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 all is well. This week has been dog friends reunion week as Lady has caught up with her two closest chums. All of the dogs were delighted by this.
Writing is going well and I can confirm I will be having a blog tour for Seeing The Other Side which is likely to be in September.
Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today
Delighted to share Summer Reading on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. A light post for a lighter time of year, I think.
I ask what you would think of as the perfect summer read, share some of my thoughts on that, and discuss holiday books. I also put in a shout for flash fiction and short story anthologies, perfect for when perhaps you haven’t as much time to read as you’d like as you fit in reading around everything else including holiday schedules.
I discuss reading time and reading outside (which I should do more often) and celebrate the fact books are great value and explain why.
I also hope the recent announcement of Queen Camilla’s gift to Year 6/P6 children will encourage further reading. More than half the battle is getting people, of all ages, to read for pleasure and it is when you start that, you are in with any chance of keeping what is a fabulous habit going.
Hope you enjoy the post and do share your summer reads in the comments box.
Hope your day has gone well. Lady caught up with her Hungarian Vizler pal again today and I managed another in person book sale (not to the Vizler before you ask though she is a very intelligent dog!).
Writing wise, I’m sharing Summer Reading as my Chandler’s Ford Today post tomorrow. Hopefully it will prove to be a good summer read! See above.
Have carried out some more admin for Seeing The Other Side. It has been a while since I put in an order with a well known printing firm! Fun to do, mind you.
And it won’t be long before my August newsletter goes out. To sign up for news (and I do have quite a bit this time!), tips, story links and more, do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com
As ever, a huge thanks for the support.
Another lovely and cooler day. Lady saw her Rhodesian Ridgeback chum again today and both dogs had a great time. Lady is somewhat tired, but in a good way.
Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Summer Reading on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. In early August, I’ll be sharing another super interview. And I hope to write up about this year’s The Writer’s Summer School, Swanwick and my book launch for Seeing The Other Side later in August. It may be the summer holidays but there’s still plenty going on.
I was delighted to have the opportunity to read one of my stories from Seeing The Other Side at my Slimming World group yesterday, with the consultant’s blessing. The story, Spring, relates to Slimming World though anyone who has ever had someone scupper their slimming plans, intentionally or otherwise, will identify with this tale. Am glad to say the reading went down very well and it was fun to do.
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
I like mixing up the mood of the flash and short stories I write. Mind you, this reflects the thought I like to mix up the mood of what I like to read. I love humorous fiction but appreciate the need to see the other side of life in my other fictional reading at times. It keeps a good balance, I think. Equally I don’t want grim all the time!
Reading does inspire a lot of what I write from the classic fairytales onwards. Reading widely in and out of your genre, including non-fiction, feeds the imagination more than you often realise. I’ve drafted many stories where I realise afterwards where the influence came from. Often it is from a story I read a while ago which has come into my subconscious and has either inspired how I’ve developed my character or their setting.
So read more and be inspired more!
Flash is wonderful as a writing exercise. It is a great “warm up act” for those writing in the longer forms. It can also be a lovely “mini break” from those longer forms. But it can also be a published form in its own right, as I can testify.
Sometimes I’ve taken a flash piece and then expanded it into a longer short story (two different markets here). It is a remarkably flexible form despite the upper word count limit.
And of course I’ll always appreciate it as it has given me a way into having published books with my name on them out there. I am so glad I responded to the CafeLit challenge all those years ago to produce a story in 100 words! I guess this is also an object lesson in being open to trying new forms of writing, sometimes at least.
I hope to start looking again at flash fiction competitions after I go to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick in August though I do know of one already I am probably going to try given I’ve had a go before. Good deadline on it too – I have until the end of the year!
I also plan to start getting a fourth collection together, probably later in the autumn as I have the material. It will be a question of honing that material and editing it thoroughly before I even think of submitting it and that stage always takes longer than you think. So my thought is to start work on this probably in October.
I’ve various things coming up between now and then, family and book related, but having a new book out does make you keen to get another one “on the go”!
Fairytales with Bite – Magical Characters
I love writing about magical characters. My favourites are dragons who will not let anything or anyone disturb them and their nest and fairy godmothers who happily dispense justice on the arrogant or prove they’re not over the hill yet, thank you. Great fun to write about but it isn’t the magical element which attracts me most here. It’s the attitude!
Mind you, combine that attitude with magical powers and the sparks can really fly and I love reading, as well as writing, stories which shows this.
I do think your character has to be special enough for you to want to write their story up. The magic they have is just one aspect of their overall personality which they use or misuse, according to your plot. I also like magical characters who work hard to improve their powers, just as we have to work hard to have any chance of passing exams etc. I think that kind of thing makes them more relatable.
I don’t want characters who just fire off magic just because they can (and the same goes for our world where there are those who would just fire weapons because they can). There have to be reasons why they would just do – the essence of the story will be found in those reasons why, I think.
This World and Others – What is a Normal Magical Life?
Just what is a normal magical life?
For any non-magical being, the magical world is going to seem odd. It has sources of power not known elsewhere. To those who live in such settings though, magic wouldn’t be odd at all. There would be “normal” magical usages and those times when it isn’t being used correctly for whatever reason. A good reason would be someone abusing the magical system to gain further power for themselves. We do it here too. We just don’t use magic to do it.
So give some thought then if you are using a magical setting, what your characters would consider normal. What would be the signs to them something was going awry? To most of the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings, a good sign would be Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry not coming back from a walk. It would’ve been noticed they hadn’t come back.
For the characters themselves, when would they realise they might to improve on their magical skills because trouble is coming? How quickly could they do this? Also give some thought to someone using magic when they wouldn’t usually use power like that. It rarely bodes well!
If you have a non-magical being living permanently or otherwise in a magical setting, what would they get used to as being part of a normal magical life? How would they recognise when something was wrong?
Story ideas there for sure!
