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 Wendy H Jones and the contributing authors to A Right Cozy Historical Crime for various pictures, including author head shots, for my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. Captions are in the article itself. Hope you enjoy it.
Hope you have had a good few days. Wonderful sunshine here – have even got my washing out, whoopee! Lady and I have loved being out in the nicer weather with pals. It does lift the spirits. Writing continues to go well. Am waiting to hear later this month about whether a flash piece of mine has been accepted but I hope to get on with some more competition entries soon.
Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today
I’m delighted to share a fabulous author interview on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I share Author Interview – Wendy H Jones – A Right Cozy Historical Crime.
This in depth conversation with Wendy focuses on the delights of combining two great story genres – historical fiction and crime. Wendy also shares wonderful tips highlighting things you need to know if you write in this combined form. I must admit I love both genres and to combine them still further in another great love of mine, the short story anthology, is just bliss.
Wendy also shares what fascinates her about historical fiction, why she picked the short story format for combining two genres (short stories have their challenges just sticking to one genre), and getting the use of language right for the time setting of the stories while still being accessible and much more besides.
Plenty to enjoy here and I heartily recommend the anthology too. It is a great read.
Author Interview – Wendy H Jones – A Right Cozy Historical Crime
Hope the day has gone well. Lady and I enjoyed another lovely sunny day with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback chums.
Writing wise, do look out for a super interview with Wendy H Jones on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. See above. We’ll be discussing the latest anthology to come from her publishing house – A Right Cozy Historical Crime. Plus we’ll be discussing the joys of blending historical and crime fiction, a match made in heaven given both types of story individually try to get at the truth. There will be much more too. Link up tomorrow for what will be a great read.
If you’re looking for story writing tips, especially for this kind of story, do check this out. The interview is part of a blog tour organised by Lynsey Adams of Reading Between the Lines Vlog.
And huge congratulations to all of the authors in this cracking anthology.
Another lovely sunny day Lady and I made the most of by catching up with her Hungarian Vizler friend and equally great owner.
Writing wise, I’m looking forward to an ACW group meeting this evening – these are always great fun.
Reading wise, I’m focusing on light, entertaining reading. It’s my favourite kind of reading anyway but never more so than when the times are grim. If you want somewhere to start, do check out The Great Sermon Handicap by Wodehouse. If you like humour with bite to it, do check out Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. I’d start with the Vimes books.
Writing Tip: Do have a notebook to hand (or an app for your phone handy). Ideas do crop up at odd moments and I know from experience you don’t remember them later. I must admit I don’t have a notebook by my bed for the good reason the moment my head hits the pillow, that’s it, but I do have plenty of note paper and pens elsewhere and I do make good use of these. Also, make a point of reviewing your notebooks from writing events every so often. You will find things you’ve forgotten about but which you could work up into something promising. No prizes for guessing how I know this one!
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
I like to mix up the mood of my flash pieces and literally go from light to dark and back again here, which gave me a useful title for my debut book!
But in anthologies generally, flash and short story ones, I like to see a mixture of moods. Fiction reflects life even where the setting is out of this world because there will be something about the characters which we understand. So therefore story moods should vary just as ours do.
Mind you, I will always have a soft spot for those tales which make us smile. I think they’re needed more than ever.
There is still time to get a story in to Hannah Kate for her Spring Equinox show on North Manchester FM. This goes out live on Saturday 21st March but the deadline for submissions is 16th March. See the link for more information and good luck if you give this a go. I’ve had a couple of festive flash pieces broadcast here and the show is always good fun to listen to. Why not check it out?
It is also good practice writing to a timed limit. You have three minutes maximum and I’ve always found it useful, once I’ve got my story sorted out, to record myself reading it on Zoom. When you end the meeting with yourself (yes, I know it sounds odd), Zoom will convert the file to an mp3 for you so you can play it back and hear how you sound. Just as importantly, it will give you the timing for your story. You can’t go wrong here and it is so easy to do.
Spring Equinox Stories Wanted for Hannah’s Bookshelf on North Manchester FM
Hope the day has gone well for you. I plan to start work soon on my presentation for the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. This time I know the theme – a certain event is coming up this month and various things can come from that, which can be put to good use for storytelling. Looking forward to working on this presentation – they’re always fun to do but I’m itching to go on this one, which is always a good sign.
Hope to start drafting some more flash pieces over the weekend for competitions later this spring which I always have a crack at. Plus I hope later this year to work on getting another collection together. Am looking forward so much to Seeing The Other Side out there in the meantime. Will keep you updated as and when I have further news to share on that.
Fairytales With Bite – Coming to Life
As I write this, there are more signs of spring coming to life around me. I love this. It’s always cheering to see the daffodils, the blossom and so on appearing (and hearing more of the bird song too).
In your magical setting, what would be the equivalent of our seasons? What would your characters consider to be their natural world coming to life again? What would they welcome seeing coming back? What would they dread? For example, if there is a quiet season when the dragons aren’t around, I doubt if your characters, unless they are other dragons, are particularly going to welcome their return!
What would be your magical setting’s equivalent of the beautiful flowers and trees we see? Are any of these magical in their own right and what good or harm could they do? I wouldn’t like, for example, to come across the magical equivalent of a Venus fly trap especially if it was huge and could take larger prey!
Are there some natural things your characters actively encourage to come back to life when the season is right and why would they do this? How can they do it? (I’m thinking along the lines of what gardeners can do to encourage plants to flourish here). Could it backfire?
Story thoughts there.
This World and Others – Career Breaks
Taking time out to have a career break has become more common in recent years. Sometimes that break leads to someone pursuing a different career altogether when they decide to return to the workplace.
What would be the equivalent in your magical world? Can your characters ever step down from magical roles, albeit briefly? If they can, would this be treated as an extended holiday, a kind of sabbatical? What would happen if your characters decided they wanted a different magical role? Is it feasible for them to change? It is possible if what they’re thinking of changing to would be more useful to your powers that be, they’d encourage this.
Are the careers available in your magical setting dependent on what your character’s species and/or status are? Can anyone break the status quo here?
What would happen if those in power decided they wanted a career break? Could a fairy monarch, say, step down briefly, there be a Regency, and then he/she returns to the throne? Also give some thought as to why they would want this. There will be story ideas there.
MailerLite – Allison Symes – Newsletter Sign Up
WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK
ALLISON SYMES ON SUBSTACK
AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsAuthor Interview – Wendy H Jones – A Right Cozy Historical Crime https://t.co/ZBe5UItuoB
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) March 6, 2026
Wendy discusses combining two genres – historical fiction/crime – and shares tips. I love both and to combine them in another great format, the anthology, is bliss. Hope you enjoy this.
Allison Symes: Collected Works 