22nd February 2009

When we first moved to France in 2005, £1 was equal to 1.50 euros. That was before the big nose-dive. I've just looked to see if there's been any improvement: nope, it's still only 1.1 euros. But then I thought, it's not long 'til April when I should get an increase in my British State pension. I walked down to the postbox and, lo-and-behold there was a letter from Gordon Brown telling me that in April I would get the princely sum of £88.88 per week! But, before you start passing the hat around, I do get a small occupational pension - though I'm constantly worried that the small pension-provider involved might go bust.
So, things needed to be done to boost our income, but what? A little lateral thinking was required. Recently, I've been successful in bidding for projects on the excellent Peopleperhour.com site (PPH). This matches creative-writing providers like me with suppliers. In order to get chosen, though, you have to bid low. It doesn't make you a millionaire - well, not yet anyway - but it has helped to bridge that gap between the current low exchange rate. And, what I like about it is that I can work from the comfort of chez-nous, and my employer doesn't need to know my age nor how presentable I look!!
Well, a few days ago PPH asked me whether they could profile me and pass it on to the media. The story was that it isn't always necessary for the thousands of British people living in France, for example, to return home when times are tough and their French isn't good enough to get a job in France. IT is always there to gain access to funding opportunities. Lulu.com, the organisation that has published my 4 books, are also interested in profiling me. So, all is not yet lost. Maybe I can turn it into a publicity campaign for my writing career. I'll then be able to change my slogan of 'I'm NOT a celebrity - get me published' to 'I AM a celebrity......'
We'll have to see.