Seven Questions for ... Linda Jones

Linda Jones is an experienced journalist and prolific blogger, running successful blogs on parenting twins and freelance writing. Linda will be providing delegates at 101 training courses with insight into writing for women's magazines, including the fabulous story of just why she found herself shouting, "I want to **** your ****!" down the phone to a sub while standing by the satsumas in Sainsburys.

If you'd like to find out more, Linda's websites are here, here and here. Or you could just read her answers to our seven burning questions:

Whats your current job?
I’m director of a small agency in the Midlands, which sells features to national publications as well as doing copywriting and proofreading work for a range of companies and organisations. Current commissions include Practical Parenting and Take a Break.

What did you do before?
I went freelance in 1999, as soon as I returned to work after having my twin daughters Emily and Melissa. Before that I worked on regional newspapers, as a news editor on a couple (The Wolverhampton Express & Star and Worcester Evening News) and had also worked as the editor of an English-language paper in Russia.

Did you always want to be a journalist?
Yes – how annoying is that? When I was 10 I drew a picture of the front page of the Daily Express in my school exercise book and wrote the headline “Disaster, by Linda Jones” I announced that I wanted to work on The Express or The Sunday Mercury in Birmingham, as these were the papers my mum and dad read at the time. It was another 28 years before I filed my first story for The Express and I worked at The Sunday Mercury for two weeks about 12 years ago, quitting after two weeks when I was offered another job. That sort of record also shows that I was always cut out to be a freelance.

What’s the best thing a PR could do for you?
Just deliver what they say they can.

When did a PR person last annoy you?
I got a round robin email yesterday that I think I was supposed to believe was crafted just for me and it heralded the results of a latest survey – sadly, I couldn’t understand a word of it.

When did you last annoy a PR person?
I requested specific contact information from a national body as directed by an editor, when I had suggested I could hit the phone and get that information myself. The editor was keen that the organisation could help. After pushing for two weeks to be given what was promised (the most basic info you could ever want) I sent an email explaining what had been so woeful about their response to my repeated requests for help. I don’t think the PR liked that very much.

Can you tell us something we don’t know?
This question has really made me laugh. I have been asked it so many times and really struggle! Anyone who knows me knows that I can’t keep a secret to save my life and wear my heart on my sleeve. For those who have never met me, I suppose I’d like my answer to be that I have reported on Gorbachev, Claudia Schiffer, The Queen and ooh, Lionel Blair.