DAY JOBS
tables suits the way I want to live at the moment. I only do it part-time. so the money is just enough to live on. but it gives me time to write and research my next project. and doesn‘t over- engage my brain.
‘You can‘t wait around for someone to give you work — you jttst have to get out there and do it. I made I’uI/ier's Day on £500 from my own pocket: for the second feature. .\’(m'/1ere. we were lucky enough to get a grant from (iilmorehillG 12. which will go towards distribution and festival fees. Besides. sites like YouTube mean it's easier to get your work seen without funding.‘
Links to Michael’s films can be found at www.myspace.comlmikcalIaghan
Job 1 Novelist Job 2 Community aerobics teacher Most writers only dream of making a living from their art. but Laura Marney. the Glasgow— based author of No lVUlIl/(‘I' I Take a Drink. Nobody I ,(n'es a (finger Baby and Only Strange People ( 1'0 to Church has hit the jackpot. Why. then. does she spend her aftemoons squeezed into chra. barking out orders in a succession of community halls'.’ ’l‘m not teaching aerobics because I need the money.‘ she chuckles. ‘l‘m doing it for the exercise and to get me out the house. Being a writer is the most unhealthy job in the world -— you sit on your own. terribly depressed. The work is the most important thing. of course. so you have to comfort yourself. maybe with liquorice. or tatty scones . . . l wasjust putting on weight. and decided “right. I need to fix this“. So. rather than spend money on a gym I‘d probably never go to. I decided to train as an instructor. That way. they pay me and l have to turn up!‘
12 THE LIST 74 May 1" Jim I)()()/'
After years of working in professional management and as a drugs rep. Marney jacked it all in to enrol herself (and good friend Louise Welsh) on (ilasgow l'niversity's creative writing .\ll.itt. where she produced Nu ll’onder. . . and received a Scottish Arts (‘ouncil grant
‘1 moved to Spain. and did the whole writing in a garret thing. really living the dream. And it was really boring. liven if I was JK Rowling. I couldn‘t sit in front of a laptop all day and not have the stimulation of going out and meeting people. I need to be active. After an aerobics class I feel great. Woohoo! Full of energy. You really need that balance in your life. between the cerebral and the physical. lt feeds into my
writing. too. I wrote my second novel in Spain. during that period of isolation. and it shows — all the characters are isolated. But with ()nly Strange People I was in and out of
community halls. interacting with some real characters. and I found that I was writing a book that had much more to do with a sense of community. Well. you use what‘s at hand. don‘t vou'."
Job 1 Artist
Job 2 Cleaner
When she‘s not busy working as a sculptor. painter and collage artist. Katie ()rton. whose work is collected by Charles Saatchi. runs her own I business. (ireen Rooms Urban lico-(‘leaning Services. ‘Cleaning suits me — it‘s cathartic. My bodst engaged in very physical labour. but my head‘s free to think. Besides. I need to be able to control my hours so I can go on artist residencies.
'l‘m interested in interiors and social spaces. and a lot of my work has a tactile. domestic edge to it. so it‘s always interesting nosying in someone else‘s house. It's fun to play about with your roles in life too. As a cleaner. you have to be unassuming and quiet. As an artist there’s a lot of assertiveness and self- promotion. When you show work. you expose something. but when you clean you really want anonymity.
‘You can spend a lot of time applying to funding bodies and hearing nothing — it’s quicker to go out and use your initiative. In a perfect world. we‘d all have as much as we need. but I think artists need to find the other side that complements their work. If we all stayed in our studios. we‘d lose relevance to the outside world.’
Katie’s work can be found at www.embassygallery.co.uk