The Small Batch List – Newsletter Goodness.

Dog days… I am sitting in the mild morning with one kid still sleeping and the other up and planning another epic day of baking, inspired by watching marathon sessions of old seasons of the The Great British Bake Off. Meanwhile I am plotting and planning…

On Friday morning I will be launching my new project. The Small Batch List – an email newsletter, which will be brimming with illustrations, interesting finds, the occasional giveaway, recommendations and random thoughts as my whims dictate.

Sign up here:

It occurred to me the other day that what brings me lots of joy is publishing. Always has, always will. From the time I was seven I published: Beginning with the exposé-based NIMBIN NEWS; A felt-tip pen lettered broadsheet full of interviews with hippy kids living on a commune in tropical New South Wales. The question I posed to the resident children: “What would you do with a million dollars?”, brought unexpectedly controversial answers. For example, one little guy who lived in an old army surplus tent said  “I would buy a helicopter and fly far, far away from here”.  The late-70s hippy parents were shocked! I was shocked by their shocked-ness, but completely thrilled. I was hooked. I then moved on to a far less controversial but much longer-lived hot air ballooning fanzine which I edited and photocopied with my brother (I say far less controversial, but my brother will disagree. As managing editor in later years, he got into some extreme barneys with opinionated pilots – sh*t stirrer!). By grade nine I was publishing SPLAT! Magazine, which was a gossip and reviews magazine that we splattered down the walls of the school corridors. Then it was on to reviewing music, interviewing bands and wrangling layouts at Melbourne Uni’s Farrago, through to launching the still fabulous The Big Issue Magazine (which is celebrating it’s 20th Anniversary this year!). And then of course in 1999 came Loobylu, the blog which led to a over a decade of web publishing. For me, it’s always been about getting stuff out there, in a kind of compulsive way.

So, as you can see, I can’t seem to stop. Now I see there is nothing nicer than receiving an email newsletter. I subscribe to lots and devour them. This feels a little like the blogging days of yore, where you throw stuff out there because you just want to – even if it’s just to a handful of subscribers. It feels personal again, and I love it.

I hope you enjoy it. xo