Hello and Happy Friday,

It is happy because I’m doing okay and my family is fine and despite the facts I haven’t finished the short story I said I'd complete and because I found out on Monday I would be laid off from my current job on June 30, 2009. It sounds “oh no” but its not the end because I can apply for new positions with the new organization and if I get one of them, I will just transaction to the new organization after the 30th. So my co-workers and I are scrambling to make sure our resumes and cover letters are ready and discussing the upcoming interviews while trying not to worry over how our salaries will look (every one thinking next to poverty level) and if we don’t get a position how we’ll make it on unemployment and what year we may get another job.

So with this going on I began to wonder how or do other writers write during major life upheavals? I’ve come to the conclusion it's possible to write while the other side of your life is running around screaming the world is ending. For me, I may not write more but I do write some and I do so for the escape factor. Once I start to write about Owen or the short story, I fall into their world and at that moment—maybe thirty minutes, an hour—nothing intrudes and it’s all about the writing and creating their world for those few precious moments. This weekend I have to work on my job stuff and try and not let it negatively color my time with my family, my children though it will of course be in the back—forefront—of my mind. Yet, I’m going to try and counter that negativity by doing what I enjoy and believe I do best, write, fall into the worlds I’m trying to create and then do the best I can with the challenges many of us are facing these days. Adding a few prayers will help too.

Write, it helps more than you know

If you have any comments or suggestions I have a new e-mail address at: mathewsla@hotmail.com

Until next time, God willing.