WRITING FOR A LIVING

This week, I want to take a moment to say thank you for your indulgence. In trying to further my writing career this year, I know I have notified you at every turn when I had a new article or blog posted. I hope those e-mails don't get too old, but the only way that I know of to make people aware of you, is to...well...make them aware of you. So I am doing that once again.

I never really envisioned myself as a writer. Having been in radio since I was a teenager, I always considered myself a "Keith Bilbrey / Eddie Stubbs wannabe"...Part radio guy / Part Country Music historian. Writing was something that I never really thought too much about.

Nowadays, things are a little bit different. I still work in radio, actually at two different stations, but the bulk of my income comes from late nights like this one.....typing away, trying to write something that makes cohesive sense. (Whether that is a correct term or not, I don't know....but it's too late to ask anyone!)

Truth be told, there are times that I still lack a little bit of confidence in my abilities as a writer. That's something that my better half doesn't like to hear, but it's the truth. I started writing back in 2000, for a small newspaper that just started up, as a way to build my listenership. I wrote about what I knew best---music. In writing the column, I started to send it out to a few of my friends in the industry, and got a few comments. So I kept writing.....The newspaper folded after about a month, but I liked the attention I was getting from some people in the business...so I kept writing...though what I was doing wasn't actually being published anywhere.

That went on for a few months, until Larry Weir and Paul Loggins at NEW MUSIC WEEKLY got a hold of what I was doing, and offered me a forum each week. I gladly took advantage of that, and nine years later....here I am....still writing.

If you write for a living, you know there is some degree of comfort when you get behind the keyboard. I don't know how to describe it, but there's something that is kind of rewarding about getting done with a article, looking at the clock and seeing that it is 1:34. Not PM...but AM....Crazy as it might be, there have been times that though my body might be telling me it's time to dream of a White Christmas, I'm keyed up.

When you get that fifth e-mail of the week from me saying that I have a new article on a site somewhere, I hope you don't get too annoyed with me....It's just I love doing what I do, and love to share it with people. How good I am at it, well....that one can be debated....There are times I ask myself "Didn't I just use that adjective three paragraphs before" or "I just said this album was one of the best of the year...but what about last week's?" But I do hope you like what you see....and I thank you for taking the time to read it!

Hopefully, this all leads to more writing gigs down the line. I would love to write something for Country Weekly, or maybe the Journal Of Country Music---one of the best publications in the genre....but they haven't called me...yet....There's still time, I hope.

So....I guess I better get back to it. Whether I ever become a Lewis Grizzard or a Earl Hamner, Jr., I don't know....but there's things you need to know about....Whether it's the Dickson County Cougars latest game, or the latest album from Reba.....I'll keep on writing.....Thanks for reading once again, and be looking for those e-mail updates!