Meeting local writers

Good things happen when you get up early, apparently. Last Thursday on our morning walk, Michael and I stopped briefly to let our dogs greet another woman's dog. We started chatting, and she mentioned she works from home.

"So do I!" I said.

She asked what I do, and when I told her I'm a writer, she said she is too. We chatted for a few more minutes, and I discovered she has been freelancing for seven years. (I've been freelancing full time for almost two years now, but that doesn't sound as impressive. I'm really looking forward to someday being able to tell people that I've been freelancing for 10 or 20 years.) It sounds like she does work similar to my copywriting gigs, except for much larger clients.

We ended up exchanging information, and we're planning to have lunch together as soon as the large project we're working on currently. This is, of course, an awesome networking opportunity for me: there's a chance I can get extra work for her, and since she's higher up on the totem pole than I am, it'll help me move into an all-new income bracket.

Despite the networking possibilities, though, I think the thing I am most excited about is simply knowing another writer in the area. Although blogs serve me quite well as a replacement for co-workers -- and in fact, they are an improvement, because I always hated office politics -- I miss the person-to-person chat. It will be unbelievably nice to get together and trade stories with a local writer from time to time.