Seven Days Left at QWC

So, let’s just rip this band-aid off: I’m leaving my job at Queensland Writers Centre at the end of next week.

*Takes a deep breath*
*Exhales meaningfully*
*Gets a little misty-eyed*

It doesn’t seem that long ago that I started with QWC, coming aboard to work on a arts project on a six month contract. I thought I would finish up at the end of 2011, pack up my stuff and head off to Melbourne for the next phase of my life. Instead, I kept signing new contracts and getting new gigs. Managing the Australian Writers Marketplace. Convening the GenreCon writers conference and shepherding it through its first three years. Going out and talking to writers, new and established, about business and craft and networking and all the other things I’m passionate about when it comes to writer’s careers.

I got to meet and befriend an incredible number of talented writers, publishers, and agents. I got to give people advice in my first year, then have them come back and tell me how it helped a few years later.

QWC has, for the last five years, been a pretty sweet gig for someone with my interests. I’m still vaguely shocked that I made the decision to leave. It basically took a perfect storm of someone offering me a similarly interesting gig doing social media content, with compatible hours that still allowed for writing, and a better paycheck attached. The better paycheck helped make the decision, what with the mortgage and all. And even then I was on the fence, because…well, lets be honest, 2017 is a GenreCon year and I love running that event.

Then, when I told my boss I was leaving, they were all, “so if I wanted you to come back and work on GenreCon…”

Which means, essentially, I’m leaving my job at QWC next week, except for the bit that I really, really enjoy. And I’ll still be convening Genrecon in 2017 and getting a chance to implement the program that’s half-built already, in my head. That makes the whole leaving thing a little less sad.

But just a little. It’s been a great five years and I’ve had the chance to meet all sorts of awesome people. If you were part of that, thank you. You all fucking rocked.

And with that, I’m off to Melbourne for the weekend to catch up with peeps. See you all when I get back to Brisbane next week, yeah?