IT'S JUST A MAGAZINE? IT'S MORE A WAY OF LIFE!

Bringing Rob home, hopefully cured, from the hospital yesterday means that life takes on a semblance of normality and I take stock of what is around, only to realise... Secrets magazine should be finished by early next week and I haven't anything to put in it!!! Help!

When I took over as editor I thought that this was a magazine that would have loads of people wanting to write for it and it would be my job to say: 'not this month, maybe there'll be room next time!' but it isn't like that at all. The same people send stuff so I have two on-going series but I don't want it to be too predictible so when I went to the computer equivalent of the Secrets cupboard today what did I find? So far:

Two articles which are continuations of on-going series as mentioned above - two tricks by the regular contributor whose pieces are very suitable for the younger readers, one trick which the workshop attendees learned last month and needs to be shared with the rest - and that's it! Nothing else. So that's five pages - and hang on, there's an interview I did that didn't get

used last time. So that is seven pages covered.... One short review of a trick; need more... and I've found the notes from an interview I did whilst at Blackpool so that will help. Nine pages then... still need more stuff. I have nothing for the double News pages; no news. I've not been to any magic conventions since last time; I don't know of anything wildly exciting except for FISM and I'm not going to that, too expensive to visit Sweden for the magic olympics - maybe next time.

I also need to find people who will appear at J-Day in October so that I can publish that in the magazine - but who to ask? Most of those I would dearly love to have on board have been thrown out of The Magic Circle and I don't know if I'd get into heaps of trouble inviting them along. Yet it's our tenth anniversary and so I'd love to have them on board.

And now it's Friday - and I have to stop all this to concentrate on the weekend bookings. I said I continue to cover Rob's work this weekend. After that I consider his convalescence at an end and it's every man or woman for him/herself.

And I'll get back to the magazine - now what on earth am I going to fill it with????