Scattered

     As the title of this post suggests, I am all over the place at the moment so I am just going to dive right in.

     My last day of my current job is this coming Friday.  This transition is happening about a month earlier than we planned so I do not have another position lined up yet..  Needless to say, I have been scouring the job boards and local websites to see if there are any great fits just hanging there, waiting for me to walk through the doors.  So far, the answer to that is a resounding "No."

Hold on for a second while I go and check Craigslist again...

Still no.  Disappointing.

For those of you who do not know me well, allow me to introduce myself through one of my favorite mediums:  Bulletpoints

• I am a lifelong Alaskan.  Born and raised in Fairbanks, I went outside for college and a couple years of college ministry then moved back in 2000 with...
• My amazing wife of 17 years, Carina.  She is an artist, spiritual director, avid reader and lover of the strange...which is how she ended up with me.
• I have three kids.  A 15 year old boy on the Autism Spectrum.  A 12 year old girl who is destined to rule the world and a 4 year old girl with enough personality to hold her own in the face of the other two.
• My work background is filled with service.  I was a college/youth pastor for 15 years right out of college.  After a transitional two year stint of managing receiving at Sears (otherwise known as the dark days) I discovered the Non-profit sector.  I was the Executive Director of a youth center/skate park and then moved into being the ED of a day services center for individuals with Disabilities and Delays.

For someone who graduated college with a BA in History and has lived in the middle of Alaska for most of his life, my resume is actually coming together and looking fairly substantial.  I have experience in management, grant writing, fundraising, communications, strategic planning, supervision, human resources, budgeting, facilities management, public speaking/training and lots of other bits and pieces.

I've also published a book.  It's a young adult Christian Supernatural Adventure Novel called "The Seer."  It's great.  You should pick up a copy and enjoy it for yourself...or at least you should if you could find it.  My publisher just went out of business so that book and the sequel that is 85% done are now back at square one for publication.

So here's where I find myself.  I will not have a job in a week.  I have a large number of marketable skills but Fairbanks does not have an overabundance of employers looking for those skills. I have a few applications submitted and I a waiting for the interview process to begin.  Best case scenario, I find a great new job in the next couple of weeks, but all options are on the table. Moving is on the table.  Finding a new career here in Fairbanks is on the table.  Working from home and becoming a professional writer is on the table.

Actually that last one is more than just on the table; that is the direction that I want to go in the long term.  My books and blogs and short stories have been well received, but writing has mostly been a hobby up until this point.  I would love to become a full-time, professional writer, but the road map for how to do that is fuzzy.  It is a combination of style and skill and market and finding a niche and being disciplined to produce content and outreach and several other pieces that I don't even know yet.  According to experts on the internet and books that I've read, I should start a blog and finish my books and get an agent and make an app and create a instagram/twitter presence and submit articles and attend conferences and do NaNoWriMo again...all at the same time.  While still making sure the family can eat.

As you can tell, I'm feeling scattered.  Dozens of potential options and scenarios are racing through my head about what comes next.  But I know that I want to start writing consistently.

So I bought myself a desk.  It is nothing elaborate, but it is new and an upgrade from the recycled door sitting on file cabinets that I have used off an on for years.  The desk has my computer, a printer and a lamp on it at the moment.  I am sure that it will accumulate more, but right now it is pretty sparse.  This space is specifically designated to be where I write.  New books or articles...blog posts...edits of older works.  They all start here.  It is functional and symbolic.  If I really want to become a writer, this is where it will happen.  It will be utilized and organized to meet deadlines and roll out pages worth of content.  If I don't have the commitment to become a writer, the desk will become just another shelf, filled with all the other things that pull at my energy and attention.

So this is my desk and this is my blog about my journey to become a writer with all of the excitement and fear and frustration and joy that accompanies it.  You are welcome to come along for the (hopefully long and successful) journey.

James