2. Why write a book about the lowly unpaid intern instead of someone that already has the dream job?
3. What’s the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you in your early years at magazines?
In my early days, I wrote a profile piece on someone who claimed they’d sold a miniseries script overseas. I’d had this information passed on to me by several seemingly reliable sources so, in my innocence, took everyone at their word. A few weeks after publication, my editor called me to say the person had made up the entire story and tricked us all, even the sources! I still cringe thinking about it and, needless to say, I’ve triple-checked everything since. It was an embarrassing but fantastic lesson to learn so early on in my career.
4. If you could – right now – intern for anyone (real or fictional), who would you choose?
I’d put my hand up for interning with Mindy Kahling from The Mindy Project or Lena Dunham from Girls – it’s great to see young women kicking goals in the TV industry.
5. Did writing for magazines help when it came to writing The Intern?
Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes. Working as a journo is a fantastic training ground if you want to write books later on. After more than 10 years of professional writing, I was accustomed to tight, hair-raising deadlines. I understood there wasn’t time to wait for inspiration to strike (if only!) so I planted my butt at my desk and churned, churned, churned. Working in magazines has also helped me to craft and define my writing ‘voice’.
6. Is working in magazines really as glamorous as it is in books and the movies?
Not always, no. Sure, I’ve had some glamorous experiences in magazines, but on a day-to-day basis it’s damn hard work. In my years working as a journalist, managing editor, sub-editor and deputy editor, I definitely spent more time chained to my computer trying to beat an unforgiving print deadline than being pampered or fussed over.
7. What are your top do’s and don’ts for interns?
Do: take initiative, ask questions, keep realistic expectations about the internship, stay positive and friendly, offer help if you see someone needs it, focus on what you can bring to the table, be dependable and trustworthy! Don’t: expect to be running the magazine or office on day one. Remember, you’re there to learn from the team, gain experience and insight, and potentially even gain a reference for your CV (or job one day), so be nice. After all, the industry is smaller than you think and people talk. Also, enjoy it! Internships are a real taster to see if it’s the right career path for you.
8. Who is the most interesting person you’ve ever interviewed?
In the celebrity world, it would have to go to Studio 10’s Jessica Rowe and Ita Buttrose, who both individually opened up to me about personal family and health issues. However, I’ve also had the pleasure of interviewing incredible women from all walks of life – neurosurgeons, breast cancer survivors, charity founders, Olympians, Archibald-prize winners. Everyone has an interesting story to tell.
9. How did you keep motivated juggling a full time job in magazines while also writing a novel set in magazines?
It’s tough. Really tough. But the waving red flag of a publishing deadline and the lifelong passion to become an author was enough to keep me charging forward, despite juggling two jobs (and planning our wedding at the time). I’ve come up across countless obstacles, so have created processes to lock writing into everyday life: I go to bed early so I can wake up at 5.30am, I set targets and track my word count in an Excel spreadsheet, and I have a morning routine (roll out of bed, turn on computer, grab bottle of water from fridge, open up the FocusBooster app and my word document and start writing). Now, while editing my second book, I keep The Intern in eyesight on my desk so, in those frequent moments of self-doubt, I’m reminded that I’ve done this once and can do it again.
10. What are the best perks you’ve ever experienced as a magazine journo?
I’ve been lucky enough to attend media junkets at five-start resorts in Byron Bay and the Cook Islands, receive free food or cheap beauty products and, during my time as a street-press entertainment journalist, free gig tickets and CDs were common, too. Rubbing shoulders with celebrities was a perk for someone as entertainment and pop-culture-crazed as me, too.
11. What was one of the suckiest things about being a magazine journo?
Easy: transcribing recorded interviews. Having to listen to a recording of yourself interview someone (then having to type it out) is a form of torture I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Ten years on and it hasn’t become any less tedious.
12. What was the best advice you ever received about working in mags and/or as an author?
Just start. Start writing, start calling yourself a writer, start believing in yourself. Also, write first and edit second because it’s impossible to edit a blank page. Oh, and remind yourself regularly why you want to be a writer. Once you’re ‘in’ the industry, it’s easy to get swept up in deadlines, and expectations, and pressure, so it’s up to you to keep writing as a fun outlet so it doesn’t end up feeling like work. If you love what you do, then you’ll be much more likely to do it regularly (and much more likely to be successful in the long run!).
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