"Dear Andy
I've got a question for you, as a newbie in the world of freelancing what happens when you get sick? I mean, you work for yourself right? How does that affect deadlines and I was wondering if and how you prepare for it?"
This email came in the first week of December-- the week I was starting my Dec- Jan break. 7 weeks of no classes, no workshops, no outside commitments just 7 weeks of working on Dracula.
I got a bit of a head cold almost right away-- and I laughed at it- downed a plate of Saltine crackers smothered with Wasabi spread and knocked it right out.
I got through the rest of December, took a few days off for the holidays and planned on spending these final two weeks of no other work actually working around the clock to bang out pages.
Nope.
Woke up one morning feeling like I'd been sleeping outside in my underwear and things only got worse from there. Things occurred which I'll not mention here and continue hard to forget. I dragged my sorry self to the doctor on day six -- and like always Kevin fixed me up and set me straight.
How does this affect the deadline?
Seriously.
Luckily, I always build in some time but it now means no room for further setbacks and I won't have nearly as long to do re edits as I'd hoped. Worse case I'll call the editor and request an extension but I'm not at that point yet.
But yes, to answer your question-- if you get sick and you work for yourself stuff don't get done.
