Facebook – General – Interviews
What are the best questions to ask in interviews? Any that encourage your interviewee to share insights as to why they do what they do and what they think is most important. This is why I always ask writers I talk to for their three top tips.
Yes, there is some overlap (we all encourage people to read widely and well and rightly so), but there are differences too. Also, the order in which writers think certain things matter can be interesting too.
It has also been fascinating, when talking with indie authors, to find out what they loved and loathed about the whole process of self-publishing.
One reason why it pays to read writer interviews is you learn so much from them. Sometimes they can show you a path to follow, other times you realise that this particular way is not for you, but you still learn from it!
Facebook – General – Settling In
Lady is settling in well though very excitable. Loving the big walks. Fresh air and exercise doing me the world of good too.
Talking about side benefits, how do your characters benefit from what others do? Do those others resent this? After all, nobody likes someone who gets all the glory without doing anything to earn it or, worse, gets the glory THEY earned!
When benefits are unintentional, how do your characters make the most of them? How can they turn a situation to their advantage?
Lady will be going to additional training classes before too long and I’m sure they’ll do her and us the world of good too. In the meantime, if you see a strange middle-aged woman seemingly being dragged around by her lovable dog, it probably will be me!
Is the way clear enough or is training needed to find it? Image via Pixabay
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
What are your favourite genres? I love fantasy (especially fairytales), which will hardly be a surprise (!), but I also love crime fiction, historical fiction (and fact), some thrillers and a wide range of humorous writing.
I’m also very fond of a well written and thought out non-fiction book (and have a particular soft spot for railway history). I’m currently reading a number of books (on Kindle) concerning Richard III and the Princes in the Tower. As a contrast, the other non-fiction I’m reading and loving right now is the joint biography of Morecambe and Wise. So a right old mix then but that’s how I like it!
Some of what I like to read comes into what I write, but not all of it does and that’s fine. It is often those genres I turn to first when I most feel the need to switch off for a while. You really can’t beat a good book for sheer escapism (and the best ones entertain you and educate you at the same time with you barely being aware of it).
The magic of stories. Image via Pixabay
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again – Part 2
I sometimes write dark fantasy/light horror (just where DO the boundaries meet?!) and find flash fiction a good vehicle for this. I don’t read or write a lot of horror stories so there is no way I could write longer work in this genre but I DO know what frightens me and find that a good place to start!
Pressing the Flesh from From Light to Dark and Back Again is a good example of the kind of horror I do write from time to time. The images it conjures up are graphic without being overly gory. The 100-word story here says all that needs to be said (without giving too much away, it is a story of meat supplies. Yes, that kind of horror!).
The story would lose its impact if I’d written more. Sometimes with flash fiction, it really is a question of knowing where to stop”.
Allison Symes: Collected Works 