The Yellow Room Production Line

I always forget what a mammoth task it is sending out each issue of The Yellow Room. It's not simply a case of putting magazines in envelopes. I have to check who needs to renew, then cross check that against various files. I need to sort out contributors' copies and cheques. Then there are all the records to update.

My timing is dreadful. The magazines arrived yesterday, and I so wanted to get them all out by Easter. However, the children are on holiday from school and there have been optician's appointments, shopping, gym, logging competition entries and all sorts of other things to fit in as well. I'm not complaining, honestly. I do like being busy, but today has been frantic.

I've managed to post out about half the magazines so far. Incredibly, even though I posted a quarter of them Second Class yesterday, a few have already arrived. Royal Mail have excelled themselves for once. I still have about half the total number of magazines to send out. I'm reluctant to post them tomorrow, as they won't be delivered on Friday, and they'll be languishing in a sorting office somewhere until goodness knows when. I find that magazines tend to go missing over the holiday period. I've taken the decision to mail out the rest of the magazines on Tuesday next week. It's not ideal, but I'm sure subscribers can be patient a little bit longer.

I have a busy weekend ahead. Matt's band, Bullets For Bill, are gigging on Saturday night and again on Sunday night supporting my husband's band, Visitation. I'm really looking forward to it.

Don't forget to let me know what you thought of Issue 4 of The Yellow Room once you've received your copy!

Issue 4 Coming Soon!

Issue 4 of The Yellow Room is now at the printer's and should be delivered to me next week (fingers crossed). I hope to get the issue out to subscribers before Easter. It features another great collection of short stories including the first and second prize winning stories in The Yellow Room Autumn Competition.

I still have heaps of copies of Quality Women's Fiction Magazine (the magazine I published and edited before The Yellow Room), mainly Issues 47-49. If you send a C5 envelope (half A4 size) with your address on it and a 'Large' stamp (value 90p, I think, but postage rates are about to increase), then I can send you one copy. If you'd like all three copies, then you'll need a bigger envelope and more postage (£2.50 usually covers it).

I've been fiddling around with some of my old short stories the past week or so, as I felt like a break from the novel. I submitted a 'womag' story to The People's Friend by First Class post one day last week only to receive a rejection by email the following evening! The speed of the rejection was even more painful than having to wait a few weeks to receive one by post.

On a more personal note, I'm still visiting the dentist for treatment on a regular basis and my car needs yet more repairs! I won't bore you with the details, but it's all very frustrating and expensive. Yesterday I managed to get out for my first long walk with my walking friends, Fiona and Sarah, since October. It was lovely being out in the countryside once more, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine.

Don't forget to send in your entry for The Yellow Room Short Story Competition, which closes on 31st March. I'm busy reading the entries I've received so far and the standard is pretty good! I'm also receiving many orders for copies of The Yellow Room, as well as many new subscriptions, which is great news.

Emerging From The Cold

I can't believe how long it's been since I last blogged. I'd like to say that I've been incredibly busy writing, but I haven't!

The good news is that Issue 4 of The Yellow Room is now with the typesetter, so hopefully it will be ready to send out to subscribers by the end of the month. I chose the stories pretty much on a first-come, first-served basis this time, as I felt guilty at how long I'd kept some writers waiting to see their work in print.

I still have days (far too many) when I find it incredibly difficult to motivate myself and feel crushingly tired. I keep putting it down to 'my time of life'. I hope it passes soon, as it's so disruptive in terms of getting anything creative done, not to mention the usual domestic chores, the gym and even reading. I just want to sleep! And no, I haven't been to see a doctor, because you usually have to drag me there kicking and screaming.

My dental treatment continues. I'm back there on Monday morning to have my crown fitted. My dentist still doesn't know that the temporary one he fitted came out the very next day. I couldn't bear to go back and get it fixed, having spent over an hour in the dentist's chair the day before.

Entries for the Yellow Room Competition (closing at the end of March) are coming in at a steady rate. I'm trying to read them as they come in, but I'm falling behind slightly. I hope to do some catching up today. I'm confined to the house waiting in for a parcel (story of my life!).

I have done half an hour's writing on the novel this morning, which is more than I've done in a while. I have to keep pushing aside those thoughts of 'Why am I even bothering?'.

I'm off to Harrogate at the beginning of April for the launch party for Sally Zigmond's first novel, Hope Against Hope. I'm so looking forward to it, as I haven't seen Sally in ages. She's worked so hard on her writing generally and on this novel specifically, that I hope it's a huge success.

And in case you're interested, I'm currently reading A Cotswold Ordeal by Rebecca Tope (a cosy crime novel set in the Cotswolds) and We Danced All Night by Martin Pugh (a heavy tome all about life between the wars).

Photo by David Derrick... taken at Longleat, I think!