Changing lanes… again

I’m sure you’ve all realized I’ve been a bit silent the past few weeks after a fairly busy March month of madness and posts. I apologize, oh faithful reader, but life has been a bit chaotic as of late and until I sorted through everything and made sense of it all I thought it best to wait to make any announcements.

For anyone who follows this blog regularly (and I thank you from the bottom of my heart if you do!), you’ll know that when I started this blog a little over a year ago, I’d just plunged myself into the world of freelance writing. I was “self-employed” (a glorified term for unemployment at times) and branching out as an auto journalist as much as I could.

While my previous full-time job had allowed me to indulge in automotive writing, it wasn’t that way all the time. I was an editor for a men’s magazine and dealt with every subject matter from fashion to sex to travel and finally, cars.

From freelance I jumped back into full-time employment. Freelance was a bit too sketchy for my taste and C’s and we wanted something a bit more stable for our mortgage. So, I took a position as a full-time communications writer for a very large engineering firm here in Montreal. It’s been a great 7 months here. I’ve learned a great deal about corporate writing, and engineering as a whole. I think it’s a fantastic addition to my resume. However, I kept my feet stuck in the auto world and continued to blog and freelance for a local newspaper’s car section and produce video car reviews for WatchMojo — because I couldn’t keep away from cars.

For years now, really since I graduated University, my goal has been to work in the field of auto journalism full-time. Sure, I already call myself an auto journalist, and I believe I am. But I’m an auto journalist on the side and a communications writer full-time.

Or at least I was.

Writing has always been my passion (as I’ve said multiple times before, and I’m sorry if this is boring for you all, but it must be said again). It’s something I truly love to do and something that, thankfully, comes naturally to me. My years of experience as an editor and writer have only helped to perfect and hone my craft and I feel like I’ve reached a point in my career where I can say I am a damn good writer. (Yes, that’s the sound of me tooting my own horn).

And it seems I’m not the only one who thinks so.

Even after all this time, effort, hard work and passion, I still find it strange to be wanted. Now, this might sound like a self-confidence thing, but trust me it’s not. I simply feel that there are so many talented writers out there, if I were an editor or publisher, I’d have a helluva time choosing the ideal writer for my publication.

I’d like to think that what happened to me a few weeks ago was the result of years of hard work and dedication to a field of work I was always just skirting the edges of; auto journalism. Sure, I’ve been as fully involved as I can be. But my full-time employment has always been in another field. Which sucked. (Eloquent, I know.) But I’m inclined to think it was a combination of luck and fantastic timing.

A locally owned and run automotive publication approached me about working for them full-time as one of their core journalists. It’s an online magazine available in French and English and published across Canada. They’re a big deal and do very well. In fact, I used to freelance for them a few years ago.

So, when they approached me and told me what they really wanted from me, I was floored. Sure, I kept my cool during the meeting, but in reality I was absolutely freaking out inside. Fr-eak-ing OUT.

The BMW Blogger job didn’t pan out (for other reasons you’ll all learn about in a bit, I promise), and that seemed like the dream job for me. But it also meant changing my home and my life. Which would have been a bit much.

When I told C about the offer he was almost as happy as I was. He realized what it meant for me; finally working full-time in the field I’ve worked so hard to be a part of since graduating journalism school. My parents felt the same way, and thankfully so did my boss the day I quit my full-time position as a communications writer at the engineering firm to be a full-time automotive journalist.

Sometimes the long road of life is full of blind corners and foggy patches, but this time I feel like I’m a nice open stretch of perfectly paved road with nothing but gorgeous scenery and no speed limits ahead. My journey as a full-time auto journalist begins May 2nd and I am absolutely beside myself with anticipation and excitment.

Oh faithful reader, hard work does pay off. And I can’t wait to keep that hard work up to continue to prove myself in this uber exciting field. And I’ll be sure to keep you all posted on the ups and downs of this new career route — because there are bound to be some!

Drive on,
– M.

~ by drivingmsmiranda on April 15, 2011.