Sarah Sturt's Blog

Lounging around

The title of this morning's blog is a little tongue in cheek - I wish I had been 'lounging around' this weekend, instead, we have been taking everything out of the lounge in readiness for my decorator, Richard, arriving to transform it in a week. It's only when you do a project like this that you realise just how much stuff you have accumulated over the years - and that you don't actually need, or use, half of it. So there is furniture everywhere, from the garage onwards, and boxes and boxes of CDs and photo albums, which has proved extremely distracting. I have had a bright yellow lounge for a long time (also painted by Richard, who has 'done' every room in the house, some more than once!), so it will be a bit of a shock having a neutral palette in five days time and, like every other female, I am dying to get stuck into the accessorising 'fun' bit. Apparently I have to curb my impatience and wait for new shelves and curtian poles, etc to go up: how boring is that?

Back in Kent Life Towers, Monkey (sorry, still can't cope with 'Matador') is recovering from a weekend away with one of his uni mates, and very grumpy because he couldn't drive the car he's just bought because of a ridiculous amount of red tape connected with trying to get it taxed in time. So I await my first ride in the green Golf GTI with great interest.

My intrepid travelling daughter has been emailing me lots and the latest is she is at Spanish School on an island off Panama, where she has variously watched dolphins, been stung by a jellyfish and visited a beach where poisonous red frogs hang out - and had her mobile phone stolen, which is not great in the first two weeks of an eight-month trip, but she seems very relaxed about the whole thing. Hola, baby!

Off to do some work now, Sarah.

Christmas is coming

It may be grey and cold outside, but here back from our Worthing travels in Kent Life towers we are crowing because we think we have just achieved the 'perfect' Christmas edition cover: classy, seasonal and very, very different. So well done to Kerry, our designer, for her patience, and to everyone else who has had their input. We now just await the news that we can spend a bit of extra money to add in some delicious metallic foil effects to give it extra impact: it will be the finishing touch if we can.

We have had one of our excellent team meetings this morning - we are all out and about so much it's good to have one day a week when the majority of us are in the office at the same time and can catch up and do a bit of brainstorming together. My ad manager, Angela, and I have been running up and down the stairs between our two different floors as we keep on remembering bits to tell each other. At least working in an attic keeps me fit - but it doesn't seem to have kept a nasty sore throat and cough at bay, which is making phone calls particularly tricky. So apologies to anyone who has called the office this week and got a very husky sounding response - it is me, honest.

Hopefully I will be back to full health next time...

Sarah

Long days

It's been a long old day today - up ridiculously early to be 'fetched' by Monkey and drive down to Worthing for an 8.30am start. The idea was to review our November edition, but due to various printer problems, the magazine arrived at the same time as we did - 48 hours late. Which we are not amused about. So the review part of our day was postponed - you can't rush a good Kent Life - and Monkey and I concentrated instead on some quality time with our designer, Kerry, to get ahead on our Christmas edition.

We've got some great features lined up and it was good to see them start to fall into place, and to tackle the great Choosing a Perfect Christmas Cover debate. We ended up pinning a load of different versions onto the wall and everyone chipping in with ideas - it's great to have so many title designers under one roof on our forays into Sussex, and the energy created is brilliant. We ended up with our first choice, but after a lot of debate about just what message we were trying to send, being different from everyone else - and not being 'tacky', my particular horror. As Monkey wisely pointed out, after all, Christmas is only one day, Sarah - not the whole of December.

You will have to wait a month to find out if my instincts are right for what is an extremely different-looking cover but, in the meantine, I hope you are enjoying November's offering....

Until later - Sarah

Name change? Vote now

STOP PRESS

Monkey has announced, rather peevishly I thought, that he thinks being known as Monkey "sounds stupid" and wishes to be addressed henceforth as The Matador. Something to do with his kitesurfing kite being a fairly dangerous North Toro (Spanish for bull, hence taming the bull, matador, blah blah). Ridiculous.

Vote now: Monkey or Matador? Office peace is at stake.

The power of communication

First of all, a quick cross-county greeting to my fellow 'Life' editor in Surrey, Caroline, who left me such a sweet message on my last blog. I get so carried away with my online diary (or "insane ramblings", as Monkey so delightfully puts it. At least I'm not the one now universally known as Monkey. Hah!), that I forget there's a world out there actually reading what I might have to say. Even my travelling daughter is apparently managing to keep up with me (hey Laura!), despite now being halfway up a volcano somewhere in Panama - when she's not white water rafting or learning how coffee is made, that is.

Back in the real world, here in Pudding Lane, having safely despatched our November edition to the printers, Monkey and I are gearing up for what we hope will be the most spectacular of Christmas editions, despite not having reached Hallowe'en, let alone Bonfire Night. The topsy-turvy world of publishing, eh? We're about to go into a team meeting, where no doubt I will make my usual speech about needing at least 16 more pages than I am being allowed.... talk about glutton for punishment.

But the sun is shining, the trees haven't done that evil leaf dropping thing yet, and it's only, ooh, 19 days before our next deadline, so I might even get outside at lunch time today. What a treat!

Until next time - Sarah.

Hurricane Party

On an evening that couldn't have been more of a contrast with that memorable one 20 years ago, I set off straight from work for a Hurricane Party at Toys Hill, one of the areas of Kent most badly devastated by The Great Storm of 1987. Hosted by Bob Ogley, who writes so movingly in our October edition of that extraordinary night, and held in the splendid timbered village hall decorated with leafy  branches, this was a most convivial gathering.

We heard from the parents of a young woman in the audience celebrating her 20th birthday - the celebrated 'storm baby', Andrea Gail - and from the couple who sheltered at the end of their garden with their young children to avoid the falling debris nearer the house, who discovered at first light a tree had crashed through the roof  and fallen straight onto their 12-year-old daughter's bed. Had she been sleeping there, they would surely have lost her.

Trevor Leslie, head warden at Toys Hill, discussed with the audience the National Trust viewpoint on the massive tree loss sustained that night - a story he also shares so eloquently with Kent Life readers in our October 'Storm' coverage. It was good to catch up with him, and even better to hear that our October edition is apparently "selling like hot cakes" in the Sevenoaks area!

We await our October sales figures with great interest, as the team is still celebrating the news received on Friday from our circulation manager that the September edition of Kent Life has beaten all records for a single issue. So a big thank you to all our loyal readers buying the magazine and visiting our website - keep those letters, emails and forum comments coming!

Travelling tales

A misty Monday morning and at least one of my travellers has returned - welcome back, Michael! He's not a very happy Monkey, alas, as his kitesurfing holiday in Tarifa was not quite the week he'd planned - the wind was in the wrong direction the whole time. Apparently that's fairly disastrous if you're a kitesurfer. But at least it gave his damaged foot (from an earlier, UK-based kitesurfing adventure) a chance to heal - and more than enough time for him to sustain another injury. This time from falling over, apparently, and jokes about Rioja for breakfast are for some reason not being very well received. There seems very little of Monkey left that hasn't been broken.

Meanwhile, in another part of the world, my travelling daughter and her boyfriend have manged two emails, a text and a phone call from Mexico and Panama, which is far more than I'd get in your average weekend. All is going well, but aparently 'it's too hot to eat' - which is a phrase I don't think I have ever heard her utter.

My weekend was far more mundane, but I did manage to plant up some tubs with autumn colour, following the guide of our gardening writer, Leigh Clapp - but you'll have to wait until the November edition is out to read her 'how to' tips. Talking of the November edition, it's nearly press day - officially tomorrow (Tuesday) - but Monkey and I plan to get all our editotrial pages passed for press today, giving us a head start on the bumper December edition. In our world, it's practically Christmas.

In the real world, it is, unbelievably, 20 years to the day since the Great Storm devastated the Kentish landscape. I am off to a Hurricane Party tonight, at Toys Hill, one of the most severely hit parts of west Kent. Hosted by Bob Ogley, whose tale of that night has attracted so much attention in our October edition, it promises to be a night to remember. I'll tell you all about it in tomorrow's blog!

Sarah

Bon voyage

Today is a challenging one for me as a mum. My lovely daughter flies to Mexico City for the first leg of an eight-month trip to Central and South America. By Saturday, she and her boyfriend will be in Panama, where they are spending three weeks learning Spanish, in a setting that looks imposssibly exotic - not that I'm jealous, of course. So I am without my best friend until next May, which will be the longest time we have spent apart.

Thank god for the internet and mobile phones, though, it's made me realise how tough it must have been on my parents when I did my own student thing about 100 years ago: I never called, and I doubt I managed more than the odd postcard. But the world was a different place back then, and like any mum, I'm wishing she'd chosen a marginally safer place in the world to travel around. But, as she reminds me, exactly a week ago she was at home in her student house during the day, and a man tried to break in through the kitchen window - traumatising, but possibly a handy illustration that bad stuff can happen anywhere, you just have to be on your guard and not let fear rule your life.

So in the midst of a very busy time on the magazine, making last-minute changes to the flatplan, running up and down the stairs to liaise with the sales team and generally tearing my hair out, in the back of my mind is the image of two of my favourite people in the world (hi, John, make sure you look after my girl!) boarding a plane at Heathrow for the adventure of a lifetime.

Have you been there, done that? I expect there are many readers who are seasoned veterans at waving their offspring off on journeys to distant parts. I'd love to hear your stories - and any tips you can pass on, you know where I am!

Now I've got a magazine to get to press.... until next time, Sarah

Cover star

I've left the Kent boundaries today for an action-packed day at the Archant Life South East headquarters, down in sunny Worthing - well, it was when I'd finally got past the very foggy M25 early this morning. The 130-mile round trip is always worthwhile, as I get to work side by side with our title designer, Kerry Brown, which is a great joy - there is only so much you can do over the phone and via emails, and nothing beats being able to look at the same computer screen together. We're close to press day, so this is when we finalise all the pages and the pace on the magazine really hots up. Our biggest achievement today will be getting a cover that everyone is happy with, and believe me, that ain't easy. It's the trickiest and by far the most important page of the whole magazine and my challenge is to not only come up with a great image, but to vary it dramatically from the previous month, tick both a seasonal and a Kent 'box' - and get the coverlines right! No wonder it takes us hours and many revisions. But nothing beats the satisfaction of producing a really great cover that gets everyone sitting up and taking notice - and I hope you'll like the wonderfully moody and atmospheric one I've chosen for the November edition. Fingers crossed 'the panel' feel the same way!

What do you think? Are our Kent Life covers doing the trick? Let me know.

Until later, Sarah.

Early mornings

Does anyone else share my need to get up ridiculously early and be at their desk before the rest of the world wakes up? It's not just about escaping the traffic, it's about gathering your thoughts in a degree of solitude and, in my case, before the phone starts ringing off its hook. The attic room - we have grandly named it 'the editorial suite' - is unusually quiet this week, as Monkey (aka assistant ed, Michael) has limped off for a week's holiday in the sun with his poorly foot and his best mates. So I'm doing a lot of running up and down the stairs once the 'troops' are in to see how everyone else is doing. It's our November edition press week, when everything comes together, last editorial pages are written, proofs finalised and the ad team get their last pages sold - all a bit frantic, but it's what publishing is all about, chasing those deadlines, getting a fantastic finished result - and then moving on to the next edition. You either love it and it's in your blood, or it drives you crazy. Strike any chords with anyone?

Until later, I've got a bunch of emails to answer before the day really kicks in...

Sarah

Celebrations

It's great when the sun manages to come out for the weekend, especially at this time of year, and it certainly made the celebrations for the King's Mile traders in Canterbury all the more sweeter. I joined the crowds on Saturday with my best mate and her brood for the 'King's Mile Grand Opening Street Party', and what a party it was - with a positively continental atmosphere and lots of happy shoppers everywhere. The two little 'uns we had with us practically bought up the soft-toy tombola between them, and then spent a very long time painstakingly painting tiny pottery pieces, which the owners promised would be fired and glazed and posted with the utmost care - when we have a postal service, that is.

It seems very strange not opening the huge postbag this magazine gets every day, and the human side was shown today by one of the Kent Life team - our fantastic admin coordinator, Jo Golding - having the misfortune to have a birthday during a postal strike. Luckily, we were able to hand over our cards and gifts in person. Happy birthday, Jo!

Until next time.

Sarah

The Kent Character Club

Had a really interesting lunch meeting with my October 'Kent Character', Simon Hume-Kendall. As the date had been in the diary before October was published, I was somewhat relieved that he liked the piece I had written about him in the magazine. Simon was very amused to have had a breakfast meeting earlier today with the High Sheriff, Nigel Wheeler, who has also been one of my 'Characters' this year and was full of suggestions as to future 'targets' - from his great friend, Greg Clark MP, to ex-Pogues lead singer, Shane MacGowan - who was in Simon's House at Holmewood House school! The man knows just about everyone there is to know in Kent. Perhaps I ought to start a Kent Character Club for the many VIPs we've featured. We also discussed the possibility of Simon starting a community food network in the county, similar to FareShare in Sussex. It's a great initiative, and I'll keep you posted on progress.

Until later...

Welcome

Welcome to the very first Kent Life blog! As promised in the August edition, this is my chance to share the world of Kent Life with you in between editions. I do hope you will join me occasionally when you are browsing the site, and do feel free to add your comments.

I will start by setting the scene, as I've discovered over the years on the mag that people have a really interesting idea of where, and how, we work. For a start, it's not a gleaming, hi-tech sort of office - we're in a very old building in the heart of Maidstone, and my assistant ed and I are right at the top, in an attic room decorated with quite a lot of  monkeys. Chief Monkey, Michael Palmer, is currently languishing at home thanks to a nasty blood infection he picked up after cutting his foot in a kitesurfing incident. Typical - that's why I dubbed him 'Action Monkey' on day one in the job. He tells me he is being very brave and carrying on working, as I am such a slave driver. Honestly, you just can't get the staff.

Keep checking back if you want to find out what's happening behind the scenes and feel free to comment either here or on our Kent Life forum.

Until next time - Sarah