From the sublime to the...well, slightly boring!

Last night I was living the high life of a top magazine editor - watching Skin Tight (directed by Stella Duffy) at the Pleasance Theatre in London surrounded by some of the great and good of the lesbian world - Shelley Silas, Jane Czyzselska, Suran Dickson (Rhona Cameron's partner) - pardon me for name-dropping, but I don't get out (of Cambridge) much!

Now I'm sitting at home attempting to write a review after an incredibly pedestrian (but pleasant) day of reading, tea drinking and doing laundry - not very celebrity mag editor! I feel woefully inadequate to comment on theatre (or books, I have a book review to do too), but I suppose I am a person who goes to the theatre, sometimes, and reads books, a lot, and so I have an opinion even if it's only my opinion. I'm still in the wonderful position of getting comp tickets and review copies that makes all the day to day work worth it. So now that I've probably made you all incredibly jealous, I'd better stop procrastinating and go and write those reviews!

NY

PS back up to the smoke next week to interview Naomi Alderman - does the fun ever stop!

5th birthday issue coming soon!

One positive of being laid low with a nasty bug was that once I started getting better I was able to go full steam ahead on the layout for the new, special birthday issue, which is looking fabulous!

One of the special features is Velvet's top 5, top 5 lists (seeing as we're 5). We've picked the top five lesbian books, films, quotes, teenage tv crushes, and women so great you wish they were gay. This caused considerable discussion (and a bit of marital dispute) among the Velvet staff. We hope the result is an interesting bit of fun, although it's completely non-objective!

If you'd like to have your say on your top 5 in any of these categories, then please do so either here or at our Facebook page: We Love Velvet Magazine. If we get any clear winners, or particularly interesting suggestions, we'll print them in the November issue.

And, don't forget our Flash Fiction Competition. Send entries, by 7 September either to Chroma or to us at PO Box 19, Cambridge, CB4 2WZ

The dulcet tones of Val McDermid

Just interviewed Val McDermid and I have to say she has a very soothing sexy voice. If I ever have trouble sleeping I might have to replay the tape to go to sleep to. Uh oh, I'm starting to sound like a character in her Killing the Shadows book!
Make sure you subscribe to get the next issue and read the full interview.

Mysterious goings-on with the new Val McDermid book!

Madly trying to read the proof of Val McDermid's Fever in the Bone which just arrived after the first one sent mysteriously got lost in the post, just like the proof of Sarah Water's The Little Stranger - I bet they don't have to put up with that kind of stuff at Vogue (other fashion magazines are available)!

Val McDermid and competitions galore!

It's official - I'm all booked in to interview Val McDermid for the next issue of Velvet. Just spent the day reading loads of interviews and am now eagerly awaiting the arrival of the proof of her new book. If you have any (non-personal) questions you really like me to ask Val, then send them to our Comment page or email me, and I'll see what I can do. See, I said I'd bring you something special for our 5th birthday (note to self - must quit before 10th birthday as not sure how I can top this!) Also, check out the 'just for fun' competition we have here on the website to design a birthday card for Velvet. And don't forget we're holding our Flash Fiction Competition in conjunction with Chroma again. More details soon, or check out the Chroma website for more information.