On July 31st, those of you who acquired the print version of the Jerusalem Post may have received a copy of a brand new magazine – The Diplomatic Post. As a writer, I happen to think it’s rather interesting when something new hits the newsstands, and indeed, I enjoy hearing about all of the wildly different publications that are out there, allowing me to muse over the various (and often unusual) target audiences, as well as the potential writing opportunities available.

Even more exciting than hearing about the birth of a new publication is actually taking an active role in the process, and no one was happier (not to mention more surprised) than I to receive a phone call in early May from the editor of a certain, yet-to-be-named-at-the-time magazine, several months after I’d sent in my initial writing sample (and promptly forgot having done so). One planning meeting later, and I suddenly found myself responsible for two monthly columns in the newly branded Diplomatic Post, both involving commentary on current events and political issues, which must come as a huge shock, given how infrequently I tackle such topics here…

Since becoming a writer for this mag, I’ve managed to get myself on all sorts of fascinating mailing lists, and have even started receiving telephone calls from local embassies asking to confirm my contact information. I’ve discovered that saying “my editor” takes the same amount of getting used to as saying “my husband”, and I haven’t decided whether or not I can actually call myself a journalist, or if I’m simply a writer, or maybe a columnist. I feel rather silly referring to myself as a journalist when spending time with my friends who really are journalists and have been for years, but on the other hand, it sounds infinitely more exciting than telling people that I’m a technical writer (though, in all honesty, most things do sound more exciting than that…). Telling people that I’m “a writer” allows them to think that I’m far more interesting than I actually am, and hey – we all want to be perceived as being interesting, don’t we?

But I digress… The magazine. Unfortunately, The Diplomatic Post isn’t available online at this point, though I’m hoping that will change so that I won’t have to grab another six copies at the next editorial meeting (to be fair, only one is for us – one copy goes to my parents, another one goes to NRG, and three went to another friend on-staff who wasn’t able to make the last meeting). The next edition should hit local newsstands on the 31st of August, and I can be found writing Headliners and the Page Before Last.

So all in all, it hasn’t been a bad summer as far as freelance writing goes. I’m finally getting paid for my efforts, and the added pocket change (which is really all that it amounts to) from this gig and another gig have allowed me to upgrade to the 16-shekel grande-sized latte. Toot toot toot – there goes my horn again!

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