Bringing it on in 2008

What a way to start the New Year!

First off, and the most important, I landed a freelance job with a news bureau based in Hong Kong. The Editor gave me my first assignment and told me to work with one of their online magazines' news briefs. The first brief would be about Xinjiang's tourism industry. Some might think it's not much of an assignment because it'll only be one hundred words long. But it excites the shit out of me since this is the first time my words will find their way on a daily online circulation.

What's so good about it is that the Editor also told me to think of topics about the Philippines or anywhere else in Asia that has something to do with emerging markets. If they find my query salable, they'll allot me a space in their other publications. Mind you, this is my first attempt at writing for an online mag and I'm praying this turns out right.

Second, there were plenty of organizations and people who have responded to emails I wrote during the last few days of December 2007. This is a breakthrough for me because I never trusted cyberspace before and I was a Puritan who valued face-to-face interaction over silly communications technologies. I mean, what can beat a good personal hearty conversation? The answer/s: Time, money, and distance.

I've relied on the Web to contact people I don't know and sought their advice how I can bag writing jobs. I wrote editors, professional writers, writer-friends, and bugged the hell out of them during the holidays. They've responded to my questions like I already belong to their extended family. They're a great bunch and they'd be more than willing to share their precious time, effort, and leads. Yep, you heard me right. They gave me story leads.

I never felt this welcome before. Not when you spent most of your entire life living in competitive environments. This family of writers are so helpful I just couldn't get enough of them.

Apart from writing to writers, I also wrote to companies. I was hoping they would give a washed-out dad and ex-teacher a job he knows nothing about to begin with. Well, unlike the cyberspace writers, most of these companies didn't respond. Perhaps they don't want to bet their purse on a pretender whom they can smell from a mile away. But that's alright. I'm glad they didn't answer at all because I'll be left to my writer friends.

I found a new family and they're not from the Philippines. They live all over the world. One of them is from India -- a wonderful, helpful gal. Another one from the US -- a sweet writer. The rest are from Latin America and South Africa. Their writing voices are so varied, so melodic, I thought I was listening to a grand choir. They're all full of passion with what they do and their styles are so elegant I don't know which one to imitate first. It's so overwhelming.