Dreaming of Heaven? Dream on

The key to becoming an invaluable asset for any magazine, whether it be about Diving, Canal Boating, Koi Carp or Cross Stitching (I must tell you about my mischievous cross stitching antics some time), is to be multi skilled.

It's one thing to write great diving travel articles, but can you do: the equipment reviews? The interviews? The features? The news items? The coverage of events and competitions? And if you're really lucky, read books?

Just about all magazines contain book reviews and although I wasn't too enthralled at the idea of reading lots of books, I decided at a very early point in my 'career' that this would be a good way of getting my name by-lined in different parts of the magazine.

And so, back in 1998 I asked the editor of DIVER if he needed any help in doing the book reviews.

He sent me one of the worst books I have ever read. Perhaps this was a subtle test? A way of finding out just how far I was prepared to go to tell it the way I saw it?

I almost feel sorry for the guy who wrote it - this was his dream, to write about how to become a professional in the diving industry and to see his name on the front of his very own book.

And then I came along and destroyed his dreams (click on the image for a larger size picture).

But at least he gave it a go, he just kept writing even though his writing sucked, and bizarrely someone paid him for it!

So you see, there really are no rules!

Keep writing...

Brendan