I've met Shirley and communicated with her via numerous emails and she's always been friendly and helpful. Many writing friends have said how nice she is and how she's encouraged them with their writing. She'll be greatly missed and a very hard act to follow.
(I'll have more to say later, once I've got over the surprise.)
She will be missed. But good luck to her in her well-earned retirement.
ReplyDeleteShe will be missed. Much luck to her in her well-earned retirement.x
ReplyDeleteOMG Noooo!
ReplyDeleteGood luck to her. Best thing I ever did, retiring. She'll be missed, but now she'll have time to write more stories.
ReplyDeleteJacqui
I agree with Anonymous. I went to her serial writing course in London, and I bet she thought I've got some ideas! If only I had time to write! I thought she was really nice by the way, and am sorry she is leaving. I'm just about to have my first story published by TPF.
ReplyDeleteReally going to miss her, but wishing her a well-earned retirement which I'm sure she'll be looking forward to.
ReplyDeleteQuite shocked, Shirley's a great editor. She's been kind to me and offered lots of good advice on how to make a story work. Some of the feedback she's given me has enabled me to rework and sell a story to another market. I'm quite sad that she will no longer be there at the helm, but wish her all the very best of everything and much inspiration for her own writing. All good wishes, Shirley.
ReplyDeleteKate Hogan
Quite shocked, Shirley's a great editor. She's been kind to me and offered lots of good advice on how to make a story work. Some of the feedback she's given me has enabled me to rework and sell a story to another market. I'm quite sad that she will no longer be there at the helm, but wish her all the very best of everything and much inspiration for her own writing. All good wishes, Shirley.
ReplyDeleteKate Hogan
Wishing Shirley all the best for her retirement and sincerely hoping that nothing changes at TPF for us writers! I love writing for them.
ReplyDeleteAlyson
Shirley has never been anything but interested, professional, good-humoured and kind. We will miss her but I'm sure she's looking forward to an exciting retirement and more time for herself. I wish her all the best! Helen Yendall
ReplyDeleteShirley will be much missed both by readers and writers - her impeccable judgement was key to ensuring that only the best of our work made it onto the page. I wish her a lot of fun in retirement, with big plans and nice surprises. Eirin Thompson
ReplyDeleteWow! What a brilliant post she's written. I've never subbed to PF but all I can say is lucky lucky writers who have worked with Shirley.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the news, Patsy!
ReplyDeleteAnd of course many thanks to Shirley Blair, too. Wishing her all the best in her retirement, with no more than one Christmas a year to look forward to!
I always thought Shirley WAS The People's Friend.
ReplyDeleteOn the same topic, does anybody have any idea what's happening at My Weekly. There's another ad for a commissioning editor here - https://careers.dcthomson.co.uk/vacancies/commissioning-editor-fiction/?fbclid=IwAR0d2elBBEmycxGND7Hl39Kr-AwCMdUApXlfPEvUq1rupJW84nsFywjMPLE
@ Everyone – I share your surprise that Shirley is going and praise for her hard work, support and friendliness. I'm sure a suitable replacement will be found, but that won't stop us missing Shirley.
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous (the most recent one). This is less of a surprise to me, and I can guess what's going on – but rather than speculate I'll wait until I know before posting anything.
Aw, the end of another era - Shirley is lovely and so helpful to writers. However, she deserves her retirement and I'm sure someone will be waiting in the wings to take over! I remember being shocked some years ago when Liz Burn left My Weekly as she was another lovely editor who was like part of the furniture.
ReplyDeleteA well-deserved retirement after doing such a demanding job for so long.
ReplyDeleteHi, everyone. Thank you so much for your kind and generous comments. It's this that I'm going to miss most - the camaraderie and, yes, in many cases friendship that we've shared, as well as the professional aspects of the job. But you can bet your boots that in the coming weeks I'll do my best to find you a new Fiction Ed Whoever who will do such a stellar job that in a few months you'll be going, Shirley Who? Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteShame both jobs are based in Scotland. I know an excellent fiction mag editor in London.
ReplyDeleteI think it's fantastic that both the jobs are based in a place other than London. Perhaps that's the reason why DCThomson magazines are so different from all the others.
ReplyDeleteI've been thrilled to have Shirley accept my first two People's Friend stories over the past week. So I shall miss her too, even though I'm a newbie!
ReplyDeleteIt must be a super-busy job, though - she deserves her retirement.