Meeting Nonsense

Long time, no type. Today, I have the wonderful "priviledge" of spending my entire day in a meeting. Not just any meeting, but basically, the company is having everyone go through the training that the new hires go through since the new hire training has significantly improved to the point that even tenured people wanted to know what was in it.

I managed to sit at a table of die hard workaholics who are the most boring group of people I've had the misfortune of sitting with. I'm basically stuck in the middle of contract chatter and meeting scheduling chats. It's no wonder people feel so tired since they can never seem to turn it off and relax.

But of course, these are the same people who obsess over conference calls and the need to "talk it out" instead of allowing one to process their rapid fire and type it out in a concise and storable manner.

And to make it worse, we are only half way through it. At the very least, I can honestly say it is meeting my expectations. I expected to learn a thing or two that I didn't know, but figured that none of it would have any value in my day to day job.

So far, so good.

Queries

Man, when I'm on a roll, I don't stop, and when I stop, it's cold turkey, isn't it? I've thought of lots of post topics over the past few weeks, but the time to write them down always eludes me. That's always a problem for me: finding the time. I know you make time for what's important, and that should indicate that this blog isn't that important. I like to write on it and chronicle what I'm up to, but in the end, there are more important things that I have to do, but at the same time, I enjoy writing on it, and I wish I had more time to do it, and isn't this a ridiculously long run-on sentence? If I were proof-reading and revising, I'd probably fix it, but that would only be worth it if I knew someone read it.

Anyway,my thoughts of the moment revolve around a staple of the writing industry: the query letter. I hate these things, but you know, there really isn't a better way to do it. If you have to review hundreds and hundreds of properties every day and pick something that you think will further your livelihood, you've got to have an efficient way to weed through the options. An easy way is via a quick one page letter that tells about the story to see if you feel it or not. If you do, you ask for more. If you don't, you pass on it. They all seem to acknowledge that they just might be passing on the net big thing, but again, there's not time to know, really. You have to pick the best queries and hope for the best.

However, as the person on the other side of that letter, I am faced with endless rejections. I know it's because I have a weakness when it comes to selling anything. I understand that a query letter is you trying to sell yourself to someone, and while some people can sell ice to an eskimo, I couldn't sell water to dehydrated guy in the desert. I can be persuasive in my own way, but when it comes to outright selling something, I'm absolutely terrible. Hence, all my queries are rejected.

Now, I can tell about my story in my letters. I give all the basic, pertinent information. I can give a succinct synopsis. I can make it all very well-written and have it make perfect sense to the reader. But I fail on buzzwording someone into buying. I know that's what my queries lack, but I feel incapable of figuring out what that hump is that I can't jump over.

Weather

Around here, there is a storm rolling in. The weather forecasters are proclaiming a "snowmageddon" as we have inches and inches of snow to be dumped on us by Mother Nature. It is to begin today, and some school districts (small ones) even proactively closed school based on these reports. People have taken to the stores to buy out the staples in anticipation of being utterly trapped.

I am not one of those people. I am also not panicking. In addition, I look out the window here on the 81th floor on this day of snow and see... Nothing. The day is overcast, and it is cold, but at present, nothing is happening. It was supposed to start overnight. Then it was supposed to start at six. Last I heard, it is supposed to start at eleven. Last seasons "snowpocalypse" resulted in a light dusting of snow which was gone by noon. I am quick to remind people of this, but still, the fearmongering produced by the news stations has set deep into everyone's psyches, and as such, people are afraid.

Now, to be fear, there is precedent for some fear of the winter weather around here. Back in 2007, we have a devastating ice storm that wiped out power all over the place. It was the first time I had ever been without power for more than a few hours. At that time, I was out for four days. Back in 11 or 12, we had a Christmas Eve snow storm that nearly stranded my parents and siblings at my house and postponed the Christmas Day get together with the Queen's family for a week. I have walked out my door to sheets of ice and buried roads before, so it is entirely possible to get dumped on.

I also believe in the power of prayer, and after the last major storm, I asked God to not dump huge amounts of snow on us until I no longer needed to travel into work (i.e. I become a professionally published writer or at least, work from home). Now, I do know that with my present job, we have a limited allowance to work from home, so perhaps that requirement is fulfilled. We'll see. Bottom line is that I don't want to drive into work on covered roads. It's way too dangerous.

We'll see what today holds, but the predictions are honestly quite low, and the fact that they keep getting pushed back on when they start does not bode well for them.