Tag: Authors’ Reach

Author Interview – Introducing John Puzey – Captive Audience

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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 John Puzey and Richard Hardie (Authors Reach) for author and book cover shots and logos for my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. Fab interview with John too – check it out. Link below.
Hope you have had a good week. Am looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers event in Egham on Friday and Saturday, though I am only going up for the Saturday. Will be good to catch up with friends again. Lady and I remain unimpressed but not surprised by the weather.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Glad to share a fabulous interview with John Puzey about his new book, Captive Audience. If you love history, do check this interview (and the book) out.

John was inspired to write this by old letters written by his late father who was a prisoner of war in World War Two. The topic of the book is on an aspect of history not often considered. To find out more, and John’s thoughts on writing and acting (he is a member of our local amateur theatre group, The Chameleons), do see the interview. It is a good read.

Talking of The Chameleons, I’m off to see their next production soon too. They are staging The Ghost Train written by Arnold Ridley of Dad’s Army fame. Am looking forward to seeing this.

Author Interview: Introducing John Puzey – Captive Audience

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Hope you’ve had a good Thursday. No pals in the park today but Lady had a good time anyway.

If you love history, fiction, non-fiction or both (as I do), do check out my interview with John Puzey about his book, Captive Audience, for Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. His book looks at a very different historical aspect to World War Two, one which I’ve not come across often, and is inspired by letters from his late father who was a prisoner of war. Link up tomorrow. See above.

John will also be sharing thoughts about his writing life and whether his acting career (via our local company, the ever excellent The Chameleons) has any basis for his approach to creating characters. Fascinating stuff. Definitely worth checking out.

Hope the day has gone well. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal today so was pleased about that.

I’m looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting tonight. Always fun and we get some flash fiction drafted so win-win. It’s also a good chance to catch up with people’s news too. Due to unforeseen circumstances have had to reschedule this meeting for next week but the rest of this paragraph still applies!

Also enjoyed replying to a very nice email about the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event in December. Looking forward to that one too!

Don’t forget my interview with author John Puzey about his fascinating Captive Audience is on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. His book looks at a historical element to World War Two from a very different angle to those often considered here. More on Friday. See above. I found it fascinating finding out how his acting and his writing impact on how he sees characters but do check the interview out.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest drabble, That Sinking Feeling. The sharp-eyed amongst you may well spot a connection between this story and my YouTube story earlier this week (Achievement). Hope you enjoy the FFF story too.

Just why is Jill facing a nightmare of a washing up pile and what does Cinderella have to do with it all?

Find out here. 

Have needed to reschedule the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting for next week but that will suit more people and I look forward to that then. These things happen. We’ll be looking at festive flash and will have plenty of time to get some drafts done in time for this year’s season.

One joy of flash which I know I’ve mentioned before is because it is character led, you can set those characters anywhere you want. I do try to take full advantage of that, which is why I’ve written historical flash, crime flash, fairytale flash and much more. Why limit yourself? The only limit I have to contend with is the 1000 words upper limit and you can do a lot with that.

Don’t forget the last ever Flash NANO is due to start soon (1st November). Even if you’ve taken part before, you will need to sign up for this one. Details below. Am looking forward to taking part again. Have always enjoyed the range of prompts. It’s a good challenge. Why not give it a go? The screenshot shows the page when you “click to join”.


Fairytales with Bite – Turning The Tables

One aspect to fairytales I have long loved is that the tables are turned on those deserving of it so every often. The rude prince gets turned into a horrendous beast until true love sets him free. The decrepit old man or woman turns out to be a powerful magical being in disguise and are inevitably trying to test someone’s character. That someone doesn’t always pass, at least immediately.

The story which follows is inevitably about how they do get to pass eventually and who helps them to do so. It’s a story trope which won’t date. For one thing, most of us enjoy a happy ever after ending but where the characters have to work at it to deserve and get that ending.

Turning the tables is a fabulous theme and doesn’t just apply to fairytales of course. But I do see this theme as a major one in fairytales and fantasy. One of the joys of the fairytale world is the “bad guys” do usually get their comeuppance though who the ”bad guys” are is up to you. It’s what I loved about the Shrek films. The ogre, the traditional baddie, isn’t the baddie here – and it works. Shrek has a convincing story.

So give some thought as to who you need to run the tables on and why. Have fun in making this happen! I love writing characters who get their just desserts. But there has to be good reason for why they deserve this. Else it won’t be believable. We need to see your characters doing the kind of things which will lead to them being brought to book. It is such fun to write though.

This World and Others – What Does a Magical World Not Expect?

A magical world is unlikely to be caught out by much I would have thought, but it is not impossible and it can be fun exploring that thought. Would science, as we know it, be a threat to such a world? How could it threaten magic? How would the magical world discover a threat like this existed? What would they do to try to prevent it “polluting” their world? Who or what could possibly introduce it?

Even if an “outside” threat doesn’t exist, give some thought as to what your setting might not expect. This could include such situations as a lowly character, not supposedly able to produce powerful magic, finding a way of doing so. What would be the consequences of that? There are always consequences! Also how does the character do this and did they have help?

Arrogance is a key weakness in so many villains which would make it possible for other characters to take advantage of that and come up with the unexpected. So how would your characters bring about the unexpected and what help do they get to achieve it?

Can magic be used to fight magic here or does the defeat of the villain have to happen by non-magical beings, something which would not/could not in usual circumstances be expected to happen? Could “outsiders” be a key element here? (Nobody expected hobbits, of all beings, to defeat Sauron in The Lord of the Rings, did they? I also refuse to believe that’s a plot spoiler now either!).

MailerLite – Allison Symes – Newsletter Sign Up

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Author Interview: Francesca Tyer – Part 1

Leave a comment
Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Many thanks to Francesca Tyer for supplying author and book pictures for the first part of her fabulous interview on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Another hot few days but Lady and I have been keeping as cool as possible. Delighted to share Part 1 of a great interview with Francesca Tyer, YA fantasy author, who is part of the Authors Reach stable. Wide ranging questions and more to come next time too.
I’ve talked before about interviewing characters to find our what they’re made of – it is a fab idea, I’ve used it many times, but don’t forget to ask open questions so “they” can’t answer with a simple yes/no. You want your characters to have to explain “themselves”.

I have interviewed characters before now

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to welcome Francesca Tyer, YA fantasy author from the Authors Reach stable, back to Chandler’s Ford Today. This is the first part of a fabulous in depth two-part interview. This week Francesca and I discuss inspiration, poetry, writing follow on books, writing routines, and much more. Hope you enjoy it and I look forward to sharing Part 2 next week.

Author Interview – Francesca Tyer – Part 1

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It was so good to go swimming today, I can tell you! Pity I had to get out again but there you go. Can’t have it all.

Don’t forget Part 1 of a fabulous interview with Francesca Tyer is live on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday – will put the link up tomorrow. See above. Looking forward to sharing that. More interviews to come later in the month too.

Looking forward to running another flash fiction workshop in early July. Then there will be the Book Fair at The Hilt. And after that I will begin my official countdown to when I go to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, which is the biggest highlight of my writing year. It will be so good to catch up with friends (and hopefully make new ones) there. Am also looking forward to running my editing workshop there.

Towards the end of the year will be the Bridge House Publishing celebration event and I am looking forward to that too. So plenty going on, writing wise, which is how I like it.

Oh and I should have news to share about online magazine Writers’ Narrative fairly soon too.

May be a doodle

Hope you have had a good day. More breeze today which Lady and I have welcomed.

On Friday, I’ll be sharing Part 1 of a wonderful two part interview with Francesca Tyer. She is a YA fantasy author whose third book, The Earthstone, will be out soon. This is the follow up to The Firestone and The Seastone.

We’ll be discussing what led Francesca into writing YA fantasy, her love of poetry, her writing routine, and she shares some useful tips and there is much more besides. Looking forward to sharing the link later this week. See above.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to share Anniversary, my latest 100 word story on Friday Flash Fiction. See what you think about Helen, my lead here, and her take on anniversaries.

Screenshot 2023-06-16 at 18-35-04 Anniversary by Allison Symes

I often ask myself questions as I’m outlining my story. I want to quiz my characters so I know what they’re made of and it reminds me why I want to write about these people/other creatures of choice in the first place. I ask myself whether my title would lure me into reading the story if it were written by someone else. I also ask what is in this for the reader?

The last question is a good one. It helps me to focus on what matters for my characters. It encourages the ruthless cutting out of any purple prose and to ensure my wasted words (very, actually, and that are the worst) have been removed.

May be a doodle of text that says "I ask myself questions as I write my first draft."

I like to keep my titles to the point. Often when I’m entering competitions, I’m conscious I need something that will “hit” the spot immediately. After all I’m trying to hook the reader into reading the rest of the story – in this case the competition judge.

I want my title to help the story stand out and give it a better chance of a placing. For those competitions where the title is part of the word count allowance, I have an even more powerful reason to keep my titles short. I want to save the majority of the word count allowance for the story itself.

The role of the title is to set the scene for what is to come in the story. It should be a good lure!

May be an image of text that says "Engrossed in a good book? Read for longer than you meant to? Ãh good. The hooks worked then."

Fairytales with Bite – Magical Extremes

What are the ranges of magical ability in your setting? What would count as magically “low” ability and “high” ability? Is this dictated by the character’s background? Can your characters improve what they do or are magical educational establishments only for the privileged few? Is this something that has been inherited or are your characters seeking to change the system?

Talking of systems, is there an agreed definition of what would constitute “bad/evil” magic and which would be considered “good”? Is anything banned and what would happen if someone broke that ban?
How has your world discovered what works and what doesn’t here?

The past history here might not make it into your story but it will colour your characters’ views and behaviour. That can change your plot. So it is worth working out what you need to know here. It will add depth to your characterisation knowing X is doing Y because….

BookBrushImage-2023-6-16-20-70

This World and Others – Climates

Your setting is likely to have more than one climate. As well as the geographical variety, and there will be different regions with different temperatures etc., think about what the political climate could be like. Everywhere has some sort of political elite so what form would yours take? Do your characters come from that elite or are they against it? How interested in politics are your characters? If they’re disillusioned, why would this be?

If your setting has a religious element, there will be a climate there too? Is is a moderate one or an extremist type? How does that play out?

Class and social status can have a major effect on the kind of climate your character lives in. If they’re lower down the social scale, how does poverty affect the kind of climate they live/work in? Are there tensions fuelled by poverty in and around them? Can your characters work to improve things here?

If a character is within a family unit, what kind of climate exists there? Is s it a loving one or does your character struggle to fit in? Why would that be? Personal climates will affect attitudes and actions of your character too.

BookBrushImage-2023-6-16-20-151

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
Flash with Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Twitter Corner

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Writing Likes – and a Dragon Story

Leave a comment

Facebook – General

Who do you like to write about most – the heroes or the villains?

I think there is some truth in the saying that villains are more fun to write (and indeed act out) but the challenge for writing for the “good guys” is to ensure they’re not worthy but boring.

This is where the device of the character flaw(s) for the heroes and where the villain(s) being shown to have understandable reasons for being the way they are comes in.

However, this can become cliched in itself so the challenge then is to create characters, bad or good, where the reader can “root for them”. They’ve got to grab the reader’s attention and hold it (even if it is a case of the reader really wanting the character to get their comeuppance).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook – General – and Cafelit

My latest flash fiction story, Time For A Change, is now up on Cafelit. If you like dragons, you’ll like this one.

Also pleased to say another flash fiction story, Progressing, will soon be part of the Waterloo Arts Festival Writing Competition anthology. This will be an ebook. I’ll share further details when I have them.

Is it Time for a Change for the dragon in my story on Cafelit? Image via Pixabay
Are knights in shining armour all they’re cracked up to be? Image via Pixabay
The scrivener’s tools – image by Allison Symes
The medieval scrivener usually had reasonable accommodation. Image by Allison Symes
I wonder how many dragon stories are in here! Image via Pixabay
Finding time to follow social media is difficult so pick the one or two you like the most. Image via Pixabay


Facebook – General

My CFT post for this week features an update from Richard Hardie, author of YA novels, Leap of Faith and Trouble With Swords, regarding his Authors Reach group.

I’ve discussed the importance of networking in previous CFT posts. Groups like Authors Reach will become increasingly important given writers are banding together more to support one another in marketing, holding events no one author could do alone and so on.

The post also shows you shouldn’t underestimate the time and effort needed to get your work “out there” regardless of whether you are in a group or are on your own. Writing the book really is the beginning…

What every author would like to achieve or set, yes? Image via Pixabay
Nobody gets their ideas right first go. Image via Pixabay.
The To Be Read pile. Image via Pixabay
Love that clock. Pexels image.
I don’t always write directly to screen. Image via Pixabay
Lost in a good book. Image via Pixabay.
Seen on a desk near you… image via Pixabay
Authors Reach logo kindly supplied by Richard Hardie
Technology has helped short story writers. Image via Pixabay
Richard Hardie who also supplied the image.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I’ve talked before about having to have a title to work to when I’m writing a story. However, this doesn’t mean the title I initially come up with is set in stone.

Quite often a better title becomes apparent as I’m drafting the tale so I change things to suit. I don’t know quite what it is about having “something” to start with – perhaps it it is the literary equivalent of giving myself a head start!

All I know is it works!

 

Stories are magical and inspire other stories. Image via Pixabay.
A huge but lovely library. Image via Pexels
Books are fabulous, whatever the format. Image via Pixabay.
Like being able to store so many books! Image via Pexels
Doesn’t look comfortable to me. Pexels image.
The ultimate smartphone maybe?! Image via Pixabay
Books have their own sense of time and space. Image via Pixabay.
Unless in a thunder storm or high winds, this is a good idea! Image via Pexels
Books invite you into their world. Image via Pixabay.
May require help turning the pages. Pexels image.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I love story titles which can take you in all sorts of directions. My latest story on Cafelit, Time For A Change, is a good example of that. A title like that can mean your setting is on Earth, in any time or place, or out there in the depths of the known and unknown universes. The only limit is your imagination.

I love this Pixabay image of a dragon. There’s something about those eyes… (mind if you did get so close to such a magnificent beast, I doubt if you’d have chance to study the eyes much!).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Well, I hope you might look at dragons in a different light if you read my Time for a Change story on Cafelit yesterday! (Will share the link again shortly).

One thing I love writing is taking an often maligned character – say a dragon! – and show a story from their angle. I like to look in general terms as to why a character might act the way they are and, a lot of the time, you can end up feeling some sympathy towards a kind of character you might otherwise have felt nothing but antipathy towards!

I also believe knights in shining armour aren’t necessarily all they’re cracked up to be either! Some knights don’t need armour in which to shine either..

The delights of the open page. Pexels image.
Love this bookmark! Image via Pexels
What wonderful worlds we can creat! Image via Pixabay.
What worlds could there be out here? Image via Pixabay
Gorgeous covers. Image via Pexels.
If your story grips you, all sense of time will go! Image via Pixabay.
Heading to the light. Image via Pixabay.
What lies beyond the shore…. ideas for stories? Image via Pixabay
Remembering… image via Pixabay
A good book will illuminate some truth. Image via Pexels
Hard at work. Pexels image.

 

Goodreads Author Programme – Blog – What Defines a Good Book for You?

A good book, as far as I’m concerned, has to:-

1. Have characters I care about (though I don’t mind if some are “slow burn” characters so I grow to care about them. I am prepared to give them time but I feel cheated if by the end of the book, I haven’t been made to care about the characters.).

2. Have characters I can get behind and either “root” for their success or, usually if a villain, hope they get their comeuppance. (I do love finding out how they do!).

3. Give you a sense that the author has said all that has needed to be said but oh how you wish there was more of the story because you enjoyed it so much.

4. Give you a sense of a wonderfully created world, leaving the way for prequels or sequels, whether or not the writer actually does write these.

5. Have a gripping plot, obviously.

6. Have an easy to remember blurb. It makes it easier to recommend the book to others because it gives you the main point, which drew you to reading the book in the first place.

7. Have a title that intrigues or you can see a few different directions in which the title could take you. That opens up all sorts of possibilities for the story itself and makes me want to crack on and read it!

8. If within a really popular genre, such as crime or fantasy, being able to offer something different to the “mix” so the book stands out.

9. You could see a decent film being made out of the plot as long as the movie people stick to the plot of the book, given it is so good.

10. You want to re-read it at least once a year. Always a good sign that.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.