Month: August 2023

Using the Senses, Workshops, and Classical Music

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good few days. It was a bank holiday for many of us in the UK and I loved listening to a special classical music chart – more details below. I find writing to classical music effective. There is something about classical which relaxes me and when I relax, I write more (and I hope better!). As far as Lady is concerned, bank holidays mean bonus walks so she is happy.

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Am delighted to be back on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers, with my post on Workshops.

I share thoughts on what I look for from a workshop I go to as a delegate. I especially check out the workshop leader’s background in the topic they’re sharing. This should never be difficult to find out by the way!

I am so grateful for all I have learned from workshops and will continue to do so. They are a good thing and I am glad Zoom has made more workshops possible.

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For those of you who had a bank holiday today, I hope it went well. Bank holidays are a bit odd for me as I get on with the jobs I would usually do on a Monday anyway. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today so it was a normal day for them too!

Mind you, I am enjoying the movie music countdown on the Classic FM Hall of Fame today. I’m rooting for The Lord of the Rings soundtrack to get the number one spot. The soundtrack is perfect for the films. There is everything from opera to Enya on there and it all suits the story so brilliantly.

Talking of music, do you listen to any while you write? I find classical to be soothing and when I’m relaxed, I just get on and write. Sometimes I will hear a piece of music and think that might suit Character X whom I’ve just written about. That’s a good sign. If the characters seem real enough to me to have tastes in music, they’ll seem real enough to readers too.

So working out what your characters are likely to love and/or loathe is a good way to find out more about them and as a result you will write their stories up knowing you know your character well enough to do justice to their tales.

I find it helps to think of it as being “their” tales too. I don’t want my authors’ voice intruding. It is the character which holds my interest in any story I read. I want to find out what happens to them so I take the same approach with my own stories.

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Hope you have had a lovely weekend. Will be talking about Workshops in my More than Writers post for the Association of Christian Writers. That will be up on Tuesday. See above. Can hardly believe the end of next week will see us into September, mind you.

Writing Tip: It has often been said about using all of the senses in your writing. It is a great idea but don’t shoehorn these things for the sake of it as that never works.

If I need a character to eat something, I may well slip in something about how much they loved or loathed the texture of their food etc. Or, even more likely, mention the smell of it. But I won’t get a character to eat something just so I can get the use of another sense into my story.

Everything in your story has to be in there for a good reason. The story should lose something important if you were to take that something out. I’ve found this to be a useful way of gauging whether I do need something in the tale or not.

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Strange day weather wise – a right old mix. Still I guess it prepares us for autumn with September just around the corner. I’ll be talking about Autumnal Joys for Chandler’s Ford Today next week so it’s timely! I don’t do a lot of seasonal writing – my autumn post for CFT and my festive flash fiction writing is about it.

I’ve talked about knowing your character well before but you could consider, as part of the getting to know them process, what they make of the seasons and why they hold the feelings they do. You do get people who love autumn and those who loathe it.

My late grandmother hated it. Always thought it was the season when everything died. I do love it as I see it as the colour change season (leaves etc) and things getting ready for a rest period (winter) and then coming back (spring). You can’t have the spring without the autumn and the winter before it.

This in turn could lead you to thinking about whether your character is generally optimistic or not and what kind of problems their overall attitude to life could cause them. There would be story ideas there.
I thought I’d share one of my autumn stories from a while back. Hope you enjoy it.

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Don’t forget my author newsletter is due out again on Friday. I share links to my online flash stories here as well as useful writing advice and the latest news from me. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com and many thanks to all who have subscribed. Much appreciated.

I’ll be talking about Autumnal Joys for my Chandler’s Ford Today post on Friday. Autumn is a busy season writing wise and I have various things to look forward to, culminating in the Bridge House Publishing celebration event in December. I hope to have further publication news soon too.

One good thing about the darker evenings is they do encourage you to stay at your desk and write! Have resumed working on a long term project and it has been great to get back to that so I hope to make good progress on this over the next few months.


It’s a Bank Holiday Monday where I am but it still remains at heart a Monday, that day of the week which can fill people with dread. Time for a story then. Hope you enjoy my latest tale on YouTube – Bobbing for Apples. A bit early for an autumnal story, I hear you cry? Hmm.. Given the weather has taken a distinctly autumnal turn where I am, I thought I’d get ahead of the game here!


Flash illuminates one moment in time but has such a powerful impact because of that. I use that aspect of flash fiction writing to work out whether I want to write a funny story, a sad one, or what have you. I then work out how I can best achieve this.

I focus on one character, one moment for any tale which is 500 words or fewer. For the 500 to 1000 bracket, I may have a second character but I always make it clear whose story it is and there has to be a good reason for the second character to be there at all.

Naturally that second character can fall into the helper or villain category where I have made the main character the “good guy”. Where I haven’t, I can flip that around (though I still like to show where my main character is a villain, the second character has severely damaged them and I have to have a good reason for telling the story from the villain’s viewpoint in the first place).

Flash Fiction focuses on THE important aspect of a character's life

Sometimes I use repetition in a flash tale. An example of this is The Wish List from Tripping the Flash Fantastic. Every sentence bar the last one starts with the words I wish. The story builds up until the conclusion. It was fun to do.

Repetition can be useful. It can be used to build up tension, which is what I did in this story. It can be used for emphasis. But it is important you know what you want repetition to achieve for your story. Otherwise you will use up your word count without having good reason to do so.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Fiction – An Acrostic

F = Fabulous characters in a range of settings, past and present and future, in this world and others.

I = Imagination, inventiveness, images created – all gripping stuff.

C = Characters who live on in your memory long after you have read their tales.

T = Truth is often stranger than fiction but the latter can show truths in a way straight reporting cannot and in a more palatable way too.

I = I can get to imagine what I would do if I was in the characters’ shoes – fiction is great for encouraging empathy.

O = On this world, over it, off this world altogether – fiction can take you anywhere.

N = New books, old books, bought books, borrowed books, audio books, ebooks, collections – treasure them all!

Screenshot 2023-08-26 at 20-38-38 Fiction - An Acrostic

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Writing Exercises

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes, as was the photo from a local wildflower meadow.
Hope you have had a good couple of days since we last met here. Newsletter will be out again next week. How can it almost be September already? Not that Lady worries. She’s been having a fabulous times with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals for a lot of this week so it has been a good few days for her.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am pleased to share Writing Exercises on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I discuss my nervousness when I was first set them, thinking help, I can’t do this. But I did draft something and later realised that was the idea. Just get something down. You can work on it again later if you wish. I usually do with my writing exercises and some of them have gone on to be published.

I also set a couple of exercises in this post for you to have a go at as well. Hope you have fun with them and find the post useful as I also share why writing exercises are so useful for any writer.

Writing Exercises

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In my Writing Exercises post for Chandler’s Ford Today this week, I will be looking at some of the most popular types I’ve come across. I’ll also have a look at the benefits of practicing writing to these.

Glad to say the writing exercises I set at last night’s Association of Christian Writers Flash Group meeting went well too. And if I get set exercises, as I so often am at things like Swanwick, I am only too glad to give them a go. I get a draft out of it! Sometimes I go on to do more with that draft. Sometimes I don’t but I find it fun just having a go at these things. More in my post tomorrow.

Am so looking forward to the next production from The Chameleon Theatre Group in October. They’re staging Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett (adapted by Stephen Briggs). Will be a real treat. Great story. Will be the first time I’ve seen a Discworld play.

What's your story - writing exercises can help you find out

Lady had a lovely time with her two best girlfriends in the park today. Good time had by all.
I’ll be looking at the usefulness of Writing Exercises for Chandler’s Ford Today this week – link up on Friday. See above.

I’ll be setting some writing exercises for the flash fiction group I’ll be leading later today.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again on 1st September. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Looking forward to sharing further publication news soon too.

Ideas are triggered by writing exercises and the more you do, the more you trigger said ideas

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Am pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Puzzled Out. Hope you enjoy it – this is a story where I knew the ending first. And then worked backwards to get to a logical start. Definitely one for puzzle fans.

Screenshot 2023-08-25 at 10-16-23 Puzzled Out by Allison Symes

Have signed up to take part in Flash NANO again in November. This is where you are given a flash fiction prompt for the thirty days of November and you write them up as flash pieces. Last year, I managed to complete the challenge – that’s thirty new pieces to edit and submit somewhere and/or put towards a new collection. I hope to do the same again this year.

I found it great fun to do. I found it useful to write the prompt each day but found with some I had to “carry over” to another day but that was fine. I had something to work with, which is the whole point, The person behind Flash NANO is Nancy Stolhman. More details below.

 

Hope you have had a good day. As well as mixing up the kinds of flash fiction I write in terms of mood and setting, I also mix up the word count length. My overall favourite is the drabble, the 100-worder, but I am fond of the whole range of flash. My next most common category to write in is the 250 to 500 words bracket. I do write some at 750-1000 words but not nearly so often. I usually find if I’m going for a longer work, I will turn it into a standard short story instead (and it ends up at 1500 or so).

For my blogs, all of them are between 500-1000 words or so. For Chandler’s Ford Today I can and do sometimes go up to 1500/1750 depending on what kind of article I am writing. It isn’t always apt to split an author interview in two, for example.

You do end up getting a feel for what kind of word count works best for which item of writing. Practice helps which is why regular writing comes in handy as you get to develop your style of writing and which word count works best for you for certain pieces of work. At least that has been my experience.

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Fairytales with Bite – Once Upon A Time – Acrostic

O = Original characters in an original setting – your magical world won’t be exactly the same as anyone else’s while it will have elements in common.

N = Never mind how your characters feel – drop them right in it and see how they fare.

C = Create characters we will care about in some way – we all love to boo a “good” villain but need to understand why they are being the way they are.

E = Experience will tell – it is not unreasonable for your main character to have a magical mentor of some sort.

 

U = Undertaking – there will be something special for your character to do here and there will be high stakes.

P = Persistence and perseverance – two qualities every hero will need. (Funnily enough the villain needs them to a certain extent too but naturally they usually don’t have enough of these qualities. There has to be a difference between them and your lead).

O = Once upon a time is a classic way to start a tale but you could mix it up by bringing us straight into the action. We will have to read on to find out what happens.

N = Never leave loose ends – there has to be a resolution.

 

A = Always care about your own characters – you are the first to believe in them. You don’t want to be the last!

 

T = Truthfulness in character portrayal pays off – people will believe in your characters if they feel they are or could be true. Knowledge of human nature and what we’re capable of and why can be useful here.

I = Imagination, Imagination, Imagination – why do we read? To find out what the author has imagined for us to enjoy.

M = Memory can be unreliable. If you’re writing series stories, it would pay you to note somewhere what you need to recall about your characters. It’s too easy to change colour of eyes, say, from one story to the next.

E = Enjoy the writing – creativity is fun. Bear in mind editing can be creative too as you seek to strength your story. But do see the writing and editing as two separate tasks. I find that helps a lot.

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This World and Others – History and How It is Told

So much depends here on what value your world setting puts on history and who controls the narrative. That seems a familiar tale does it not?! But when history is told, how is it done?

Is it just via books or are there plays, reenactments, and so on? I once went to a historical reenactment in Tewkesbury – good fun but what was interesting was you got a real sense of the smells, the sounds etc which you would not have got had you just read a historical account.

So in your setting, who writes the history? Is it performed? Who would do that? Do they have to stick to the official version of the history or can they put their own interpretation on it?

In your setting, are new historical discoveries ever found? Are these welcome? Not all might be! If something were to put a different spin on a genuinely accepted event, people (as well as their government) are not likely to react well to it.

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Writing Believable Characters and Writers’ Narrative Magazine

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Images from Writers’ Narrative magazine kindly supplied by Editor in Chief, Wendy H Jones.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Back to the kind of sunny weather you expect from August. Thrilled to say the September issue of Writers’ Narrative is now out – full details below. Don’t miss it. It truly is a great read and the theme is marketing. Is there any writer for whom that topic is not appropriate? I think not.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lovely to be back swimming today. The downside to writing is it can encourage the development of Writer’s Spreading Bottom, which is never a pretty sight. Walking the dog and going swimming helps!

Writing Tip: having regular time set aside for writing will help you produce more. I can never do 9 to 5 but there are hours I can do so I do them! I also see it as confirming to myself writing is important so book time for it. I think the regularity trains my brain into realising this is writing time (as opposed to editing time, say) so it encourages me to get on with it.

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Delighted to say the September issue of Writers’ Narrative magazine is now out. The theme this time is marketing and the magazine is packed full of useful information. Pleased to say I have two articles in here – Marketing Your Books and Writing for Online Magazines.

Link to the actual magazine is below.

 

To ensure you don’t miss a copy you need to subscribe (for free) here – http://subscribepage.io/WritersNarrative

Oh and it is a fabulous read but don’t just take my word for it – do check it out.

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Sorry the Lionesses lost but well done to them for doing so much for women’s football and congratulations to Spain too. Am not a huge football fan I admit but I do love a good story. No surprises there. And it is a cracking story that two teams got to the Women’s World Cup final for the first time.

Favourite sporting moment for me was when Andy Murray won Wimbledon for the first time. As well as enjoying tennis, this was special because I rang Dad the moment Murray won. Dad was an avid tennis fan and he was so overjoyed the 70 year duck had been broken here. (I suspect the Duke of Kent who was then President of the Lawn Tennis Association felt similarly!).

It was a lovely moment because we’d not long had to put Mum into care as her dementia had taken a real hold by now and there was no way that could be managed at home. This moment – a shared joy over the phone with Dad was special to us both especially after such a difficult time. Yes, we were delighted when Murray did it again!

Talking of stories and how to create them, I will be looking at Writing Exercises for Chandler’s Ford Today later on next week. Labour of love writing this one! Link up on Friday.

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Many thanks to Val Penny for inviting me on to her blog today. I’m talking about Writing Believable Characters. I create characters a lot for my flash fiction and short stories. I’ve alway believed the story is driven by characters readers can get behind. So it was lovely to talk about this topic with Val. Hope you find the post useful.

Screenshot 2023-08-22 at 20-12-42 Creating Believable Characters by Allison SymesVal Penny at Swanwick - photo by Allison Symes

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Sometimes a phrase will pop into my head and I get with that an inkling of the kind of character who would say it. Instant outline right there. Often I will use that phrase as my opening line as it is always something to intrigue. Would like this to happen more often, it’s useful.

Dialogue is a great way to open a story. You get a couple of characters immediately (unless you have someone talking to themselves. That can intrigue. I would want to know why they’re doing it.). You also get a sense of character attitude and likely premise coming up. They are likely to discuss what has just happened as the story opens or what they think might be about to happen.

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Bonus post tonight. Not going to forget it’s Monday. It’s time for a new story. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Getting the Message.

 

As part of the flash fiction group I lead, we share competition/market news we come across. The good news is there are loads of flash fiction competitions, certainly many more than when I discovered flash as a format. Indeed I don’t think it is possible for one writer to know them all but this is where writers help one another. Others have told me about sites like Friday Flash Fiction and CafeLit for example. Have been very glad of that information!

I must admit this is where I find a writing magazine helpful as it flags up competitions and markets to me. I also follow some writing groups on social media and these can be great sources of information. I see it as part of my marketing keeping up together (as much as I can) with this information.

Talking of marketing, the latest issue (September) of Writers’ Narrative is now out and the theme this month is on that topic so do check it out. Link to the actual magazine here (but do subscribe – it’s free and in the magazine itself is information showing you how to do this. Check the box on Page 33 entitled Subscriber News).

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Sometimes it can be fun to put something unexpected in a story title. One of my favourites from Tripping the Flash Fantastic is called The Terrified Dragon. Well, you have got to read on and find out what on earth (or other realm) could make a dragon terrified? That’s the idea of course. The hook is right there in the title.

I have judged competitions where writers have not used a title even though the title was not part of the word count. Please don’t do this. A title is your first hook for a reader and you can use it to set mood and genre. It’s a golden opportunity for writers without using up your previous word count in a restricted form like flash fiction. Don’t waste that opportunity.

I find I have to have a working title as I write my first draft. Sometimes a better title idea comes along, I make a note of it and decide which is better later on. I also find having a title is a great way to get me started. I guess it is because deep down I know a story has to have a title so let’s start with that then!

Tripping The Flash Fantastic - by night

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom next week. Always good to talk about and write flash fiction And I am sure we will get some useful writing done in this session. We usually do and I am so pleased some have gone on to have their work published online and broadcast too. Keep it up, folks! I get to do more writing too. Will be looking at seasonal writing this time.

When is the best time to write anything? Depends on the writer. For me, it is in the afternoon and evenings. Mornings are pretty much out for me. What matters though is getting into a regular habit of writing.

I find that regularity spurs me on. You decide on the regularity of course. Once a week stuck to is far better than every day for a week and then you don’t write again, say. I’ve learned not to overlook those odd pockets of time we all get. They’re perfect for drafting down ideas I can return to when I’ve got more time at my desk. It also means I hit the ground running when I am back at my desk. I like that aspect.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Favourite Short Stories

Confession time, I don’t have an overall favourite short story. I love too many of them to pick an outright favourite. But the classic fairy tales are amongst them. I also love the short stories of Agatha Christie and P.G. Wodehouse, as well as being a fan of their longer works. Sometimes a story is better told in the short form – I admire those writers who can do both.

I make a point of mixing up what I read in terms of genre but I also do so for word count. I deliberately read short story collections and flash fiction anthologies in amongst my novels and long form non-fiction books. I think a mix is good for you!

I will often use a short story or flash collection to decide what genre of novel I will be reading next. I don’t strictly read to order on my To Be Read pile. Does anyone? I go with what I fancy reading and work my way through! But the short story and flash collections can help me work out what I do fancy reading next!

Screenshot 2023-08-19 at 19-57-43 Favourite Short Stories

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Getting the Most From an In Person Workshop

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes, as was the photo of my books in the Swanwick Book Room. Almost every author does this! Many thanks to Julia Pattison and Janet Williams for pictures of me at Swanwick and the Book Fair respectively.
Hope you have had a good week. Mine has got better as the week has gone on. Nice to be back out walking the dog and she has been glad to be seeing her dog friends again. Our wildflower meadow is looking especially nice right now – see photo below taken by me. (Oh and it’s double blog time as well as both my CFT and Authors Electric posts came out on Friday, 18th August 2023).

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Authors Electric
Double blog post Friday today! First up, it’s my turn on Authors Electric. I’m discussing Book Fairs and Writing Retreats. The last month has seen me happily busy with both! I share some thoughts on editing too given I was running a workshop on that for the writing retreat I was on.

Hope you find the thoughts there useful especially as I discuss how to give the Procrastination Monster and the Imposter Fiend a very hard time indeed.

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Chandler’s Ford Today

The second of my two blogs out today is my usual weekly one for Chandler’s Ford Today. This time I look at Getting the Most from an In Person Workshop and I hope you find the thoughts here useful. I share what I look for in a workshop like this whether I run or go to them.

Getting the Most From An In Person Workshop

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It’s been a week since I returned home from The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Fabulous time. Glad to be home but also miss Swanwick dreadfully! Will be looking at Getting the Most from an In Person Workshop for Chandler’s Ford Today – link up tomorrow. See above.

Am also looking forward to the return of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom next week. Will be glad to see you good people! Am sure we will get some useful writing done too.

Writing Tip: Plan ahead for markets you’ve got in mind. Entering competitions is good practice for this (and if you get listed or win, even better!). They get you used to deadlines for a start.

But many markets, especially those that are seasonally based, will be thinking months ahead of the season in question. One positive thing here is these seasons come round, literally time and again, so you can always plan a story for another year if you miss the current one.

I do write, for example, festive flash fiction as and when throughout the year. Sometimes I find a home for it in the same year. Sometimes it waits for another year but I do know I’ve got something. I also try to build up a small stock of stories for seasonal use given I know the season will come around again. (Doesn’t have to be the obvious calendar based seasons either. Bear in mind there are holiday seasons for winter and summer. There are seasons in sport etc.).

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Pleased to say the September issue of Writers’ Narrative magazine will be out in the last week of August. Do watch out for it. Am pleased to share tasters in the photos below. Be sure not to miss out. The topic this time will be marketing and the magazine is packed full of useful information for any and every writer.

Am practicing what I preach here too. My Chandler’s Ford Today post will be about Getting the Most from an In Person Workshop. Having just run one at Swanwick now I am marketing the idea of going to them and running them. I’ll be sharing useful tips for getting the most out of workshops whatever side of the desk you are on (and always giving self explanatory post titles is a good marketing start!). Link up on Friday. See above.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Nothing from me on Friday Flash Fiction this time though I hope to rectify it soon but why not treat yourself to a read of some wonderful stories here. Also please note there is a change of deadline for submissions here – see top of page on link and screenshot.

Screenshot 2023-08-18 at 17-24-00 100-Word Stories


It’s worth keeping an eye out on the writing competitions for ideas for themes, even if you don’t enter the competitions themselves. I’ve done this a few times when I’ve spotted the competition too late to enter it but like the look of the theme and think I can use that. I do too.

Proverbs can make great themes and often the topic they suggest will come up time and again so is worth writing stories about. For example, take the proverb a stitch in time saves nine. You can have various characters in situations and settings showing that to be true. (I used this as a a title for a story in Tripping the Flash Fantastic. Proverbs are versatile like this). You could use that proverb as the basis for a love story, a crime one and so on.

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Just to flag up there’s an offer on Amazon at the moment on the paperback of From Light to Dark and Back Again. Check out the link below.

When writing flash pieces, I focus on my character as I’ve got to know where they’re coming from (and what is behind that. This is where knowing their major trait and likely attitudes coming from it is so helpful). It is then a question of working out whether I will then use the first person or the third.

I try to mix this up. I have used first person more with flash as it is so immediate but I don’t want to use it all the time. It is not always the best option. I have to figure out what would work best for my character and their situation. But this is good fun!

And for my collections, I had a fabulous time putting the stories together. I hope that comes through in the tales themselves.


Fairytales with Bite – Magical Services For Hire

In your setting, is everyone magical? If not, are there services which people can buy in as and when they need them? Who would run these services? Are there any standards services have to stick to (and what would be the consequences if they didn’t?). What kind of character would need to buy in a service? Is it easy to get the services needed?

If the services doesn’t deliver, is there room for redress? How could a non-magical character get justice here against someone who has conned them? How did your setting develop the need to be able to hire services out? Can the government use these services for their own ends – or is this a way of controlling who can access these things?

Name an industry and you can name a con artist connected with it. There is even more scope for this with a magical industry! But this could form the basis of humorous stories, especially if the con artist is forced to change their ways. If a customer turns out to be someone they know or someone they would like to get to know better, could they still con them?

Where you have things like magical shops, what would they stock? How do they obtain their products? Are products tried and tested? And think about your customers. Why is someone in need of these things? Does the services they buy in make a difference to their mission and if so how? If not, was it a question of bringing in these things as a kind of confidence boost? Also, did it work?

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This World and Others – Guilds and Commercial Bodies

If you have a magical industry, are there guilds and other commercial bodies which control the running of these things? (Best fantasy guilds of all time are the ones Terry Pratchett has in his Discworld series incidentally!). Who would run these things? Are they answerable to the government or do they control the politicians?

Who set the guilds/commercial bodies up in the first place? Did they come into being by consent or were there unpleasant historical episodes which led to them being formed? Did those who control them have to fight their way to the top? Do they still have to fight to stay at the top?

How can people join the builds/commercial bodies? Do they offer apprenticeships? Are there preferred organisations here? Are there ones which people only go for because they literally have no choice? Are the guilds/commercial bodies the same as they they started or have they had to adapt? Were changes welcomed? What rules do they have to stand by? What rules do they find are useful (even if not legally enforceable?).

How does commerce come into the lives of your characters? Does it help them or get in their way?
Thinking about these things can help you picture your world as all settings will need to have employers and employees. Where you have got those you have a financial system of sorts behind them. This is where the guilds could come in and there could be good stories to be written about what goes on within their organisations.

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

September issue due out in last week of August.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

 

 

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Housekeeping, Editing, and Paper Cuts

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. It’s always a case of coming back down to earth with a bump after my wonderful week at Swanwick but there is writing to be done so off I go! (And I can already start my countdown to Swanwick 2024).

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Facebook – General

Every so often I take the opportunity to do some housekeeping on my website.Often it is to update the anthologies on my books page etc but today I’ve updated my Author Services page on my website. See link below. I’ve added in details about my work on Writers’ Narrative magazine, the editing services I offer, and also the kinds of talks/workshops I run. Very much behind the scenes writing work but necessary all the same.

Writing Tip: Do include the work you do on your website etc as part of your writing work for the good reason it is. Writers need to have a shop window where we can show people what we do so keeping your website up together is an important part of your overall writing work. Make sure the website has material you yourself would find useful. Putting yourself in the head of your ideal audience is a good idea here. Think about what they need to know. Think about what they would find useful if they came across it in your website.

Author Services – Allison Symes

 

Glad to report the notes for my Swanwick workshop are now up on the site – Editing From Both Sides of the Fence. This is one of the lovely bonuses from The Writers’ Summer School. After the school itself, delegates can access the course notes even for those workshops and courses they didn’t go to. I’ve made good use of this myself and will continue to do so.

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Don’t forget my next author newsletter will be out on 1st September, which will be here almost before we know it. To sign up for tips, hints, as well as news and useful links, do sign up at my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Many thanks for those who signed up at my editing workshop at Swanwick during the last week. I have now added you on to the list. I have also sent out a separate email to flag up the email address linked with my account with my newsletter service provider has now changed. Just for information only. For those of you who have been with me for some time here, I just didn’t want you puzzling over why the next newsletter is linked to a different email address!

Writing wise, I will be looking at making the most of an in person workshop for Chandler’s Ford Today later this coming week. I hope that will prove useful. Naturally that post is directly inspired by my time at Swanwick!

Newsletter with envelope image

Many thanks for the comments coming in on my Diary of a Swanwicker post for Chandler’s Ford Today post yesterday. All of my CFT posts are labours of love but there was something special about this one. There is something very special about The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. For more information, check out their website.

I’m working away on a flash piece I want to submit to a competition by the middle of this month or thereabouts. The deadline is for the end of the month but those at my editing workshop will have heard me mention I always do take off time from the official deadline and make the brought forward date my deadline instead.

It is my final chance to check for typos etc and then I submit it. It helps me beat procrastination too and that can be the curse of many a writer. (Many thanks also to those who have signed up for my author newsletter while at Swanwick. I will be adding you on to the list very soon).

 

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope you have had a good day. I strongly suspect all who were at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick are thinking back to what they were doing at this time last week. I know I have been!

(Today I have got a good excuse. I was running my editing workshop last Tuesday. A huge thank you to all who came and supported that. There was a great turnout and it has reminded me to update my Author Services page on my website so that’s good too!).

Writing flash has meant I’ve lost all fear of editing. I see it as an essential tool to make my work better and give it a more of a chance out there – and so it has proved. Having a strict word count has meant I do have to cut out all unnecessary words and that habit carries over into my other writing.

Sometimes I have a character who is wordy but I flag that up as part of their portrayal early on. There my editing would be to give them a style of speech which suits them. So in their case I would get them to talk about “meandering around the Recreation Ground” rather than to say “I walked across the park”. But I could cut words out from around them to give them the word count room in which to do this. I don’t do this often and the character has to be strong enough to justify me doing it.

But editing has to be apt for the character you’re writing and even in wordy creations there will be ways to tighten up what you’ve given them to say.

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It’s my first Monday back after Swanwick. I don’t know about you but I definitely need a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Paper Cut.

 

There won’t be any story from me this coming week on Friday Flash Fiction this week given they are closed for submissions at the moment. They’ve just run a competition so understandably want a break. Good luck to all who have entered the competition. However, do check the website out anyway. I’ve shared the link to the 100 word story section. You’ll be in for a very good read and will pick up a good feel of what flash fiction can do and be at this word count. So well worth checking out. Update:  I believe FFF are now reopen for the 100 word stories but I will be submitting material again at the weekend. Still check the site out though – it is a great read.

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As I write a lot of flash and short stories, I am always on the look out for sources of ideas. I use a variety of ways here – the random generators, which I’ve talked about many times. I have used (and still use) books of prompts (and have contributed to some). I also use story cubes. I am also inspired by books and characters by other writers, things I’ve seen on film or TV or heard on the radio.

Music can inspire too. I love to ask questions, my favourite probably being the old “what if” one. And going to workshops such as the ones at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick can also inspire ideas whether or not the workshop leader issues prompts themselves (and many do).

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Goodreads Author Blog – Selling Books, Buying Books

Understandably all writers want to sell their books. But what got us into writing in the first place? Our love of reading books by other authors!

I’ve just come back from The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick and had the great joy of selling some of mine. I came back with an interesting selection of titles which have gone on my To Be Read pile. I have started on a couple of them. Am loving what I have read so far and am looking forward to tackling the rest in due course.

The bonus for writers is we get to do two things we love – write our own stories and read other stories. This probably explains why most authors are not rich! It also helps a lot if you can arrange to have plenty of shelves.

I do know there is nothing else I would rather do – write (and hopefully sell) my own books and buy books from others. The written word (including via audio books and ebooks) is glorious. It is a great joy to me to have a book shelf dedicated to books written by friends of mine and signed by them. I am adding to my collection here too. Such a pleasure to do that!

Separately I have a section for the two flash fiction collections I’ve written and the anthologies I’ve contributed to over the years as well. It’s always a joy to add to that too.

Conclusion? Can’t have enough book shelves in my life but it is a nice problem to have.

Screenshot 2023-08-12 at 20-38-15 Selling Books Buying Books20230805_164239

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

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The September issue will be available during the last week of August. It is packed full of useful information.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Diary of a Swanwicker

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes, as were most of the photos from Swanwick.
Had a a fabulous time at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick – more details in my Chandler’s Ford Today post. Many thanks to Julia Pattison for taking the shot of me at my editing workshop at Swanwick. Now back to the real world again!
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Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am pleased to share Diary of a Swanwicker as my post for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Couldn’t be anything else really! I hope this gives you a good flavour of what The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick is all about. There is something magical here and I loved catching up with old friends, making new ones, and enjoying the range of courses on offer. A huge thank you also to those who came to my one hour workshop on editing.

Diary of a Swanwicker

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Safely home once again. I loved catching up with friends and making new ones at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Now to come off cloud nine for a bit and to get back to the usual writing routine.

Yes, I do find a writing routine helpful. I agree with P.G. Wodehouse who advised writers to “apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair”. Well, he wasn’t wrong, was he? It is the way to get things done!

What I do though is adapt my routine. There are some days of the week where I am especially busy and I know I won’t get so much writing done. That’s okay. All I do is save those shorter writing sessions and use them for shorter pieces of work because I still feel by the end of my session, I have got something useful done. I have too – whether it is a draft of a flash fiction piece, jotting own ideas for article and blog ideas, outlining thoughts for a future short story etc.

Part of the reason behind this for me is in the past I have had significant caring responsibiities. Alas my people are now gone but I had to learn to use what time I had as opposed to what time I would like to have for writing. The habit has continued. And those two types of writing time rarely marry up incidentally. So rather than beat myself up about I’d only do this if I had more time, I focus on what I can get done in the time I know I have. It’s a more positive outlook and outcome.

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Many thanks to all who came to my Lift up Your Pens pre-breakfast writing session this morning. It was a good turnout given the disco last night didn’t start until 10! I don’t do disco or fancy dress so thought it best to sit that one out but the costumes I saw were fantastic and I knew a good time was had by all who did go. Collected my books this morning so will pack them up to go home later. How has the time gone by so quickly? Will br sharing Diary of a Swanwicker on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday so do look out for that. See above. Good time had by all! We wrote too!

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to share The Lakes, my latest on Friday Flash Fiction. A shout out must go to Val Penny because her Perfect Plotting specialist course at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick helped inspire this story. And it is a story, okay. I’ve not got any plans to do what my character is thinking of in this tale. I hope that means you have to check the story out now!

Screenshot 2023-08-11 at 11-01-33 The Lakes by Allison Symes

Lovely to get home to my guys and I was right on something else. I was mugged by my very excited dog when I got off my last train! There was a small chorus of “ah” from others on the platform. Always lovely to know you’ve been missed. Also, you don’t forget 18 kilos of dog hurling themselves at you!

Great to spread the word about flash fiction at Swanwick. Incidentally flash ifs often set as a kind of writing exercise. It was in the Rediscovering Your Writing Mojo session I went to during the time I was away. Loved doing that I can tell you. I’ve got a story drafted to work on thanks to that!

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Many thank for all the positive feedback on my editing workshop this week. Much appreciated. Also the feedback for where things could be better still etc. This is precisely how writers learn and I always appreciate this. Can’t believe how quickly the time has gone but have made the most of the last full day here in Sunny Derbyshire. Nice to have sold books (and bought some!) – I don’t think there is a writer anywhere with an empty To Be Read pile.

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Fairytales with Bite – Magical Places

Many writers would consider The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick (The Hayes) is a pretty magical place with almost a week packed with workshops and courses.

But what would your characters consider to be their magical place? Even in a fantasy setting your characters would have somewhere that was special for them. Where would this be? Why is it special? Do they appreciate a break away from magical work?

In a magical setting, would characters consider any thing (such as nature) magical precisely because it doesn’t involve the stuff! Where would your characters go to escape their cares for a while? Even in a magical setting, are there places which are seen as more magical and what special powers do these places have compared to “ordinary” magic?

If someone needed magical help, which places would they go to and why? What would be the charges and consequences of seeking this kind of help? Are any magical places banned due to unethical practices etc?

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This World and Others – World Issues

Whatever your word setting there will be issues to face. For some it will be case of preventing hunger due to failed crops. For others, it will be working out ways to live in peace with hostile neighbours. What issues does your setting face and how does it deal with them? Bear in mind, they may not necessarily deal with them successfully.

Take the issues we face here and transfer them to your setting. How would things work out there? What ethical and other dilemmas would your characters have to face up to? Ratchet up that tension!

Your world’s geography may have a direct bearing on the kinds of issues it faces. For example, does it lack water? Or does it have too much of the stuff? Do countries/other blocks co-operate to deal with the issues the world as a whole faces or is this a source of conflict? Either could lead to interesting stories (for example, how did the co-operation happen? Someone had to be brave enough to make the first move).

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES


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Workshops, Courses and Being at Swanwick

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Photos from The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick were also taken by me. 
Many thanks to Julia Pattison for taking the one of me at my editing workshop. Have had a wonderful time here. And will continue to do so for the next couple of days. I will be sharing more about this in my Chandler’s Ford Today post later this week.

Facebook – General

Thoroughly enjoyed the final two sessions of Val Penny’s Perfect Plotting. Packed full of useful information. Enjoyed Whose (Story) Line Is It Anyway? after lunch. This was led by Zana Lamont. Then it was time for my workshop – Editing – The View From Both Sides of the Fence.

It is lovely catching up with friends I only “see” online the rest of the year and to have a good natter over breakfast, tea breaks, lunch, dinner etc, I also appreciate not having to cook anything or clear up. Many of us here feel that way!

It was especially nice to catch up with a fellow member of the History Writers group, Linda Brown, in person, something which meets online once a month. And it is good there is a contingent from the Association of Christian Writers here as well.


Many thanks for the support at the Lift Up Your Hearts session this morning. This is a short reflective session for all denominations and it was lovely. We were in good voice!

Thoroughly enjoyed the Rediscovering Your Writing Mojo sessions this morning led by Esther Chilton. Am off to the Author Business Foundations sessions led by Kate McCormick (aka Elizabeth Ducie). Sadly, I won’t be taking part in the Open Prose Mic Night session tonight as it clashes with The Big Quiz. The quiz is such fun and I can’t miss that.

Mind you, at the end of the Mojo course, we all got to write a piece of flash fiction so I shared my draft when we were asked if anyone wanted to read out so I did get a little bit of flash fiction prose reading done! I hope to polish this story up and submit it somewhere later.

First full day at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Went to Perfect Plotting by Val Penny – always a useful topic and the course is led by someone who is expert here. There is always something to learn here. Am then off to Amazon and Kindle Publishing and later still Comedy – a Whistle Stop Tour. This is just on the first full day, mind you!

And for a while it stopped raining too. Win-win all round!

Am back at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. It is the highlight of my writing year. It will be lovely to catch up with old friends and hopefully make new ones. I love the range of courses and workshops. I suppose the real treat for me here is being able to have a few days fully immersed in the writing world.

All writers need to know there is support out there. All of us have had and continue to have rejections and setbacks. But there is nobody like another writer to understand the joys of the writing life. It is a case of finding your tribe here, I think.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It was sunny Derbyshire when I rang home this morning. It is less so now but it has stayed dry at least. Wouldn’t place on any bets how long that will last, mind you.

I gave my workshop – Editing – The View From Both Sides of the Fence – this afternoon. Writing flash fiction regularly has taught me so much about editing. And I discuss being on both sides of the fence because I have been edited as well as having carried out editing work at one and the same time. I can see where editors come from. I can understand the authors’ viewpoint too.

Was thrilled at the turnout for my workshop. Thanks, everyone. Many thanks to Julia Pattison for the photo.
I was set an interesting writing challenge at the Write on Cue session led by Anita Belli last night at Swanwick. We had to select objects to write a story around and mine was a Monopoly piece. The result is my latest story on YouTube – The Silver Boot. Hope you enjoy.

 

So good to be back at Swanwick. The grounds, as ever, are glorious, and it has been wonderful catching up with so many friends already. Looking forward to the courses today. Always a feast to choose from. And with any topic, pretty much, I can find something to apply to either my flash fiction writing or my blogging, sometimes both.

Sometimes information proves to be useful much later on but what I do know for sure is the world of writing is a fascinating one, there is always something to learn, and that is good for us all – to keep on learning.

Will naturally be waving the flag for flash fiction and short stories at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick over the next few days. Will be a joy to do so too.

There is usually an Open Prose Mic night here and it is a fabulous platform for the short form. You do only have a few minutes and the golden rule here is you can come in under time but not over it. Flash fits so well here and people do get to hear complete stories. Win-win here!

Goodreads Author Blog – Stories In Other Formats

I recently had the great joy of watching Lilies on The Land, which was staged by our local excellent amateur theatre company, The Chameleon Theatre Group. I then reviewed it for online magazine, Chandler’s Ford Today.

Lilies was an interesting play because it is a story made up of stories, all based on the real life experiences of the Women’s Land Army (aka the land girls). The stories were collected via letters, interviews etc and The Lions wrote Lilies based on this information.

It is a great case of non-fiction inspiring fictional work. The Lilies characters were invented but based on solid fact. Some fictional liberty was taken in enabling the characters to communicate with each other. But it all worked so well. It was believable. All stories must have that believability even if set in the most fantastical settings.

Let’s hear it for stories in all formats inspired by non-fiction!

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

 

 

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Lilies on the Land and Podcast News

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. As ever, a huge thanks to The Chameleon Theatre Group for kind permission to use their photos (and some of their direct quotes about the recent play by them) in the Chandler’s Ford Today post. Both make for a more rounded article! Image of me signing books at Swanwick was taken by the late and much missed Fiona Park.
Off to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, at the weekend. Has been a busy summer what with the Book Fair too but that’s all to the good. Delighted to have received my copies of The Best of CafeLit 12 too – always a nice feeling when your books arrive!

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share my review of Lilies on the Land which is the latest production staged by The Chameleon Theatre Group. It is always a pleasure to review their productions for Chandler’s Ford Today and this is no exception.

See what I think here and do check out the links. They will bring back memories for many and those interested in history will find some of the links especially useful. The play is about the Women’s Land Army and their stories about their efforts in World War Two. Sublimely written by The Lions and well performed (but then I’d not expect anything less from The Chameleons).

Review – The Chameleon Theatre Group – Lilies on the Land

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I mentioned the other day I was amused when Amazon thought I might be interested in The Best of CafeLit 12. Well, for that they did it for the Kindle version of the book. Today they did this again for the paperback! Not long afterwards, my copies of the book arrived! Hmm… talk about timing!

Talking of timing, I am kind of going back in time for tomorrow’s Chandler’s Ford Today post. I’m reviewing Lilies on the Land, the recent production from The Chameleon Theatre Group. See above.

The play looks at the stories of the Women’s Land Army. The play was moving but see what I thought of the play in tomorrow’s post. There are some useful history links for those who want to know more about the WLA too and a great link with a certain very famous episode of a well known TV sitcom. Link up tomorrow. Looking forward to sharing this.

Podcast and Publication News

Am delighted to say I have a story, A Summer Retirement, Maybe on The Casket of Fictional Delights. As well as the tale appearing on the website, I am thrilled to say it is on their podcast too.

I am blown away by the quality of this podcast of my story – do give it a listen – and a huge thank you to the wonderful people who have produced this.

Also a big thanks to Alyson Rhodes for telling me about the Casket in the first place. (You’ll find the link to the podcast on the right – handily under a great big Hear button!).

A Summer Retirement, Maybe

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to say I am back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest story, Shallow, Moi? Hope you enjoy it. Comments are currently switched off due to there being a competition in connection with the website.

Members of the Flash Fiction Group (ACW) may well recognise the title as one I came up with during our recent session on titles. This title is a good example of the title setting the mood for the story,.

Screenshot 2023-08-04 at 10-06-26 Shallow Moi by Allison Symes

Am all packed, including my flash collections, ready for The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Will be posting as usual next week but timings will vary. I suspect that may be true of my train journey too!

The Best of CafeLit 12 reached me today – I have a flash piece called Jubilee in there. Am also looking forward to the Bridge House Publishing celebration event in December. This is always a great way to round up the year.

Sometimes I will think of a title for a flash piece. Sometimes I will think of a character. Either way works. I have to have a hook to write to and it will either be an intriguing title that makes me want to find out what happens. Or I am intrigued by the character and want to find out what they do and what happens to them. The important bit is being intrigued!

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Only a few days to go before I set off for The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Did most of my packing today. I do like to wave the flag for flash fiction.

Thrilled to be on a podcast with one of my flash fiction stories for the first time. You can find my A Summer Retirement, Maybe over on The Casket of Fictional Delights. I make no apologies for repeating the link here (it is also on my author page on Facebook) because the quality is so good, I do want to shout about it ! Enthusiasm is a great asset for writing!

I’ve talked about the joy of being read to before but this is the first time I’ve had one of my own stories read to me. I would like more of this to happen!

A Summer Retirement, Maybe

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Fairytales with Bite – Travelling

This topic was a good one for me this week as I’m off to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick soon. This is the highlight of my writing year.

Going back to our magical settings for our stories, how would your characters get about? Not everyone would get on with broomsticks, for example. I wouldn’t for a start. Not the most comfortable of seating arrangements and the thought of cold cross-winds does nothing for me! I could see characters having problems with their navigation here!

You could think about whether anyone is entitled to fly or whether it is restricted, are there any environmental concerns and so on. But characters to have to travel (especially on quests!) so how would they do this? What are the pains of their mode of travel? What are the advantages, if any? Is it a question of having no choice?

If someone tries to invent a new way of travelling how successful or otherwise are they? What problems would they have to overcome to get their idea “out there”? And what could get in the way of your average traveller here? What are the joys of travelling in your setting? It would be good to think there were some!

I love train travel though this image seems to invite you to ride by rail into another world - Pixabay
This World and Others – Transport Networks

What does your setting have in the way of transport networks? Are things geared up to encourage or discourage travelling? Who would run these things? How well are they run? If individuals have to sort out travelling, how would they do this? What vehicles (and I would include animals in this category) could they access? Is it easy to travel around your setting?

If your world has never had a transport network, what might happen which would make them require one and how would they set one up? Would they see what other worlds, including our one, would do first?
How would characters get to/from where they work? Most would work away from home, even if the distance isn’t great. Even the seven dwarves had to commute to a certain extent even if they walked, singing as they went! That was their transport network…a commute and a sing song!

Off on my travels again

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Twitter with icon and hashtag symbol

Apologies for the size of the image. Having issues with resizing photos for tonight’s post. Mind you, for the record, I still prefer the original Twitter symbols. Let’s hear it for the blue bird!

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What Makes A Character Work

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Many thanks to Jennifer C Wilson for taking the image of me about to run a workshop at Swanwick in 2022. Looking forward to catching up with you, Jen, at Swanwick 2023! Many thanks to Richard Hardie for taking the image of me at the Book Fair.
Hope you have had a good weekend. I’m off to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick this coming weekend for a few days. I am planning to post but times will be different. Am looking forward to catching up with friends (the rest of the year I meet them online only) and attending the excellent workshops.

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Facebook – General

Someone hasn’t told the weather it’s August, have they? Oh well. On the plus side, the grass in my local park does now look and feel like grass as opposed to the straw it had resembled during that period of hot weather we did have.

My latest author newsletter went out earlier today – many thanks to all who have signed up. Hope you enjoy the latest one.

I came to author newsletters fairly late though I enjoy reading several and it is something I should’ve done sooner than I did. It is a useful way of keeping in touch. I aim to put in mine what I know I’d like to receive myself. I think that helps (and shows). It is a great joy putting these together – marketing can be fun, honest!

May be a doodle of text that says "E-MAIL out my NEWSLETTER I send author newsletter ơη the 1st of each month and share news, tips, story links newsletter EMAIL etc. talk about flash fiction and share thoughts ση writing it here tσơ."

Allison Symes - August 2023 - Out and (Flashing) About

Had to have a chuckle. Had an email in from Amazon today suggesting I might be interested in The Best of CafeLit 12. Credit where it’s due and all that – they’re not wrong.

Someone might have noticed though I asked Amazon to add it to my Author Central page, which they’ve done – speedily too – within minutes of my asking, and that’s because I’m one of the authors in here! Mind you, I have had this kind of email for From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping the Flash Fantastic as well. Joined up thinking? Possibly not here.

In other news, have started packing for The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Told you I was looking forward to it.

Bit of a strange day today. I’m standing down form a voluntary role I’ve carried out for some years. Absolutely right time to go. Things are developing for me in my church life and my writing one too, which means I no longer have the time for the voluntary role as well. Am still a member of the organisation concerned. I am looking forward to “just” being an ordinary member again though but when you have carried out a role for a long time, it does seem odd to be moving on.

Am so looking forward to sharing my review of Lilies on the Land, the latest production from The Chameleon Theatre Group, for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Such a moving play and it brought back memories of stories I was told by my parents/grandparents. More in the post. I suspect the play has and will continue to bring back memories for others too.

Don’t forget my next author newsletter goes out on Tuesday. Still time to sign up at my landling page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Newsletter with envelope image

It’s my turn once again on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This time I talk about What Makes a Character Work. Hope you find the post useful and you can find out why the Sheriff of Nottingham as played by the late great Alan Rickman puts in an appearance here too.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope you have had a good day. Busy one as ever. Am currently working on a flash piece I hope to bet submitted probably just after I get back from Swanwick.

I want to get it to the “resting” stage before I go away. When I come back – well, that will be enough of a break to give me the chance to judge the tale objectively before sending it anywhere. It’s amazing how many things I can pick up when I’ve given a story proper rest period like that and it can make all the difference to whether a tale is accepted or not.

This is why I build in time for this to happen so I still submit well ahead of any deadline. It is a tip which works and has worked repeatedly for me which is why I am happy to recommend it. I like tried and tested tips a lot!

May be a graphic of lighting and text that says "Like these three points but I would also add in a reminder that editing takes longer than you think at times. 1) Dream 2) Set goal 3) Action"

It’s Monday. It’s the Monday before I go to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick! Still time for a story though. My latest on YouTube is called Welcome to Earth. Hope you enjoy it.

Damp and drizzly here today. And the month we’re in is what exactly?! Having said that, I do not envy the poor souls with the heatwaves. I know I couldn’t cope with it, I can cope with the rain.

Heads up for those who send in stories to Friday Flash Fiction. For the next couple of weeks, they are only accepting the classic 75 to 100 word flash tales. See link for more information. Their contest ties in with the Edinburgh International Book Festival though, of course, the FFF one is purely online. Usual rule of one story a week applies. Good luck if you’re having a go at this.

Screenshot 2023-07-30 at 17-04-37 Edinburgh Festival Competition 2023

Hope you have had a good day. Changeable weather again here. This time next week I’ll be at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick and am so looking forward to it. Naturally I shall be spreading the word about flash fiction. Will report back for Chandler’s Ford Today in due course.

Talking of which, there is an offer on for the paperback version of From Light to Dark and Back Again on Amazon at the moment. You can check it out at the direct link below.

Goodreads Author Blog – Biographies

I’m currently reading London by Peter Ackroyd, a biography of the city which is an interesting way to approach writing history. Enjoying it immensely so far. But it led me to wonder about biographies, I have read some (mainly autobiographies) of figures I’m interested in. Agatha Christie’s autobiography is a fascinating read but unless the subject interests me, I don’t read much in this genre. No celebrity biographies for me!

Are there biographies you would recommend and what appeals about them? I do think the subject has to have led some kind of interesting life. With Agatha Christie, I am a huge fan of her books so am naturally interested in what she had to say about herself. I love history so the idea of London appealed to me too. (It helps I’m a Londoner by birth I suspect – another reason to be interested in the subject).

I suppose one reason I do like some of these is I am at that stage of life myself where I am interested in what others at this stage of life or beyond it have got to with theirs! This is another reason why I’m not interested in the younger celebrity books here.

I do wonder well what experience of life have you got other than that which made you famous? For me that isn’t enough, I like to read of how people struggled, made the breakthrough, made mistakes, picked themselves up again etc. Those are stories worth telling.

Screenshot 2023-07-29 at 20-19-37 Biographies

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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