What I Look For In A Good Story

December 13, 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 Lynn Clement and Janet Williams for publicity shots of yours truly above. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

Hope you’ve had a good few days. Has been bitterly cold, not that Lady appears to have noticed. Looking forward to listening to all of the 23 festive flash pieces, including mine, which are due to be broadcast on Hannah Kate’s Three Minute Santas show on Saturday 14th December from 2 to 4 pm on North Manchester FM. Should be a fabulous afternoon of being read to!

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Delighted to share What I Look For In a Good Story for Chandler‘s Ford Today this week. I share an ingredients list for what I think is crucial for a cracking read, look at character -v- plot, and ask short or long term fiction or both. Hope you enjoy the post and you end up with even more good stories to enjoy over the Christmas period.

What I Look For In A Good Story

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Another cold day today though Lady was too busy running around with Coco, the fabulous Labradoodle, to notice. Both dogs had a fabulous run.

Will be sharing my What I Look For In A Good Story on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. Comments are always welcome in the CFT comments box. And I hope Santa provides plenty of chances for you to discover even more good stories this Christmas time!

The following week’s post will be a festive flash and other news round up and I hope to include the link to the Three Minute Santas show as part of that.

I will take the chance to say a big thank you now to all those I’ve interviewed on CFT this year. Without exception, the resulting articles have been excellent. I hope to conduct more such interviews in 2025 of course.

Meantime, it’s back to finishing various bits and pieces off ahead of 31st December. It’s the nearest I get to finishing the year with my desk clear (and I really mean my electronic desk aka my laptop as my actual desk, while reasonably tidy, cannot be said to be uncluttered! I was cheered up enormously when I saw a picture on Facebook of Albert Einstein’s desk as he left it. I felt so much better on seeing that – there is hope for me yet!).

Hope you have had a good Wednesday. Another chilly one but Lady was overjoyed to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal again this morning. Plenty of running around. Those two didn’t feel the cold.

Don’t forget I’ll be looking at What I Look For In a Good Story for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. And on Saturday once I’ve heard the Three Minute Santas show, I would have heard 23 good stories! I hope to be talking about that show and the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event in more detail for CFT on 20th December, my last pre-Christmas post for the year. It’s amazing where the time goes, is it not?

Am not entering any more competitions until the New Year now though I have entered the festive and/or flash related ones I wanted to try.

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Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my second story for their Christmas competition. This time the word featured is good will. See what use I make of it in my story, And To You, Pal.

I am sure that is something we have all said or thought at some point but hope you enjoy the story anyway! Find our why my character thinks the way they do and whether or not for once poetic justice is seen to be done. Can my character be full of goodwill after all?

Hope the day has been a good one for you. Busy working away on various pieces I want to put to bed before the end of the year. Making good progress. (Also making some on the festive preparations – have started wrapping some presents much earlier in the month than I usually do!).

Flash Tip: It is worth having some flash pieces drafted on always topical themes such as hope, light, darkness etc. These topics come up often and it means you’re a little ahead of the game here. Also think along the lines of having some flash pieces connected to genre – there will be competitions for flash crime stories, love theme ones etc.

Something you’ve started as a flash piece could always be expanded out into a short story. I’ve occasionally done this when a character has gripped me and I want to share more of their tale but then I save this as a short story only and submit it to the appropriate market. But without the idea for the flash piece in the first place, I wouldn’t have gone on to have done this.

Plan to look at my Flash NANO drafts sometime in January. It’ll give me enough time away from them to evaluate them properly. I will be issuing an author newsletter on 1st January though I suspect most reads will take place much further on in the month! I’ve just found the first is the easiest day to remember for a newsletter. I receive a number of author newsletters myself on the same day so am clearly not the only one who thinks this!

Looking forward to a more informal Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting this time next week as it is a wonderful way to wrap up our writing year. Plan is to share any flashes for feedback and to discuss all things writing related. It has been a great year for the group with four of us having festive flashes broadcast this coming weekend. More power to our pens and PCs, folks!

Screenshot 2024-12-10 at 17-33-52 North Manchester FM Hannah's Bookshelf 3 Minute Santas Special Saturday 14 December 2-4pm - Hannah Kate

Fairytales With Bite – Fairies and Festivities

What involvement do your magical creations have with any kind of festivities? My thoughts are always drawn to the line by Slade on their fabulous Merry Xmas Everyone to the line about “fairies keeping Santa sober for a day”. Am assuming that takes some work!

But what do your fairies to to help or hinder festivities? (Forget the one about sending a young princess to their doom via spinning wheel needle – it’s been done!). Is magic welcome at celebrations or does it get in the way? How do fairies celebrate their festivities? Is food created magically or is that done the old school way? Is magic saved for fireworks, decorations, music etc? What would your fairies celebrate in the first place? Do they allow other species to join then or it is just for the fairies only?

I would imagine there would be some sort of celebration when a new fairy graduated and “got her wings” (sorry, couldn’t resist that one) so what format would this follow given this would be likely to be a tradition.

I would certainly hope your magical creations had a great deal of fun, as I hope you do too with your Christmas traditions.

This World and Others – Managing Celebrations

As well as private events, I would expect your setting to have some sort of official public celebration for varying things. There will be commemoration events. There will be something to indicate the end of a certain time period as we do here every 31st December.

Within your setting and if you have specific countries, there will be historical events to commemorate in some way – some of which will be sombre in tone and others anything but.

So who would be responsible for ensuring public events were conducted “properly”? In the UK we have an Earl Marshal who organises coronations etc. But who would your creation be and what would they have responsibility for exactly? Are celebrations managed well or otherwise?

Has historical precedent meant there has to be someone organising it all now? What would happen to anyone who went against what is expected in terms of public behaviour here?

Above all, do your characters have fun at these things. Do the events serve as a way of the public letting their hair down (including magically) without it all going horribly wrong?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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🎅 Saturday at 2pm on @normanfm1066… it's #3MinuteSantas on Hannah's Bookshelf! Tune in for a record-breaking selection of festive flash fiction from 23 amazing writers! 🎅 https://t.co/LEi6cg38Zv
— Hannah Kate (@HannahKateish) December 12, 2024

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What I Look For In A Good Story https://t.co/55ohiOfPGO Delighted to share What I Look For In a Good Story for CFT this week. I share an ingredients list for a cracking read, look at character -v- plot, and ask short or long term fiction or both. Hope you enjoy the post.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 13, 2024

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Pleased to be on FFF with my second story for their Christmas competition. This time the word featured is good will. See what use I make of it in my story, And To You, Pal. I am sure that is something we have all said or thought at some point but hope you enjoy the story anyway! pic.twitter.com/Yf9zMNLpdS
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 13, 2024

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Bridge House Publishing Celebration Event and Three Minute Santas

December 10, 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 and Storm Darragh didn’t do too much damage where you are. Has calmed a bit today (Monday 9th December) but bitterly cold. Had a fabulous time at the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event on Saturday 7th December, despite the weather, and I hope to write more about that for a Chandler’s Ford Today post for 20th December. Meantime many thanks to Debz Hobbs-Wyatt and Lynn Clement for the two selfies featured below. I interviewed Debz recently for CFT and I was Lynn’s editor on her The City of Stories (Chapeltown Books).

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Wow! Am not referring to the bitterly cold wind again today (though it did make me gasp) but to the fact Hannah Kate will have 23 authors, yes 23, on her Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM on Saturday, 14th December. This has to be a record but it will give plenty of wonderful stories to listen to. I’m also delighted to say I know five of the other authors who will be on the show!

Given the weather is unlikely to be much better at the end of this week, having a Saturday afternoon in listening to stories seems like a great idea to me. The show starts from 2pm. See link for more details.

Huge congratulations to all authors whose stories have been chosen. I’m looking forward to listening to all of the tales.

North Manchester FM: Hannah’s Bookshelf 3 Minute Santas Special, Saturday 14 December, 2-4pm

Bitterly cold, though less blowy, today. Not that Lady worried. She was thrilled to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. I was glad to get back in the warm (despite being layered up to the maximum!).

Many thanks for the lovely responses to my two posts yesterday about the Bridge House event. Much appreciated. I plan to write more about it for Chandler’s Ford Today for 20th December. This week’s post will be What I Look For In a Good Story and I heard plenty of those read out on Saturday afternoon!

Writing Prompt: Whenever I go anywhere, I use Google Maps to help me plan out best routes to my destination from Tube stations etc. Saves a lot of time. What would your characters do when going somewhere new? Are they the type to “wing it” or would they want to map things out?

What facilities would they have to be able to do something like this? Something more basic than what we have here or something far more advanced? Am sure there are stories here but also in how any maps are produced and could they be “hacked” by an enemy.

Had a wonderful time in London yesterday. So good to see everyone again. Enjoyed listening to the author readings and taking part in the same. Train was held up on the way back because the one in front of us hit a tree on the track. It held us up for an hour which I didn’t think was too bad given the circumstances. Not sorry to be at home today though as it’s still very gusty here.

Ironically last year I ran late for the Bridge House event because of issues with the trains. This year, despite the storm, the trains were running reasonably well in my part of the world and I was one of the first to reach the Theodore Bullfrog pub. (And where more appropriate venue for a writers’ event than a pub, I ask you!).

Writing Prompt: A seasonal one too! Take one of your Christmas tree decorations. What meaning does it have for you? Then hold that thought and apply it to a character. Who gave them the decoration or did they inherit it from a loved one? What’s the story behind it?

And many thanks to Lynn Clement for taking the image below.

Saturday 7th December 2024: Am on my way to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event. Even managed to get an earlier train. Appreciate there are likely to be delays given the storm. Do take care out there.

Looking forward to catching up with friends, taking part in the author readings, and finding out the latest BHP news.

Will be sharing what I look for in a good story in next week’s Chandler’s Ford Today post. I do know I will be hearing plenty of good stories today!

Update: Now back home again and I heard many marvellous tales! Many thanks to Debz Hobbs-Wyatt for the picture.

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Lady got to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal unexpectedly today and a lovely time was had by both dogs in very chilly conditions.

Pleased to discover there are five authors I know, along with myself, who will have work on Hannah Kate’s Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM on Saturday 14th December.

Do listen out for it. It will showcase some fabulous festive flash fiction. There are 23 authors involved in all, yes 23, so there will be a great range of styles and stories. And all of us had a maximum of three minutes.

The great thing with flash? None of us can go on at length. It defeats the object of the format!

Less is more, indeed.

It’s Monday. It’s a cold one. It’s a Monday after Storm Darragh. Definitely time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Reassurance.

After all, it’s always good to know someone has your back when you’re in need of reassurance, regardless of who you are.

Will be getting on with flash fiction Sunday afternoon shortly. Given the weather is still awful, I am so glad writing is something to be done indoors in the warm.

As well as catching up with longstanding Bridge House friends yesterday, including someone I’ve edited for them, I met up with one of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group at the Bridge House event and a dear friend from The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick.

There is something lovely about the writing community in that we often cross paths in different ways. What united us yesterday was Bridge House and, of course, an overwhelming love for the written word. Something positive to think about on a grotty weekend weather wise I think.

Saturday 7th December 2024: I heard plenty of excellent flash fiction pieces and extracts from longer works read out at today’s Bridge House Publishing Celebration event. Open mic reading is a fabulous way to celebrate the format.

Delighted four members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group including me will have stories broadcast on Hannah Kate’s Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM next Saturday, 14th December.

Am looking forward to hearing them all. I hope to be able to share a link later including in my last CFT post before Christmas (which will be on Friday 20th December).

Many thanks to Lynn Clement, author of The City of Stories which I had the privilege of editing, for the picture below.

Goodreads Author Blog – Favourite Book Moments

I’m sure we all have favourite book moments which “make” the whole story for us. I know I have far too many to list here though sometimes, with films, you get something which adds to the original tale.

One great example of this is the song Marley and Marley from The Muppet Christmas Carol. I still think that is the finest adaptation of Charles Dicken’s wonderful novella.

But what great films can do is add something special. This can only be done when you’ve got superb stories to work with in the first place, mind you! Am sure Dickens would be pleased and it is fabulous to think A Christmas Carol has never been out of print. I don’t think it ever will be.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: Favourite Book Moments https://t.co/xRLPfLQgnj via @goodreads I discuss how films like The Muppet Christmas Carol can add so much of value to the original story. Mind you, there does have to be excellent source material in the first place! pic.twitter.com/7bT1FzMLQq
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 7, 2024

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It’s Monday. It’s cold. It’s a Monday after Storm Darragh. Definitely time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Reassurance.

It's always good to know someone has your back when you're in need of reassurance, regardless of who you are.https://t.co/7BM6Oin5lr
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 9, 2024

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Author Interview: A Right Cozy Christmas Crime with Wendy H Jones

December 6, 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 shots of me signing books at The Hilt Book Fair.

Hope you have had a good few days. Had lovely trip out with other half to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Lady had a fabulous time too. Pleased to say I have broadcast news and I know others who will be on the same show so am pleased for them all too. More details below with a link to come later.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to share a wonderful interview with Wendy H Jones about A Right Cozy Christmas Crime (Scott and Lawson), a recently released anthology of cozy crime stories. We discuss the joys of anthologies, the appeal of cozy crime, and the use of Christmas as a setting plus much more besides. Do check the interview out. And maybe you’ll have an extra idea for your Christmas present list.

What I love about short stories and flash fiction is you get to visit so many different “worlds” and characters and anthologies are the prefect place to have such stories collected. I deliberately read novels, then shorter forms of writing, then back to novels again. I want to read across the spectrum and often will check out an author new to me when they’ve got work in an anthology like this one before going for their longer works.

A Right Cozy Christmas Crime with Wendy H Jones – Author Interview

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Had a lovely day out with other half and Lady today. Other half and I were celebrating our 37th wedding anniversary.

Writing wise, don’t forget there is a fabulous interview coming up with Wendy H Jones about A Right Cozy Christmas Crime (Scott and Lawson) on Chandler’s Ford Today – link up tomorrow. See above. I love short stories, crime tales, and anthologies. This latest publication has the lot. Plenty of useful thoughts are shared. Do check it out.

Last but not least, I’m thrilled to say my festive flash fiction story, Perspective, will be broadcast on Hannah Kate’s Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM on Saturday 14th December 2024. The show is on from 2pm to 4pm. Congratulations to all who have had their tales chosen. I’m looking forward to hearing them all. It’s a lovely show and supportive of writers and the story world. I hope to share a link later.

Social media poster for A Right Cozy Christmas Crime

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal this morning and, to our great surprise and delight, her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal this afternoon on our usual walk. An unexpected and welcome play time ensured as the walk has a nice area of green where the dogs can play. They had a lovely time.

Looking forward to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event on Saturday and to an ACW group meeting on Zoom this evening where I love joining in with talk about science fiction and fantasy. A lovely time is had by all.

Character Tip: Put yourself in your character’s shoes. You don’t have to like your characters (I can think of a few of mine where if we could meet in life we would not get on at all) but you do have to understand where they’re coming from and why. I think it is the only way to write for them with any conviction. I’m convinced when an author does get behind their characters like that, this comes through in the story and makes it more believable.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale Printing Error. This is an entry for their Christmas competition and in this one the word I had to use was peace. Hope you enjoy the story.

As mentioned over on my author page, I’m delighted to say my festive flash fiction story, Perspective, will be broadcast on Hannah Kate’s Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM on Saturday 14th December 2024. The show is on from 2pm to 4pm. Link to come later.

This was one of the several flash pieces I’ve recently got out to different places. Always good to know one got through okay!

Will not hear back on the others for some time and only then if they get a placing. You do get used to this. Often it is a question of competition organisers simply not having enough time or people to email all who entered rather than anything else.

Have received the reading order list for the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event on Saturday. Have worked out what I’d like to read. Always a fun task! Am looking forward to hearing the other stories too – it is a treat to be read to and I love reading my work so win-win here It’s fun. Flash works so well for open mic type things.

Am also looking forward to catching up with Debz Hobbs-Wyatt and Hannah Retallick, whom I interviewed for Chandler’s Ford Today recently. It will be great to catch up with friends, old and new.

Fairytales with Bite – Timing

What do your magical characters make of timings? Cinderella was useless at it, of course. How good or otherwise are your characters in keeping to time and what are the consequences when they’re not? Also could someone else make use of someone’s punctuality and use it against them?

Do any of your character’s spells have a timing limit on them? Some fairy godmothers do have this feature, of course! Automatically set to midnight, naturally – it’s never three minutes past one, is it?

If your character has to get their timing spot on with something, what obstacles will you put in their way to make it as difficult as possible for them to achieve this? What will they have to do to still make their objective happen?

Can your character use split second timing to achieve something different in the world of magic? What would this be? What other powers could it unleash?

Timing can be everything in a story (as it so often is in film). How can you make best use of this thought for your characters and their situations?

This World and Others – Decisions

How easy or otherwise do your characters find making decisions? A lot will depend on what the decision is and how it is going to challenge them personally, of course, but as a general rule, do they have problems making up their mind about something or do they always know what they want?

The latter trait could be useful in showing something else about their personality. The go-getters don’t tend to be the shy, retiring type!

How do your characters react when having to make decisions they wouldn’t normally face? Many a quest tale has started with this. The way they respond so often makes the adventure memorable (The Lord of the Rings is the obvious example here).

I outline my characters with enough information so I know how they are likely to respond in most situations. There is still the room for them to surprise me and they do sometimes but the surprise comes out of what I already know about them so isn’t “out of kilter” for the way I’ve portrayed the character to date.

Funnily enough, I don’t usually need to know much about how they look – what I’m after finding out is their personality and then ideas for their appearance come from that. My major decision is in working out just how much I need to know about my characters before writing them up.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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I am delighted to be interviewed in Chandler’s Ford Today by @AllisonSymes1 What a great interview highlighting the A Right Cozy Christmas Crime anthology. https://t.co/K6VqOscfBD #cozymystery
— Wendy H. Jones (@WendyHJones) December 6, 2024

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Am pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale Printing Error. This is an entry for their Christmas competition and in this one the word I had to use was peace. Hope you enjoy the story.https://t.co/ECiVowfivK pic.twitter.com/gxjX601TNJ
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 6, 2024

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A Right Cozy Christmas Crime with Wendy H Jones – Author Interview https://t.co/dLCWRAVR4Q Delighted to share this great interview about A Right Cozy Christmas Crime, a recently released anthology. Wendy discusses the joys of anthologies, the appeal of cozy crime and much more.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 6, 2024

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Dialogue, finishing Flash NANO, and Competitions

December 3, 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. Quiet but lovely one here. Another smashing interview coming up with Wendy H Jones about A Right Cozy Christmas Crime on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Do look out for it. What I love about interviews for CFT is how much useful information is shared other writers can use.

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Hope Tuesday has gone well for you. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today and had a lovely time showing off her running skills in front of the dog she considers to be her “mum figure”.

Writing Tip: I’ve mentioned before about recording your stories on something like Zoom and playing them back to hear how they sound. You take in the story as a reader would doing this but I would add I think it is essential when you have plenty of dialogue.

What looks good written down doesn’t always read out well. It doesn’t always sound like natural speech either. Playing the story back will also help you pick up on those ums and ahs we do use in natural speech but which are a turn off in fiction. The odd one or two are fine but you don’t need many of them to convey a character hesitating.

The irony with fictional speech it has to be better than natural speech to keep a reader’s attention.

Hope you have had a good Monday. Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal today. Zoomies ensued! The Ridgeback’s owner and I have long experience in getting out of the way of the pair of them when they’re in full running mode like that. Why is it dogs like to play right near their humans mums just like toddlers do!

Writing wise, have had a fantastic weekend. I’d been resting some flash fiction pieces I’d earmarked for competitions. (Taking part in Flash NANO gave me an excellent time period in which to rest them). Worked on said stories, odd amendments only, and have now sent them in, well ahead of their respective deadlines. Have also drafted some blogs for later in the month.

This was all on top of what I’d usually do over the weekend so felt like I got a fair bit done. Will slow down as the month goes on – can’t imagine why!

And it was lovely to catch up with friends and family on Zoom too. Today by contrast has been chaotic but am so glad to be at my desk now. Getting to do any creative work, I find, relaxes me and I’m all for that!

Author newsletter went out earlier today. The “advantage” in producing a monthly newsletter is it makes it so easy to see just how quickly the year is flying by!

Loved Flash NANO. Enjoyed the prompt variety. My word count for this year came in at around the 8000 words mark as my story word counts were towards the shorter end this time. Having said that, it’s 8000 words I wouldn’t have written otherwise.

Am also getting ever closer to having a potential fourth flash collection in terms of word count though there is much to be done to tighten things up before submission. Have also got other pieces to submit this week (competitions) and another longer term project which I’ve completed, and where I’ve almost got the submission package up together.

So plenty going on behind the scenes, most of which involves flash fiction in some way.

Am delighted Writers’ Narrative is back and I hope you’ve had chance to check it out. Useful for all writers.

Hope you have had a good day. Quiet one here but lovely. This time next week I will be on my way back from the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event – am so looking forward to going to that and catching up with friends old and new.

Writing wise, I’m delighted to say there was a fantastic response to the Flash NANO prompt set on 29th November. It was one I set and it’s been a joy to read what people have made of it. I too had a go at it (if it hadn’t been picked, I was going to save it for something to write up later) and my tale came in at 73 words, my shortest for Flash NANO 2024.

Author newsletter out again tomorrow – where does the time go?

Last but definitely not least, I’m looking forward to sharing a wonderful interview with Wendy H Jones about A Right Cozy Christmas Crime, a recently released short story collection, featuring 13 authors, including Wendy herself. We’ll be discussing the joys of crime fiction in the short form amongst other topics. Link up on Friday.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am looking forward to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event on Saturday. Many of the authors get to do some readings and I hope to do so too. It’s a joy to be read to – I love being told a story. I also love sharing some of mine and flash fiction is ideal for this.

Competition News: Friday Flash Fiction are running their Christmas competition at the moment.. You can enter two stories over the two weeks the competition is on. Each story to be 90-100 words and no more. And you do have to include two different words relating to the season in your stories. You use one on one week, the other on the next. You cannot use both words in either or both of your tales. For more details, see the link. Good luck if you have a go!

It’s Monday. Has been a hectic one for me (have the feeling that won’t slow down until after the 25th!). It’s definitely time for a story then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – There’s Red and Then There’s Red.

What does Santa do when Rudolph comes down with a cold with five minutes to go before flying time and the famous red nose has become an infamous one? Find out why and what here.

I know. I can hardly believe we’re into Advent and the final month of the year already. Looking back, I’ve got plenty of writing done. Would still like to do plenty more before this year is out.

Had a lovely time at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting last week. I’ve some exercises from that to tidy up and see if I can submit somewhere plus more to write up. All fun though. When I know I can do something with the character, the words fly and that is how I like it to be. I can tidy up and sharpen later. Have always found this pays off.

Will be taking time off at Christmas as usual. The break is lovely but what is nice is I am always raring to go again by the time I get back to my desk again and I like that too. I do enjoy dropping my characters right in the mire and seeing what they do to get out of it again. Whether my characters like me is a totally different matter!

Can’t believe this is the last day of Flash NANO for 2024 already (30th November). Many thanks to Nancy Stohlman for another great year of interesting prompts. Am I biased because one of mine was chosen? A bit!

But in fairness I have found all of the challenges interesting, some I thought I’m not going to do because I couldn’t see an immediate way in, and others I took to at once. I was expecting that though.

BUT I have got something out of each and every one so I see it as another successful year here. Also 30 new stories written which is always a win!. Am also grateful for feedback received on my stories. Useful and encouraging. Thanks, folks! Probably after Christmas I will go back and look through my drafts and see what can be done with them. I hope to send at least some of them out to competitions.

Goodreads Author Blog – ‘Tis the Season For Books

Couldn’t resist the title for this blog given we are about to go into Advent and then Christmas, of course as I write this on 30th November 2024.

It really is the season to be reading books of course. What is there not to like about being curled up somewhere nice with a good book and a lovely drink of choice (Options hot chocolate, mint or orange flavoured, for me usually) and have a good read?

‘Tis also the season for authors to be out and about selling their wares so if you have an event near you, do go along and support. Your local writers will appreciate it. Another way of support is to leave reviews in the usual places. These don’t have to be long and help writers with their marketing. They’re also encouraged because it is always nice to know you’re being read (and I love this aspect myself).

So ‘tis the season for books then – to read them and to support those who write them. Books are such a fantastic invention and there is something for everyone out there of all ages. I like to mix up my books between genres, long and short form fiction books, and non-fiction.

Whatever you read, I hope you find some cracking new books this season.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

So nice to get back to sharing the latest issue of Writers’ Narrative here. Enjoy!

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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liked Allison Symes's blog post: 'Tis The Season For Books https://t.co/KZQlzVpveq via @goodreads Couldn't resist the title for this week's Goodreads blog as we're about to go into Advent. I hope your reading season is an excellent one! pic.twitter.com/AFitBEwxpt
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 30, 2024

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It’s Monday. Time for a tale. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – There’s Red and Then There’s Red. What does Santa do when Rudolph comes down with a cold at five minutes to go before flying time and the famous red nose has become infamous? Find out here.https://t.co/WC3iOBY774
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 2, 2024

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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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