Wednesday 5 October 2011

Chasing rainbows


Picture of a double rainbow we saw here a few weeks ago. Squint closely. There are two rainbows there, honestly, although the second is quite faint above the brighter one. I think this is supposed to bring luck!

We were not so lucky when the new next door neighbour ran into our car on Sunday. Is this judgement on me for laughing when a neighbour down the road reversed into THEIR neighbour's car?

Monday brought an email from People's Friend, accepting a story, so I am in forgiving mood. This story has been a long time in the telling. I began writing it a whole two years ago. Something was wrong with it - but what? I didn't know. Into the drawer it went. This summer I took it out again. Straight away I saw that one of the main characters wasn't really a very nice person. Not only was he making the story too complex, he also had a snide air about him which was totally wrong for a People's Friend story. Once I'd written him out, all my characters were much happier and able to get on with their lives.

Maybe a bit of the rainbow's luck did fall on Zigzag Road after all. Just as well, since I had a shoe splurge at the weekend!

Wishing you rainbows - especially double ones.

23 comments:

Jenny Woolf said...

Congrats on the story sale! Selling a story always brings a rainbow into the sky! :)

Cinny said...

Congratulations on the story. It's always lovely to have good news after bad. Rainbows are always a surprise aren't they? I accept them gratefully as a gift.

Teresa Ashby said...

That is such a rare sight - how lovely! Congratulations on the PF sale - wouldn't it be nice to be able to unwrite real nasties as neatly as we can fiction ones!
I bought shoes last weekend too :-)

joanne fox said...

Thank you all. Oh, shoes... there are 3 more pairs and 2 handbags I've got my eye on. Note to self: must not be greedy!

Old Kitty said...

Awwww brilliant Joanne!! Awww well done you!! Yay for your double rainbows!!! Brilliant, brilliant! Now for some serious shoe shopping...!! Take care
x

Rosemary Gemmell said...

Well done on the PF story, Joanne. I haven't seen a double rainbow for a while. As for shoes - I'm trying to walk past the M&S sale when I'm at the mall!

Joanna said...

Brilliant news, Joanne. It just shows you should never give up on a story. Sometimes they need to be put away and then the flaw will leap out when you dig them out again. It's like magic.
And those rainbows are magical too.

joanne fox said...

A sale at M&S? Make way - I'm coming through!

bazza said...

Congrats on the story being accepted - it must give a writer a wonderful boost in confidence when that happens.
By the way, your double-rainbow picture reminds me of one of the stars in the constellation Ursa Major which points to the Pole Star. It's actually a binary-star, that is two stars very close together so that it's a popular eye-sight test for astronomers to try to see that there are in fact two stars to be seen.
Try it on the next clear night!
Click here for Bazza’s Blog ‘To Discover Ice’

Rosemary Gemmell said...

Joanne - just letting you know that I've given you a Friendly Blogger Award this morning. You can pick it up from my blog whenever convenient!

Patsy said...

Congrats on the PF sale.

Rainbows are so pretty, I'm sure they must be doing good somehow.

joanne fox said...

Bazza I will have to get the binoculars out, thank you.

Thanks Rosemary, popping over now.

I'm sure rainbows do good Patsy, because they always lift our spirits when we see them.

Keith Havers said...

Congratulations, Joanne.
It just proves you should never throw a story away.

joanne fox said...

Very true Keith.

Diane Fordham said...

Congratulations Joanne! I still haven't made a sale to PF. I read their mags but obviously am missing something. I've noticed recently a couple of more modern stories included. Would love for someone to explain to me what makes a publishable PF story?????

joanne fox said...

Diane, if I knew the secret I would sell far more than I do! However on Teresa's blog in the post for May 20th 2009, there are some very good pointers.

Teresa Ashby said...

Joanne, Rosemary has beaten me to it, but here's another Friendly Blogger Award for you :-)

joanne fox said...

Oh, thank you Teresa!

broken biro said...

Congatumalations! Well done for perservering.

joanne fox said...

Thank you BB.

Unknown said...

Congrats on the PF sale!

I love double rainbows but never knew they brought luck.

joanne fox said...

Thank you Shirley.

Rachel Cotterill said...

Double rainbows are beautiful :) And congrats on the sale!