide my attention, nor should I.

I think there’s great power in social media if used correctly. If you take away the cyber-bullying, hate mongers, and negativity, there are a lot of very positive things accomplished via social media. My absolute BEST example would be Stephen Amell.

If you don’t know who Stephen is, you’re probably living under a rock, don’t own a television, and have never picked up a magazine in which he is featured for one good thing or another. For those of you who fall into all three categories, Stephen is the star of the CW’s hit show Arrow, which just premiered its 3rd season this past Wednesday in the U.S.

Stephen is that rare person in the public eye (I’m not going to use the word celebrity, it reeks of douche-baggery.) who uses his position for wonderful things. He runs his own Facebook page entirely, and you can tell because there is an accessibility to him that says so much about the kind of man he is. He, through the power of social media, has helped raise funds for Prayers For Sophie, Saving Jojo, and Fuck Cancer. He auctions all sorts of things off personally on eBay. Don’t believe me? Go and check out his auction listings, they are legit. He takes the time to communicate with his fans via video updates, does Q&A’s, comments on MemeMonday, promotes FanArt Friday, and he does all of this in his downtime while filming, as well as in between seasons. He is a genuine power for good, and I truly respect him as a person for how hilarious and real he is. He’s very clearly not putting on a persona or spewing garbage, he’s simply a man that was blessed with a dream job for any actor, and pays it forward with an immense amount of kindness, courtesy, and respect.

He is the rare social media genius that is more than meets the eye. In truth, he could rest on his laurels, film Arrow, and not extend himself any further, but he is constantly in touch with his fan base, clearly reads what people post, and I think that speaks accolades for him. No, he doesn’t know me and he didn’t pay me to say any of this, it’s all stuff I’ve been thinking for over a year now. He is, 100%, a class act.

Even if you don’t watch the show, which would be terrible indeed, give Stephen a follow on Facebook (Stephen Amell), Twitter (@amellywood), or whatever form of social media you happen to like and feel comfortable with. He has a YouTube page, follow that and allow yourself to laugh. If you love wine and want to try some interesting, affordable bottles, I suggest following Nocking Point Wines. If you don’t see what I see by following him for two months, then I strongly suggest getting your eyes checked and your I.Q. tested.

I do follow other people, like many of us do, but I’m not seeing any of the positivity, warmth, or light that Stephen exudes. I am not seeing the openness of spirit and kindness, and in a lot of ways, I’m glad it’s not universal because it allows me to respect him more.

I write stories, and I write facts and opinions. I’ve done that for 27 years. Stephen tells stories weekly on Arrow as the lead character, doing damn near all of his own stunts, and his reach in that position stretches further than my writing and editing experience does. And yet, I will not deny watching the show, enjoying it, and respecting him as a person when the make-up and the Arrow suit come off.

When a person does good things, they very easily earn your respect. He has earned mine, and he’s also shown me that social media isn’t always an ugly, vicious thing. However, I still refuse to use Twitter.

The Darkness Follows

2014-10-05 Miss Poison Fibromyalgia, Honesty, Pieces Of Me, Poison In Lethal Doses, Uncategorized, Writing Beauty, Butterflies, Darkness, Depression, Family, Fibromyalgia, Honesty, Judaism, Pain, Poison In Lethal Doses, Tradition, Writing, Yom Kippur

Hello everyone! Before I say more, I’d like to take a moment to welcome all the newcomers that have hopped on board in the last week or so, and especially anyone that has taken the time to read and comment. It’s been absolutely lovely to see. 🙂

I don’t know if everyone experiences moments of deep, dark holiday related depression, but mine came out of nowhere yesterday afternoon. I had just finished reading a book in my attempt to keep fasting and distract myself, but I was suddenly hit with a blast that made me get back into bed for a few minutes, smack dab at 3:30 in the afternoon.

I’ve never spoken about it here, but I lost both of my parents a little over six years ago. I jokingly refer to myself as an orphan, but the truth is, I honestly feel like one. The few close family members I have, outside of my brother, are too far away to go and see for the holidays, or even just for the weekend. I don’t have the energy for 2-3 days trips, I like to be “away-away”, for a good 10 days, usually taking a flight home in the evening so I get to stay put a little bit longer before having to return to the daily grind. The rest of my family? If I could be paid for their level of abandonment, disrespect, rudeness, ignorance, and everything else they lack as “people”, and I use that word so loosely they should be able to hang themselves with it, then I’d be walking around in Iron Man suits, all made out of platinum. I wish that were an exaggeration. It isn’t. I am embarrassed to share bloodlines with these people. I hope none of them ever need a bodily organ where I am the sole match because I wouldn’t be able to do it. It’s very easy for me to be a good person, but if you’ve treated me like I am less than you are do to some misguided idea in your head, or you’ve blatantly disrespected me, simply for existing, then it is very easy for me to say “Fuck You”. When people push you to the point where you feel complete and utter anger, even after trying to work through that, and you’ve lost the ability to care, for me, that’s the end. I don’t care if I ever see any of them again, because that would actually be too soon for me to be nice.

Not having close friends or family nearby sucks. Sometimes it doesn’t bother me, but yesterday, I would have given ANYTHING to be at my Grandmother’s table to break fast in our family’s traditional way. Alas, I had my brother, but I’m a step away from selling him to a country of my choosing. I love my brother, but he gets on my nerves quickly. I don’t have a lot of patience to begin with and I can’t always listen to chatter.

I can’t explain that moment of dark depression that swept over me. Yesterday evening I had to force myself out of the house and run an errand. It was either that, or starve. For a good hour or so, I was committed to the starvation idea, but because it’s been a rough year for me, I pushed through, got my groceries, and came home. If I could have gone someplace last night and actually enjoyed it, I would have, but I knew I would be paying for all the physical activity of the week.

For the first time in a while, I was able to go to bed early and get damn near 10 straight hours of sleep. When I woke up this morning, I was shocked and delighted. I was even more surprised that it wasn’t 2:00 PM, but I always get a bit discombobulated before the Full Moon. Today, I have given myself time, space, permitted myself NOT to work, and have allowed myself to the enjoy the little bits of sweetness that reside with me. My fuzzy girls are happy, healthy, content, and there’s no more hissing. That’s a LOT of progress in such a short period of time, but it makes me feel good.

My Fibromyalgia has been a beast this week, and I pushed it hard. I came home last night with neck and shoulder pain, and my lower back is screaming for relief. Massage is one of the only things that truly helps, so I just might treat myself to one in advance of my birthday later this month. If I’m not good to me, no one else will be either.

So, that’s my little update for the weekend. I hope everyone has been able to enjoy family, friends, and really nice weather. I hope no one else was struck by that darkness that is desperately trying to follow me into this new week. Truth be told, I understand it better than anyone I know, and I am aware of what it is, I’d just much prefer not to allow myself to go there and feed the demons. Absolutely nothing is going to make me its bitch.

I will back back soon with a piece I’ve been working on for a few days, one I hope people will like and appreciate. In the meantime, be good to those you love.

Addressing An Issue

2014-09-192014-10-16 Miss Poison Honesty, Images/Photos/Quotes, Pieces Of Me, Poison In Lethal Doses, Thoughts, Unfiltered, Writing Emotions, Honesty, Poison In Lethal Doses, Thoughts, Unfiltered, Writing

I wrote something yesterday that upset someone. It might have upset more than one person, no one else said anything, but in all fairness, I did write and post it late. In reality, I know who cares about me and who doesn’t. As we’ve established, I am not an attention seeker. If I was, the drama here would be high. I really don’t have the time or the patience to be like that.

I am well aware that I am very internal, and that that can come off as me being “cryptic”. I don’t read much into that, because I say exactly what I think and what I feel. I have lost the ability of being concerned whether or not it affects someone else because my feelings are entirely my own. Most importantly, I’ve only ever seen the selfish side of the coin.

In the past, I have written about depression and suicide from a very honest stand-point, and people responded to it with e-mails that started off like this: “How could you possibly think of leaving me? What would I do without you?” It only ended up angering me. There was no “I’m here for you, what can I do?” or “I am here to listen, no matter what.”, just “How could you think of leaving me?” Those words are selfish. Being honest about your emotions is not.

It bothers people how direct I am, that there’s very little I won’t say. I find that it is important to get it out of my system, to be honest with how I feel, to be honest with myself, and if my honesty helps someone, good. I don’t sugar-coat or gloss things over. If I say I’m “fine”, I’m probably not, but you have to know me really well to hear it in my voice and know. 95% of people will hear me say I’m fine and keep talking, they are so wrapped up in themselves that my well-being is of no concern to them whatsoever. I often say I could be bleeding out of my eyeballs and no one would notice. The other day someone actually told me “I’d put a towel under you and leave you there.”, and they LAUGHED. The cruelty of such a statement isn’t fucking amusing, not by a long shot.

The last thing I ever want someone to say is “I’m sorry you feel that way.” It’s not a kind thing to say, it always comes off so dismissive, and that makes me want to rip your face off. Yeah, I’m graphically visual when I’m angry, but there’s no law against it…yet.

It comes down to this: If you accept me, please accept me as I am. If you don’t, exit stage left. Being a part of my life, however large or small, comes with its benefits and rewards, but I’m not going to fake happiness for anyone or fake my emotions. That is far more exhausting to me than the truth.

Little Unknown Facts

2014-09-142014-09-13 Miss Poison Musings, Pieces Of Me, Poison In Lethal Doses, Unfiltered, Writing Dark Urban Fantasy, Facts, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Point A To Point B, Poison In Lethal Doses, Writing

Very few people know this about me, but I was once a Journalism Major. I had a double major (Journalism & Creative Writing) and a double minor (Writing For Television & Languages). I was constantly writing something at the time, and I still have a lot of my notebooks even though I have since moved five times.

My “Writing For Television” professor hated me, I am convinced of this. He would show us cinematic films and ask us to write our take on each one. I had some unhappy things going on in my life at the time, so I openly admit to sleeping through most of a semester. In fairness, he was showing us a lot of crap. Until one day, he brought out the Brian de Palma film that would change my life. It is, almost certainly, one of the reasons I am still a writer all these years later.

I wrote about this film’s mastery like nobody’s business. I worked my ass off. And as a reward, the professor gave me a failing grade on the paper and told me I “was ruining the other students’ work with my subject matter, had no writing talent whatsoever, and would NEVER be a published writer.” He wanted to know how I managed to get into the class in the first place. I laughed in his face, and walked out of the room smiling. This reaction baffled him, he had a terrible superiority complex. Little did he know, I was already being published, I just didn’t advertise it. I wasn’t allowed to return to the class, but that film still brings me back to why I write, and a lot of what I want to accomplish with my writing. When I write fiction, it plays out like a movie inside my head. If I can’t see it, it’s not going to work on paper.

My Creative Writing class had a similar outcome, except that this professor liked me. She liked that I wasn’t writing the same things everyone else was, that I always thought outside the box, but in the end, she too, failed me. She said I was a brilliant writer, but that she didn’t like that I was too busy writing in class to bother to take notes. Yes, that was her issue and that was why I failed. What’s the point of being creative when all a person wants you to do is take notes and study them? How is that embracing your talent?!

I slept through “Historical Writing”, but the professor was kind enough to let me make up for it by working for her a few days a week as an assistant.

Months later, I became very sick and left the program. However, I never stopped writing.

From those days to present, my work has changed drastically. Originally I wrote hardcore facts and opinions. I tackled life, death, sports, drug addiction, women’s issues, health, and grief. I didn’t venture too far out of that until 2006 when I became inspired by a particular type of fiction. Even then, it took me an additional four years before I’d sit down and try it for myself.

I still consider myself a writer of facts, and I still consider myself the same “balls to the wall” kind of writer I’ve always been, but with fiction, I find myself healing. It might seem like an odd concept, but there is a great deal of my soul in my work.

The main protagonist for the dark urban fantasy series which has some interesting historical fiction in the mix, is very loosely based off of myself. The premise of the story dates back to a story I heard repeatedly about my family as a child. I come from a multi-lingual, multi-cultural family. I don’t think any of the adults realized I understood them when they’d speak in front of me (even in English, they had a tendency to ignore the presence of children, not realizing that children comprehend far more than anyone ever realizes.), but when I did some of the original research for the story, I came to find that it wasn’t an old wives’ tale. Naturally, I embellished some of it because hey, it is fiction, and I changed many things, but I also made sure to weave a lot of truth in there as well. If you don’t know me really well, you won’t know the difference, but for me, it is freeing, enjoyable, and a happy place to visit. I like the world I’ve created. I look forward to bringing it to you when the time is right. 🙂

Does Creativity Pay?

2014-09-13 Miss Poison E-books, Fibromyalgia, Health, Honesty, Poison In Lethal Doses, Things That Enrage Me, Thoughts, Unbelievable Crap, Unfiltered, Writers, Writing Creativity, Ebooks, Finding Work As A Writer, Honesty, Poison In Lethal Doses, Unfiltered, Writing

It’s Official, I Lack The Ability Of Dumbing Myself Down

A few weeks ago I officially signed up with an on-line Freelancing service that allows you to submit proposals for a laundry list of writing jobs, as well as other creative endeavors. Every single job that I am 1000% perfect for has either been A) Canceled because the entire project was scrapped or B) Given to someone else. I guarantee you that anyone who got a job over me dumbed themselves down in order to get it.

I’m not saying that a person that got a writing job over me is stupid. I don’t know them. However, I know that the low bid is always the one that gets the job. People can say a lot of things about me, but I’m NOT stupid.

I’m not going to apologize for placing my actual worth and value into a proposal. I have 27 years of writing experience, 19 years of editing experience, an incredibly vast array of knowledge, and if I wanted to be paid by the hour, I’d look into becoming a hooker (I’m kidding, I’m too tired to seriously consider that.).

Truth be told, if Fibromyalgia wasn’t killing me each day, I might contemplate a “normal” job at someplace like Sephora where my knowledge of fragrance, skin care, make-up, and all things beauty would be appreciated, albeit at an hourly rate. The only reason I’ve never done it is because I know I can’t get out of bed nine days out of ten and show up at a job like that. No company wants an employee that can only show up once or twice a week, that’s simply not going to fly.

Being a writer is one of those professions where people either assume you’re loaded because “J.K. Rowling made millions.”, or they assume that with magazines folding constantly and eBook sales up (Want to know how much you can be paid to write an eBook for someone else? Between $10-$125, and in many instances, your name will not be the one credited for writing it. I find it insulting beyond words. If you want me to write a book of 50 recipes and you want it in a week, you cannot come to the table with scraps. A high school student or a freshman in college might take a job like that, but an experienced writer is going to laugh at you.), you’re either okay or a step away from being on the street. People accept “Writer” as an occupation without questioning it too much, unless they don’t know a lot about what it takes to be a writer and make a name for yourself.

Since my sign-up date, I have done nothing, but write job proposals. Placing a price on your hourly rate, or your rate per 100 words, or your per job rate is tough. Like any other creative being, I want to pay my bills, put food on the table, provide for my health, and be able to breathe. If I have a rough week, I want to know that I don’t have to write my ass off this week in order to make ends meet.

So, after writing all of these proposals, I finally got a response. It seemed promising, until a little while ago when my original quote of $300 is now being asked to go down to $30-$45 a month. I understand it’s a newish business, I respect that, but here is what I am being asked to do: Monthly blog posts, creative marketing, and some creative PR packages to get jewelry into fashion magazines. That entails a lot of work, and truth be told, $300 is not my normal rate. The more we go back and forth, the more she seems to want out of me, and I have to wonder if I am simply up against the eight other people that also bid on the job, or if she really thinks that is what my time is truly worth. Regardless, she has received a sample of my work and can decide for herself. If you want quality work, don’t insult me.

After handling that, I was then sent 15 pages of a novel for another job. I have to say, I was annoyed when I got to the end because even with all the mistakes and changes that would have to be made, there was an awful lot of potential in there and I wanted to keep reading (and correct everything, because it’s force of habit!). I bid on the job. I gave a very decent price for editing a first novel, well within the person’s budget, and I will see how it goes. However, I am sick and tired of the bullshit involved.

If you want something done professionally, don’t insult the professional you’re trying to hire for the job. If you want someone experienced and intelligent, don’t expect them to waste their time if you aren’t willing to properly compensate them. Never have I tried hiring someone for something on a creative level, and then insulted their intelligence and effort by countering their quote. It’s hard enough for me to put a price on myself, but when you insult me, it makes me want to respond by letting you know how unprofessional you are.

You want something done right? Come to play, or get the fuck out of my way.

Something New, Something Old…

2014-08-06 Miss Poison Being Real, Honesty, Pieces Of Me, Poison In Lethal Doses, Unedited, Unfiltered, Writing Lisa Marino, Poison In Lethal Doses, Returning To My Roots, Writing

Sometimes, it’s good to return to your roots. It helps remind you where you come from, how far you have come from step one, and how much more you intend to achieve.

“Poison In Lethal Doses” was always my place to be brutally honest. That will continue on here. It was my “Say anything, and say it loud.” position within the community of which I was a part of for so very long. I walked away from the community for a laundry list of reasons, but I own the copyrights and have decided to bring myself back to how so much of myself began. I cut my teeth on this particular concept and while many people are quite original and individualistic now on a larger scale, I worked with the scale that was placed in front of me. It became this huge thing very quickly, but when I walked away, I never left the core of who I am behind.

This will be the place for the more brutal side of me. There won’t be any kindness or sympathy to be found here, just me, in my normal, unfiltered fashion.

I hope that you, the reader, will come to enjoy this as much as I enjoy having that place to be myself without limits.