Life & Work By Design Blog

Daniel Craig - Murder at the Universe Mystery Writer

I included some quotes from Daniel Craig in an earlier post called Take the Night Shift to Hawaii. As the general manager of the Opus Hotel in Vancouver, BC, he works at a career he loves that also provides a rich background for this aspiring writer. He spends his days in a resort hotel environment chock full of interesting people and unique characters. What fodder for an author!

About 10 years ago, he started getting up at 5 am to write for two hours before going to work. His first published book, Murder at the Universe, is about a hotel manager in New York who becomes a reluctant sleuth when a murder takes place on property and his colleagues become suspects.

Daniel has now been contracted by Midnight Ink Books to develop the premise into a series featuring this hotel-manager-turned-sleuth. He just finished the second installment and it will be released in June of 2008.

When asked to comment on his dual career, Daniel said,

“As a writer I can set my own schedule and am only accountable to myself. Although now that I have a book contract I’m accountable to my editor, plus there are the readers to think about too. My job as a hotel manager allows me to live a comfortable life and to have a social outlet and network while pursuing my lifelong goal of being a writer. I have a creative side that needs to write, but I also am social and like to travel and enjoy the finer things in life, so having two careers allows me to have it all. It just makes me a very busy person.”

On designing an ideal life, this energetic young man says,

“I meet lots of people who dream about pursuing a creative endeavor but can never find the time. If it’s really important to you, you must make the time. Don’t wait until you’ve done all your other activities and use whatever time is leftover to pursue your dream. There is never any time left over. As the Wealthy Barber says about saving money, pay yourself first.”

Murder at the Universe

Technorati tags: writing fiction, part-time author, dual careers, hospitality careers, creative writing, mystery series

Leslie Smith was a school teacher who loved kids so much she had three right in a row. That’s when she realized that she would have to take time out from the classroom she loved to stay home with her “Lil Darlins”. It wasn’t long before this new mom realized that babies are messy eaters and she quickly tired of changing outfits three and four times a day and doing mountains of wash. All the bibs she found just didn’t do the job so, after some experimenting and putting their two heads together, Leslie and her mom designed the Bib-A-Roo. You can see that it certainly does the trick of keeping baby clean and containing the mess! 

Leslie’s mom, Jeanne Roth, had retired but as a former small business owner ( a luggage shop and a bakery are two) she knew how to organize a start up operation. Even though they only had one product, they discovered that they had a winner and went to work finding fabrics, trims and sewing up a storm.  Jeanne handles the sewing and Leslie does the selling.

“I never knew how much fun sales really was until I made my first sales call.   My competitive edge really went into effect and I got this adrenaline rush from selling our product and meeting new people” she says.

When I asked about the best part of having their own business, Leslie answered that she likes being her own boss and doing her own thing. 

“It allows me to believe in myself and make decisions that I feel confident about.” She admits to being a Type A personality and a perfectionist who sets high standards for herself and her products so she won’t settle for a no or a maybe from a supplier.

Budgeting time is the biggest challenge. Figuring out how to clean house, cook for the family, pay bills, raise three young girls and be a good wife along with running the Lil Darlins business takes a lot of juggling, but she is willing to work hard at it.  It is a great example of a true “cottage industry” and one of my favorite ways for a stay-at-home mom to continue to be active out in the world and to earn an income.  Starting small with one product is easy to do if you have a good idea and the discipline to get to work on it.

Once the Bib-A-Roo took off, they started designing new products and have just added their fifth - the ApronAll is a great catch-all for older children to wear to protect their clothes as they do crafts, help mom clean house or cook.  You can see all the products at www.lildarlins.org  They are planning to start hiring sewers to help with production and will be attending several national wholesale gift and kids shows this fall and next year. They have come this far in little more than a year and their products are now sold in over a dozen retail shops in the Philadelphia area as well as on the internet.

A caution here - I always tell my clients that I am practical and will be objective in my advice.  Lil Darlins LLC has yet to show a profit - although I think they are probably about to get over that mountain. Too many people have dreams of earning a whole lot of money instantly when they start a home-based business. With some businesses that sell services this is possible, but when manufacturing is involved, the cycle is longer because you have material and labor expenses that have to be accounted for. Leslie and Jeanne admit they didn’t know enough about buying wholesale supplies at first - if you aren’t sure how to do some facet of your business idea, talk to others in the same type of business or better yet, go to work for them for a short time to learn some of the ins and outs.

I am leaving tomorrow for a couple of weeks of R and R at a family summer home. This place is dear to my heart and I have not ever been able to spend much time there but this is my second trip this summer and I am grateful to be able to do that this year.

The best thing about this modest home is the swing on the front porch. Suspended from the ceiling, it makes a sweet tiny squeak each time it moves back and forth.  It is loaded with a variety of small pillows so you can arrange it just right for visiting with neighbors, reading a good book or taking an afternoon nap.

I’ve written many journal pages in that swing over the years, done hundreds of crossword puzzles, and read a milliion pages.  This year has been special though because I’ve been sitting there listening to my 90 year old father tell stories of his childhood and of family members whom I barely knew as a child.  What a privilege thishas been!

We all need time like this but unfortunately, they don’t build houses with porches and swings anymore. A whole generation has grown up not knowing the joy of just sitting and swinging. You can hear the birds singing, watch the squirrels and chipmunks run in the woods, feel the cool breeze in your hair, and just let your mind go for that time.

And of course, you can take a good nap. This is my daughter who has been napping on this swing her whole life and who discovered this summer that she still fits!

Swinging and napping - it just doesn’t get any better than that! Try it if you can…..  I’ll be blogging from here for the next couple of weeks.

In my most recent newsletter, I wrote about the natural human instincts that kick in as soon as our minds or bodies sense that something is about to change.  Anything that seems to threaten our safety and security causes us to feel things like dread, anxiety and fear.  It doesn’t take much to trigger these emotions. 

Well, let’s try flexing those risk muscles a little bit.  Play along with me, just for fun.   Spend the next week trying to do as many new things as you can think of.  Brush your teeth with your left hand (assuming you are right handed), take a new road to work, order a food you’ve never eaten before, check out a book on something you know nothing about, speak to a total stranger in the grocery check-out line, go sit in a restaurant and eat a meal alone. 

Stepping out of our normal routines and familiar territory help us grow and gain a sense of confidence in ourselves.  You also never know what you just might learn or experience that’s new by moving outside your frame for a little while.

Try it and I think you’ll find that it is fun!