take one woman with low self esteem, but quite good hair
add one moronic illness
stir in some medication which causes hair to fall out
mix it all up and this is what you get...
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
An interesting offer
The message in my Inbox, lurking among the usual Haloscan comment notifications, piqued my attention immediately, its subject line being:
"[Well known women's glossy monthly magazine] article"
I was intrigued and, admittedly, a little excited. Had it been a traditional envelope, I would have taken a deep breath, hesitated a while and dramatically torn it open with shaking hands like they do on television. It being electronic, I took a deep breath, hesitated a while and dramatically double-clicked on it, eyes wide.
My excitement was justified. The correspondent, a writer and editor, wanted Big and me both to write a short article for the magazine on a particular aspect of our relationship - a small window into our coupledom. The article would be accompanied by a portrait photo and any appropriate links. I had to restrain myself from immediately replying "Yes please, when should I start?" and contented myself with a message along the lines of: "I'll discuss this with my partner and get back to you". Keen, but not desperate.
True to my word, I discussed it with Big. There were concerns. Not about the content - we both had ample material to meet the brief - but about privacy. With the accompanying photo, both of us could have been identified by those who know us. If I'd written the article using my real name, I wouldn't have wanted to put a link to the blog. However, this would have seemed like a missed opportunity to increase my readership, knowing that blog friends mentioned in the mainstream media have often seen significant increases in blog traffic.
Of more concern, though, was Big. Initially excited by the idea, I asked him how he would feel about his teenage students reading various details of his relationship. His face dropped and his enthusiasm soon dwindled.
We agreed between ourselves that we would only do it if names and locations could be changed and photos could be "vague". Unfortunately, though, the editor was not prepared to make these concessions.
And so it was that someone wanted me to write a proper article for a proper magazine and I said no. A curious situation indeed.
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"[Well known women's glossy monthly magazine] article"
I was intrigued and, admittedly, a little excited. Had it been a traditional envelope, I would have taken a deep breath, hesitated a while and dramatically torn it open with shaking hands like they do on television. It being electronic, I took a deep breath, hesitated a while and dramatically double-clicked on it, eyes wide.
My excitement was justified. The correspondent, a writer and editor, wanted Big and me both to write a short article for the magazine on a particular aspect of our relationship - a small window into our coupledom. The article would be accompanied by a portrait photo and any appropriate links. I had to restrain myself from immediately replying "Yes please, when should I start?" and contented myself with a message along the lines of: "I'll discuss this with my partner and get back to you". Keen, but not desperate.
True to my word, I discussed it with Big. There were concerns. Not about the content - we both had ample material to meet the brief - but about privacy. With the accompanying photo, both of us could have been identified by those who know us. If I'd written the article using my real name, I wouldn't have wanted to put a link to the blog. However, this would have seemed like a missed opportunity to increase my readership, knowing that blog friends mentioned in the mainstream media have often seen significant increases in blog traffic.
Of more concern, though, was Big. Initially excited by the idea, I asked him how he would feel about his teenage students reading various details of his relationship. His face dropped and his enthusiasm soon dwindled.
We agreed between ourselves that we would only do it if names and locations could be changed and photos could be "vague". Unfortunately, though, the editor was not prepared to make these concessions.
And so it was that someone wanted me to write a proper article for a proper magazine and I said no. A curious situation indeed.
<< Home