Tag: author newsletter

Comedy In Writing

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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’ve had a good few days. Pleasant autumnal weather here and Lady has enjoyed seeing her pals, as ever. Had a lovely session with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group and am ploughing on with proofreading work and writing.

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Pleased to share Comedy in Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I celebrate comedy in books, films, radios, plays etc (the post was inspired by my recent visit to The Chameleon Theatre Company to watch Curtain Up), and look at comedy moments (which can bring so much depth to characterisation in a book which may not be funny overall).

I look at humour as a natural development. It should never feel forced. I look at humour and perspective too and how humour can ease tensions – that alone can make all the difference as to how things work out for your characters.

I look at humour as a character trait (is your character witty, droll, sarcastic etc?) and invite you to suggest which humorous books work for you and which do nothing for you. Comments welcome in the CFT box, as always.

Hope you enjoy the post. I love humour in fiction and think we can do with much more of it.

Comedy In Writing

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Lovely day in the park with Lady’s Hungarian Vizler pal and later, after a short swim, met up with some of my friends for tea and cake, as you do. So as you can imagine it has been a nice day (the chocolate cake and peppermint tea were wonderful, only one of those things was good for me!) and hope it has been likewise for you too.

Writing wise, my author newsletter went out earlier today and it was lovely to see everyone at last night’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group.

A huge thank you to Jacci Gooding for the shout out for me and Seeing The Other Side in her newsletter, which also went out today. That came as a very pleasant surprise.

Last but not least look out for Comedy in Writing on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady caught up with her Hungarian Vizler pal. Nice autumnal day, gave blood (if you can, please do, folks) and a special birthday in our household today too so a nice way to end the month.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later this evening. Author newsletter out again tomorrow. Will be looking at Comedy in Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Again, see above, and the Flash Group Meeting was fab.

Writing wise, am catching up with various blogs and other pieces of writing I want to get done.

Character Tip: Sometimes I will put on particular outfits to suit a mood or for a special occasion. We all do, right. So can our characters. What would your characters choose to wear for (a) moods and (b) special occasions? There will be stories behind exploring those thoughts.

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Hope today has gone well. Pleasant one here and Lady got to see her Australian Shepherd boyfriend again and, later, her Hungarian Vizler pal. Lady has had a great week on the old social front.

Writing wise, I’ll be trying to get a draft started for a competition I’ve got in mind (but the deadline is the end of the year so I do have some time in hand but I like it to be that way). My next Writers’ Narrative article is due out next week too and I’ll be looking at Darkness In A Flash for that. Well, it is October and the nights are already coming in earlier and we haven’t had the clock change yet.

Character Tip: I often use traits as a way in to getting to know a character well enough before I write them up but sometimes a line of dialogue comes to mind and that shows me their main trait immediately. What would you make of a character who came up with “I told her umpteen times she’d regret getting involved with him.”

I’m hearing a shrill tone of voice, an element of bossiness (is that why the “her” here has not taken what could be good advice?).

What makes me wonder at this point is this speaker a gossip or are they genuinely trying to share some news with someone else who needs to know? I am also wondering what relationship the speaker has with the “her” in this tale (and probably with the “him” too).

But this is good. You want readers to start wondering about things like that – it is the key way to keep them reading. Certainly it makes me want to write the story up to find out more and that’s the best sign of all for a writer.

Great autumnal weather at the moment and am enjoying seeing the slow changing of the colours of many of the trees around my area. (There are lots of holly trees in the area too so not everything changes!).

Talking of changes, these are great trigger points for flash fiction tales. Okay, in the lower word count limit, you would need there to be one point of change with the appropriate consequence. In a standard short story you could have more but I’ve found with flash having to focus on the one point of change means I have a sharper, stronger tale.

I really do have to focus only on what matters for the character as a result of that change. One change = one consequence for the character = no dilution of the impact of that change on the character or the reader.

The change doesn’t have to be something dramatic to have consequences for your character. Something as simple as a bus being late could have consequences for your character. What does the being late do for them at (a) work or (b) for any appointment they were supposed to be keeping? Also how well does your character handle being late at all – some will handle it better than others?

Story ideas there.

Will be looking at outlets (some at least) for flash fiction as part of tonight’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. There are loads of outlets out there and far more choice than when I started writing flash seriously, which is great. You could spend all of your time writing flash pieces for the different competitions out there.

I’ve been writing a lot of drabbles (the 100 worders) for Substack and YouTube recently so may well pick a different word count to write to at the weekend. Picking a word count in advance gives you practice at writing to that count. If you go for the 50, 75, 100, 250, 300, and 500 word counts, you will find many competitions taking these.

I’ve also found picking the word count in advance means I need to think about how the story will look on the screen/page (a 50 worder is basically a paragraph, a 100 worder two paragraphs and so on).

Knowing this in advance means I tend to work out first how my story will end and then work backwards to the beginning. It makes sure each paragraph (or in the case of the 50 worder the one paragraph) does have everything in it to make it a proper story with a beginning, middle and end.

Fairytales with Bite – Special Numbers

This year has seen some special birthdays, you know the ones that end in zero, there’s a special anniversary coming up (likewise with the zero!), and certain dates, regardless of the year, always have significance. That thought can trigger story ideas.

What numbers would be special to your characters and why? What would they be keen to celebrate and/or remember? Equally, which numbers would they go out of their way to avoid? A number linked to a sad date, for example, could trigger memories for your character. Have they come to terms with this and “handle it” or do they go for a policy of avoidance or do other characters help them here?

Your setting may well have special numbers too – for example the date linked to its founding. Do your characters celebrate something like that or feel it is nothing to celebrate?

If your magical characters use numbers in their spells which would they use and what properties do these have as part of those spells? Also in a magical world, could anyone ever be said to be lucky or unlucky with their numbers in life? That is, do they consider certain numbers unlucky like we do with the number thirteen?

This World and Others – Significant Dates

Linking to Fairytales with Bite, how does your setting’s dating system work? Is it similar to ours or totally different? Do they have months as we understand them, for example?

If they mark the passing of time in ways we do not, how would their ways roughly equate to what we do here? I think there would need be some “equivalence” so readers can picture how time is used in your setting and what we would do here instead.

Does your setting mark special dates and, if so, how? Is everyone expected to take part in whatever ceremonies take place here?

What dates would have significance for your characters and why? What would they do differently on these dates?

Also we use the sun and moon to divide up day and night – what would your setting do if it is not based on something similar? I think there would have to be some sense of time and therefore dates and time passing by etc.

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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As The Dark Draws In…

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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.
Fabulous family weekend. Good time had by all. All shattered including the dog. Now back to usual writing and editing work.

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Am delighted to be back on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This time I look at As The Dark Draws In, which I thought was a good topic as we head rapidly towards October.

I look at making the most of the darker, longer evenings by reading more and suggest using the theme of As The Dark Draws In for your characters. There will be plenty of story opportunities there. Most characters have to face their “dark” and either fight it or succumb to it. Either way there are consequences which your story will share.

I discuss how in the natural world, as with the Christian faith, we see the dark coming and then the light breaks through. That’s a good theme for stories too. Plus I look at being the light for others and stories encouraging empathy.

Hope you enjoy the post.

As The Dark Draws In by Allison Symes

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Hectic day, have run late all day (yes, it was one of those Mondays!), but Lady had a fabulous puppy party in the park today with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal, our neighbour’s gorgeous Golden Retriever and a handsome black lab called Flash. Four tired happy dogs went home.

As it is Monday, that does of course mean it’s story time. Hope you like my latest which went up on Substack yesterday – Four. It’s a thoughtful piece, I think.

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Had a fabulous family day yesterday. Lady had a wonderful time, including with another family dog, and was shattered by about 7 pm! (Mind you, so was I). Busy morning today too as a family member was taking a service in Salisbury and I am in the role of support for that. Great to see everyone at Salisbury again. I last saw them at my book event for Seeing The Other Side held outside their lovely church.

Will be cracking on with flash fiction Sunday shortly and then focusing on various bits and pieces I want to get done. This week, bar Wednesday when the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group happens, will be a quieter one. Oh and the next newsletter goes on Wednesday too.

Dialogue Tip: If you’re using slang terms or words associated with a particular region, make sure readers can pick up the meaning from context to allow for the fact not everyone will know what these things are. The use of these can be great for adding some “colour” to your character – you can guess where they’re from, at least originally, for one thing – but clarity is everything.

Will be a busy family day today so won’t be writing much and am posting early. Will be looking at Comedy in Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today which will hopefully lead nicely into a review of The Chameleon Theatre Company’s production of Curtain Up the week after.

Looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group on Wednesday and the next day will see my next author newsletter going out.

Next weekend, I hope to resume drafting stories for competitions. All go here but this is good. No further news yet on events for Seeing The Other Side but will keep you posted. I am at the point where I know I have enough material for another book but hope over the later autumn and winter months to sit down with this and get another book ready to submit.

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Busy day again though Lady did get to see her Australian Shepherd “boyfriend” and later her Hungarian Vizler pal too. There will be a tired dog on our sofa tonight!

Writing wise, my next author newsletter goes out on Thursday. If you’d like to sign up for tips, story links and more, do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Many thanks to my subscribers for your support. It is much appreciated. A lot of the writing life can be a lonely one (though I make up for that at the Bridge House Publishing Celebration Event and The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick every year!).

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It’s Monday, it’s storytime. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Research Purposes. Like my Substack story this week (see above), it involves the number four.

Jimmy and Gran have a disagreement on what could be construed as good research purposes. It involves chocolate. More details here.

 

Hope the weekend has gone well. Busy family one but absolutely lovely as always.
Writing wise, will be cracking on with story writing shortly and hope to get back to submitting for competitions soon too. Last couple of weeks have been especially busy. Mind you, I see this as the calm before the storm of the festive season!

Flash Fiction Tip/Prompt: Have fun inventing titles and then seeing if you can draft a flash piece around them. I often do this. Sometimes I will need to put a promising title aside to think over options but that’s fine. A promising title can make you think of characters and situations you would not otherwise have done and can be a useful way into starting another draft.

Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday tomorrow as always. I need to draft some more flash for competitions. There have been a couple of competitions I’ve missed this year because I’ve been busy with other things, notably Seeing The Other Side, but that has been (and continues to be) a lovely thing to be busy with!

Don’t forget to sign up for Writers’ Narrative – it is free and you receive in your inbox articles on the topic of the month from a wide range of published authors, including yours truly.

Many of my articles look at working in the shorter forms of fiction so are relevant to flash fiction and short story writers. It is a joy to write for this ezine – well worth your checking it out but don’t just take my word for it!

GOODREADS AUTHOR BLOG – Events Where Stories Are Told

I love taking part in Open Prose Mic Nights when I can and also relish being part of the audience for them. What can you dislike about events like these where you know stories are going to be told? Naturally this does help the authors too and they are great ways to engage directly with potential readers. They link back to the oral storytelling tradition too, a pleasing circle I’d say.

But I also love in stories where there are events the characters are going to because inevitably stories will be told at these things, even if it is just about what is going on in the area of the setting at the time. So many plots hinge around who meets at what event and what stories they exchange. Can you image Pride and Prejudice without the ballroom scenes, for example?

Potentially any time characters meet up anywhere in whatever setting you care to name, there will be opportunities for story sharing. Whether the characters are telling the truth or not, and how important that may be to the plot, is something else I love discovering.

But get the characters together – that’s when the story really takes off. And events give you the chance to create a memorable setting too.

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Storytelling

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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 the weekend went well. Quiet one here but next weekend will be a different story – family do which we all love. Writing and proofreading work going well.
Lady and I popped along to a local dog show, not to take part, but to have a nose (literally in her case) and to catch up with those we know, humans and dogs. Off to see The Chameleons perform Curtain Up later this week. Should be good.

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Hope today has gone well. Lady was delighted to see her Hungarian Vizler pal again today as we saw her at the local dog show over the weekend, not that either of them took part in it!

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Reading Feeding Into Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Definitely a post which was a joy to write and I’m looking forward to sharing that.

Won’t be long before my next author newsletter is due out once more. To sign up for story links, tips and more, do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Character Tip: When you’re reading works by other authors, once you’ve enjoyed the story take a moment to think about what worked about the characters and what didn’t grip you so much. You can learn a great deal from what you come up with here which you can then apply to your own creations.

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Lady has had a fabulous day in that she had an early morning playtime with her Aussie Shepherd “boyfriend” and, later when out with me, she got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback “girlfriend” too. One tired but happy dog is curled up on the sofa as I write this.

Has been a busy day for me too, as Mondays always are, so am glad to get to my desk. For one thing, I sit down for a while!

And of course Monday means storytime. I share Stash, which I first posted on Substack yesterday. Hope you enjoy it. I see this one as a historical flash fiction piece.

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Lady and I popped in to see the local dog show going on at our park after church today. Got to see some pals there. This show had to be cancelled as it was originally going to be in June, during the first heatwave. Much better today. People – and their dogs – seemed to be enjoying it all.

Writing wise, I’ll be cracking on with flash fiction Sunday shortly. I hope to chat with members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group soon about ways to get your work out there. One tip though is flash is easy to share via your website/author newsletter etc and gives something of value, an entertaining tale, to your followers. It also gives a flavour of your work, which is why I share stories on Substack and YouTube.

Talking of which, I ought to get on writing this week’s tales! Done and shared above and further down!

Hope the weekend has got off to a reasonable start. Not bad here. Have got around to doing some sorting out. Not a displacement activity for the writing, honest! It’s been something I’ve needed to do for a while and I feel better for doing it.

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Reading Feeding Into Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. If you ever needed an excuse to read more (as if, I know!), this post may well be for you. If you love books at all, it definitely will be. Looking forward to sharing that one.

Am off to see The Chameleon Theatre Company perform Curtain Up next week. Will be going with my lovely editor from CFT. On the same day I’m off to the dentists! Lovely as they are, I will be much more keen to go and see our local amateur theatre company in action (can’t imagine why, eh?!). The company have staged some marvellous shows over the years. Review will follow on CFT in due course.

Character Tip: What makes a character come alive for you when you read the work of other authors? It can vary. Sometimes a line or two of dialogue will help you “hear” and then “picture” that character. Sometimes a physical description will be enough for you to picture them and then want to find out what they get up to.

For me, I want to hear the character talk or think. From there I pick up their attitudes. I don’t need to like those attitudes. Especially when I don’t like them, I want to find out what makes the character that way and there is only one way to find this out – I read on. But working out what makes other authors’ characters spring to life can be a huge help when you’re creating your own.

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Know I’m not going to be popular saying this but I have booked my Christmas food shop slot! Yes, the year is speeding by and things like this confirm it.

What do your characters make of the passing of time in their setting? Do they regret it speeding by or does it seem to drag for them? There will be stories behind why they think the way they do here.

And if your setting is in another world where time doesn’t exist as such or there is something we’d recognise as time but which works in a different way from what we know here, again how do your characters response to this? How does it impact on their stories?

It’s another busy Monday so time to relax with a story, I think. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Family Tradition.

Gran introduces Sarah to a family tradition involving making cakes. Find out what here. I suspect we’ve all been here!

 

I suspect this is true for you too but I’m starting to get adverts etc relating to the festive season coming up in a couple of months. Now for me the timing of this too early. We haven’t had Harvest Festival, Halloween, Bonfire Night yet etc. But the thought of bad timing made me think this could be a good story prompt.

What would be a case of bad timing for your character and why? What would the consequences be (and there would be bound to be some!)? Why did your character get their timing wrong especially if it is not something they would usually do or if they were facing something or someone where they had to be punctual?

Bound to be stories to come from that thought. Now how to work out how to switch off the festive adverts for the time being…

Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday tomorrow and that is probably when I’m going to pick out another competition to try.

Also looking forward to catching up with writer pals on Zoom later tonight. Always good to catch up. Getting together by Zoom when other means aren’t possible is one of the few good things to come out of the pandemic, I think.

Flash Tip: When you’ve got your story down and you’re happy with the character and storyline, then and only then is the time to have a look at your word count. This ties in with your choice of phrasing because so often I’ve found I can reduce my word count a lot by simply improving my phrasing.

What matters is getting your draft down first and you will write whatever comes to mind first. It’s why I can’t stop myself writing what I know are my own wasted words but I do know I’ll get rid of them later so that’s okay.

Don’t break the flow of getting that draft down. The choice of phrasing is a fine tuning issue and that Is reason enough, I think, to treat drafting and editing as two separate things. I know I can’t combine them.

Goodreads Author Blog – Storytelling

Storytelling is one of the finest things humanity has given the world. To begin with it had to be done orally. Later came the books and serialisations in newspapers, the magazines etc. Later still came books all could access via the penny dreadfuls (it was an accurate description but they did get people reading) but, better still, via the library system.

Storytelling matters. It makes us feel human simply because it helps us empathise with others as we read what the characters get up to and wonder if, in their shoes, would we have done the same thing.

I love the way we now have so many ways to tell stories – in print, via audio and radio, on the stage (am off soon to see what I have no doubt will be another excellent production from my local amateur theatre company), on the screen (small and large. I loved the Peter Jackson adaptation of The Lord of The Rings – it brought the story to someone I know who would never read a book that size).

I like taking part in Open Prose Mic Nights when I can. It’s a great way for a writer to engage with their potential readers directly and I think it brings storytelling full circle.

I also get to “feel” (from audience reaction) to what works well, what works as I hoped, and which is okay but didn’t get such a strong reaction. That may mean the story needs more work or it just doesn’t work so well for that particular audience. Another one may react differently. You learn so much here.

And I love performing my stories here. I’d never act but performing here is the nearest I get to it and it is a fabulous way to share stories.

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Blog Tours and The Final Blog Tour Reviews for Seeing The Other Side

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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’ve had a good weekend. The blog tour for Seeing The Other Side ended on Sunday but it was a fabulous experience. Final blog links below plus I will be sharing soon a Chandler’s Ford Today post which looks at the advantages of these things for writers and will share all of my links in one handy place. Lady is doing well. The autumnal temperatures suit her well.

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Hope today has gone well. So enjoyed my swim today. Good to chat with friends there too. I once thought I’d use my swimming time to think of story ideas etc. Not a bit of it – I find my mind just empties and I focus on the swimming. Mind you, that emptying of the mind is incredibly useful, as well as the physical exercise. Writer’s bottom (it spreads!) is real, folks!

Writing wise, I’m ploughing on with enjoyable proofreading work, blogging, and I hope to get back to story competitions from the weekend. Am also putting finishing touches to a presentation I hope to share at an online group next month. Went to their meeting last night for a thoroughly enjoyable talk about an aspect of World War One history I didn’t know much about. History is a vast subject and perfect for fiction and non-fiction writers alike to write about.

Also it won’t be too long before my next author newsletter will be out again so will be working on that later this week. I’ve found adding to it as the month goes on makes it an enjoyable and less pressured way to get the newsletter written. It also gives me the option of adding in late items of news as has been the case for me lately.

To sign up for story links, tips and more, do head over to https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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Hope you have had a good start to the week. Quiet one in the park for Lady though hopefully we’ll catch up with pals, human and doggy, later in the week.

Meantime, it’s Monday, always a hectic day for many of us, and it’s time for a story. I share my latest on Substack, which went up on that platform yesterday.

Hope you enjoy On The Late Side. Look out for my YouTube story too this week as it follows on from this one (see further down) but both stand alone.

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13th September – last blog tour post Melanie Robertson- King – Celtic Connexions

The last blog post for the Seeing The Other Side tour comes from Melanie Robertson-King/ Celtic Connexions. Many thanks, Melanie.

I’ve had a wonderful time on this blog tour. A huge thanks go to Lynsey Adams of Reading Between The Lines Book Vlog for organising everything so well.

I’ll be celebrating good blog tours and book events for my Chandler’s Ford Today post next week so do look out for that. As well as sharing the blog links for my tour in one handy post here, I’ll also look at the advantages of such things for writers. It may not be relevant for where your writing is at right now but it may well become relevant. I’ve often found this to be the case for me as my writing has developed. Link up on Friday.

13th September –  Kaz Warrent

The week has whizzed by once again and now it is time to share the final two posts from the blog tour for Seeing The Other Side. First up is Kaz Warrent whose review is on Instagram though I share a screenshot of the review below. Many thanks, Kaz.

12th September – Val Penny Review
Hope the weekend has got off to a good start. All well here and I’m delighted with the latest review for Seeing The Other Side, which has come in from Val Penny. Just a quick extract here:-

This third book of flash fiction stories, Seeing the Other Side, by author Allison Symes is a long-awaited treasure and I was thrilled to be invited to join the tour organised by Lynsey Adams of Reading Between the Lines.

I write novels and in which an extra word or two is not an issue. Therefore, I am always in awe of poets and flash fiction writers who choose their words so carefully and can portray ideas and stories with delightful brevity.

Seeing the Other Side is a larger collection of stories that either of her previous books, From Light to Dark and Back Again, and, Tripping the Flash Fantastic. However the increased quantity has not diluted the sparkling quality. Each of the stories is a gem with an unexpected twist in the tale.

Many thanks, Val. Do see the link for more details.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Was delighted to receive my second order of Seeing The Other Side. It is a joyous moment when you receive your first lot of books. It’s an even better joyous moment when you receive a second lot through because you’ve had to reorder. So much a nice “problem” to have and I hope to have to put in more orders in due course, naturally.

Am so thrilled with the lovely reviews which came in for the book during the blog tour. I hope to have fun creating some graphics via Book Brush with some quotes from these to use later. I find Book Brush easier to use than Canva to be honest and like BB’s templates – there is a good range of these. But I need time to do that and I hope to have a look at this at the weekend.

Another busy Monday and so it’s time for another YouTube story from me. This one follows on from my story, On The Late Side, which was on Substack yesterday (see above) but both stories stand alone.

Hope you enjoy Blind To The Obvious.

Despite past history, will Dora finally believe Tom when he says he is trying to do the right thing by her? What will happen if she doesn’t? Find out here.

 

This week has been a thrill in terms of celebrating flash fiction generally via the blog tour for Seeing The Other Side. With that now ended, I hope to resume having a go at various flash fiction competitions. I know there is at least two I would like to try for before the end of the year and may well come across others before that.

I haven’t written so much for competitions this year, which I will try and rectify for 2027, but I think having a new book out, my first in six years, would count as a valid excuse!

One of the joys of flash fiction is there are so many more competitions available now and these can be a great way of getting your name and work out there. I’ve found competitions useful practice for writing to deadlines too, which also comes in useful for longer works!

Thrilled with the latest review for Seeing The Other Side which came in today from Val Penny. The blog tour concludes tomorrow but it has been a fabulous experience. See above.

I’ll be talking about Blog Tours and Book Events for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. As well as sharing the links to my blog tour in one handy post, I’ll be looking at the advantages of these things, especially the blog tours, from a writer’s viewpoint. I hope that will prove useful.

Often I decide on a topic for CFT based on what I know I would have found useful had it been around earlier in my writing career and this is one of those themes.

And, of course, I’m spreading the word about flash fiction in all of this too. Nothing to dislike there!

Goodreads Author Blog – Blog Tours

I’ve recently been on a blog tour for my third flash fiction collection, Seeing The Other Side. It has been a fabulous experience and generated some great reviews. It also spreads the word about flash fiction as a fabulous format to read too.

I write non-fiction too and often interview authors as part of their blog tours. I find it fascinating to find out what inspires them and their books. Blog tours are so useful in promotion, of course. I also feel such things also promote the joy of reading and enable more people to find out about more books and in genres they’d not considered before. All useful stuff.

So if you can support other authors on their blog tours, I’d do so. You will find you will end up reading more. This has happened to me. And it’s not as if reading more can ever be a bad thing, right?

Certainly checking out the reviews the blog tours generate has led to me discovering books new to me. Win-win here for the readers, I’d say.

MAILERLITE – ALLISON SYMES – NEWSLETTER SIGN UP

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WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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New Season, New Books and Blog Tour News

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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. BLOG TOUR POSTER FOR SEEING THE OTHER SIDE FROM LYNSEY ADAMS OF READING BETWEEN THE LINES BOOK VLOG. TOUR STARTS NEXT WEEK, 7TH SEPTEMBER 2026. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you’ve had a good weekend. Finally had some proper rain. Already the grass and plants are looking better. Looking forward to my book event for Seeing The Other Side at Salisbury URC on 5th September. Am hoping the weather stays dry for that one because while I’ll be indoors, footfall is better when it isn’t wet!

Facebook – General

Hope you’ve had a good day. Not bad here. Had the best swim in terms of distance since my fall. Really enjoyable. Okay, I’m not going to break any speed records right now but that wasn’t the idea and recovery continues to go well, I’m relieved to say. Being in the water has helped too.

Am delighted to share the poster for the blog tour for Seeing The Other Side. Many thanks to Lynsey Adams of Reading Between The Lines Book Vlog for this and to the lovely folks who will be hosting me soon. Am so looking forward to sharing the links.

Meantime I’ve a book event to prepare for on Saturday at Salisbury URC. Am looking forward to that too.

Also author newsletter out this morning. It’s a good reminder of how fast the year is going!
Hope to submit a story for potential broadcast later this week too.

Have enjoyed a bank holiday Monday (most of the UK bar Scotland has had one today, scary thought is the next one is Christmas!) enjoying the Classic FM Movie Music Hall of Fame.

Delighted to hear The Lord of the Rings soundtrack came in at No. 1 again. I voted for it but do feel it has everything – classical, choral, opera, Enya and Annie Lennox. What more could you want?!

Today has been a treat for the ears and Lady had a treat too – she played with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal for the first time in a while today. Both dogs so excited to see each other. It is so sweet to see.

Author newsletter out again tomorrow. Will share some details about my blog tour for Seeing The Other Side tomorrow. Lots going on. See above.

Meantime, and as it is Monday, it’s time to share the story I put on my Substack platform yesterday. Hope you enjoy my Menace.

Who will you sympathise with – Mrs Wilkins, Mrs Lake or my narrator?

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Hope the weekend has been a good one. Good to see some rain. Will be cracking on with flash fiction Sunday shortly.

Am making good progress on some proofreading work too. So looking forward to next Saturday’s book event for Seeing The Other Side at Salisbury URC. Will be writing about that for Chandler’s Ford Today this week too.

Have also got a couple of places where I’d like to submit some flash fiction so hope to start some drafts later today.

Character Tip: What makes you want to write about the character you’ve got in mind for a story? What is it about them that intrigues you? Are they “strong” enough to deliver the impact you’d like your story to have on potential readers?

I’ve mentioned before the first person the characters have to grip is you, their creator, but it is worth repeating. Usually with me I can hear a character’s voice in my head and something about their attitude/what they say is enough to make me think yes, this character has got sparkle, this one is definitely worth writing up.

Am delighted to be back on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers, with my latest post, Summer Writing. Do you find your writing winds down during the summer months? I find it is a season of peaks and troughs.

I find I need to take some time out to calm the buzz I have on returning from The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. A day or two later and I’m raring to go again. I don’t think the heatwave this year has helped either despite my following all the advice on hydration. There are times you need to step back and be kind to yourself. For me, summer is one of them.

I’ve always found lots of “little bits” of writing keep my creative mind “ticking over” until I’m ready for the full writing work schedule again. Writing flash helps here. I know I can get something written in, say, fifteen minutes. I feel better for having written something.

My post goes on to share ways in which you can use summer in your writing. I also associate summer with “light” so want “light” reading. Light reading I think is misnamed. Lighter reads can still look at issues but they are primarily there to entertain and I’ve never seen anything wrong with that.

Hope you enjoy the post.

Summer Writing

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Had some late news come in yesterday but am thrilled to say my Truth Hurts will be on CafeLit on Sunday, 6th September. It has been a while since I last had something on there so am pleased about this. Will share the link later this week.

Meantime why not check out the CafeLit website? Link here takes you to the Read Our Stories page. There is a great mixture here of flash fiction and short stories, across a wealth of genres, from newbie to more experienced writers. A new story appears at 4pm just in time to enjoy with tea/coffee and cake of course!

Had a lovely productive weekend writing. Have a draft ready for some polishing and then submitting later this week. Also received some good news about a CafeLit submission of mine – more on that tomorrow.

But as it is Monday, a busy one as always, it is time for my latest YouTube story. Hope you enjoy Plausible Deniability.

To be told you should master plausible deniability is one thing but does my character manage it? What cause could they have to want to do so? Find out here.

 

Have selected a competition to have a go at for some flash fiction. It’s the first time in a while I’m getting some stories out there but it has been so lovely to be focused on having a new book out and all that needs to be done around that. Thankfully, there is no use by date here though I hope to set up events relating to Seeing The Other Side later on.

Sometimes the competition theme will indicate a likely mood of a story, sometimes it is wide open, as is the case for the one I’m shortly going to be trying. So I will take a little time out to think about the mood of the story I want to write for that theme. I like to mix up writing lighter and darker stories. Suits my style and reflects my reading tastes too.

Flash Tip: It’s fun to mix up using first, second and third person for flash. I use all three, though the second is the one I use the least often. It can be highly effective though. Depends on how well your narrator comes across here so you do want a strong, interesting character to stand out here.

I found when I was writing more and more flash, I was falling into the habit of using the first person so have deliberately rebalanced to make sure I get plenty of the third person in too. Now when I’m thinking of a story, I will also convince what “voice” the story would work best in – first, second, or third. Some ideas naturally lend themselves to one so I will go with that.

How can it be almost September already? Well, that reminds me my next author newsletter will be out again next week. To sign up head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

I hope to report back on how my Salisbury event goes for the October issue but plenty going on for the September one, along with my usual story links etc. The newsletter is always a joy to put together and if I have one top tip for marketing it is to enjoy what you do. It makes it more sustainable for you in the longer run. It also means it doesn’t feel like a chore.

Flash is wonderful for sharing as part of an overall marketing schedule which is why I put stories regularly on Substack and YouTube. More to come on both of those platforms tomorrow and Monday.

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GOODREADS AUTHOR BLOG – New Season, New Books

September is just around the corner as I write this and is very much the start of a new season. I have a soft spot for autumn. I love the changing colours of the leaves and the one good thing about the darker, longer evenings is they do give you the perfect excuse to read and/or write more! (And if you can do that while drinking scrumptious hot chocolate even better!).

September in many ways is the kick off point for new books coming out. There will be lots of events in the run up to Christmas (and I’ll be holding some too for Seeing The Other Side, which is lovely. My last launch for Tripping The Flash Fantastic was in 2020 when everything had to be online. I’ve been enjoying getting out and about in person again and hope to do more of this over the next few months).

I also can’t think of a better way to welcome in a new season than to do so with new books or with books new to you, whether you buy them or borrow them. I’ve sometimes done the latter and then loved the borrowed book so much then went on to buy my own copy.

There is never a wrong time for new books and to treasurer the older ones.

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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The Joys of Book Rooms/Stalls

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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’ve had a good weekend. Much cooler, almost feeling autumnal now but this is most welcome. Am looking forward to the book blog tour for Seeing The Other Side in September, along with my signing event at Salisbury. I hope there will be more things to come here – more news as I have it. Glad that writing and my new editing job is going well. Like to keep busy and Lady can always help me fill my time too, I guess she sees it as her job!
Also, late news coming in, am so very sorry to hear of the death of Dolly Parton. A great singer and an even greater person. Her literacy work was amazing. Favourite songs? Hard to tell but I love Jolene, 9 to 5, her own version of I Will Always Love You (and I like Whitney Houston’s cover too), Islands in The Stream and so many more. She will be much missed.

Facebook – General

Hope the day has gone well. Had a gentle swim today. It was nice. Good to see some chums too. Still feeling bruised from my fall but am considerably better so hope another gentle week will put the rest to right. Thankfully, writing can be done sitting down, which helps a lot. Standing desks definitely wouldn’t be for me right now.

Writing wise, I’m getting back into my pre-Swanwick routine. Have prepared some non-fiction pieces and scheduled those ready to appear later this month/early September. Have almost finished drafting my September newsletter. Would like to have a crack at a flash competition this weekend I think. It’s been a while since I last had a go at one. Always good to keep your hand in!

Want to resume working on my long term non-fiction project later on in the autumn. Picked up some useful thoughts for it while at Swanwick and want to put them into practice but know I need to clear my diary a bit for that and October is likely to be the earliest for that.

Mind you, that will be here before we know it. It’s a matter of time before we see the adverts for the festive chocolates and it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re already out, says she, sighing heavily!

Hope you’ve had a good start to the working week. Not bad here. Cooler and pleasanter, both Lady and I appreciated that.

But it is Monday so it’s time for my story which I first shared on Substack yesterday. Hope you enjoy First Home. If you think to do lists are a good idea but struggle to stick with them, this one may resonate.

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Hope the weekend has been a good one. Much easier walking the dog now the temperature has gone down a few notches!

Will be working on flash fiction Sunday shortly. Good to be back to that again. Had a lovely chat on Zoom with fellow writers last night. Great way to spend a Saturday evening.

Don’t forget it won’t be long before my next author newsletter is out. To sign up for news, tips, stories and more do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Newsletter Tip: I make a point of sharing tips which will be of use to other writers in mine (and even more so when I have lots of news to share about what I’m up to, as is the case at the moment). I want readers to find the newsletters useful as I know the majority of my subscribers are fellow writers.

I will sometimes share links to articles I’ve written elsewhere given these can be a good summary of the topic for the month for the newsletter. And I do this because I subscribe to a number of author newsletters myself. Love them and these kind of “useful bits” for readers is what drew me into them in the first place and keeps me subscribed to them.

I’ve found it pays to draft the newsletter a bit at a time as the month goes on so there is no rush to get it out on your chosen date. I draft a lot of things as I go during the month as it is so it made sense to do this for the newsletter too.

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Will be nice to have a quiet weekend. August has been pretty hectic though the combination of a family wedding and The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick is a smashing one!

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at The Joy of Responding To and Setting Writing Exercises for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Plenty of tips as you’d expect. Link up on Friday.

Writing exercises are great for stretching the creative mind. Many of mine end up as finished work, published in print or online or both. Others I know I won’t take further but I am never sorry to have had a go at the challenge in question.

Sometimes it is a case of this particular exercise not being the best for me but until I gave it a go, I wouldn’t know. Sometimes even there the spark of the idea I had I can use in another story. Little is wasted in writing. It might take a while for you to use it but the prospect is there.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Nice time in the park with Lady earlier though I suspect we’ll catch up with human and doggy friends once the new school term starts. Holiday times can be a bit odd like this. You don’t see your usual crowd. You do see people you wouldn’t normally come across.

And a bell in the back of my head is telling me there are flash fiction stories to be written about that thought!

Fancy a go?

Meantime I’m looking forward to taking part in some writing exercises I’ve set with members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group tomorrow. I sometimes draft an exercise response in advance to give an example but I don’t always do this. Sometimes I write live on the night with the others which I hope to be doing again tomorrow. It’s good fun!

It’s Monday but at least it isn’t as hot and sticky as it was a couple of weeks back. Still time for a story though. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – The Perfect Recipe.

Mum has found the perfect recipe for a cherished family dish but will a certain blonde brat agree? Find out here.

 

One of the joys of having fun with what Vistaprint has to offer writers is getting to update my business card. It is one of the most useful things a writer can have on their book event table. People do take them and I attribute spikes in my Kindle sales to people taking these and looking up my books later on.

I’ve taken the chance to have thumbnails of all three flash collections of mine on my updated card, plus my latest author photo, plus my website details on the front. On the back I’ve gone for a simplified version of where you can find me online.

As well as sharing them at my recent book launch at Swanwick, I’ve had opportunities to give them out elsewhere since then including on the train home from Derbyshire. I do usually keep some on me on the “just in case” principle. It has been nice to act on that principle recently!

Looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group this coming week too. Have set some fun exercises and plan to do them myself on the night.

It’s a great way to get more flash written and I love “live” writing exercises. Always an enjoyable challenge.

Am looking forward to joining the good folk at Salisbury URC for my book signing event there on Saturday 5th September from 10.00 am to 12.30. See the link for more info.

Am pleased to say September will be a busy month as the blog tour for Seeing The Other Side also happens then from 7th to 13th September. More details to come on that.

I hope to set up some local (to me) events but will come back on that as and when I have something set up. Having my own card reader now is going to make life easier here.

Looking forward, as always, to flash fiction Sunday tomorrow. Am so glad I responded to the CafeLit 100 words challenge all those years ago. Three books later…

Saturday September 5th, 10am-12.30 Meet the author

Goodreads Author Blog – The Joys of Book Rooms/Stalls

I’ve not long returned from one of the highlights of my writing year – The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. This year was even more special as I had my book launch for my third flash fiction collection, Seeing The Other Side, there. It was a huge success. I sold two-thirds of my stock at the event.

Later the same day, I took part in an Open Prose Mic Night, read from my new book, and then discovered the next day in the Swanwick Book Room, the rest of my stock had been sold. I’d also sold copies of my earlier flash collections, From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping The Flash Fantastic. To say I was thrilled would be a considerable understatement.

I make a point, when at events, of always going to their book room/stalls etc. As well as contributing to what is on offer, such things give me a good chance to browse the works of other authors. I nearly always come away with purchases and love getting them signed for me by the authors in question.

Much as I find the ebook useful, this is where I think the paperback will always win. There is something special about getting a signed copy of a book from its author (and even more special when you’re doing the signing on one of your books – I wish I could bottle that feeling!).

I’ll be having a signing event at Salisbury URC on Saturday 5th September to celebrate my new book. They have a regular book stall there and it will be good to support that (and their coffee shop) as well as have my signing event.

Books and book rooms bring people together and, as an author, I relish the chance to chat with potential readers too. Books and stories are special. Chatting to readers directly is also very special and I hope promotes the written word more too.

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Swanwick 2026 and Book Launch for Seeing The Other Side

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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 The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, Gemma Owen-Kendall, Liz Pacey and Babs Trevitt for images from Swanwick which feature in my Chandler’s Ford Post this week.
Hope you’ve had a good week. I’ve spent some of it thinking back to what I was doing at Swanwick the previous week! Been lovely to get out and about with the dog and to go swimmimg again. Also, hooray, we’ve had some rain here and it is a lot cooler.
Next big event for me will be the book signing for Seeing The Other Side in Salisbury on 5th September and not long after that there will be a blog tour for the book. All good!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Now this was a post I’ve been looking forward to sharing. My post on Chandler’s Ford Today this week is Swanwick 2026 and Book Launch for Seeing The Other Side.

I celebrate both events in this post and I share a mini diary of what courses I went to on which day. That alone will show the wide variety of topics on offer and there were many more I could easily have chosen.

Plus I celebrate the thought of catching up with writing friends, which is the focus for many a Swanwicker when we get back to The Hayes again.

I look at the launch, the benefits of it being held at the school, and how taking part in Open Prose Mic Nights can help with book sales too, as well as being great fun to take part in and listen to.

Hope you enjoy the post.

Swanwick 2026 and Book Launch for Seeing The Other Side

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Hope today has gone well. Was on the final leg of my journey home from Swanwick this time last week. (Thursday 13th August – one of the hottest days ever for travelling!).

Delighted to say Seeing The Other Side is now available through Waterstones. Just spotted it on there. Am also looking forward to my signing event at Salisbury URC on Saturday 5th September.

Writing wise, I’m also busy with editing work, as well as the writing. I may well try to draft something for a competition over the weekend. It’s time I put my hat in the ring for one of those again.

Writing Tip: Schedule as much as you can, it takes the pressure off. I use quieter periods during the week to draft future articles etc and, once done, get them scheduled. I put a note in my diary a week or so before it is due to go out to just run though the posts again. There are always little things to pick up and correct.

For fiction, use the quieter times to draft flash and short stories. The time away from them will help you see them again with fresh eyes and again should help you pick up errors. While you can’t schedule stories as such, you can do a lot of prep work which then frees up time for a thorough edit (rather than a rushed one) later.

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Hope your day has gone well. Not bad here. Gentle swim earlier.

Will be sharing Swanwick 2026 and Book Launch for Seeing The Other Side on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Looking forward to sharing that as it is a celebratory post for both sides of that equation! See above.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group next week. It was good there was a contingent from ACW at Swanwick.

Don’t forget it won’t be that long before my next author newsletter is out. Writing one of these is a sure fire way of spotting how quickly the year passes! To sign up head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

I share tips, news, story links and more here.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Having a quiet end to the week, which is proving soothing. Mind you, not that I allow my characters to have a soothing time of it, far from it. As well as loving creating characters, I do enjoy dropping them right in the mire and then finding out what they do to get out of it again. The best characters will find a way out.

Having said that, I don’t drop my characters in it for the sake of it. The situation they face is something well within the bounds of likelihood given who they are, where they are and so on. Everything should seem as if it could be true even if it is set in a galaxy or other world far far away etc.

It is the characters who have to be believable in terms of their attitudes, behaviours and their reactions.

Such fun to create, mind you!

Pleasant day and a quiet one. Was an idiot earlier in the week and had a fall. All okay but am feeling somewhat (a) bruised and (b) sorry for myself so am focusing on writing. It takes the mind off other matters. Writing is useful like that at times. It’s also nice not to have to go anywhere but I do wish there’d been a better reason behind it! I hope to resume things like swimming next week.

Plodding on (literally in my case!), am pleased to be resuming my normal writing routine. Sometimes after a break it can be hard to get back to normal again, but not this time. It’s like putting on the perfect pair of gloves – am straight back into what I’d usually do again. And a break can be useful to help recharge the batteries, inspire you (as was the case for me with Swanwick) and more. All of that can be used to help your writing for the longer term.

It helps a lot to think about your writing in the longer term. I’ve found it easier to cope with rejections by taking the longer term view, for one thing, because I know now something which is rejected today may, with work, be accepted by someone else later. That has happened to me a fair bit. It helps to know often rejections aren’t due to what’s wrong with your work but because the market has recently accepted something similar or they’ve gone off a certain theme for a while.

Mind you, after a break, it still pays you to look at the piece again. What can be done to improve it? What alternative markets could there be?

Good luck!

I have various ways into starting a piece of flash fiction. Sometimes I know the character first and therefore the kind of situation which would suit them best. Sometimes I know the theme and then work out what kind of character would best suit it.

Sometimes, of course, I’m giving a topic to write to so I list what could come from that and then go with the one which makes me really want to write the tale up. I use prompts of all kinds.

My focus though is on the character. For me they make or break a story. If I’m gripped by them, I’ll read on no matter who or what they are, where they are based, how many claws they have etc.

Creating characters has always been a great love of mine and in short form fiction, you get to do this a lot. Match made in heaven I’d say.

Fairytales With Bite – A Fairytale Event

What would characters in your magical setting consider to be a fairytale event? What would the fairies themselves consider to be worthy of note, given the magical business is their daily bread and butter, so to speak?

What one character would consider to be a fairytale event would be thought of in opposite terms for another character. So why the opposing views and which one would be right given they can’t both be?

Now I’ve just returned from what I consider to be a fairytale event, The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick which was made even more special this year given I had the launch there for my third flash fiction collection, Seeing The Other Side. These moments stand out in a writing life because you know they happen every so often. They cannot by their nature be everyday things.

So what would be magical moments for your characters and why do they feel this way? Was it something they’ve had to work for or has someone else helped them? (In my case it was both. I wrote the book obviously but the school organising launches was a real blessing for me and the other eleven authors who had launches there this year).

How often could these magical moments happen for your characters or are they always one-offs? Also, is there someone who wants to crash the party here? There’s always a jealous one somewhere in the fairytales. Good source for story ideas though.

This World and Others – Events in the Magical Realms

What events would your magical realm hold? Are they similar to events held elsewhere – on magical worlds or not – or are the events you share in your setting unique to that setting? What do your characters make of the events? Is it compulsory for all to go to these things and, if so, how is that enforced, given there is bound to be a rebel or two somewhere?

Are there historical connections to the events your world holds? We have things like Remembrance Sunday. What would your world want to commemorate? What would it definitely want to forget?

Would your characters take part in your world’s equivalent of re-enactments? The best ones of those are spectacularly good and do bring history home to people so what would your world do to ensure the “right message” got through here.

And when the events are over, and folk are returning to their normal life, do they ever consider what the events meant to them or are they just glad the whole thing is over?

Not everybody likes a show and there are story ideas there too.

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Reworking Stories

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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 few days. Cooling down a bit for which Lady and I are grateful. Just over a week to go to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick as I write this – so looking forward to it.
More behind the scenes admin going on with Seeing The Other Side too including the fact it is now up on the online bookshop for the Association of Christian Writers. Having your books on there is a perk of membership and it is so nice to have my new one there.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to share Reworking Stories on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I look at why all writers have to accept the need to rework and why I believe getting your draft down, resting it, and then having another look at it later is such a good idea.

For short form writers, the rest period doesn’t necessarily need to be that long, but you do need to get out of “creator mode” and in more analytical “editor mode”. How long that takes will depend on the length of your work but it is the best way I know to give myself enough distance to be able to judge a piece of writing objectively enough.

On the plus side our laptops and PCs do make reworking easier to do. I did use to have to paste and cut literally. It wasn’t fun! I also look at the challenge to the writer here and it really is a question of ensuring you can judge your work objectively. I also share tips for reworking stories I continue to find useful.

Hope you find the post helpful.

Reworking Stories

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady briefly saw her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal earlier – both dogs delighted to be reunited briefly. I was out early for an early swim which was lovely. Am thankful it isn’t as hot as yesterday but it’s still a bit too warm for my (and Lady’s) liking. Feel very sorry for the wildfire fighters.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Reworking Stories on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. Mind you, even if you just write non-fiction, reworking your drafts comes into play for you too. I share thoughts and tips.

After that I’ll be interviewing Scottish crime writer, Val Penny, who also knows more than a thing or two about reworking stories! Indeed, I can’t think of any author who hasn’t had to rework something and often more than once. I do know that’s the case for me. Hope you’ll find tomorrow’s post useful.

And my next author newsletter is out on Saturday too. Plenty of news to share this time.

Pleased to share my latest post on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This time I discuss Getting Together with Other Writers, which is apt as it is just over a week or so before I head to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick.

I share something of what I’ve learned over many years of meeting up with other writers, not least of which is making many fabulous friends. That alone is reason to go to writing events when you can (and the online ones are also valuable here).

Hope you enjoy the post and you have a great time at any events you go to over the next few months. If you’re plucking up courage to go to one, I would say go for it because we were all nervous newbies for these things. I remember my first event years ago on the Isle of Wight but I ended up having a lovely time and I met the lady who went on to become my publisher many years later. Neither of us could have known at the time.

It is amazing what you can learn from a writing event and, talking of which, I’m also looking forward to meeting up with members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group later this evening. That was good fun too!

Getting Together With Other Writers

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope the day has gone well. Won’t be writing much (if at all) tomorrow given I’ll be at a family wedding. It has been a long time since we last had one of those…

Don’t forget my author newsletter is out again tomorrow. A huge thank you to my subscribers for their support. I share news, tips, and more including story links so you get to have a good read. To sign up head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

What has been especially nice about the newsletter about to go out is having much more news to share. It’s always wonderful to share publication news and I am so glad Seeing The Other Side is now out there.

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Nice task today. I’ve been preparing the copies of Seeing The Other Side I’ll be taking to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick in just over a week’s time. Some jobs you just don’t mind doing…!

Am also getting on with further “admin” for my new book, the results of which I hope to be able to share later on.

Incidentally, if you are thinking of getting the paperback via a certain online retailer, please ignore their delivery date guidelines. You will get the book quicker than they say. All that happens here is they receive the order for the book, they let the publishers know, it gets sent on to the printers, and lo and behold a couple of days later you will get your book.

I should add the online retailer does do this for all of the independent presses and it can be a pain. What I think is forgotten is with print on demand, which all of my books are, is there is no stock as such. You just order and pay and then you get your book. At worst case, it may be a day or two later but that should be all.

This way of working is also greener because you’re not printing more than is needed. Neither are there warehousing or distribution costs as such. It is a huge factor in what makes the independent press viable.

The ebook, of course, you will get immediately.

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Delighted to say my Seeing The Other Side is now on the Association of Christian Writers online bookshop. It is one of the perks of being an ACW member and one which is appreciated.

Many thanks to the ACW webmaster, Annmarie Miles, for making this happen. And do check out the ACW bookshop. There is a huge range of fiction, non-fiction and devotional works on there, representing very well what ACW members write. We are a broad church, aptly enough.

Seeing the Other Side

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Fairytales With Bite – Ending The Beginning

When and how do your magical characters take off, so to speak? Where is the point where they have ended their training and are ready to start the magical life “properly”? How do they get on? There could be some good stories around rookie mistakes here. Bound to be some. Most professions will have these so why not the magical ones?

Are your characters glad to leave the training behind and get on with their lives or are they nervous about it? What support do they have? Are they willing to avail themselves of that support?

Where your characters have had training, do the institutions concerned follow up on their previous students or leave them to it? Are they ever proud of their former students? Also, would they have something like mature students? Learning is life long after all (or should be).

In the case of a quest story, where is the point when the story really takes off, the characters know there is no going back, they have to press on to whatever conclusion awaits them?

At some point, the beginning has to end. It will be here your characters begin to mature and come into their own lives. Same as for us, really, but there could be great stories here.

This World and Others – Society Forming

Does your setting focus on a magical or a science-fiction like basis? Or could the two co-exist? Why has your society developed in the way it has, whichever route it has chosen to be the predominant way through for most of their citizens?

What are the advantages to your society forming the way it has? Have there been any aspects it has regretted “dumping”, presumably out of necessity to develop what was the most important things for the society to function in the desired way?

Talking of which, who did make the decisions to take the society in a certain direction? Which of your characters (present or in the past backstory) decided this world will be a magical or science based one? Were they ever challenged? Were their decisions right or not? There would be good stories here.

I could see if characters were unhappy in the way the society was heading, they might want to try to change that. It happens here after all and both fantasy and science fiction reflect humanity with all of its merits and woes.

If your society is mainly a magical one, how would a character who wants to go down the science route as we would know it do this? Would they be ostracised or encouraged? (Some might see the point in having a balance at both magic and science, especially if you know there are things magic cannot do).

Interesting thoughts to explore, I hope.

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New Stories and Opening Lines

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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’ve had a good weekend. Quiet one ahead of two busy ones coming up. Cooling down, even had some rain, but more is needed. Feel sorry for those fighting the wildfires.
Writing going all okay. Set up my card reader so it is ready to use – it was easier than I thought which was nice.

Facebook – General

Hope today has gone well. Is becoming hotter again so am being careful with the dog again. Having said that, she’s fine but she’d like the thermostat turned down a bit, as would I.

Writing wise, my next author newsletter goes out on 1st August (Saturday!) and I’ve plenty to share this time, of course. I also share story links to my work on Substack and YouTube and offer writing tips and advice. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

There’s nothing quite like writing a monthly newsletter to bring home the thought the year is whizzing by.

In other news, I’ve just heard my Bridport Prize entry won’t be going any further. On the plus side, this means I can have another look at this tale when I have more time and see if I can send it somewhere else. I’ve done this before and sometimes a piece has found a home on the second go around.

The writing life is full of ups and downs but you do get used to this. You learn to make the most of the up periods when you have them too!

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Another busy Monday so that means it’s time to share here the story I shared on my Substack platform yesterday. Both this story and the YouTube one I’ll share on my book page shortly are based on a blue hat. Two stories out of one object? Oh yes! Also both are at the 75 words mark. Hope you enjoy both of them but first up from Substack is my The Blue Hat.

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Many apologies but I forgot to share my Authors Electric post from just over a week ago but I am pleased to share it now. I talk about New Stories this time.

I know why I forgot. I’ve been full of the publication of Seeing The Other Side, of course, but this post looks at the joy of having new stories to share for things like Open Prose Mic Nights and the like. I like to mix up new and old stories and the moods of those tales for events like these so there is a good balance.

I also look at the advantage of reading work out loud even when it’s not for an audience. I continue to find it can be a great editing tool. I’ve often spotted things like missing words doing this and they can be the devil to spot precisely because they’re not there but when you read out loud, that is when you suddenly realise the gap.

Hope you enjoy the post and, again, apologies for the late share.

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Hope your weekend has got off to a good start. Have finally invested in a card reader for book events and have now got it set up and good to go. Regardless of what the tech is, I know from experience it pays to give yourself plenty of time here! Still all seems to be okay and it will be lovely to be able to offer card payment facilities at book events.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Reworking Stories on Chandler’s Ford Today next week. The week after that, I hope to be sharing a super interview with Val Penny so do watch out for that. And then after that I’m off to Swanwick again – the year whizzes by.

Review Tip: As with any author with books out there, I will put in a plea for reviews. They don’t need to be long. They do need to be honest. One line reviews are absolutely fine and a good tip here is to think about what you liked most about the book and go with that. These make for excellent reviews. Reviews do help authors more than it might appear at face value so please do give a review.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased Tuesday has been somewhat calmer than Monday. Enjoyed a lovely swim earlier too. I remember thinking when I took swimming up seriously I could use this time to work out story ideas etc. Not a bit of it.

You focus on what you’re doing – rightly so – for one thing. I also find you tend to “switch off” which is lovely and I am sure that does refresh me, mentally speaking, for work at the old desk later in the day. I can’t recall writing any flash fiction based around the swimming world. Hmm… will have to rectify that at some point.

But things like swimming, going out with the dog etc can inspire story ideas even if they don’t seem to do so directly. I’ve spotted, say, a striking hat being worn by someone and “pinch the hat” to use for a character of mine who I know would just wear something like that.

Sometimes objects you see while out and about can be a great trigger for a story idea. (And there is always the random object generators to fall back on too. Plus don’t forget the photos on your phone. What view did you take a shot of which could be used as a story setting, say?).

Happy writing!

Monday – busy, hot, my least favourite day of the week as you may well have gathered by now. Mind you, it does mean it’s story time.

Hope you enjoy my The Return. As with my Substack story this week (see above), this video also features a blue hat but I take a very different take on what can be done with it in this tale.

One person’s bargain from a charity shop is another one’s horror story. Find out more here about what possible bargain this could be.

 

Will be getting on with flash fiction Sunday in a short while. Am also looking forward to catching up with members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group on Wednesday too. Will be hosting another group for ACW the week after and then I’m off to Swanwick so next couple of weeks will be delightfully busy.

Flash Tip for Specific Word Counts: Now this is a specific tip if ever there was one! I’ve found it useful to look at what 50 words, 100 words etc looks like on screen/paper. It gives me a visual aid as to what I should be aiming for here. I then draft my stories, knowing roughly what it should like to get to the desired word count.

I always go over the limit but then go through and cut out my wasted words which brings the count down. I wish I could stop myself writing those wasted words in the first place but it doesn’t work that way for me so I go with the flow here, happy in the knowledge these things won’t be in the story for long.

Looking forward, as always, to flash fiction Sunday tomorrow. Nice way to wind up one week and to start another one.

I do miss writing for Friday Flash Fiction and haven’t yet found somewhere suitable for me to submit regularly. It was that aspect of regular submissions I found most useful for FFF. Am sure I will find somewhere eventually. (Am also sorry Flash NANO is no longer about).

Having said that, I am enjoying posting stories to Substack and YouTube and will continue. Incidentally I do share all of my links to my stories on a monthly basis via my newsletter so you can easily see them all in “one hit” there so to speak.

I never mind doing this kind of marketing! I want there to be something in it for a potential audience and there is something lovely about sharing stories.

GOODREADS AUTHOR BLOG – Opening Lines

I enjoy creating intriguing opening lines for my flash fiction and short stories. Great fun to do. I also love reading intriguing opening lines. They do keep me reading on, which of course is the whole idea. The tricky bit though is in working out what will be intriguing to a reader given tastes vary.

Having something different which can indicate an interesting time period or setting is a good way to start. The classic one here is from Orwell’s 1984. The thought of a clock striking thirteen is fascinating.

But irony as in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is also a wonderful start. It leads to wondering whether the premise of that opening line (which I won’t give away here and in any case I am sure you know it) will be delivered on. The only way to find out is to read the book.

I must admit I have a soft spot for stories, including my own, which start with dialogue or a character’s internal thoughts. You get to have a feel for the character’s attitude and from that what might come further on in the story just from this alone.

A successful opening line then is one which makes you read on to the finishing one. You can write the most amazing finish to a story but unless the opening is equally fantastic nobody will get to the end and that’s the challenge every fiction writer faces. It’s a cracking challenge though!

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Summer Reading

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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 all is well. This week has been dog friends reunion week as Lady has caught up with her two closest chums. All of the dogs were delighted by this.
Writing is going well and I can confirm I will be having a blog tour for Seeing The Other Side which is likely to be in September.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share Summer Reading on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. A light post for a lighter time of year, I think.

I ask what you would think of as the perfect summer read, share some of my thoughts on that, and discuss holiday books. I also put in a shout for flash fiction and short story anthologies, perfect for when perhaps you haven’t as much time to read as you’d like as you fit in reading around everything else including holiday schedules.

I discuss reading time and reading outside (which I should do more often) and celebrate the fact books are great value and explain why.

I also hope the recent announcement of Queen Camilla’s gift to Year 6/P6 children will encourage further reading. More than half the battle is getting people, of all ages, to read for pleasure and it is when you start that, you are in with any chance of keeping what is a fabulous habit going.

Hope you enjoy the post and do share your summer reads in the comments box.

Summer Reading

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Hope your day has gone well. Lady caught up with her Hungarian Vizler pal again today and I managed another in person book sale (not to the Vizler before you ask though she is a very intelligent dog!).

Writing wise, I’m sharing Summer Reading as my Chandler’s Ford Today post tomorrow. Hopefully it will prove to be a good summer read! See above.

Have carried out some more admin for Seeing The Other Side. It has been a while since I put in an order with a well known printing firm! Fun to do, mind you.

And it won’t be long before my August newsletter goes out. To sign up for news (and I do have quite a bit this time!), tips, story links and more, do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

As ever, a huge thanks for the support.

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Another lovely and cooler day. Lady saw her Rhodesian Ridgeback chum again today and both dogs had a great time. Lady is somewhat tired, but in a good way.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Summer Reading on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. In early August, I’ll be sharing another super interview. And I hope to write up about this year’s The Writer’s Summer School, Swanwick and my book launch for Seeing The Other Side later in August. It may be the summer holidays but there’s still plenty going on.

I was delighted to have the opportunity to read one of my stories from Seeing The Other Side at my Slimming World group yesterday, with the consultant’s blessing. The story, Spring, relates to Slimming World though anyone who has ever had someone scupper their slimming plans, intentionally or otherwise, will identify with this tale. Am glad to say the reading went down very well and it was fun to do.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I like mixing up the mood of the flash and short stories I write. Mind you, this reflects the thought I like to mix up the mood of what I like to read. I love humorous fiction but appreciate the need to see the other side of life in my other fictional reading at times. It keeps a good balance, I think. Equally I don’t want grim all the time!

Reading does inspire a lot of what I write from the classic fairytales onwards. Reading widely in and out of your genre, including non-fiction, feeds the imagination more than you often realise. I’ve drafted many stories where I realise afterwards where the influence came from. Often it is from a story I read a while ago which has come into my subconscious and has either inspired how I’ve developed my character or their setting.

So read more and be inspired more!

Flash is wonderful as a writing exercise. It is a great “warm up act” for those writing in the longer forms. It can also be a lovely “mini break” from those longer forms. But it can also be a published form in its own right, as I can testify.

Sometimes I’ve taken a flash piece and then expanded it into a longer short story (two different markets here). It is a remarkably flexible form despite the upper word count limit.

And of course I’ll always appreciate it as it has given me a way into having published books with my name on them out there. I am so glad I responded to the CafeLit challenge all those years ago to produce a story in 100 words! I guess this is also an object lesson in being open to trying new forms of writing, sometimes at least.

I hope to start looking again at flash fiction competitions after I go to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick in August though I do know of one already I am probably going to try given I’ve had a go before. Good deadline on it too – I have until the end of the year!

I also plan to start getting a fourth collection together, probably later in the autumn as I have the material. It will be a question of honing that material and editing it thoroughly before I even think of submitting it and that stage always takes longer than you think. So my thought is to start work on this probably in October.

I’ve various things coming up between now and then, family and book related, but having a new book out does make you keen to get another one “on the go”!

Fairytales with Bite – Magical Characters

I love writing about magical characters. My favourites are dragons who will not let anything or anyone disturb them and their nest and fairy godmothers who happily dispense justice on the arrogant or prove they’re not over the hill yet, thank you. Great fun to write about but it isn’t the magical element which attracts me most here. It’s the attitude!

Mind you, combine that attitude with magical powers and the sparks can really fly and I love reading, as well as writing, stories which shows this.

I do think your character has to be special enough for you to want to write their story up. The magic they have is just one aspect of their overall personality which they use or misuse, according to your plot. I also like magical characters who work hard to improve their powers, just as we have to work hard to have any chance of passing exams etc. I think that kind of thing makes them more relatable.

I don’t want characters who just fire off magic just because they can (and the same goes for our world where there are those who would just fire weapons because they can). There have to be reasons why they would just do – the essence of the story will be found in those reasons why, I think.

This World and Others – What is a Normal Magical Life?

Just what is a normal magical life?

For any non-magical being, the magical world is going to seem odd. It has sources of power not known elsewhere. To those who live in such settings though, magic wouldn’t be odd at all. There would be “normal” magical usages and those times when it isn’t being used correctly for whatever reason. A good reason would be someone abusing the magical system to gain further power for themselves. We do it here too. We just don’t use magic to do it.

So give some thought then if you are using a magical setting, what your characters would consider normal. What would be the signs to them something was going awry? To most of the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings, a good sign would be Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry not coming back from a walk. It would’ve been noticed they hadn’t come back.

For the characters themselves, when would they realise they might to improve on their magical skills because trouble is coming? How quickly could they do this? Also give some thought to someone using magic when they wouldn’t usually use power like that. It rarely bodes well!

If you have a non-magical being living permanently or otherwise in a magical setting, what would they get used to as being part of a normal magical life? How would they recognise when something was wrong?

Story ideas there for sure!

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