Editor’s Diary: Toastie Heaven

The past few weeks have passed in a whirl of interviews, parties and general 150^th excitement, so it was nice at the beginning of the week to open my diary and see some clear white space!

There’s no such thing as a typical week for me. Some are so packed with meetings I’m hardly at my desk; others are quieter and allow me the chance to catch up with correspondence and reading. This was one of the latter, and I must admit I enjoyed the chance to get my desk in some sort of order.

As you can imagine, there’s a lot of reading involved in producing a magazine like the “Friend”. I read every editorial page in every issue before it goes to press, and I also read all of the stories and serial instalments that Fiction Ed Shirley puts forward for a final decision.

Watching The Competition

I have weekly meetings with the features team to discuss new commissions and schedule finished features, and also chair a monthly meeting of the whole team. We had one of those this Tuesday; the agenda included a really interesting analysis of some of the magazines that we consider competitors of the “Friend”. We do this regularly, to keep an eye on what other publishers are up to! It’s also a great opportunity to talk about new ideas for our own content.

The Cheesy Toast Shack

After what was quite a desk-bound week for me, I hoped for good weather at the weekend so I could get out in the fresh air. For once, it stayed dry and mild – not bad for February in Scotland! A bracing walk along the beach at Kingsbarns in Fife (an old stomping ground of John and Anne Taylor, as many readers will know) was just what I needed. I followed it up with a visit to the beach’s Cheesy Toast Shack, where I treated myself to their signature Mac ’n’ Cheese Toastie – sheer heaven!