Freelance Love Read Free

sofa, thinking back to the happy day when she was finally able to
hand John her resignation letter.
    Morgan had worked hard for several years, earning double degrees
in English and Journalism at New Mexico State University. She had worked at
John Mack’s downtown store – Mack’s Country Clothing– while she was a student.
Knowing she needed a stable income as she built her client base, she stayed at
the store, working unpredictable hours, working on the weekly employee schedule
and handling the discipline while John stood around and chatted with other
business leaders.
    In her off-hours, Morgan worked to build her writing client list.
She scoured the Internet, looking for local and regional magazines, studying
their article contribution requirements. She chose several magazines and wrote
sample articles for each, then wrote query letters. She received four responses
back, along with writing assignments from each. Three of the four became
regular, long-term clients. Once she figured out how much she was bringing in
and how often her new clients paid her, she planned her long-awaited exit from
Mack’s Country Clothing. As she received payments from her clients, she put
them into her savings account. Finally . . . finally! She came home from the
clothing store one night, muttering about John’s treatment of his most-junior employees.
She looked at her bank balance and realized she had over 6 months of income
saved.
    “Okay, Mr. Mack. I’ve reached my goal and I’m setting a new one.
Time to write out a kick-ass resignation letter and hand it in. I’m kicking
John’s ass to the curb.”
    After eating a quick salad, she sat down and quickly typed out
her letter of resignation. Printing it out, she looked for errors and made a
few changes. Finally, pleased with her letter, she printed out a final copy,
signed it and put it into an envelope with John’s name on the front.
    John was predictably . . . unhappy with her letter and plans to
leave. He tried to get her to change her mind, offering her raises and
promotions before she left. She refused every offer. Her coworkers, excited for
her, planned a gathering away from the store. After she finished working on her
last day, they took Morgan to a local Italian restaurant, where they feasted on
appetizers and hearty Italian entrees.
    The next Monday, Morgan woke at her usual early hour. Smiling because
she knew she wouldn’t have to battle Las Cruces’  rush hour traffic, she got up
and made herself a leisurely breakfast and planned out her long-awaited writing
day.
    “Nothing and nobody will mess up my plans to own my own writing
business. This is what I’ve wanted to do for so many years. I worked for it and
it is my life,” she said under her breath. Bouncing off her sofa, she returned
to her work, checking the clock. If
I can finish this section in the next couple of hours, I’ll finish before
dinnertime tonight.
    Two weeks after turning in her most recent magazine articles,
Morgan was meeting with her student-researcher, Mia Gavin. She and the petite
college student were sitting at the Corbett Center Student Union at New Mexico
State University, discussing the direction of Morgan’s newest feature articles.
    “”Okay, here’s what I have. Las
Cruces Lifestyles wants me to write a lengthy feature about the mariachi
groups we have located in the city. We’re talking about youth groups, groups
from the high schools and semi-professional groups. I want to talk about why
mariachi is so ‘hot’ here in the Southwest. My article will touch on the
progression of a few members of one of the semi-professional groups here
– Mariachi Chihuahuense. The musicians are all young - from about 18 to,
say, 32 or 33 years old. They’ve pretty much grown up exposed to mariachi, so
that, when they got old enough to pick up an instrument, it was almost a
natural progression for them to start learning the music. I’ve spoken to the
group’s director. His name is Jose