In 13 hours or so I'm having lunch with my boss, whom I adore. She thinks it's a late "Happy Administrative Professionals Day" lunch. But it's the lunch when I tell her that I've signed up for daytime classes this fall semester. I'm hopeful that I can work for her part time, maybe even get a raise out of the deal. But I'm scared, scared, scared with all this money talk.

My brother asked me some questions about the commuter newspapers that made their debut in Chicago last year and I've been looking online for stories to back up my own observations. I looked in the Columbia Journalism Review and came across a great story about Adrian Nicole LeBlanc who wrote RANDOM FAMILY. Her family was working class, one reason she connected so closely with the subjects of her book. She took a long time to write the book. How long? Well she got a $20,000 advance on the book:

From the time LeBlanc received her book contract from Houghton Mifflin and paid her agent to the time the book was delivered to Scribner, the money from her advance broke down to $36 a week.

Note to self: Be Brave.