Author Interview – Introducing Hannah Retallick

November 29, 2024Leave a comment

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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. A huge thank you to Hannah Retallick for supplying many of the images in my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week and to Wendy H Jones for creating some fabulous images for the December 2024 edition of Writers Narrative, which I’ve incorporated into a Book Brush collage below. Do check out the magazine itself – link below.

Hope you have had a good week to date. Storm Connell early in the week followed by bitterly cold days – it has been a mixed bag of a week here, weather wise. Lady has been running around so the cold doesn’t worry her. Writing wise, am thrilled to announce Writers’ Narrative is back – see more below on this. Written by writers for writers, it is well worth checking out. And it’s double blog day given my Chandler’s Ford Today and More than Writers posts are both out on the Friday.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

29th November 2024 – Post 1 – CFT

Quick bit of news just before I share double blog posts – lots going on today.. Am pleased to say I sent in a prompt for Flash NANO and Nancy Stohlman has chosen mine to be today’s one. I haven’t written up the prompt myself yet but do plan to do so later on and see what I can do with it!

Double blog day once more and this time I start with a stunning interview with Hannah Retallick on Chandler’s Ford Today. We celebrate her new (debut) short story collection, Something Very Human.

Hannah shares with me so many useful thoughts and tips any writer will find useful so do check the post out. Hope you find it useful and entertaining – I did!

Hannah and I are both short story and flash fiction writers. We’re also both published by Bridge House Publishing. We discuss the joys of writing in the short form, fiction wise, and look at marketing and writing routines amongst other topics.

Author Interview: Introducing Hannah Retallick

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29th November 2024 – Post 2 – More than Writers

Double blog day part 2! I’m delighted to be back on More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers with a timely piece called Light in the Darkness. Timely, of course, since we go into Advent at the weekend. Hope you find the piece encouraging and inspiring.

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Two pieces of great news to share tonight:-

1. Am sharing a fabulous interview with Hannah Retallick about her debut story collection, Something Very Human (Bridge House Publishing), on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. Hannah shares so much useful information, tips, and thoughts useful to writers so do check this out. See above.

2. Am thrilled to say Writers Narrative is back with the theme of cozy marketing and writing. My piece is about festive flash fiction which, given its nature is fun and lighthearted, is a very cozy read indeed! Check out the magazine below (and there’s a free to subscribe link within the magazine itself).

Brrr… a cold one today. Storm Connell has done some damage – most evident in the afternoon and evening walks I take with Lady. Flooding, parts of tracks swept away etc. Had to do a detour tonight. Having said that, she did get to have a good time with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal this morning. The park just gets soggy. Think I’ll be living in my boots now until next March (if early 2025 proves to be good), next May (if it doesn’t!).

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom later this evening.

Will be sharing a fabulous interview with Hannah Retallick on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Be sure not to miss it – lots of useful and interesting thoughts for all writers. See above.

Will be a double blog day on Friday given my post on More Than Writers will also be out and I will be looking at Light in the Darkness for that one. Apt as we go into Advent. Again see above. Has been a busy week!

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale here Fitting In. This one I would describe as a fairytale in reverse. Just what does happen to the Fairy Kingdom’s clumsiest fairy ever? Find out here.

Many thanks to all who came to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group meeting on Zoom last night. The theme was festive flash fiction. I talk about the same topic for Writers’ Narrative this month which I am so glad to say is back. Its focus this issue is on cozy marketing and writing. Festive flash fiction fits in perfectly here given it is the ultimate, I think, in lighthearted reads – short, often funny, and definitely light, something I think is needed at that this time of the year. Link given up above.
As well as providing an interesting varIety of prompts, taking part in Flash NANO does mean you end up drafting stories in varying moods and genres. What will I do with these later? I hope some will go into a future collection. Others I will reserve for competitions.

Word count length has varied for the month – most have come in at the 500 words or fewer count. I have had a couple at the 100 word mark or so. None of this surprises me but I do find Flash NANO invaluable for (a) getting more flash written and (b) taking me out of my comfort zone with some of the prompts. The latter is good because it makes me “up my game”. No bad thing that.

Fairytales with Bite – Mix Up by Allison Symes

Mix Up
It never pays to be in too much of a hurry.
It will only lead to trouble and worry.
As one fairy godmother, once of such great renown,
Found to her utter chagrin, it got her down.
Picking up the wrong wand by such a clumsy mistake
She turned a client into a fancy cake
Which was then scoffed by a so hungry and fast young elf
The fairy godmother was besides herself
With tremendous grief, ridicule, and later, with pain.
She became the Fairy Queen’s appointed bane.
She was then banished to Earth, speedily, just like that.
Now she can’t magic a rabbit from a hat.

Ends
Allison Symes – 27th November 2024

Hope you enjoyed that one.

This World and Others – Borrowing From Other Worlds

How advanced is your setting? Does it have technology to travel to other worlds (openly or otherwise)? If so, does it like what it sees and does it “borrow” anything? The other world may not have anything taken from it but copying is an ancient business. So is the outright theft of a good idea!

So what would your characters bring back to their home world and how would these things be put to use? Does everyone back at home welcome the new “things” or are they fearful of them? Could they have good cause to be? There is potential for a humorous story in having a character bringing back all sorts of things, which never work out properly when he/she/it gets back home again.

Also give some thought if the world they’ve pinched ideas from get to travel across universes themselves, could they ever come to your character’s home world and discover what they’ve done? Could make for interesting clashes (and even more so if both worlds are trying to improve relations. Something like this could scupper that. What would the consequences be?).

Could other worlds borrow from what your setting has to offer and how could this come about? Who discovers your character’s home world in the first place and was it something they were deliberately seeking to do or something which they stumbled on accidentally?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Am so pleased Writers’ Narrative is back. Do see the link further up the post.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Author Interview: Introducing Hannah Retallick https://t.co/EY1bWacdwa Double blog day. I start with a fab interview with Hannah Retallick on CFT. We celebrate her debut collection, Something Very Human. We discuss short form writing, marketing, and writing routines and more.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 29, 2024

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More than Writers: Light in the Darkness by Allison Symes https://t.co/KkkCPnSIE6 Double blog day part 2! I’m pleased to be back on MTW, the Association of Christian Writers blog spot, with Light in the Darkness. Hope you find the piece encouraging and inspiring. pic.twitter.com/lqydyrW77r
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 29, 2024

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Fitting In, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/gs2zQq4eat Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Fitting In. I describe this as a fairytale in reverse. Just what does happen to the Fairy Kingdom’s clumsiest fairy ever? Find out here. pic.twitter.com/kmQl823gUG
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 29, 2024

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Prompts, Flash NANO Update, and Defining a Good Read

November 26, 2024Leave a comment

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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 weekend, as much as possible anyway given the antics of Storm Bert. High winds and rain here but grateful not to have flooding and snow.

Looking forward to sharing a fabulous author interview with Hannah Retallick on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Looking forward to catching up with her in person (and Debz Hobbs-Wyatt whom I interviewed recently) at the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event soon.

Facebook – General

Hope Tuesday has been a good day. Busy one for me so am posting early.

With writing prompts, you are bound to find favourites. Nothing wrong with that. I love opening line prompts in particular. But one of the joys of Flash NANO is in not knowing what is coming your way and then discovering prompt types new to you.

Inevitably some of these you will love while others will be less to your taste but it is helpful knowing this. If you come across them again, you know which ones to have a crack at! They will be the ones you know you can get behind because you enjoy the prompt type.

I am sure somehow some of an author’s enjoyment of writing does percolate through to their published stories. I know when I am reading, I can often sense certain passages where it is clear to me the writer had a wonderful time writing it. The words flow, the characters gel, all comes together well and we can get this from our responses to writing prompts too.

Worth having a go at writing prompts then because you never know what you can come up with unless you try them out.

Hope the week has got off to a calmer start after the havoc of Storm Bert over the weekend. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals so enjoyed that.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom on Wednesday.

My next author newsletter will be out again at the end of the week – how can it be almost December already? To sign up head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

A huge thank you to all for the support and feedback for where I have shared stories on Flash NANO but also, for the rest of the year as well, on Friday Flash Fiction. All much appreciated, I can assure you.

Feedback is a huge advantage of being part of a writing group and it's even better when it's two way

Storm Bert still causing havoc. Mainly branches down here and some localised flooding in areas known for it. Wish people would drive more carefully though. You would think they would, wouldn’t you?

On to much happier thoughts then.

Am delighted to say I will be welcoming Hannah Retallick to Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. She just just launched her debut short story collection, Something Very Human (Bridge House Publishing). Hannah has also won or been listed in some very prestigous flash fiction competitions too so it will be a joy to talk to a fellow flash fiction writer and Bridge House Publishing author. Plenty of interesting thoughts being shared too so do look out for this.

Second bit of excellent news – Writers’ Narrative will be back shortly. Am looking forward to sharing more details on that as soon as I can but I can say it is on its way. Plenty of interesting articles for anyone interested in the world and craft of writing.

I hope Storm Bert hasn’t done too much damage where you are. Take care. Very windy here but we only have the rain. Not sorry about that.

Writing wise, I have sent in a flash piece to one of my regular submission places at this time of year. Have still got three others to sort out but hope to do this soon. Will probably form part of my usual Sunday afternoon flash fiction writing session. Am pretty happy with the stories themselves but I always like to do a final read through and check. It pays. Sometimes I spot something last minute.

I’m a great believer in avoiding last minute scenarios wherever possible – it saves so much stress – but when it comes to story submissions, that last minute check through is so useful. It’s something I’ve developed from much earlier on in my career when I made the mistake of sending something off and later spotting errors. Too late to correct the story, too late to call said story back. I swore at the time! I then swore again that I’d not do this again and I’ve stuck to that ever since.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Busy one today so am posting early. As well as flash fiction, there is such a thing as flash non-fiction. I like that too. Pretty much all of my posts here and many of my blogs would count as flash non-fiction because they’re under the required word count (up to 1000 words maximum and some markets will set lower than that, say at 750 words).

I have found in writing flash fiction the techniques I’ve learn in tightening up my writing has transferred over to my non-fiction work too. Not a bad thing that. Working out what my wasted words are, the ones I immediately cut on my first edit, is useful for any kind of writing I do.

It’s Monday. It’s a Monday after a dreadful storm. Time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Name Change. I suspect many of you will identify with this one. Just sometimes a name change really is needed, especially for writers coming out with the unexpected. Find out what here.

Wow, am working my way through the Flash NANO prompts and I can’t believe we’re up to Day 24 of the challenge already. But have come up with a 100 worder which meets the theme. Have also written my other flash pieces which I usually do and submit or schedule on Sunday afternoons. So have been busy but all with fun things to write!

Am looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom on Wednesday. Theme will be festive flash fiction and exercises will be shared. Hope to get some drafts done myself.

Hope all well with you especially given Storm Bert is giving the UK a hammering. Incidentally, given I loved Sesame Street, I do assume we will be getting Storm Ernie in due course. Just hope he’s not as bad as Bert is proving to be.

One of the joys of editing is when you spot something useful you could add to your tale, giving a strong image or, for something I’ve done recently, giving a memory which I hope, in time, will provide a smile. Can’t say more than that, as story is “out there” now, but one detail made all of the difference here and put a grin on my face. Didn’t spot this on my first draft though.

So editing is worthwhile and productive, honest! There is something special when editing can open your eyes to see something which will strength your story. I love those moments.

Goodreads Author Blog – Definition of a Good Read

I should have thought of this topic before given this is the Goodreads blog! So what do I define as a good read then? Is it dependent on genre?

For me the answer to that last question is a firm no. For me a good read is one where I am so gripped by the characters I have to read on to find out what happens to them. It’s not a bad definition of a good read now, is it?

Those characters can be hobbits, middle aged women like me, women from the past, men from the past, and occasionally a monster. I have a lot of sympathy for Baron Frankenstein’s “creature”. Mary Shelley asked the timeless question here of who is the monster and it isn’t the “creature”in my view.

So the author’s job then (and this is a challenge to me as a writer myself) is to come up with characters a reader will get behind and to make us care for those characters. It’s not enough to like them. We as readers have to care deeply. It is that which keeps us reading.

Drama only means something if we care about the characters caught up in it. Humorous writing will only make us laugh if we care about the characters who are making us laugh, whether they’re doing this knowingly or not.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Good news, folks. Writers Narrative will be back very soon, packed with great articles. More news when I have it. Meantime, this time I share the November 2023 edition which focused on Novels. I discuss Writing Novels, based on my experience of writing one which remains unpublished to date but from which I learned a great deal.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: Definition of a Good Read https://t.co/yX1uCKBgOS via @goodreads I should've thought of this as a topic for Goodreads before but finally I share my definition of a good read. pic.twitter.com/ImaKJKvXiu
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 23, 2024

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It’s Monday. It’s a Monday after a dreadful storm. Time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Name Change. Just sometimes a name change really is needed, especially for writers coming out with the unexpected. Find out what here.https://t.co/rKHLxUXJCg
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 25, 2024

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Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and The Benefits

November 22, 2024Leave a comment

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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. Many thanks to Janet Williams for the photo of me at the Book Fair. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

Hope you have had a good few days. Weather has turned bitterly cold. Even had some snow. Not that Lady worried. Writing wise, looking forward to sharing further author interviews on Chandler’s Ford Today. Am just putting some finishing to some flash pieces I hope to send off to competitions shortly. Wish me luck!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to be back on Chandler’s Ford Today to talk about a topic very close and dear to my heart – Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and the Benefits. I look at focusing on the character, using the first person, and not worrying about the word count immediately amongst other things. Hope you find the post useful.

Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and the Benefits

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22nd November 2024 – Esther Chilton – Guest Spot
Not one but two posts from me on here tonight.

Many thanks to Esther Chilton for inviting me to be a guest writer on her blog. See link below. Great opportunity to talk about flash fiction and to share a YouTube link to one of my favourite flash pieces of mine, Calling the Doctor. I used this as the trailer for From Light to Dark and Back Again.

Hope you enjoy the post and the video.

Guest Writer Spot

Colder today than yesterday, Even had snow which lay for a while. Melted by lunchtime. Went for a swim. When the pool water feels like you’re getting into a warm bath, you know it’s perishing cold outside. It was like that today! No pals out for Lady today though she did enjoy her usual time at the park. Dogs are great believers in making the most of the simple pleasures of life.

Will be looking at Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and The Benefits for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Cracking on with Flash NANO. Am putting finishing touches to some flash pieces I want to get out for competitions in the next couple of days.

Not long now until the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event. Looking forward to that and catching up with everyone. Lovely way to finish my writing event year.

Busy putting next newsletter together as well.

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Another cold one today – the gloves came out. (No – not boxing ones!). Lady didn’t care. Too busy running around and having a fabulous time with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom next week. We’ll be looking at festive flash, which is always great fun to write. I have finally drafted some and hope to do more next week.

I do usually set exercises when I run workshops. I’ve long appreciated being on the receiving end of exercises set for me by other tutors. I’ve always got something useful out of exercises. Some pieces which started life this way ended up being published.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with Wishing Well. Tony is skeptical about Hannah’s feeling it is right to make a wish at the well but is he right to be so scathing or does Hannah have a point? Find out here.

Highlight of the day today was having an Options hot chocolate when coming in from my afternoon walk with the dog. It really is all about the simple pleasures of life.

Talking of which, what would your characters count as their simple pleasures? What would they do/how would they react if these were taken away from them? Could be some interesting stories there.

Also what would they be prepared to do to ensure nobody could ever take these simple pleasures away at all? Would these simple pleasures get in the way of them having relationships with others or could a shared simple pleasure lead to a romance story?

Hope you can make use of those thoughts. Will be giving some thought to them myself!

Hope your writing day has been a good one. Looking forward to tackling Day 20 of Flash NANO shortly. Can’t believe where the time has gone on this already. Have loved all of the challenges.

Character Tip: Motivation matters, of course, but what drives your character to have the motivations they do. Are they doing what they are to defend themselves or loved ones, out of fear, out of greed or what have you?

The drivers here will be what determines whether your characters can keep going or not. The more vital the driver is (at least to the character) the more drama and tension there will be in your story, the more readers will be gripped to discover whether your character does keep going or not.

Fairytales with Bite – Fantasy Flash

F = Flash fiction can be used for many genres including fantasy.

A = As you are following the adventures of the characters and they can be set anywhere.

N = Not a lot of world building needed, you haven’t the word count room for it, but give enough details so readers know where your characters are.

T = Telling details are what are needed here – a hint of the world your character is in, a hint of any special powers your character has and so on.

A = Always know your character well enough to know what motivates them whether you write about a fairy, an alien being or a dragon (I’ve written for all three!).

S = Story is the main focus – what is your story, what is the change, what does your character do and what are the consequences? Why does it have to be on the world you’ve created?

Y = Your character needs to grip us throughout, even in a small word count story, so how will they do that? What is it about them that appeals? No matter how alien your character, readers will still need to understand where they are coming from and what motivates them.

F = Flash has to be brief and to the point so what aspects of your character could use this as a strength?

L = Lively characters, an intriguing opening, a gripping middle, and a powerful ending – no pressure then!

A = Always focus on getting the story down worry about word count later.

S = Set your story aside for a while after those drafts and then come back after a break to evaluate it properly.

H = Have fun drafting your story. Later have fun editing it and sharpening it. Have fun creating your characters and as much of your setting as you can show us but remember you do only have 1000 words for flash.

This World and Others – Food Production

I’ve not yet come across a story where the characters don’t need to eat. (I loved the hobbits and their wish for second breakfast in The Lord of the Rings). So regardless of your setting, food has to be produced somehow. What would your world use as sources of meat? (Yes, that can be especially grim and could be a source for ideas if you want to write horror).

What would your world grow as cereals and other crops? Would we recognize their farming methods? Is their equipment the same as ours, or more or less advanced than our own? Do the main characters in your story have any involvement with food production and could their role prove pivotal to the overall plot?

Whoever controls food supply wields a great deal of power, no matter what world this is on, so that could be used to good effect in a story. Naturally climate chance could also be factored into a tale involving food production. What would the impact be on the world you’ve set up?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the October 2023 of the magazine on the theme of horror. I look at Writing Horror: The Telling Details. And yes it is possible to write horror flash fiction. I’ve written some though mine is at the less dark end of the market.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Wishing Well, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/sximYa23to Delighted to be back on FFF with Wishing Well. Tony is skeptical about Hannah’s feeling it is right to make a wish at the well but is he right to be scathing or does Hannah have a point? Find out here. pic.twitter.com/x7uMk1LqBX
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 22, 2024

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Thanks to Esther Chilton for inviting me to be a guest writer on her blog. Fab opportunity to talk about flash fiction and to share a YouTube link to my Calling the Doctor. This is the trailer for From Light to Dark and Back Again. Hope you enjoy the post.https://t.co/L7e2gK6uMK
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 22, 2024

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Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and the Benefits https://t.co/t9Omtn4mvM Pleased to be on CFT with my favourite topic – Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and the Benefits. I look at character, using first person, and not worrying about word count immediately amongst other things.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 22, 2024

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Out and About

November 19, 2024Leave a comment

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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 Janet Williams for the images of me at The Hilt Book Fair.

Hope you have had a good weekend. Managed to prepare lots of draft flash pieces for competitions and other market submissions which I hope to review by the end of this week and either send out or have read to send out by early next week. I can’t rule out my picking up on something when I review but than that is the purpose of the review! Lady has had a lovely time with her two best girlfriends so all is right in their world.

Facebook – General

Brrrr…. It has been a chilly one today. No snow but it has tried to sleet off and on all day. Lady didn’t get to see any pals today but she had a good run around. She is rarely fazed by the weather. Me? I am so thankful writing can be done in the warm!

Writing wise, I will be sharing Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and The Benefits for Chandler’s Ford Today later this week. Link up on Friday. More author interviews to come on CFT too.

Next newsletter will be out on 1st December – just where has the year gone?

Many thanks to all of my subscribers for your ongoing support. If you would like to sign up to find news, story links, flash fiction and writing tips, do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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Pleased to be back on Authors Electric with my latest post Out and About. I summarise what I’ve been up to lately writing event wise and celebrate the wonderfully supportive writing community. Hope you enjoy the post.

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Hope you have had a lovely weekend. Getting colder. Not that Lady notices. She’s loved her runs and walks today, as always.

Will be back on Authors Electric tomorrow with a post called Out and About. Am also due to appear on a guest writer spot later this week too. More news on that nearer the time.

Will be getting on with writing various flash fiction pieces shortly. Have got three resting for competition entries, which I hope to review and send towards the end of next week, all being well.

It’s almost festive flash fiction time too. I haven’t written any so far this year. I often have done by now. It’s strange how the ideas can strike during a hot day in July. I just get on and write the story down at that point and review later when this happens. Didn’t happen this year but then it was a funny summer weather wise.

I do love writing festive flash – it’s fun, it’s cheery, and what I think we need as we approach the end of the year so I will enjoy doing this. Maybe the colder weather will also help inspire ideas. Now there’s a thought – put the weather to good use!

Hope you have had a good day. Got a good workout earlier raking up some of the autumn leaves (only some because I ran out of space in my garden waste bin!). Lady was happily watching me with football between her paws.

Will be sharing tips on writing flash fiction for Chandler’s Ford Today next week.

Am busy preparing some flash fiction pieces for competitions at the moment too. So looking forward to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event next month too. Also busy preparing various blog pieces which I hope will make appearances in due course.

Writing Tip: Don’t worry if you find you’ve little time to write. Just use those periods to jot down potential ideas for writing/marketing you can follow up on later when you do have more time. I do this a lot and I find it helps because when I do get to my desk with a reasonable amount of time ahead of me, I know what I’m going to be working on immediately. I find I end up getting more done precisely because I’m not dithering.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Bitterly cold in the UK today. What could you do with weather conditions like that for a flash fiction story? How does your character handle the cold? What do they have to do which they would rather not in those conditions? Could be potential for funny stories there (maybe Grandma’s hated virulent green scarf finally comes into its own!).

It’s Monday. It went dark even earlier than normal thanks to bad weather. It’s still Monday. It’s time for a story then. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Wishing Wisely. Jenny spends a lot of time wishing but is she wishing for the right things? Find out here.

I wonder if anyone has written a flash piece about a writer being buried by the books and stories on their desk! If not, maybe I should put my hat in the ring for that one. I never share pictures of my desk on social media. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to see it. I do know where everything is on it though. And I’ve seen pictures of Albert Einstein’s desk when he died. He makes my desk look pristine. It isn’t.

I do know there are story ideas to be followed through on looking at neatness and untidiness. These are traits you could give to two characters – they’re bound to strike sparks of each other here! Could be fun to do. Good luck if you have a go at this.

Every author appreciates reviews and I’m no exception. Appropriately for a flash fiction author, the reviews I’ve received do tend to be short and to the point. This is a quote from one of them for Tripping the Flash Fantastic.

… Allison’s stories always make you stop and think a little – there is something slightly off-centre in the way her characters see the world, and she switches effortlessly from humorous tales to stories with a harder bite. A real treat for readers who enjoy being taken on a mystery tour.

Many thanks to FishLady for that. I particularly liked the slightly off-centre bit – sums me and my writing up well!

Goodreads Author Blog – Story Collections

Naturally as a flash fiction and short story writer, I have a very soft spot indeed for story collections and I would urge you to consider adding these to your Christmas list. (There, I’ve said it! Christmas is indeed coming!).

I find them useful in trying out authors whose work is new to me – if I like their short form work, I am highly likely to love their novels. I also like to read shorter stories in between novels as I like to ensure I read plenty of both types of fiction.

But with my writing hat on, I know some stories simply work best when kept short. The classic fairytales are just one example of this. Simply wouldn’t work as novels in my view. Jesus’s parables and Aesop’s Fables again work best and are remembered better precisely because they are short.

What has been a joy in putting my own flash collections together is in being able to share a wide range of stories in terms of mood, word count length, and so on, It is a great opportunity to show what flash fiction is and can be.

It’s also been a joy to contribute to the longer short story anthologies too and I always consider it a real compliment when my work is included in any of these. I also love reading the other stories in there. The variety of styles is always amazing.

I am also fond of short stories by authors far better known for their novels. P.G. Wodehouse and Agatha Christie both had excellent short story collections and I have these on my shelves along with their more famous longer length works. Love them all.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the January/February 2024 bumper edition of the magazine. I look at New Beginnings for Characters and also ask Flash Fiction Romance – Is It Possible?

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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liked Allison Symes’s blog post: Story Collections https://t.co/03XbzuxRAF via @goodreads I celebrate short story/flash fiction collections for Goodreads. Okay, I’m biased given I write and am published in both but why not try them? I’ve discovered many fine authors this way. pic.twitter.com/cIBlgaD9aJ
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 16, 2024

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Authors Electric: Out and About by Allison Symes https://t.co/iMQcBmHdok Pleased to be on Authors Electric with my post Out and About. I summarise what I’ve been up to lately writing event wise and celebrate the wonderfully supportive writing community. https://t.co/kcPU24qM3y pic.twitter.com/lZjfOJXOS3
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 18, 2024

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It’s Monday. It went dark even earlier than normal due to bad weather. It’s still Monday. Time for a story then. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Wishing Wisely. Jenny spends a lot of time wishing but is she wishing for the right things? https://t.co/bRZgbdPCC4
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 18, 2024

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Author Update – Allison Symes November 2024 – Book Fairs, Autumn Gatherings, Flash NANO, and More

November 15, 2024Leave a comment

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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 Janet Williams, my lovely editor at Chandler’s Ford Today, for taking some of the photos I include in this week’s post.

Hope you have had good few days. Lady has had a fabulous time with her two best dog friends. Writing wise, I share an update on what I’ve been up to recently. Am continuing to make good progress with Flash NANO 2024 and, as ever, am enjoying the wide variety of prompts from that. It is a good challenge!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal again today and has had a good time all week with her chums, bar Tuesday when she just had to put up with me.

Pleased to share Allison Symes – Author Update November 2024 – Book Fairs, Autumn Gatherings, Flash NANO and More for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I do love a title which does, to quote the old Ronseal wood treatment advert, “what it says on the tin”!

Every now and again I like to write an author update of what I’ve been up to – easiest to do this in one summary post. Next week I’ll be sharing writing tips and after that there will be more author interviews so plenty to look forward to here. If you want to know more about Flash NANO (and it still isn’t too late to join in by the way), I do share more information and the link in this CFT post so do check it out.

I also look back at the Book Fair, the ACW Autumn Gathering (briefly as I did write a separate post about that) and look ahead to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event next month. I also celebrate local authors in my look back at the Book Fair.

Allison Symes – Author Update November 2024 – Book Fairs, Autumn Gatherings, Flash NANO and More

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Lady has had a super day. Got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal this morning and later this afternoon got to do her usual second walk with her best buddie, the Rhodesian Ridgeback. They even came off the lead for a bonus play time in the green area on that walk. The dogs loved it and it was sweet to watch them play. Dogs keep things simple. This all came as a nice surprise and was one of those cheer you up moments. And that was just for the Ridgeback’s owner and me!

Will be sharing a round up of what I’ve been up to lately, as well as looking ahead to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event next month, for my post on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. Has been a busy but enjoyable time. See above.

Character Tip: You know your character. You’ve got your set up. All great stuff. Now throw something into the mix you know will throw your character and see what they do. Have fun here. It will reveal aspects to their character you haven’t already worked out or suspected.

And it is fun finding out just what your characters will do to get themselves out of the mire. To me, it’s one of the best bits of story writing – drop my characters in it and find out what they do!

Hope you have had a lovely day. Nice cold but sunny autumn day here. Lady did get to see and play with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. All is right in her world.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing an author update for me on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. There will be more author interviews to come at the end of the month/early December. I’ll also be making a guest appearance on another writing blog later this month – more details nearer the time.

Loving the Flash NANO prompts so far and looking forward to having a go at today’s one shortly. A huge thank you to all who have commented on the stories I’ve shared on the private Facebook page here. Much appreciated.

Author newsletter will be out again on 1st December. I share tips, news, story links and more there. If you would like to sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com and thank you to all of my subscribers for your ongoing support. Again much appreciated.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale The Last Memory. Hope you enjoy it. It’s a different take on a famous fairytale.

Happy birthday to His Majesty.

Now birthdays in themselves can be a useful theme for a flash fiction story or several. Why?

Firstly, you can look at what your characters think about birthdays and theirs in particular. Do they bring back good or painful memories? Is their birthday a chance to put things right or to move on from whatever has been holding them back?

Secondly, what do other characters in your story think about your lead? Would they celebrate their birthday with them or not? There could be a lot of interesting material here, especially if they would never celebrate the lead’s special event.

If your setting is in a fantasy or sci-fi world, are birthdays commemorated at all? If not, what is celebrated instead? Would we recognise any elements of them?

Also does a birthday coincide with another event – the start of a quest (it did with The Lord of the Rings with Gandalf turning up to celebrate Bilbo’s 111th birthday) – or with a national event. If the latter, are good or bad things associated with that and what does your character make of it being their birthday too? Does it change how they celebrate?

Plenty of story ideas to come from a birthday then!

Three quick flash fiction tips I hope you find useful:-

1. Focus on the lead character and what the reader needs to know about them (including of course what the character wants).

2. Cut out anything which doesn’t help with the above point unless it does move the story on in some way. Ask yourself if it is necessary. If it is, fine, you’ll easily justify it. If not, out it comes. No word count room to waste so you do need to be ruthless with cutting things like that out. It is a good writing discipline if it is any comfort. Learning to tighten up your writing will help with the other forms of writing you do. I’ve found this to be the case.

3. Once you’ve got the draft done and have rested it, read it out loud. The good thing with flash is this doesn’t take long. In reading it out loud, you will hear the rhythm of your story, you will hear if the dialogue works or it it makes you stumble and so on.

Fairytales with Bite – Spells Acrostic

S = Spells are not all they are cracked up to be at times.
P = Princess at risk of death is sent to sleep for a century instead.
E = Even godmothers can get things wrong – glass slippers to dance in? Really!
L = Life forms are not all they seem – just ask The Beast – magic was not his favourite thing when he was transformed.
L = Luckless apprentices realise too late they need to know how to make a spell stop, what a pity he missed that bit!
S = Spells have their downside!

This World and Others – Literature and Its Role In Your Setting

Does your setting appreciate its literature? If your setting doesn’t have written records or anything like that at all, what would it have instead? How are these things valued by your characters?

If there are books, stories etc., are they similar to the format in which we have ours or is everything, say, in an audio format only? What kind of devices would your world have to store them? Technological advances can make some forms of recording information obsolete so anything stored the “old school” way might be hard to recover and/or transfer to modern ways. How would your setting overcome this issue?

Would your world have favoured authors, past and present? Would they have banned ones? Would your world import literature from other settings, including Earth? What would they make of our books and stories?

Especially in the sci-fi and fantasy sections, has anything our writers have come up with any bearing to your character’s setting? If so, does it worry your authorities Earth writers have got some things right here ore are they relieved we are far from the truth?

Do your characters appreciate books and what do they prefer to read? Is that something most would like or do they dare to be different?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the April 2024 edition of the magazine which looks at a topic I adore – editing. My article asks Editing: Do You Love It or Loathe It? Well… what answer would you give to that?

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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The Last Memory, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/mgcOH6xu8J Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale The Last Memory. Hope you enjoy it. It’s a different take on a famous fairytale. pic.twitter.com/k2dhTuM5Ib
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 15, 2024

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Allison Symes – Author Update November 2024 – Book Fairs, Autumn Gatherings, Flash NANO and More https://t.co/pudgVY2G2i Pleased to share my CFT post – an author update for yours truly. I look back at the Book Fair and ahead to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 15, 2024

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Remembrance and Prompts

November 12, 2024Leave a comment

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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 weekend. Had a lovely one with family (Lady loved it and was shattered by the end of it as she usually is). Also the weekend was noted for always moving Remembrance events (as was Monday 11th).

Facebook – General

Hope you have had a good day. Cold but sunny here. Nice autumn day. Lady didn’t get to see any pals today but had a lovely run around all the same.

Writing Tip: When I get a prompt (as I am all this month with Flash NANO), I note down a few thoughts which immediately occur to me as to the direction in which I could take this. I then go with the idea I like the most because it has the most impact on me and I figure readers are likely to react the same way.

Any thought that gets a “nah” or “hmm, doesn’t float my boat” response from me gets binned. Don’t be afraid to reject your initial ideas and go with something better. Other ideas will come.

11th November – Armistice Day

The sun came out for Armistice Day today which was lovely. I always think back to my grandfathers at this time of year – one was in the Forces then, when invalided out, he became an ARP warden/fire watcher and the other worked in a reserved occupation (munitions – Woolwich Arsenal – always getting bombed out).

My father was too young to be evacuated when World War Two broke out and was only evacuated later on but he and his mum, my gran, went through the Blitz. My mother was evacuated immediately and didn’t like it. It’s a time to be grateful for what we we have, I think. One of which was my appreciating the freedom I have to watch my Lady having a huge amount of fun in the park this morning with her two best friends.

Writing wise, am pressing on with Flash NANO. Hope to do today’s prompt later on but may have to go into tomorrow given I’ve a busy but lovely evening ahead. Will also be sharing an author update for me on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I appreciate the freedom to read and write too. Still not a given even now, which is sad.

10th November – Remembrance Sunday

Moving Remembrance Sunday service today. For me, it always highlights the power of the right words to convey feelings – they shall not grow old as we that are left grow old – and the importance of taking time out to actively remember. Remembrance is an act of will.

Had a fabulous family do yesterday – so good to see everyone – and yes the dog loved it all and was shattered by early evening as I expected! She was happily shattered though.

Writing wise, will be busy with flash fiction pieces shortly, including for Flash NANO 2024. Did get these written.

Family do today. I don’t go in for predictions but can say with confidence we will all have a lovely time, Lady will love every second and be exhausted by 7pm today! It’s what happened last time. She lay in the hall and just wouldn’t move for ages. I got the “Mum, I think I’ll stay here “ look!

Will be sharing a quick update on what I’ve been up to writing wise for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. More author interviews to come towards the end of the month and going into December. Plus I’m looking forward to going to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event which is in just under a month’s time.

Writing Tip: Want to know more about your character? Ask one simple question – ask what is their all time favourite piece of music?

The answer to that will open up more details about their background, their other tastes connected to this piece and so on. If my character picked a classical piece of music, it is unlikely I will find them at a hard rock concert unless they have no choice but to go there (it’s their job – I have written a piece on this. Good fun to put my character through the mill here! Their reactions were understandable and funny. Would have worked just as well the other way around).

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I use Book Brush to help me create my videos for YouTube. I find it easy to use and there is a nice choice of video templates for the subjects I tend to write about.

YouTube has a lovely audio library where you either don’t have to give credits or they make it easy for you to do so when you do have to and it means I can add an audio track so easily. Fun to do and another way of sharing flash fiction. Win-win!

It’s Monday. It’s time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Remembering. Memories come flooding back to my lovely gentleman character as he prepares to leave this life but he asks a pertinent question for us all to consider.

This weekend and tomorrow we will rightly focus on remembering. It is vital we recall the past and the sacrifices made. I do believe in the truth of the saying “those who do not remember history are destined to relive it” and the act of remembrance is designed to record our gratitude for our freedoms and to try to prevent the reliving of the horrible bits.

Writing wise, remembering is an excellent theme for stories. What one memory would your characters treasure above all else and why? There would be some wonderful story ideas to come from that, some poignant, but I could see there being room for humour too. If you give this a go, good luck.

Hope you’re having a good weekend. Later will be having a lovely time catching up with family and seeing just how tired my dog can make herself as she interacts with everyone!

Will probably have to catch up with Flash NANO Day 9 tomorrow as I won’t have much chance today and will also crack on with Day 10 so flash fiction Sunday afternoon will be busier than normal. It will also be even more fun though!

Goodreads Author Blog – Humorous Fiction

I have a very soft spot for humorous fiction, ranging from Jane Austen’s irony in Pride and Prejudice (in particular) all the way through to Wodehouse and Pratchett. Story writing is challenging enough but to make it funny as well takes a particular skill set and one I think the world could do with much more of especially now. Well, let’s be honest, 2024 has not been a great year, has it?

So books and stories which make me laugh will always go down well with me. I do wish humorous fiction was taken more seriously, funny enough. I’ve long held the view it is looked down on a bit because it “looks easy”, Big mistake there. I learned years ago if someone makes something look easy, that same someone has worked hard for years to get to that point.

For a writer to come up with funny lines for their characters, they have to know their creations inside out and ensure that what the characters speak is something which arises naturally out of the situation they’re in. Nothing must seem forced in any book. It never works.

Humour especially cannot be forced – readers literally won’t buy it. It’s the equivalent of laughing at your own jokes, which most of us don’t do.

But when a writer gets the humour right, it is sublime.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the December 2023 edition of the magazine which took as its topic Finishing Strong. I look at Finishing Strong in the Short Fiction Forms in this plus I wrote a piece about the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group, which I run on Zoom for ACW, which was the writing group of the month. Plenty to read and enjoy here.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: Humorous Fiction https://t.co/bNbDAEaGbH via @goodreads I wave the flag for humorous fiction for Goodreads this week and share why I think it should be valued more. pic.twitter.com/WFbwVztuW0
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 9, 2024

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It’s Monday. It’s time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Remembering. Memories come flooding back to my lovely gentleman character as he prepares to leave this life but he asks a pertinent question for us all to consider.https://t.co/IvWF9SSESb
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 11, 2024

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Review – The Chameleon Theatre Company – I’ll Be Back Before Midnight

November 8, 2024Leave a comment

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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 Janet Williams for taking the image of me at The Hilt Book Fair and to Adrian Symes for taking the image of me holding The Best of CafeLit 13. A huge thank you to the lovely folk at The Chameleon Theatre Company for kind permission to use their photos in my Chandler’s Ford Today post reviewing their recently performed I’ll Be Back Before Midnight.

Hope you have had a good week so far. Not bad here. Delighted to share my review of I’ll Be Back Before Midnight recently performed by The Chameleon Theatre Company for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Plays are another way of taking in stories and I have discovered many fantastic ones going to see the various shows The Chameleons have put on over the years. It will be panto time for them next – oh yes, it will be!

Am busy with Flash NANO and preparing separate flash pieces for competitions plus there will be further author interviews to come on CFT. Still with the weather being dark, murky and damp, I am so thankful writing is something which is generally done indoors! It is no hardship to sit at my desk in a nice warm room!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Lady had a smashing day today in she got to see her Hungarian Vizler friend and then play with Coco, her young Labradoodle pal. Damp, dull, and murky weather again today though.

Delighted to share my review of I’ll Be Back Before Midnight, recently performed by The Chameleon Theatre Company as my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. One of the joys of my involvement with CFT has been discovering my local amateur theatre company.

I review the performance and the play itself (so if you get a chance to see it elsewhere, please do. I haven’t given too much away, just enough of a flavour for you to get a good idea that this is a cracking thriller, well worth seeing).

Hope you enjoy the post and well done to the splendid Chameleons for a fantastic performance. They also build their own sets. The work they did for this one was amazing and their lighting/sound crew were brilliant, adding so much to this play.

Review – The Chameleon Theatre Company – I’ll Be Back Before Midnight

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My review of I’ll Be Be Back Before Midnight recently staged by The Chameleon Theatre Company on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. Do check it out. See above.

As well as reviewing the performance, I take a look at the play itself and this one has a fabulous storyline which kept me on the edge of my set all evening.

One of the joys of loving stories, writing, reading, or watching them (as plays), is you do get to learn how stories work. You take this in as you read, watch or listen, I find. And all of that you can apply to your own writing. It does mean when I go to see a show, especially a thriller like Midnight,

I am looking out for what I think might be red herrings, bluffs etc. It is a joy when I spot them but it is an even better one when I am wrong footed. For a book, I will then go back through and see how the author managed to do that. So much to learn here. It is a pleasure to do it too.

Hope you have had a lovely day. Lady is having a tremendous week in that she played with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals again. Sadly though her Chuckit ball thrower broke (the ball holder end sheered off!) but fortunately we have a spare. Have had the thing for years and it does get a lot of heavy duty usage so fair wear and tear here. Lady has more than tested it!

I’ll be sharing my review of I’ll Be Back Before Midnight recently staged by The Chameleon Theatre Company for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Looking forward to sharing that. The play had a fabulous storyline. More later in the week. See above.

Am cracking on with Flash NANO 2024.Will be tackling Day 6’s prompt shortly.

Writing Tip: If you outline your characters (as I do, even if you outline briefly), give some thought as to their vocabulary. What kinds of words would they use? Which would they never use? How does their educational background feed into this?

You can tell a lot about a character from what they say and think. When editing, just ensure there is consistency here and also ask yourself if readers can tell characters apart just on the grounds of how they speak. They should be able to do so.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Okay. When a friend rings you to find out how you are after a divorce, what answer would you give? Find out what Beth says to Jenny here – and that all is not as it might seem.

Looking forward to having a go at Flash NANO’s Day 7 prompt later. Again it is so different from all of the others so far. This is the joy of this challenge – not knowing what is coming and having a go at as many prompts as I can manage.

I know I’m going to be late with one over the weekend as I have a family do happening (Lady will love the company and the food!) but I will catch up and enjoy doing so. My word count so far has varied but it always does for this.

I would like to see if I could write a 50 worder (aka a dribble) at some point over November for this. Didn’t manage it last year (the lowest word count was a 30 word exactly tale).

Am also preparing separately three flash pieces for competitions which I want to have out by early December. So plenty going on with the flash fiction right now.

Now I’m sure the thought of a certain event in December is not too far from your minds and there is one simple thing you can do to cheer up any author – well two actually.

One is obviously to buy their books. The other is to leave a review. Reviews don’t have to be long but every single one helps a build the author’s profile with Amazon. I’ve had some lovely reviews for From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping the Flash Fantastic though more are always welcome – neither is there a use buy date on these things!

You can check out my works (and the anthologies I’ve been in including the recent The Best of CafeLit 13) via my Amazon Author Central Page at https://author.to/AllisonSymesAuthorCent

Aptly my reviews are on the short side but this is right for flash fiction books, yes?!

Fairytales with Bite – Getting in the Way

Who or what gets in the way of your magical creations achieving their ambitions? Are their own powers limited? Is there an overriding authority who controls what being can do what kind of magic and how is that policed, if so? There is always someone who wants to break the rules. Can your characters get in their own way where ambition is dwarfed by their lack of competence? (There would be some funny tales to be written there).

When something or someone gets in the way, how does your character react to this? What do they do to try and overcome the problem? Do they succeed or only make things worse (again potential for humour there)?

Fairy godmothers often put something in the way of a being they’re punishing, something they have to achieve. (In the case of the Beast from Beauty and the Beast he has to win love from Belle to be set free. He has to make the effort here). So having something getting in the way isn’t always a bad thing and you can capitalize on that for your characters.

This World and Others – Who Obeys Whom?

In your magical setting, who lays down the rules? Who decides who has what magical powers? If these things are a species issue given at birth, how did these originate? What are the limits? Overall, who controls the use of magic and how did that come about? (The reason why is obvious – to prevent chaos and to give more beings a chance of surviving).

Is your system of government a monarchy, a republic, or something else entirely (such as a ruling Council)? What are the consequences of not obeying the top beings here?

Can your beings make progress and develop further magical powers if they “fit in with the system”? Are they rewarded for being obedient? Or is it a case they have little choice but to obey if they wish to see the end of the day alive and in one piece?

Can reforms happen and if so, when were the last ones done and why? What struggles did the beings concerned have to overcome to get these reforms through? You can learn so much from history here and it can inspire many tales. I understand Game of Thrones by George R R Martin is inspired by the UK’s War of the Roses in the medieval period.

Has your system moved away from a “might is right” attitude, having learned its lessons from its own bloody history?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the June 2024 magazine which was based on the theme of poetry. I look at the links between flash fiction writing and poetry in this one. There are more than you might think.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Review – The Chameleon Theatre Company – I'll Be Back Before Midnight https://t.co/6dNoaq8W9M I review The Chameleons' recent fantastic performance of a cracking thriller. They build their sets. This one was amazing, as were their lighting/sound crew. It added much to the play.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 8, 2024

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Okay, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/gakXsXhcY4 Pleased to be back on FFF with my new tale, Okay. When a friend rings to ask how you are after a divorce, what answer would you give? Find out what Beth says to Jenny – and that all is not as it might seem. pic.twitter.com/bZ4vvCiTtI
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 8, 2024

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Inspiring Books and Flash NANO 2024

November 5, 2024Leave a comment

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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 had a good weekend. Nice one here. Lady turned 8 years old on 4th November – yes, she was spoiled! Writing wise, am looking forward to sharing my review of I’ll Be Back Before Midnight on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Am also loving Flash NANO so far. Plenty going on and more author interviews to come on CFT in due course too.

Facebook – General

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady was delighted to get to play with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals again. It’s been a cracking start to her birthday week for her!

Books are so inspiring in so many ways. Especially for series books like Discworld, I love the way familiar characters develop over the course of several novels plus I love the one-liners. With Wodehouse, I love the elegance of language and the wonderful good humour emerging from the characters themselves and the situations poor Bertie Wooster gets dumped in.

Reading widely shows me what I like about characters and how their creators have brought them to the page. That alone is inspiration for what I want to do with my own creations. Those authors ensure their characters’ dialogue, attitudes, and behaviours are spot on for them and I aim to do the same with mine. Their creators knew their characters inside out and I aim to do the same with mine, though for 100 word stories I don’t need to know as much.

But you do take in what works with stories as you read them and if that is not a great advert to read more, I don’t know what is! It really does help with your own writing.

4th November 2024
Special day today – it’s Lady’s 8th birthday. Hard to believe where the seven years since we brought her home from the Dogs Trust have gone. Yes, she has been spoiled rotten. And she got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback chums today so Lady has had a great day.

Incidentally Lady’s actual birth date is the same as the day we brought her home, the only one of our three collies for whom this has happened. She’ll probably wonder why she isn’t spoiled quite so much tomorrow!

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to sharing my review of I’ll Be Back Before Midnight, an excellent thriller recently staged by The Chameleon Theatre Company. Review will be up on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. More author interviews to come on CFT too.

Am thoroughly enjoying Flash NANO so far and will be tackling Day 4’s prompt shortly. Did so and loved writing it up!

Hope you are having a good weekend. Quiet one here. Not sorry about that.

About to crack on with flash fiction Sunday afternoon, a highlight of my week. Takes my mind off the fact it is dull and gloomy at 2.30 in the afternoon! I do wish they’d leave the clocks alone. Confuses the dog a bit too.

Writing Tip: If you’re taking part in Flash NANO, don’t worry if you can’t do the prompt on the day it is issued. It isn’t always possible. Life can and does get in the way. But don’t give up! What I do and have found helpful is get back to the prompts as soon as I can but I do them in the order in which they are issued. That way I still have the surprise of what is to come and it ensures I do give each one a go.

Hope you have had a good day. Managed to get the lawn cut – probably for the last time until the spring.
Writing wise, I will be sharing my review of I’ll Be Back Before Midnight recently staged by The Chameleon Theatre Company for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Link up on Friday. Looking forward to sharing that.

Enjoyed the first Flash NANO prompt yesterday and looking forward to writing up today’s one later. First story came in at 94 words excluding the title. I found for previous years the story word counts will vary. Most I’ve ever gone up to on this is a 750 worder. Most of my tales end up between 50 and 500 words my natural flash fiction habitat so can’t say I’m surprised by this. If you’re taking part in this, have fun and good luck.

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Dog is wondering why she can’t have a second birthday as she enjoyed being spoiled rotten yesterday!

Am loving Flash NANO and will be having a crack at Day 5’s prompt later. Done! The variety of prompt is incredible already and so good for keeping you on your creative toes.

Am preparing a couple of flashes separate to this for a competition I’ve got in mine. One is drafted and probably won’t need much work to it but the other one does! This is the way of it!

4th November 2024

It’s Monday. (It’s also my dog’s 8th birthday so she and I have had a lovely time today – I spoiled her, she lapped it up!). It’s still time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Going Out With Mum. What could possibly go wrong taking dear old Mum out to an art exhibition? Find out here.

Lady has been enjoying Pet Classics on Classic FM over the weekend. This is basically calming music designed to drown out the noise of fireworks etc. Found it useful over the last couple of years.

Now taking the idea of music and flash fiction, let’s put them together and have a writing prompt of a character influenced by one piece of classical music only. What is it? Why have they chosen it? What difference does it make to them hearing it as they go about the business of the story? Does it help them to succeed in what they are trying to do? What does it reveal about their personality?

Am sure answering those questions can throw up some story ideas!

So good to be taking part in Flash NANO again. Will be writing up Day 2’s prompt later. Have ideas brewing!

Plus I’m looking forward to my usual flash fiction Sunday afternoon tomorrow. I get a fair bit of flash written then. I expect by the end of the year I will have a rough draft for a potential further collection. (Will let you know when I hear more about my third one).

Flash Writing Tip: Focus on your lead character. Do you know how they would speak, what kind of language they would use, what kind of things they are likely to come out up with? If not, why not free write some conversation between them and you as their creator? See what comes out. By the end of that session, you will have ideas forming. For example:-

Me: Tell me a bit about yourself then.
Character: Why? It’s for you tell me, isn’t it?
Me: Okay, okay, I think I’ve got a bolshy one here. Now I wonder what kind of awkward situations I can dump you in. Be awkward with me, would you?
Character: See if I care. I will find a way.

Just writing that has told me a lot about this character already – as well as being defiant, they’re prepared to struggle, prepared to find ways of working things out so they’re a good thinker and likely to be creative with it. Yes, I can have fun with this one.

But I hope you see the point Just writing a couple of lines like this has already put some images of this potential character in my head.

Goodreads Author Blog – Stand Out Characters

I’ve always thought characters make or break a story. If a character grips me, whether it’s due to my being sympathetic to their cause or because I want to see them fail, then I will read on and find out what happens. The challenge for me as a writer, of course, is to create stand out characters of my own but given I’ve always loved inventing fictional characters, this is a joy.

It doesn’t matter either what format the story is in. I’ve recently seen my local excellent amateur theatre company stage a thriller where, throughout, I was routing for one character to succeed but didn’t know until the last minute whether I was right to think that way or not. Kept me glued to my seat and I wasn’t the only one. You couldn’t hear a pin drop in that hall. Now that is wonderful characterisation and acting for you.

But it’s true for books too. The classics are the classics because we remember their characters (and thus their stories). I don’t need to add anything if I say Oliver, Jeeves, Frodo, Hamlet, the Bennets, Harry, Aslan, and so many more I couldn’t list them all here, do I? You will recall their stories immediately and maybe think it’s time for a re-read!

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the March 2024 edition of the magazine, which focused on writing for children. I have two pieces in here – Writing for Children and Writing for Anthologies. Not long to go now before the magazine is back.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: Stand Out Characters https://t.co/dWkLppMz3w via @goodreads I look at why I think characters make or break a story (regardless of what format it is in) for Goodreads this week. pic.twitter.com/dWkjmBqe63
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 2, 2024

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It’s Monday. It’s time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Going Out With Mum. What could possibly go wrong taking dear old Mum out to an art exhibition? Find out here.https://t.co/UgB7NQRbLZ
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 4, 2024

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Author Interview Part 2 – Debz Hobbs-Wyatt – If Crows Could Talk and Flash NANO 2024

November 1, 2024Leave a comment

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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 is one of the photos from the Book Fair. The image of me signing books there was taken by my lovely CFT editor, Janet Williams.

Hope you have had a good few days. Looking forward to listening to Pet Classics on Classic FM soon – it does help against the noise of the fireworks. Lady isn’t so much scared, more annoyed by fireworks especially the louder ones though the pain there is it means she finds it hard to settle. I wish people would use the silent ones and have done.

Writing wise, it is a joy to welcome back Debz Hobbs-Wyatt to Chandler’s Ford Today and I’m glad to say I will have more author interviews coming up too. Plenty to look forward to then. And Flash NANO 2024 has started too!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am so pleased to welcome back Debz Hobbs-Wyatt to Chandler’s Ford Today for the second half of a superb interview re her If Crows Could Talk. As well as discussing her novel, Debz shares so much useful advice which will be of use to all writers so do have a good read!

Tonight, Debz discusses drafts, editing, marketing, her favourite aspects of storytelling and so much more. Hope you enjoy the post (and if you missed Part 1, fear not, there is a link to it at the bottom of this interview).

Separately, Flash NANO has started – hooray – and I look forward to having a crack at the first prompt later this evening. Also author newsletter went out earlier. Busy but productive day and Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal and the lovely Coco, the Labradoodle, so Lady feels her day has been a good one too.

Author Interview – Debz Hobbs-Wyatt – If Crows Could Talk – Part 2

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Don’t forget I’ll be sharing the second half of a superb interview with Debs Hobbs-Wyatt on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. She’ll be discussing her If Crows Could Talk but shares so much useful advice, it doesn’t matter where you are on your writing journey you will find it useful. Be sure to check it out – link up tomorrow. See above.

Author newsletter also out tomorrow and Flash NANO begins, hooray! Looking forward also to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event in December. Writers’ Narrative will be back soon too so plenty to look forward to as the year winds down. Where has the time gone?

Character Tip: I sometimes find it useful to work out a character’s negative traits. If someone is honest, my character will be so to the point of rudeness and a story idea will begin to form from that. If they tend to be pessimistic I may throw them in a situation where they have to find reasons to be more optimistic for once – that being the only way to get out of their situation. What will my character do to achieve this? I want to have fun finding that out and I would hope a reader would too.

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. Good time had by all. It’s their rule to always have a good time and to be fair they do stick to it!

Don’t forget Part 2 of a wonderful interview with Debz Hobbs-Wyatt about her If Crows Could Talk is on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Be sure to not miss it as Debz shares much useful advice which will benefit so many writers. See above.

The following week is when I am planning to review the recently performed I’ll Be Back Before Midnight so wonderfully staged by The Chameleon Theatre Group. One joy of going to their shows is it introduces me to a whole wealth of stories (as plays) I would not otherwise have come across.

There will be more author interviews to come before the year’s out on Chandler’s Ford Today and I am looking forward to sharing these as and when.

Writing Prompt: You can ask one of your characters one question only which they must answer truthfully (nor can they leave anything out). What would be your question? Find out what the answer reveals. I strongly suspect you’ll end up with a good story outline at the least answering this one. Happy writing!

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It’s Friday. Somehow it is November. Time for a story then. Glad to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest Random Objects. Even magical parents have issues with their offspring human parents will understand only too well. Find out one of those issues here. Hope you enjoy it.

Hope you have had a good day. No pals out for Lady to play with today so she had to put up with me!

Author newsletter out again tomorrow and, of course, Flash NANO kicks off. Good luck if you’re taking part. Unless the prompt is to a specific word count, I don’t worry about this aspect at all. Some of my stories end up at 100 words or fewer, some at 250 words or more and most somewhere in between. All will need polishing up later. But that’s fine. I will hopefully have 30 new drafts to look at in December!

What I am hoping for will be the kinds of prompts I know and love and others which are new to me but which I find to be great fun! Will keep you posted.

Two days to go until Flash NANO starts. Yes, I am keen, fancy you noticing!

What I especially like here is not knowing what prompts will come up and then just seeing what I can do with them. I know I’ll get something from them. The polishing can happen later. I am hoping to use at least two of these prompts for competitions I’ve got in mind.

Those will be the two stories I won’t share on the supportive Flash NANO Facebook page! Some places don’t allow you to send in anything which has been published elsewhere, even on your own website, so I play safe here and ensure anything I want to submit anywhere does not go elsewhere at all. Easiest thing to do. Can’t go wrong with that.

Fairytales with Bite – Magical Fireworks

I’m not keen on fireworks, being a dog owner, but have enjoyed them when they turn up in fantasy fiction. My two favourite examples are:-

The Lord of the Rings – Gandalf has a supreme talent for fireworks, does he not? The book conjured up wonderful images in my head. The films brought those images to life spectacularly.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – I always was fond of Fred and George Weasley but my favourite scene of theirs for me has to be when they unleash their fireworks and the dragon one goes after the odious Dolores Umbridge. (Played almost too well by Imelda Staunton, I thought). And I loved that bit where Professor Flitwick shows his approval of the Weasleys’s antics and then realises he shouldn’t. Very funny. Suspect Warwick Davis enjoyed that bit, it certainly come across that way.

But there can be metaphorical fireworks of course. So what kind of magical metaphorical fireworks would your characters (a) set off or (b) do their best to avoid setting off but somehow don’t manage it? What are the consequences of these things? There would be consequences! Funny ones maybe or deadly serious? The choice is yours.

This World and Others – Intelligent Beings

I suspect if we had a group discussion on what counted as intelligent beings, there would be many who would put a question mark against humans. They would point to what we’ve done to the planet, our warlike tendencies and so on. As a dog owner, I know when dogs squabble, it is over something specific and usually easily dealt with. Dogs generally don’t hold grudges either. Hmm…

But then there would be others who would point out to our amazing creative skills ranging across a huge range of disciplines. I’ve got every sympathy here. It does take intelligence to want to create something lovely such as a painting, piece of music, or a story.

Okay, let’s move that group discussion out of our own solar system. If others from worlds way beyond us were to look down on us, would they consider we were intelligent beings or not?

And if we went exploring, what kinds of being would we come across? How would we evaluate their intelligence? What would happen if we got this wrong? We could get it wrong in two different ways here. What would the consequences be and what intelligence would we use to rectify matters?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Back to the September 2023 edition of the magazine this time with its ever timely topic – marketing. I have two pieces in this one – Marketing Your Books and Writing For Online Magazines.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Random Objects, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/h5wGWeye5E It’s Friday. Somehow it's November. Time for a story. Glad to be on FFF with Random Objects. Even magical parents have issues with their offspring humans understand. Find out one such issue here. pic.twitter.com/P9nPFYzyD4
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 1, 2024

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Author Interview – Debz Hobbs-Wyatt – If Crows Could Talk – Part 2 https://t.co/c19jR3rRp3 Thrilled to welcome back Debz Hobbs-Wyatt to CFT for Part 2 of a fab interview. She discusses editing, marketing, storytelling and more. There's a link to Part 1 in this interview too.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 1, 2024

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