The 2am Update

Why am I writing this at 2am?

Two reasons:

1. I've been sleeping off a killer headache all day (no, not self-inflicted from a hangover or anything -- I'm a good girl!); and
2. I drank a Coke to perk myself up at 4pm and therefore am wide awake now. No fairsies!

The upside of this is that I can share my recent writing-related exploits with you. Project Zine is going ahead well. A bit of back story... For those of you who haven't heard, I've recently fallen in love with independent zines, cute A5-sized booklets put together by rather cool individuals. (To see why I find them so delightful, head to the little Facebook gallery I've compiled of my girliest faves here.)

So, I'm making one myself for magazine-lovers, and plan to sell it on Etsy and zine "distros" (small DIY shops). First, I must finish it and hooray, hooray, I'm starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. It's rather slow going compiling it, but I gotta say I'm having a blast! The picture above is of a new double page in a section on making your own magazine-themed gift baskets. How could I resist recommending a Sex and the City version? You like?

All going well, I'm hoping to launch the zine in early December. I absolutely cannot wait! : )

In other news, my 12-month hiatus from my desk job at Consumer Affairs is coming to a close and it's crunch time for deciding if I'll return in 2012 or continue freelancing and office temping instead. My old manager Steve called on Tuesday and I'll call him back tomorrow. I think I know my decision, but it depends on what he says too.

That's all for now. Hope you're all having a super-exciting, fun week! xx

Fabulous Fridays: 18 November 2011

Happy Friday, everyone! Yes, I've been busily beavering away on my soon-to-be-released zine and another sneak peek is on its way. In the meantime, feast your eyes on assorted goodies...

• This rings true: "Why You Should Be Wary If Your Partner Starts Dieting". What do you think?
• I had a galah land on my boobs on Tuesday. That's not a euphemism, it really happened while visiting a lovely bird rescue lady. Her feathered friend was almost as charming as this fellow.
• Colossally lusting after Butter London's Black Knight nail shade. Sophisticated with sparkle.
• My latest music obsession? Jessie J singing "Domino" on US X Factor. Yes, she's the real deal.
• I've recently contemplated making jam from our fruit trees' produce, but feel a little too Susie Homemaker. This is way far in the other direction, though. A microwave? Really?
• The closest Lily Allen clone I've found, but light-hearted musical fun in her own right: Kate Nash.
• A high school friend of mine moved to London and became an archaeologist by day and burlesque performer by night. Intrigued? Meet Ava Iscariot. : )
• Saucy Japanese schoolgirl hijinks I've been reading of late... Pastel. Good stuff.
• Into shopping with a conscience? At the urging of a friend, I happily bought the Shop Ethical app to spend my dollars better for the environment, fair trade, cruelty-free and more.
• Haven't been able to evict the Glee Rumour Has It / Someone Like You mash-up from my head since I heard it. Damn, Santana can sing!!!

Wanna be part of the next Fabulous Friday? I'd love to hear of any brilliant blogs, sites, articles and generally tomfoolery you'd like to share. So, what's been inspiring you lately?

High Tea and High Hopes

Writing for magazines isn't all sipping tea and glamorous events. In fact, I'm still waiting for the glamour part of the equation to kick in (any day now, right?). Occasionally though, I do enjoy a cup of tea in a classy establishment...

Five of my best gal pals and I went to a seaside high tea yesterday afternoon, complete with finger sandwiches, mini quiches, tiny scones and danishes, tea, coffee and best of all, CHAMPAGNE! We caught up on plenty of Sex and the City-style gossip, went for a walk and generally got some girl-bonding time happening. It was fantastic!

Back down to earth today, I've sent a Valentine's Day pitch and am working on another one to do with flight attendants. It's a very cool topic that I haven't seen covered before, so I'm eager to make the pitch work. We'll see.

I've also made a BIG decision -- I'm not going back to my mediation job at Consumer Affairs in January. I've taken 2011 off as a year of leave without pay and I'm now going to extend it for another year. I don't want to cut ties altogether with them, but I feel pairing magazine writing and being a guerilla secretary-for-hire is working out well. I want to give it more time and see where it leads. : )

In other news, this week I'll be getting stuck into the Magazine Love zine, so I'll be able to show you some more pretty pictures of my progress soon... maybe you'll even get an update tomorrow. You never know your luck. ; )

How about you? What are you working on this week?

Fabulous Fridays: 11 November 2011

... And we're back!!!

Thanks for sticking with me for the past week! Our home Internet has been playing up. I emailed the health article I'd written to my editor Thursday last week at 4:15pm (skating in just 15 minutes before deadline!) and two hours later it died. So glad it happened in that order!

It was fixed yesterday, so we have mucho Fabulous Friday goodness to catch up on. Let the games begin!

• This song should be our national anthem, but up yours, Telstra. You killed our Internet. Gotta say they've done a decent job sorting it out though.
• Not that I would usually endorse actual ridgy-didge cooking, but if you use your oven for something more than storage, try making this adorable oven mitt for yourself, or as a gift. Cute!
• On a scale of 0 to 10, how wrong is it that I secretly wanna learn to pick locks? Not to steal stuff, just 'cos it's kinda geeky cool, alright?
• You can see the exact moment when the fox thinks, "Holy f*ck, I can BOUNCE!". : )
• The Oh Joy! lifestyle/decor blog is a bit spesh. Say "peonies" and "pom poms" and I'm totally there.
• Ignore Mickey Rooney's character and focus on the classy performance by Audrey Hepburn and the beautiful "Moon River". Ahh...
• Feeling playful and longing for a little '70s goodness? Get yourself a Space Hopper. One of my bestest birthday presents!
• Wow, the ditziest of The Plastics in Mean Girls can really belt out a tune. I'm impressed with this Amanda Seyfried bird.
• How cool would it be to play chef by setting yourself up as an underground restaurant?
• Sarah Jessica Parker at the Melbourne Cup on the blog for stylish brand, Sass and Bide. The horse-face jokes have almost stopped now. Almost.
• Betty White commercials from 1959 in colour! Can you believe she is now 89? She's still stunning though. : )
• Do you keep certain clothes because they remind you of a happier time? You should read this: love and comfort clothes.
• I am so unimaginative, attending a Halloween/engagement party (interesting mash-up of events!) as a black cat. Boring! So wish I'd chosen one of these costumes instead.
• I love Jane Austen. I love mysteries. Combined? DO WANT!!!

It's great to be back on the blogging bandwagon. Let's never fight again, Intermernetz! xx

Query Letter: "Men's Health" Magazine

Here's another of my fabulous flops. I sent this email to Men's Health magazine pitching an article about health and fitness Twitter accounts and never received a reply. I suspect if my girly pink blog didn't scare them away, the boasting about my Twitter knowledge did. Sigh!

I'm a freelance writer who's been published by magazines including Women's Health & Fitness and Cosmo Bride. Samples of my work are available on my blog.

As assistant editor of The Essential Guide to Twitter (currently out in news agencies) I discovered the best Twitter feeds for sports, health, fitness and food. Energy-packed recipes in 140 characters or less? Tick. Sports stars' feeds for insights into how they keep on top of their game? Tick. Feeds to encourage, cajole and kick your ass when you feel like quitting your exercise program? The tools are all there to transform into a more buff and successful version of you.

I'd like to write "Get Fitter with Twitter" to serve up the best Twitter feeds available for Men's Health readers looking to fast-track their fitness.

Coming to 1,200 words, the article would be delivered within two weeks of hearing you're interested.

Yours sincerely,

Rebecca Douglas

Major Twitter fail whale!