I cruised out to the ol’ mailbox last week and grabbed the OMG stack of mail that had built up for a bit.  Sitting amongst the envelope treasures were the latest issues of The Writer, Writer’s Digest and a new magazine that I subscribed to called Parenting – School Years.  All right!  Some weekend reading material!  There were surprises in all three.

The Writer

I love this writing magazine a lot.  It has got so much useful information that I feel like I’m a better writer just for reading it.  I continue to subscribe because I enjoy it so much.

So, towards the front of this issue there was an article titled, “6 Essentials of a Professional Web Site.”  Since I just did a major redesign of Tumblemoose, the article naturally caught my eye.  Then, I noticed the author.  It was Monica Shaw.  Naw, could it be the same one?  I read the bio and sure enough the article was from Monica.  Coolio!  I’ve been visiting her site for over a year now.  She co-owns Writers Residence which helps writers create their own online portfolios.

There’s something cool about seeing a person with whom you interact get published in a writing magazine.  It’s kinda like touching greatness.  Congrats, Monica!

Writer’s Digest

While I do enjoy WD for the most part, I subscribe to it out of obligation.  It is a much better publication than it was several years ago and I think as a writer I need to keep an eye on what these folks have to say.

Having finished my initial read of “The Writer” , I settled in to this latest WD.  Lo and behold, right there in a sidebar titled “Network” they had the WD Tweet of the month.  It was a tweet from my good friend Iain Broome!  The tweet links to a great article he did on ignoring the old adage telling writers to write, write, write.  If you’ve not been to Write For Your Life then you are missing out.  Iain has a great style and there is a lot to learn over there.

Parenting – School Years

At the outset, let me confess that I did not pay for this subscription.  It was offered free through Amazon due to some purchases I’ve recently made.

I’ll be blunt:  This magazine pissed me off.  The proper title for this rag should be:  “Mommying – All About Moms and Daughters.  Dads need not apply”  First things first.  The articles contained within are just so much fluff.  I did not garner a single molecule of useful information that would give me insight into “Parenting”.  Good stuff in there about the latest skin products and fashion purses though.

This magazine is so blatantly sexist it just blows me away.  Pictures and articles are all from a mom/daughter perspective.  Hey, if that is what the magazine is about then fine but call it Moms and Daughters.  Don’t try to pass it as an authority on Parenting.  Nearly every mention of a male figure is from the standpoint of either:

A:  They’re an idiot.

B:  They’re the root cause of some problem.

As a single dad I am completely offended.  I’m usually pretty easy going and don’t get offended easily but to intimate that a male influence is less important than a mommy one really gets my goat.

Although I knew what I would find, I turned to the publication page.  Of the 44(!) various editors listed, care to guess how many of them are male?  If you said “one” you’d be right.  There may be one or two others but I was unable to tell: names like Sandy, Ridge, etc…

So, I’m emailing them to let them know to not kill any trees on my behalf, thank you very much.

Rant Summary:  I don’t have a problem with the content.  I do have a problem with them trying to disguise it as “Parenting”.

Nuff said.