A Mountain to Climb

There have been changes in Mountaingirl World - the most confronting is that I have a back injury and I suffer from chronic (and, at the moment, worsening) pain. Ironically this is not a recent injury - over two years now but this is a recent admission that I have a problem.

Co-incidentally I have a new doctor and I think he has given me the confidence to confront that which I have been trying to both deny and hide for so long - from myself as much as the rest of my world.

In the long run I know the timing will be good but it has come with the double whammy of the further realisation that when my present job finishes in 6 weeks there are effectively no other jobs that I can physically manage to do. I will have started uni by then - and from the head up things are still ticking along but movement from there down is very limited - and still very painful.

So my options for keeping the roof over the head and putting food on the table are very,very limited. I have asvings but that isn't goign to be a long-term option.

I do have one idea and although it sound ridiculous, it might genuinely be my only option - to go back to writing. Now writing books doesn't pay (or at least not in Australia) so I am thinking about a little lifestyle column or article in a couple of newspapers. I don't need to make big dollars, just top up my disability payment (sheesh I actually said that out loud).

I have worked out I can write on two main subjects food (history, seasons, recipes, cooking, general conversation on the subject), life moments/amusing anecdotes/people but also a myriad of others (like books, or art, or shopping, or life in a small town, or eco topics or ...) that will just take a little research (as opposed to effectively off the top of my head or observational comments).

Now the only things harder than getting paid for being published is finding an agent (especially as all of the advice I have received is to not send your work to one but to wait for them to find you) - and I am thinking I probably need both. Meanwhile I am researching newspapers and magazines around the English speaking world and ....

Okay I know that from so many perspectives this is not a practical idea - especially given my time frame to get started - but if someone can come up with something else that will pay about AU$500 per fortnight but doesn't involve me moving, lifting, standing or walking and is something can do from a suitable location (no I am not moving to Sydney) then I am well and truly open to other ideas.

Oh and if you know an agent who is looking for a new writer to represent lol

Photo: "Challenge" by Paulo Cassasco