Deborah Durbin

Here's wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May all your dreams come true in 2010. See you in the New Year!

xxxx

I know it's hard to believe, but six weeks tomorrow is Christmas Day,which for many is a time of stress: Dare you invite Uncle Dave for Christmas lunch again after his 'ten uses for a turkey baster demonstration' ended up with your Aunt Audrey being admitted to A and E? Should you really tell your mother-in-law that the second-hand,soap-on-a-rope (complete with armpit hair) that she bought you last year went straight in the bin? Can you cope with trying to persuade your demon nephew to return your great aunt's teeth again before she wakes up and discovers they're missing? Never fear! Help is on hand in my article in December's Natural Health magazine on surviving Christmas stress. From handling the Office Christmas Party to tackling Christmas shopping to having a harmonious get-together, it's all in there, with additional expert advice from Life and Business Coach, HelenVandenberghe and Life Coach, Lynette Allen.

In the same issue I show you how your hands can tell you all you need to know about how healthy your body is. Look out for a copy in Sainsburys or all good newsagents.

In the Daily Mail's Weekend magazine on 7th November you can read my feature on superstitions!

  It's getting to that time of the year again when the annuals hit the shops in time for Christmas stocking fillers and my lovely, lovely editor, Mary at It's Fate has included not one, not two, but three of my features in the 2010 It'sFate annual. They are; Charm School - a feature about how to be luckier (pages 106 -109), Handwritten Prescription - about palmistry (pages 110 - 113) and Treat Yourself - an item about natural medicines (pages130 -133) and the rest of the annual is pretty good too! It's packed with information from astrological reports to angels to unlocking the messages behind your dreams. For just £4.99 for a whopping 194 pages, the It's Fate 2010 annual makes a great stocking filler!

Apologies that it's been a while, but it's been a busy time with one thing and another. So here is a quick update of features I have coming up...

• In the Express Yourself section of The Daily Express at the end of October you will see a feature of mine about Household Magic tips derived from traditional folklore.
• In November's Natural Health magazine you can read my feature about palm-reading.
• In November's Prediction magazine you can read my feature about how Feng Shui can help your relationships.
• And of course as always there is my Native American Astrology column every month in Prediction magazine.

Debs

xxx

I was recently interviewed by the DWPub - a directory for journalists, editors and PR people - about my work as a journalist. You can read my interview below:

What do you write about?

I specialise mainly in women's lifestyle/health features, mind, body and spirit and education features.

Where are we likely to see your work?

I write regularly for It's Fate, Fate & Fortune, Prediction (a regular,monthly horoscope in Native American Astrology) and have recently written for High Spirit, Natural Health and an educational book for Hodder.

What's the most memorable work you've done?

Writing a feature about Cellular Memory - when organ transplant patients adopt their donor's traits and personalities.

How would you pay the bills if you weren?t a journalist?

I would probably be doing something to do with forensics or criminal profiling.

If we gave you £1,000, how would you spend it?

That's very nice of you, thank you! I would probably buy a new laptop because my daughter has hijacked mine.

What books are on your bedside table, magazines in your bag, or blogs on your screen?

Books: Nick Hornby's, A Long Way Down and How to be Good by Carole Matthews, The Chocolate Lovers' Diet.Richard Wilson's, Can't be Arsed.

Magazines: It's Fate, Red, Writing Magazine.

Blogs: My own: http://deborah-durbin.blogspot.com,http://strictlywriting.blogspot.com

In this week's (August 1st)  My Weekly you can read my feature about how to get lots of things for free: from holidays to free help, cosmetics to High Street shopping vouchers and free theatre tickets. Buy a copy and be quids in!

I'm really pleased! I know it's only July, but I've been asked by Soul & Spirit magazine to write a horoscope on Native American Astrology for their November issue and if all goes well, it will be a regular, monthly column, so look out for the November issue. Also due to the fact that the illustrations for Native American Astrology are hard to obtain, the editor has asked my daughter, Becky, who is doing A Level art, to do them - what a great thing to have on your CV at that age!

If you buy the August issue of Natural Health (available in Sainsbury's, Smiths, Morrisons, etc) you can read my feature, The Feng Shui Life Coach. It's amazing how your environment can affect every area of your life and a few subtle changes can vastily improve everything from your love life to your finances.

A few years ago I started teaching creative writing and journalism courses to children aged 11 upwards and last year I had a young student called Sasha who told me she wanted to write a novel about the adventures of a Labrador called Labby. Every month or so she would send me another chapter and we would discuss ideas as to how to move the story on etc. This morning I received a copy of Labby's Adventures in the post. Sasha has not only written the book, she has illustrated it (with a little help from her mum, Michelle), formatted it, created an index and published it and it looks wonderful. I am so proud of how hard she has worked on this project and she's only 11 years old!

Please, please order a copy of Sasha's first book because not only will it encourage her to continue writing, she is also donating the proceeds between the RSPCA and The Battersea Dogs and Cats home. You can order a copy by visiting: http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/labbys-adventures/6951174