Editor’s Diary: Time Out!


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Sitting down to write this Editor’s Diary is giving me a chance to draw breath in a busy week!

We are never short of things to do on the “Friend”. It’s not a job for someone who likes to take it easy! My days are always fast-paced and varied. And this one has been no exception.

For a start, I’ve squeezed the week’s work into four days instead of five as I had a day’s holiday on Monday.

It was lovely! Mr PF Ed and I had enjoyed a rare night out on the Sunday and I decided to take the next day off. I tucked into a cooked breakfast, went for a long walk and watched a film. Bliss!

Back at my desk/kitchen table on Tuesday, I was straight into catch-up mode.

Reading pages for our March 5 issue and Special 222 and putting the finishing touches to all three 2023 Annuals (which combined have a total of 528 pages) was a priority.

Meetings – and more!

Then there were meetings to attend, from our monthly team catch-up to a debrief on our recent Warner holiday to a financial review.

I also had to approve some story submissions for Fiction Ed Lucy – I try to devote half an hour a day to these. And I had a monthly report to write, too.

We send an issue of the weekly to press every Thursday morning, so that takes up a chunk of time. And as we are recruiting for a new team member at the moment, I have around six or seven new applications to sort through every morning.

Plus Book Club on Tuesday evening! We had a lively discussion about “The Woman Warrior” by Maxine Hong Kingston.

And answering emails and queries . . . forward-planning Features content . . . I could go on!

By the time you read this, I will be in Dundee. I have an on-site meeting to plan our future return to the office. It’s all in a week’s work!


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Angela Gilchrist

Angela is Former Editor-in-Chief of “The People’s Friend” magazine. Her passions include cats, Highland ponies, good books, vegetarian food and long walks in the Scottish countryside. Her favourite place to get away from it all is the magical Isle of Skye.