Funny thing happened on the way to the semester launch: One of my employer colleges got a big uptick in enrollment, and they needed (wo)manpower quick. An application and interview later, I was offered and accepted a one-year temporary contract as a full-time professor.
Longtime readers know that this is the end goal, the thing I’ve been working toward for eight years now. It’s why I left full-time reporting to go to grad school, why I earned two masters degrees, why I’ve been toiling in the adjunct vineyards since graduation. It’s the endgame.
Needless to say, I’m over the moon.
Q: Wait a minute: temporary?
A: Yup. I’m the temp from Chiswick.* After one year it could be extended, rolled into a permanent position, or I could be rolled back to adjunct next year. I’ll have to jump off that bridge when I come to it.
Q: So you’re just teaching a normal number of classes?
A: Nope! I still have two adjunct classes at another college for which I was contracted this fall, plus one overload class at my main employer, so it’s one more semester of crazy overload. But then I get to teach just one full-time load, which honestly feels like a vacation at this point.
But in the meantime, I finally have a full-time job again, and a regular salary that will provide us with a little stability. It’s a really wonderful development, totally unexpected and very welcome.
Q: So you’ll only have one job?
A: Of course not. I’ve still got Donald Media, with my freelance journalism, photography, editing and other miscellaneous shenanigans. That’s the wonderful thing about freelancing: you can scale your work load up and down according to the needs of the moment.
Q: You’re not gonna stop writing books, are you?
A: Absolutely not. I have much more trauma to inflict on you! Next year’s book is a space opera and I think you’re going to love it. In fact, if you are on the Patreon, it has some excerpts from the work in progress already.
Q: So the Patreon is continuing?
A: Of course. The Patreon has been some of the best writing I’ve ever done, especially in the nonfiction realm. I have no intention of mothballing it and giving up my travelogues, photo essays and rants. And I continue to be so grateful for the wonderful Patrons who continue to support me with their subscriptions.
Q: Anything else going on?
A: I’m so glad you asked. On the same day as the job offer, I was informed that I am receiving the SPJ Freelance Fellowship for 2025, which will fund my attendance at MediaFest next month in Washington D.C. I’m delighted to be joining my colleagues at the Society of Professional Journalists and continuing the important discussions facing our profession. I am so grateful to the Freelance Community for this honor, and am looking forward to thanking them in person in DC.
Thanks for bearing with me, loyal readers. It makes such an enormous difference to have your support, and to know that you keep coming back to read me. Here’s the year of the temp!
* Only Doctor Who nerds are going to get this joke.