Sowing the seeds (tenuous!)

Yesterday I worked on two downpage stories, neither of which made it into the paper's final edition. It's disheartening to say the least. Today was a little bit different though. I got given a story about a policeman who swindled an old lady out of the best part of 300k. The story was initially a lead on page 35 and I had it cleaned up and in place by about 5pm. Come the six o'clock news and the beeb had made it their third story, giving it a good three or four minutes in-depth coverage. I looked over at the newsdesk and it was fascinating to see the reaction. I don't think they had anticipated the beeb giving it so much attention. The story was subsequently bumped up to page seven and given a lot more room. I spent another hour or so on it and the final version is more or less mine. We'll wait and see if it stays page seven for the final edition; I expect it will drop back down a few pages. It was good to have something juicy to work on though. Speaking of juicy, the other story I subbed was a health scare about apricot seeds. If you eat too many you can die as they create cyanide. Or something. So just watch out.
I forgot to mention the other day I had an email back from another potential client - Copenhagen Council. It was very brief, just a short note saying thank you and that they would keep my details on file. Slightly disappointing but it's early days. It's frustating being away for so long. Having actually got off my arse and made a start on it I would have liked to keep the momentum going. But needs must and I have to do this, just to pay the bills. I don't know how long it will be before any income starts rolling in. Not too long I hope!