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NEWS
A lot has happened writing wise over the last few days.
Firstly, I now have an Author Services page on Allison Symes: Collected Works as I now work as an independent editor, as well as an author. More details below in the relevant post with the appropriate link.
Secondly, the launch of the ebook Transforming Communities, the theme for this year’s Waterloo Arts Festival is this coming Friday, 12th June from 6.30 pm. There will be videos, you can meet, via Zoom, the authors including me and more details follow in the post below. You will need a ticket but the event is free. Link is below. Hope to see you there!
Facebook – General – and Author Services News
There is often a lot of “behind the scenes” work with writing. I find it bubbles away nicely in the background for ages and then, oomph, it is all ready for sending out to a publisher or a competition or what have you.
Or you are preparing various things ready for taking your writing journey on to another stage and I am at that point now.
I have updated my website as I now have an Author Services page available.
Some of you, I know, will already know I carry out editing work. Details are on my Author Services page.
There are two sides to this page: one is my work as an author. I am happy to give talks and run workshops etc. The other is the editing side.
Full details of how to contact me are on the Author Services page.
And for other writers taking new steps on their writing journey, may I wish you the best of luck as I take new steps on mine!
And from FROM LIGHT TO DARK AND BACK AGAIN FACEBOOK PAGE
I don’t think there can ever be said to be THE perfect time to do something new! It’s a question, I think, of doing what prep work you can and then picking as good a time as possible as suits you.
Just to say I now have an Author Services page on my website (link below) and there are two sides to this. One is for my work as an editor. Full details of what I do and how to contact me are on the page.
The other is for my work as a published writer. I am very happy to give talks and run workshops on flash fiction. Do see my page for more details.
Facebook – General – and Waterloo Arts Festival News
This Friday night is Waterloo Arts Festival night – well the writing side of it is!
Of course, it has to be online but the event is free. You do need a ticket for the event but see the link.
The launch is for the ebook of Transforming Communities, the theme for this year’s WAF writing competition, and my story, Books and Barbarians, is part of that. I am delighted to be a winner here again and many congratulations to all of the other winners too.
There will be videos, extracts of stories, and you can get to meet, via Zoom, the writers and publishers, including yours truly.
Hope to see you!😊
Now on to the rest of this round-up!
Facebook – General –
The Book Cover Challenge – Days 1 to 5
Day 1
I have accepted a challenge by Jane Brocklehurst to post seven books that I love, one per day, no reviews, just covers. Each day I ask a friend to take up the challenge, let’s promote literacy and build a book list.
Today I nominate Val Penny who I hope will join in the fun.
My choice today? The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. Changed my opinion about Richard III. Is also a different kind of detective novel. A gripping read. Hope you check it out.
A wonderful detective novel.
Day 2
I have accepted a challenge by Jane Brocklehurst to post seven books that I love, one per day, no reviews, just covers. Each day I ask a friend to take up the challenge, let’s promote literacy and build a book list.
Today I nominate #RichardHardie who I hope will join in the fun.
My choice today? The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Epic fantasy. And one of my favourite film adaptations too.
Epic in every sense
Day 3
I have accepted a challenge by #JaneBrocklehurst to post seven books that I love, one per day, no reviews, just covers. Each day I ask a friend to take up the challenge, let’s promote literacy and build a book list.
Today I nominate #WendyHJones who I hope will join in the fun.
My choice today? The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle. Great stories with the most intriguing detective ever, I think, and the forerunner for EVERY flawed one that has come since too.
A timeless detective in many ways.
Day 4
I have accepted a challenge by #JaneBrocklehurst to post seven books that I love, one per day, no reviews, just covers. Each day I ask a friend to take up the challenge, let’s promote literacy and build a book list.
Today I nominate #JenWilson who I hope will join in the fun.
My choice today? A ChristmasCarol by Charles Dickens. My favourite ghost story (and I love the Muppet version of it too).
Not many writers get to add to a tradition but Dickens did/has.
Day 5
I have accepted a challenge by #JaneBrocklehurst to post seven books that I love, one per day, no reviews, just covers. Each day I ask a friend to take up the challenge, let’s promote literacy and build a book list.
Today I nominate #SharonBradshaw who I hope will join in the fun.
My choice today? Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. A classic and brilliant example of irony in romantic fiction.
This book introduced me to irony in fiction and is such a wonderful story.
Days 6 and 7 will feature in my next post.
Facebook – General
I’m taking part in a Book Cover challenge on Facebook at the moment (see above) and it is making me think about what books I’ve chosen and why.
I’m also trying to marry up who I nominate to take part with books I’ve chosen I think they’ll also be fans of and not to make their life more difficult here, honest! Rather it will free them up to choose other huge favourites in their selections because we will all have the same dilemma. We can only choose HOW many?!
It is difficult limiting yourself to 7 books given the challenge lasts for 7 days but as a celebration of stories and books in general, this is great fun to take part in! Many thanks to #JaneBrocklehurst for nominating me.
I wrote a Chandler’s Ford Today post a while back about what books I would take to a desert island. Hope you enjoy. And do share which you would take with you and why.
Saddened but not surprised that Swanwick has been cancelled for this year. Will miss seeing everybody but am already looking forward to next year’s event. 2020 is going to be remembered for all the wrong reasons. It’s unlikely to crop up as one of people’s all time favourite years, is it?!
Yet ironically good things are happening. Zoom has brought people together (and my social life has perked up a lot thanks to it though I guess that does say more about me!😆😆).
Talking of Zoom, I’m looking forward to the online Waterloo Arts Festival Writing Competition event on Friday night. Will report back in due course. (And do come if you can. Link to event to follow further down).
And I hope, after the event, to share the video I made for this after the event where I read an extract from my winning story. It was great fun to write and I look forward to sharing that.
It was good fun making the video too and it’s not something I would have thought to have done, had events gone on as they usually would have done.
Meanwhile I’m writing away and looking forward to answering interview questions I’ve been sent. In some ways lockdown hasn’t changed my routine at all. I sit at a desk and write! But it is the not seeing friends and going to book related events I’m missing the most.
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
It seems such a long time ago that I took a change of direction with my writing and discovered flash fiction. Now there is one turning point I really don’t regret! And it has enlivened my reading too. Flash fiction collections are great fun to delve into (and ideal for a quick read when you haven’t much time).
Yes, yes, I know, I’m biased. Course I am. Go on check out some flash collections and see if I’m right or not then!
A good opening line either sets up an intriguing premise OR lays out a problem you know has got to be solved by the story’s end.
A good closlng line either delivers on that premise OR resolves the problem.
What is talked about less often are the lines in between! They matter too, obviously.
One thing I like about flash is it forces you to ensure every word, every sentence moves the story forward, so no saggy middles here! But there’s no reason why you can’t use that same technique of asking yourself DOES this line add anything useful to what ever kind of fiction you write. And that question I’ve found useful so many times. It helps me focus on what really matters after all.
My top tips for flash fiction writing would be:-
1. Limit the number of characters. Especially for those stories under 500 words, you may well get away with only one character.
2. Focus on what the situation is. There has to be a moment of change so what is the single most important thing we the reader have to know about your character and the situation they’re in? That is the story.
3. Your opening line needs to lure your reader in but don’t worry if you need several goes at this. Often I will draft a story and a better opening line comes to me when I’m editing.
4. Your closing line needs to deliver on the promise of your story so ensure it does. I love twist endings, punchline endings, etc., but deliberately mix up the type I write as I don’t want all of my stories to be finished using the same format each time. The ending has to be appropriate to the character and tone of the story too.
5. Read your story out loud if you can. Listen for the flow. Look out for anything that might make you stumble over your words. If you do, a reader will.
Time spans for flash fiction, appropriately, are best kept short. I focus a lot on one character, THE important event in their story as that IS the story, and the action is usually wrapped up fairly quickly. The pace is quick too.
I do, however, sometimes write more reflective pieces where a character looks back at their life. My They Don’t Understand is a good example of that.
I also sometimes have characters filling in important information as they are doing something. Time for Tea starts like that and you get to see more of the character’s attitudes, thoughts, and plans as the story unfolds. It is clear those thoughts etc have been building up over a long time but it is NOW they are doing something. That, of course, is the hook for a reader – to find out what that something is and does the character achieve what they think they will?
Goodreads Author Blog –
The Right Time For a Good Book
I prefer to read in bed but the right time for a good book varies from reader to reader of course.
What is your preferred reading time?
Mind you, I am pretty good at sneaking in extra reading over lunch, though I usually read magazines then. Still it is all grist to the reading mill and I get more read so win-win!
Reading for me is principally a form of entertainment.
Secondly, it is a form of widening my experience of the world. When life is tough, I will always go for books that make me feel better, often tried and tested favourites.
When life is okay, I will want to stretch myself with my reading and that is when I will read books and authors new to me. The good thing is with life being so full of ups and downs for everyone, I get to “do” both kinds of reading over time. So that’s okay.
I like the Look Inside feature on Amazon when trying out new authors and most of the time I do end up buying, having liked what I’ve seen.
I tend to go through phases here too when I will be downloading a few things, none for a bit, and then downloading again. Just as well really that an electronic book shelf cannot give way!
When do you decide it’s time to widen your reading horizons? Is it just based on friends’ recommendations or do you have to be in the right frame of mind to “bite”?
Usually I will take a look at a book a friend recommends and if the blurb, the cover, and the Look Inside attract me, I download. But all of it has to appeal.
And that’s something I try to bear in mind with my author hat on. How can I get these details right for a potential reader of mine?
Allison Symes: Collected Works 
Pride and Prejudice is my all time favourite too, along with Rebecca.
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You have good taste, Rosemary! Rebecca is on my TBR list.
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Well done on your author services page!
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Thank you! A long time in coming for this.
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