A rush job

The phone range first thing yesterday morning. It was Saskia and it was urgent. Saskia is the Health Editor at Mirabelle magazine.

'Kylie's got breast cancer, can you do a piece?' she breathed down the phone. Saskia, while being very up on the latest health trends doesn't seem to apply the information gleaned to her own lifestyle. According to Ginny she smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish and 'sleeps around' - although she doesn't actually say this out loud, she mouths it over the boys' heads to Clive. As a consequence of her hedonistic lifestyle Saskia has a voice that grates like a car driving over gravel. Saskia thinks it sounds sexy. Ginny holds the phone away from her ear, wincing as Saskia's commands rasp from the receiver.

Ginny put the phone down having pinned Saskia down to a word count (400 words), a fee (£200) and a deadline (today).

'Sorry Arrow, no walk this morning. I've got some work to do.'

Then Ginny was on the phone tracking down a suitable case: 'We'd like to interview someone who's young and survived,' she said in her sweetest voice to the lady at the breast cancer charity press office. 'I know you'll have been inundated with requests but I'd be really grateful if you could find someone as my deadline is today.

'And yes of course I'll mention your charity and your helpline.'

Case history obtained Ginny is on the phone again. 'Hello It's Ginny Philpott here from Mirabelle magazine thank you for agreeing to talk to me . . .

Sixty minutes later Ginny looks exhausted. She has sat and listened as a complete stranger tells her intimate details about her breast cancer and how she survived it. 'I now take one day at a time. I don't take life for granted anymore. It's made me appreciate the little things in life and not worry about the future so much.'

Ginny's reading out the notes she took. 'How many times have I heard people say that,' she mutters.

Quick cup of coffee then Ginny is at her computer. She tosses me a Bonio to keep me occupied. It does. For precisely 30 seconds.

Two hours later Ginny has bashed out her piece. She e-mails it to Saskia who pronounces it 'Great. Thanks Ginny.'

Ginny prints out an invoice for £200. Not bad for a morning's work. Kylie's cancer has a silver lining - for Ginny.