Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes, as were most of the photos from The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Many thanks to the School and Gemma Owen-Kendall for the shot of me at my launch.
Super duper bumper post from me this time as it was easier to write daily Facebook posts and collATE them here while I was away in Derbyshire. There was little time to do much else. Back to normal next week.
Talking of Derbyshire, I had a fabulous time at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. So good to catch up with friends again and chat to new people too and, as ever, I learned so much from the courses. Creative writing is good for you here – it keeps you learning and developing and that is so good for us in many ways.
Delighted my launch for Seeing The Other Side was a resounding success. More news on that below. And, yes, I was mugged by the dog when I returned home!
Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today
Am delighted to share Writing Events and How To Make The Most of Them for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Could I think of the title for this one when on the train home from Swanwick yesterday? No! Still, I hope you enjoy the post.
I’ll talk more specifically about The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick and my book launch there for next week’s post but this one looks at what you can get in terms of helping you to develop as a writer when going to events.
My only regret here is I didn’t start going to them sooner than I did. I’ve made so many friends, especially at Swanwick, and have learned so much which has helped me in my writing journey. I continue to learn for that journey. The lovely thing about creative writing is it is an ongoing challenge. It’s very good for the old brain just due to that.
I discuss some of the advantages of going to good creative writing events (and have no doubt you’ll find more yourself). I look at how to make the most going to these things. Now this includes what may seem like basic advice but I remember being a newbie writer and you don’t always think of things like this. You’re going to the event. You’re beginning to think do I know what I’m doing here as I don’t know any other writers etc etc. How I do know? Guess what I thought when I was preparing to go to my first event.
I also discuss having a one line “statement” ready to share with folks who ask you what you are writing. It helps to have that to hand. You should then find you ask them about their work and before you know it a good conversation has got going.
But having something to hand in the back of your mind so you know what you will say when asked is such a confidence booster.
Hope you find the post useful.
13th August 2026
Am on way home as I write this. Had a fabulous time at Swanwick. Many thanks to the Committee and all of the volunteers. Already looking forward to being back next year.
A huge thanks to all who supported my launch for Seeing The Other Side. Having launches at the Summer School is a great opportunity for all those having them. It would be harder to find a more sympathetic audience than at Swanwick.
Looking forward to seeing the family later. It will be back to business almost immediately on getting home. My Chandler’s Ford Today post will be up tomorrow – more details then. Did I draft and schedule ahead of Swanwick? You bet. Am I trying to recall the title right now and failing? You bet! Ah the delights of the writing life!
Nightmare journey home. Just missed train I was meant to be on. East Midlands Railway had to run slower due to the heat so I reached London later than planned. Want to give a shout out to Kofi at the Waterloo ticket office as when I explained, he just stamped my ticket and said I could get the next. No fee either. It always pays to ask rather than assume and he was lovely. Need more like that. Thankfully delay should only be about 30 minutes but it does mean I’ll see Lady later than planned. On the plus side the air con on the train is bliss!
12th August
So many who come to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick will say or think along the lines of where has the time gone? How come we are at our last full day here already? I’m not an exception here.
Found Simon Whaley’s The Business of Writing session informative and useful. Likewise, the two part course run by Bettina von Cossell on writing non-fiction books. Will be heading off to the second part of that this afternoon.
A huge thank you to the School. I’ve had a wonderful time. Many thanks to all who supported my Seeing The Other Side launch. I’m thrilled to say I sold out here. Being able to launch here is a fab opportunity.
Looking forward to seeing the family again tomorrow but not relishing so much resuming the domestic duties! I do expect to be mugged by my dog though on my return.
11th August
Enjoyed a great session before and after tea break time about submitting non-fiction work to traditional publishers. This was led by Dr Jacqueline Jeynes. I do have a non-fiction project on the go so this course was timely too.
Am looking forward to Liz Pacey’s session on Reading, Writing and Absolutely No ‘Rithmetic. Sounds fun. Liz l, like me, is a member of the Association of Christian Writers.
Have enjoyed signing copies of Seeing The Other Side for people since the launch. It is always a special moment when you’re asked about this. You also learn to treasure special moments in the writing life.
Also spotted the cute moorhen youngsters yesterday. No pictures alas as they move fast when they want to but the grounds here are lovely. They’re in remarkably good condition given the heatwave.
10th August
For once it’s a .Monday I don’t mind because I’m at Swanwick. Will resume sharing stories on Substack and YouTube next week.
The Simon Hall course on AI For Authors was intriguing and insightful. Found it cleared misconceptions for one thing. So glad I went to this one. This afternoon I’ll be back at Viv Brown’s course on Writing for UK Magazines.
Many thanks to Babs Trevitt for the image of me reading from Seeing The Other Side at the Open Prose Mic Night yesterday. Good fun to do. My three pieces went down well. And I loved listening to all of the other tales. Well done, all. Great entertainment.
9th August
Well, Swanwick has got off to a cracking start. Plenty of ideas sparking from Julia Pattison’s Lift Up Your Pens session first thing. After breakfast, I loved Viv Brown’s writing for print magazine course today. More to come on that course too later in the week. I plan to immerse myself in world building with Francesca Tyer this afternoon and later to look at real life humour in stories with Ian Fisermanis.
But the big news is I’m thrilled my launch of Seeing The Other Side went so well. Have sold two-thirds of what I brought up here. A huge thank you to Gemma Owen-Kendall for being launch coordinator and to all who are running/assisting with the Book Shop. Other than the bar, I suspect the Book Room is the favourite place for Swanwickers to be! Guess why I think that!
8th August
Am writing this on the first leg of my journey to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. I change at Waterloo, get to St. Pancras and then get another train to Derby. From there, the school lays on a coach to take delegates to the lovely Hayes country house. That will be my home for the next few days.
I’m so looking forward to catching up with writer friends I only see I person here. Am looking forward to the courses, workshops, after dinner speakers and entertainment. I really will be immersed in the writing world.
I’ll be leading a short devotional session called Lift Up Your Hearts on Monday. It’s a lovely peaceful start to busy creative days. I’m only sorry I can’t get to the short service on Sunday lunchtime as that is when my book launch for Seeing The Other Side will be.
Saddest thing? Realising my dog knew something was up this morning as she was more clingy than usual. I do know she’ll be spoiled rotten while I’m away though. She always is.
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
Had a lovely surprise yesterday on returning from The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. I’ve received my first review for Seeing The Other Side and so pleased it is a good one. Many thanks to my reviewer. Also pleased Amazon are now giving sensible delivery dates on the paperback.
It was lovely seeing flash represented more in the Swanwick Book Room. Every writer has their own style which is one reason why stories in general are fascinating to read. No two writers will go about a creative writing task in exactly the same way. When the Waterloo Prize was run some years ago, all writers had to stick to the same theme and word count. There were fifteen winners for each book which came out on the theme of transform/transforming. I was one of them. Yet all of us came up with such different stories.
It is what you bring to the mix which makes a story stand out and never more so than for flash fiction. The limited word count means you do have to be more creative with your word usage and it so strengthens a story when done well.
13th August
Am on way home from Derby. This will be the last post I write on a train for a bit. I hope to do this again when I go to Salisbury on 5th September for a signing event for Seeing The Other Side.
I’ll be at the United Reformed Church for this. They have a monthly book stall event which also supports their coffee shop. Books and tea/coffee are always a winning combo! If you’re in Salisbury then, I’d be delighted to see you.
And it can be amazing how much writing you can do while on the train!
12th August
So good to wave the flash fiction flag this week at Swanwick. It even got a mention on the Lingo Bingo cards some of us played on the Saturday night. It was a good icebreaker.
I also read three pieces from Seeing The Other Side at the Open Prose Mic Night. Flash works brilliantly for Mic nights. It’s a great advert for the form too.
What I think has been so special this week is how we all celebrate writing in all of its forms. Long may that continue well after we get home from Swanwick.
11th August
Have enjoyed chatting to people who’ve asked me about flash fiction. It’s always good to wave the flag for a great writing format.
You learn to cut words again and again and to not be sentimental about what has to come out of your work when it is not doing something for it. It’s a crucial skill and one which applies to all writing forms.
10th August
Ernest Hemingway’s classic six word story, For sale, baby shoes, never worn, formed part of my Lift Up Your Hearts session this morning and was referred to in Simon Hall’s course too. Less is more, indeed! We were set a six word exercise by Simon too.
Why not give the following a try:-
Six word stories
Twenty-five word stories
Seventy-five tales (useful for Paragraph Planet)
And the good old drabble, the classic 100 worder.
All fun to do.
Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com
9th August
So thrilled the launch for Seeing The Other Side went so well. I hope to write more about that and Swanwick for a future Chandler’s Ford Today post.
Was so pleased to see flash fiction represented so well in the Swanwick Book Room too. Flash is a fabulous format, especially if you enjoy creating characters. That has long been my favourite form of storytelling.
8th August
I hope to wave the flag for flash fiction (and short stories) while I’m at Swanwick. I hope to catch up with fellow Bridge House Publishing/CafeLit/Chapeltown authors at Swanwick too. I may even get some draft flash pieces written.
One such draft began life as a writing exercise set by Simon Hall at Swanwick a few years back. It has been polished and edited and is now in Seeing The Other Side. Just because something is “just” an exercise, it doesn’t mean it has to stay that way!
Fairytales With Bite – Travelling
I’ve not long come back from my annual wonderful world of writing week spent at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick at The Hayes Christian Conference Centre. A fabulous time is had by all and writers come from all over the country, and sometimes further afield as was the case this year, to get here. So a lot of travelling is done! Sometimes travelling is a pleasure and at other times it isn’t. Travelling in a heatwave has its issues.
So let’s think about your magical characters and their setting. How is travelling done in your world? Are there magical transportation systems or is magic kept out of that? What do your characters think about travelling? What places would they love to go to and why? Which would they rather avoid and why? Story ideas there for sure.
If your world has magical and non-magical transportation systems, why were two systems developed? One obvious answer would be to keep the non-magical firmly in their place. But could there be advantages to the non-magical variant the magical one cannot copy or access? Did not having that power mean non-magical characters had to be more inventive and creative in the things they use for travel (and you could extend that idea out to other areas of life too).
Definitely story ideas there!
This World and Others – Professional Gatherings
I see The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick as a chance to “continually professionally develop” (not an easy thing to say quickly, at least not for me!). It is the ethos behind the school.
Writers learn, improve their skills, develop new areas of writing interest or enhance the ones they’re already interested in. A great deal of fun is had too at the school. Why should professional gatherings always be deadly dull? It doesn’t encourage learning for one thing. And the really nice thing here is all of this is for writers who are starting out, who are developing their craft, who are published or not and so on.
So in your magical setting, what would your characters do to “continually professionally develop”? Where would they go? What could they learn? What kind of exams would they face? Are the opportunities available for all? Are standards high? Who monitors that?
How has your character benefited from the professional development they have already had? What would they like to develop further? Could anything or anyone get in the way?
Again, definite story ideas there.
