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.

Poetry, please

I recently joined a lovely local writers' group and am really enjoying it. One of the tasks on the programme for our autumn term is to write a brief review of a favourite contemporary poet.

Now, while I dip into poetry now and then, I can't say I have a favourite poet - ancient or modern! Following ideas from my blogfriends in relation to pasta free lasagne, now I am asking for suggestions on poets. Which contemporary poets are worth further attention? I have 3 weeks before this task is due, so there's no mad rush, but as this area is unfamiliar to me I'd like to start reading around soon. If anyone can throw in some names as a starting point I'd be eternally grateful. It's good to have the challenge of learning about something new. That's always one of the exciting things about autumn isn't it.

Quote of the day

"I do like lasagne. Just as long as there's no pasta in it."

(If anyone can suggest how to make lasagne without pasta please do tell me!)

Will there be unicorns?

I read a story the other day. It was written with a beautiful, light touch, full of magic and sparkle. For several pages I was swept along in this fairytale world. The writer could have introduced giants and unicorns, and I would have believed every word because the story was written with such sincerity of emotion.

But then, in the last paragraph, it became clear that there was in fact a rational explanation for how all the 'magic' happened. I was devastated. It was like finding out Santa Claus doesn't exist, or that it wasn't the Tooth Fairy who left a sixpence beneath your pillow. Or, it was like one of those escapades where the main character wakes up and realises 'it was all a dream'. This wasn't a magazine story, so there was no fiction editor in the background insisting the events had a plausible cause. Maybe the writer felt they were straining credibility too much by pursuing the magical theme right to the end. Or perhaps they lost confidence in their original idea. Either way, it was a shame.

Firstly this made me think that maybe everyone wants to believe in magic. Even someone like me, who hardly ever reads fantasy. But if a story grabs me then it doesn't matter what genre it's in. If it's well written and I connect with it then I will read on. If the story features magic, I want it to stay magical right until that final full stop. I somehow feel cheated when reality snatches away this wonderful, mystical world the writer has persuaded me exists.

The second thing I thought was how we have to keep pushing our ideas further to see where they can go. If some of our ideas are a bit 'off the wall' sometimes it's tempting to dismiss them as too fanciful. Yet the most interesting things seem to happen when we follow those ideas and see where they take us, instead of playing safe.

So, this week I'll be playing with my latest off the wall, fanciful, daft idea. It's quite exciting. There might be unicorns!

Fungus season

I never used to believe in allowing dogs on furniture. But then...

Harvey came! Now we can't get rid of the old armchair which doesn't match the new sofa and chair. Nor can I put a small bookcase into that spot by the window, as I had planned to do. And how he can be comfy crammed into that little space is beyond me. But if Harvey's happy, we're happy. Mostly.

If you were passing by last August you may recall Harvey found a humongous fungus in the garden. August must be puffball season as there is another one sprouting up.

It's quite a bit bigger than our windfall apples, as you can see. I hoped it would continue getting bigger and bigger, until we could climb inside and sail away like James and the Giant Peach. But things are nibbling at it. Whether Harvey is one of those nibblers I don't know. He's not saying.

A silverfish in the gravy and other strange events

I've officially done my back in. The doctor has prescribed a week off work, plus co-codamol and 'gentle pottering'. No-one would choose to be ill or in pain, but when you've been on the go for a while it's quite a relief to have somebody order you to stop. For the first time in ages I sat in the garden today, without feeling obliged to get up and deal with weeds, untidy lawn edges or holes dug by Harvey. Oh, and from the funny rash on my hands I think I've also developed primula allergy which is another good reason to leave the garden to its own devices for bit.

A few days ago I watched a neighbour reverse off their drive, slap bang into their other neighbour's car! Of course I wouldn't have been so amused if they'd reversed into my car, but happily Mr F. Focus was safely tucked up in the drive.

The following night I opened the gravy granules to find a silverfish running round inside. How did the silverfish get in the gravy? It sounds like a joke, but I'm rubbish at punchlines so maybe someone else can suggest one. I threw the gravy out, by the way, as it was nearly gone anyhow.

Yesterday I managed to write about three lines of a story. They're good lines, I think, so that's OK. If I do another three later my story might be finished by Christmas. Speaking of which I've actually seen some 2012 calendars in the shops! No wonder we feel we're constantly racing against the clock, with retailers so keen to rush us into next year already!

Well, excuse me for dashing off again but my back won't let me sit at the computer for long. Must be time for some more of that gentle pottering.

Guest post by Sue Johnson

Tomorrow will see the launch of 'Fable's Fortune', the first published novel by writer and tutor Sue Johnson.

I have been lucky enough to attend two of Sue's writing workshops, and was delighted to hear of her latest success.

I asked Sue if she could tell us about the process of writing 'Fable's Fortune', about her own favourite authors, and if she could give any advice to newer writers. So now it's over to Sue...

'Fable's Fortune' is a modern romance built on a fairytale structure. The back cover blurb reads:

"Fable Mitchell is born under a roof of stars in a Kentish plum orchard, and her early childhood is spent in a house called Starlight where she lives with her mother Jasmine and Gangan the Wise Woman.

However, her life is not destined to remain like a fairytale.

When she is ten, she is abducted by her estranged father Derek, now a vicar, and taken to live in his austere vicarage at Isbourne on the banks of the River Avon. Fable is unable to escape.

When she is sixteen, she falls in love with Tobias Latimer but he dies in mysterious circumstances and Fable's happiness is once again snatched away from her.

She tries to rebuild her life and marries Tony Lucas because she thinks the omens are right. Fable soon realises he is abusive and controlling, but is trapped because she fears losing contact with her daughter.

Nearing her 40th birthday, Fable hears Gangan the Wise Woman's voice telling her to 'be ready - magic happens'.

That is certainly true, but does Fable have the necessary courage to finally seize her chance of lasting happiness?"

The story (originally called 'Star Dragon') began life in 1998 following my own marriage break-up and divorce. I didn't do any planning and completed 85,000 words in less than two months. It was extremely therapeutic and helped me get through a stressful time without needing tranquilisers or taking to drink!

Having finished what was a very scrappy first draft (I didn't really know what I was doing!) I put it on one side for several years while I went back to University to do a creative writing course. During that time I wrote a lot of poetry and short stories - many of which were published in women's magazines. I was taken on by the agency Midland Exposure who sold short fiction to women's magazines.

When I eventually went back to the novel (in about 2002) my ideas about the story and characters had moved on. The story had never left me in all the time I'd been away from it - bits kept playing like a film inside my head. Helped by a severe attack of vertigo, I reworked the story (now called 'Cloak of Stars'.)

By 2005, having written three more novels and failed to find a publisher, I joined the Romantic Novelists' Association New Writers' Scheme. I submitted 'Cloak of Stars' for a critique and was advised to take out the fairytale element.

I felt a bit despondent - but decided to have one more re-write. It was at that stage that my heroine, originally called Rose, decided that she didn't like her name! I searched through all the children's name books I could find, plus various Internet sites, but found nothing.

In the end, I put my jacket on and walked into town, deciding to stop for a coffee at the first cafe I came to and the first woman's name that I heard would be the one I went for. Two women wearing fur coats and carrying wicker baskets came in. As they took their coats off one of them said, "Of course, my daughter Fable..." I paid my bill and hurried back to my computer.

One thing I learned in the process of writing this book was that I needed to be persistent and ignore the negative things some people said. I wish I'd concentrated on finding a publisher rather than wasting my time trying to get an agent - especially after one admitted, when I contacted her after a long time of being fobbed off by her assistant, that she'd 'buried my manuscript under a pile of other stuff and forgotten about it'. The first publisher that I sent the manuscript to after that episode was Ronnie Goodyer at Indigo Dreams Publishing - and he said yes!

I think it must be true that success breeds success as I've now got a non-fiction book on novel writing coming out in October this year. ('Creative Alchemy: 12 Steps from Inspiration to Finished Novel', published by HotHive Books.) I'm also keeping my fingers crossed for two further novel manuscripts that I've submitted.

My favourite authors are Joanne Harris, Clare Jay, Helen Dunmore and Michele Roberts.

My advice to new writers is:

1. Write every day even if you only manage five minutes.
2. Get as much work in circulation as possible.
3. Create a writing C.V. - a publisher or agent may ask for one.
4. Reward yourself for the effort you put in.
5. Don't stop until you've achieved your writing ambitions.

Sue's website can be found here. The book will be available from Indigo Dreams here, Amazon, and all good bookshops, as they say. Thank you Sue for taking the time to tell us about 'Fable's Fortune'. It sounds a wonderful read and I hope it does really well for you.