Dear [Morra],
Glad to hear that you’re enjoying your house.
Yes, I would like to get out there and visit you. But I probably won’t be taking too many vacations this year as I must keep travel expenses to a minimum until I establish a solid income from the new businesses.
Tom
Dear Chirag,
Well, I’m not writing for a single publisher. (I never want to have a single boss determining my career progress ever again 
) Instead, I’m selling articles piecemeal to whoever will buy them. I’m spending this year learning the business, developing expertise in the topics about which I’d like to write, building an article portfolio, finding publishers interested in selling my content, attending writers’ workshops, and so on. In April of next year, I’m scheduled to begin selling what I have, whole-hog. By that time, I plan to have at least 100 articles, short stories, illustrative letters, poems, and song lyrics written to offer my customers. I have five of them composed already and also have begun writing my first book.
Initially, I’ll be writing to the shy people among us, helping them get over their fears of introducing themselves to people who they’d like to date. Then, later on, I want to offer the insights I’ve acquired through the years to help handicapped folks find ways to fit into and contribute to mainstream society.
But, until the writing business starts making money, I’m doing some disc jockey work now and then to keep the bills paid, the equipment running, and food on the table, so I don’t deplete my savings too quickly. That business front is called:
Tommy’s Tunes – Professional Disc Jockey Services
I use a Dell laptop computer to play the music on, and to date, have accrued 13,510 MP3 song files which came from my CD collection. I have two Crest Audio power amplifiers, each one delivering 1400 watts per channel into 2-Ohm loads. I also use 4 Community speakers, each one with 2 15” woofers, 1 6.5” midrange driver, and 1 1” horn tweeter. They really rock! When you turn this thing up, people can feel the bass in their kitchens five blocks away. This system can fill a large dance hall or field outside holding 2000 people or more, no problem.
It gives me a real workout as well. These amps are quite heavy (about 60 Lbs. Each).
I’ve done several shows so far and really love it. Much less stressful than software engineering let me tell you. Not as much money either. But one day, when the writing takes off, I should be able to replace my [old work] salary, and then some.
Well, take care, and do keep in touch. I’d enjoy hearing about what you’re up to these days. Oh, and yes, I’ll send you a copy of the first article I sell.
Tom Hesley