Rubber Ball...

By Tony Lee

The life of a freelancer is like a rubber ball. One minute you're the busiest man on the planet, the next you're watching TV and wondering what the hell to do next. There's nothing you can do about this as you bounce around from wall to wall, it's the joys of an industry reliant totally on other people. And for some reason, the average freelancer loves it.

My January was supposed to be stupidly hectic. Next month, I'm pretty much out of the UK for most of the time – I'm in the US for two weeks and Switzerland for another week – so really? Time spent at this desk? Probably about six days.

Don't get me wrong, I'll still be working while I'm in New York and LA, just not as much as I am now. I'll manage two, maybe three hours a day of writing, positioned around the other things that I have planned while I'm over there. For example, I land on Tuesday. Wednesday is already planned with meetings. Thursday has a couple of additional meetings, and then Friday to Sunday? Convention time. And then the following Monday to Wednesday? Follow up meetings and waiting in airports until I get to LA. Then a couple of days rest (in which I'll most likely be doing six to eight hours a day writing) and then another convention. The most time I'll have to write in one chunk will most likely be on the plane.

But then, I discovered last week that the job that I have put most of February aside for is delayed. Which means that now? I don't need to rush January. And although this means I lose a chunk of money in January / February, it means that February is easier, work wise. I can do stuff I was doing this month, next month. So I relax, start to work some more on my creator-owned stuff. Pitch to publishers I've wanted to work with for a while, but just haven't had the time. Start a new draft of the novel.

And you know what happens? That's right – this week I suddenly get work that I wasn't expecting, or things that were due to be started in March moved forwards. And once more I'm up until 2 a.m. sorting out deadlines. But this time they're different deadlines to the last ones.

And I love it. Today I have spent two hours working on a five page pitch for something I was only told about yesterday night. Over the weekend I'll end up working out another two pitches as backup. Next week I'll be writing a couple of treatments that I now need to get to my agent. And I'm talking to a big name in Dracula circles about a possible introduction to Harker.

To be a writer, you have to be the best man-manager in the world. Your project planning skills must be second to none, because otherwise? You're screwed, deadline wise. I know countless people who suddenly realise that X project was due on Y date and that's only a couple of days away, and off they go, writing into the night to get it done.

I hate that. Professionally, I feel that this is weak. If you have a deadline? You should keep to it, and only on the rarest occasions have I missed a self set deadline, and to my knowledge I have never missed a 'set in stone' one. But there's the other side to the coin. As a freelancer, it is your duty to get as much work as you possibly can in, as you damned well that when you hit a dry spot, you need those additional cheques to cover you across. This of course means that you have periods where you work insane hours to ensure all the work is done, followed by days of inactivity. And you need these days to recover, so that you don't burn out. Because if you don't? Then you will start to miss those deadlines.

I had a point like this on Wednesday – I had nothing to write that was desperate. I have no current deadlines that haven't been set by me, Harker and Journal are the only things I'm finishing, having ended Necrophim for the moment and the first draft of King Arthur - and you have that point where you go 'ah, screw it, I'll just do a couple more pages later' and you go off and watch The Tudors, or play Fallout 3. And then the next day you think 'Well, technically I'm cool to relax another day' and then you're two days behind. And then a last minute deadline comes in and it takes up a weekend, or you lose a weekend to a serious case of man-flu – and suddenly on the other project? You're a week behind. And that's where it starts to get hard to pull back the work.

Luckily, I've recognised the symptoms of this malady, in my case at least – and I can usually kick-start myself back into work. It helps to have a supportive other half, and Tracy does indeed keep me on the straight and narrow – but it can be a tough act, as you go from work to no work to work to illness to convention to work to no work to convention AND work... No day is the same. And although the average freelancer loves that, sometimes you wish for the stability of the daily grind of a nine to five. No, really.

And so I write this column, knowing that I'm done for the week. I intend to take this weekend off, but I also know that come Sunday morning, maybe even Saturday, I'll be editing dialogue, working out another pitch, changing a first draft, or even solidly writing additional script.

Because if I don't, I never know when the next gig will come in. And therefore I need to ensure that this is done now... Just in case.

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Man, I make that sound depressingly hard, don't I? Well guess what – it is. But it's also great fun, and you get to do amazing things and go to amazing places with it.

As you read this, we're now into two weeks and counting before I fly into the US – and already my pre-con week is stacking nicely with editorial meetings. I never expect much from these, to be honest it's just an opportunity to see people I actively like and respect, but I really do still get a buzz from walking into a DC foyer, or a Marvel bullpen. The fan boy in me still silently screams in glee. But I talked about New York last week, and this week we're talking about Gallifrey One.

In case you don't know, Gallifrey One has been running for twenty years in LA and is one of the most respected Doctor Who conventions out there. I'm honoured to be a guest and I'm looking forwards to hanging out with fellow Brits Paul Cornell and the indubitable Gary Russell. And of course I'll be hanging out with Y: The Last Man and The Forgotten artist Pia Guerra, recently announced as a guest, as well as LA locals Rich Starkings and Joshua Fialkov.

But more importantly, my Wednesday night will involve going out for dinner with LA rock and comic legend Jazan Wild and his wonderful wife Sharon. I love these guys and never see them enough, Jazan is the de facto 'hottest chick in comics' – I managed twice last year, a brief hello at NYCC and a drink at SDCC – so the fact that I'm in his stomping ground means I should have a wonderful evening. Or a meal at Burger King. We'll see.

As for the convention itself, I'm not sure what my schedule is on the Friday, apart from a signing at the Doctor Who Store booth (I believe both Pia and myself are signing there all three days), but Saturday I'll be on the main stage at 1 p.m. interviewing Nicola Bryant aka 'Peri' Brown from the 5^th / 6^th Doctor days (and adolescent crush figure to most thirty plus year old male Doctor Who fans), at 4 p.m. I'll be running a 'so you want to get into comics' workshop with Joshua Fialkov and Pia Guerra which seems to now be called the 'Doctor Who comics workshop' and at 6 p.m. I'll be one of the panel of 'When did Vampires get trendy', which should be a lot of fun. On Sunday, I'll be on the main stage once more for 'Doctor Who in the comics', hosted by Joshua Fialkov and including myself, Paul Cornell, Gary Russell and Pia Guerra on the panel, and I believe there are a couple of other panels I'm a guest on. So obviously, I'm going to be all around like a cheap hooker. You can most likely have me for a couple of drinks in the hotel bar.

One of the things I'll be announcing will be the official announcement of Harker, and I might possibly be talking about something else there too. So if you're in the LA area, and you're a fan of Doctor Who, you should totally be there.

And on the subject of Doctor Who, remember that the FINAL PART of Doctor Who: The Forgotten, that being issue #6 is out this Wednesday, the 21st January from IDW. And therefore from all good comic book stores. It's the big endgame, and has a variety of setpieces in that I'm quite happy about - so go out and buy it!

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Other things – my comics chum Emily Man, she of the September Doctor Who signing at Orbital, sent me an email, asking if I could mention this to people. And of course, for you Emily? Anything. So, without further adieu...
Grand Opening of the NEW Orbital Comics PLUS our Mega Sale

Orbital Comics is proud to present our EPIC NEW comic shop!! It's huge and we're getting it ready now to house all things comic!!

We're open on Saturday 24th January at 10.30am!!

Also to celebrate our opening we're having our Mega Sale...

50% off Back Issues

50% off other selected lines

And to mark the event we're giving away to the first 100 people a FREE Goody Bag with your purchase(s)!!

Nearest Tube: Leicester Sq Stn, Exit 3

So I don't need to tell you to get your asses down there now, do I? Good.

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In other news, it's one hundred percent confirmed. A collected trade of Hope Falls, with an introduction by celebrity comics chum Ben Templesmith will be out in May this year. But, before you start hunting down Amazon, I ask you a favour. Wait. Because Diamond are once more upping their rates for small publishers, and Markosia need more sales through Diamond than anything else.

So save your pennies, and in a few weeks, when the February Previews comes out, we'll be giving you the super duper exclusive Diamond Code, that you take into your comic store and go 'please mister comic store owner, please order me this. '

Now, we've had hundreds of people ask us in email and in person when the collected trade is coming out because they really want it – now's your time to put your money where your mouth is. Prove to Markosia that we weren't lying. Help us sell as many copies of Hope Falls through Diamond as we possibly can. Get your local comic shops to buy you one – and one for the shelf as well! Let's make sure that indie comics aren't killed by this recession, eh?

And on that note, I'll leave you this week. For I have deadlines to complete and a pitch to write...

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Discuss this column at the Only A Forum forum.
© 2008, Tony Lee

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