¦ dialling in from the sky bunker ¦
14:48 GMT, Thursday 4th October, 2007. Sitting at my desk, squinting against the glare of sunlight streaming in through the canopy, but it's not warm enough to avoid having Life Support switched on.
I'm in a great place: Life went through some sudden twists and turns the past couple weeks. After a couple of unsuccessful weeks looking for work at the start of August I grabbed the option of a "low pay - long hours" role that had come my way through an associate who "needed a body to fill a gap in a client's team".
Mid-September I started the week long training course, and took two exams which I passed. However, at the end of that week, I recieved a phone call from two recruitment agents offering the kind of corporate/creative roles I was looking for.
I was in a dilemna, I was supposed to be starting the low-grade job on Monday, three days away...but I couldn't ignore these great opportunities. I talked it through with my associate and he was happy to "hold onto" the role until I knew what was happening. Phew. Monday came round, and I spoke to the 2nd agent, called ALEX. He had a dream-role for me, in a company I'd been hearing about for a while now... I said "Put me forward for the role".
Alex rang me the day after the interview. "COngratulations, you've got the job."
Wow. What a feeling. Nice Guy Tony was there in the Sky Bunker at the time, having a half-day of Yellow Dawn. I was whooping with joy, and then shaking like crazy with adrenaline. What a fantastic end to a huge chunk of creative-freedom / financial risk that began in July 2005 and ends in October 2007.
That was yesterday.
I was up at 4 A.M. again today, no alarm, just PING, my eyes flutter open and I surge awake. I lay in bed for a few moments contemplating this bright state of consciousness, a luxurious heat radiating from the sleeping form of Jo beside me... but I've got things I want to do and these are certainly my favourite hours of any day. Years ago, back in 1998, when I was halfway into writing Dante's Fool, I started a routine based around going to bed at 9pm and setting my alarm for 4 A.M. so that I could get in a good dose of writing before heading to work. I have great memories of that period, so I'm pleased to find myself waking up naturally and able to repeat the experience.
Padding downstairs in the dark, I made a mug of tea and then headed up here, into the SKy Bunker, switching on a couple of occaisional lamps, soft light in two corners, and my lava lamp on the desk. Black sky above me. Switch on Life Support, grab my seat and bring the laptop to life. Gentle hum of life-support. Random tunes playing quietly on the laptop running through stereo. And that adorable ambient stillness that is unique between 4 and 6 in the morning.
I've got an abrupt mini-project to complete, in between writing Dog Eat Dog and editorial of Yellow Dawn; it's a scenario idea / novel idea called Red Desire, Cold Murder. It's a working title so might change, but I'm pretty pleased...the whole concept came together in a couple days scribbled notes, and I should get the thing written up as a Yellow Dawn scenario by the weekend. Fingers crossed.
Winter is rolling in. I'm looking forward to pushing my creative projects onto the back-burner of weekends and evenings; and I'm really looking forward to getting my teeth into a new job: new challenges, new people, and a pay packet at the end of the month.
Djr