Tag: Book Fair at The Hilt

The Writing Life and Competition Placing News

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. One image of me demonstrating flash fiction was taken by Penny Blackburn at Swanwick 2024 and the image of me taken at the Book Fair at the Hilt 2023 was taken by my lovely Chandler’s Ford Today editor, Janet Williams. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Had a lovely time at the Book Fair and was then delighted to find I’d won third prize in a competition (more details on that below and a link to my story). I had known about the competition result a little while ago but was waiting for my story to appear before saying more. But all in all a good weekend. Lady has made a good start to her week too by seeing her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals.

BookBrushImage-2024-10-22-20-1357

Facebook – General

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to play with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback friends today and the rain mainly held off until we were all back home so we’ll take that as a win!

Looking forward to seeing I’ll Be Back Before Midnight, which is the latest production from The Chameleon Theatre Company. Will be meeting my lovely CFT editor Janet Williams, there. I always see these things as CFT “works outings” and a good time is had by all. Can’t wait for the Chameleons pantomime – it is always good fun – oh yes it is! – and that will be with us before we know it.

Writing Tip: If you’re writing for the Christmas market, you left it too late for this year but you should be in good time for December 2025. All magazines take in their Christmas material during the summer (and some earlier than that, always check but their websites should make what they want and when by clear) but the good news here is given we all know Christmas is coming year on year, there’s nothing to stop you preparing and polishing your material and sending it in good time for the next one.

This also acts as a reminder to me – I usually prepare flash fiction stories for the festive season towards the end of the month. Good fun to do, perhaps especially so as the darker nights draw in.

464284301_10162352307677053_1635558922221870116_n

A huge thank you for all the lovely comments, likes etc regarding my post yesterday about coming third in Esther Chilton’s flash fiction competition. All much appreciated and catching up with these was a lovely way to start what has proved to be a dull, dreary Monday! (Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal so she has got off to a great run around the park Monday).

Am delighted to say I’ll be welcoming Debz Hobbs-Wyatt to Chandler’s Ford Today for a super two part interview beginning this Friday. Debz talks about her new novel, If Crows Could Talk, but shares so much good advice and tips relating to writing, editing, the writing life etc, it is, I feel, a must read, wherever you are at in your own writing journey. Link up on Friday.

Will be a busy couple of weeks on CFT as I’m off to see The Chameleon Theatre Group’s latest production, I’ll Be Back Before Midnight, later on this week and a review will follow in due course. Plus I will share a write up about the Book Fair at The Hilt. So plenty to look forward to writing up and sharing. A new writing week beckons – time to get stuck in!

464240156_10162349579597053_5369256382132747140_nCompetition Placing News: Am thrilled to say I won third prize in Esther Chilton’s flash fiction competition which she set up at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Word count was a maximum of 250 words. Definitely my territory!

Hope you enjoy my Catching Up (see link) and many thanks, Esther, for the kind words beneath the story.

Third Placed Story – Catching Up

19th October – Book Fair

Good to be back at The Hilt for the Book Fair. The sun even came out, always useful for any event.
As per last year, there was a good number of authors and genres represented. I plan to write more on this for a future Chandler’s Ford Today post but it was lovely catching up with authors I met last year and to meet new people.

Do support any writing events local to you. That support is always appreciated. And you may well be pleasantly surprised to find out just how many talented authors you have in your midst!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Almost time to start thinking about festive flash fiction, folks. Now in fairness if an idea occurs to me earlier in the year (and it often does) I will write the story up and put it aside. This is useful for any fixed event. It will be interesting and fun to find out if Flash NANO, starting on 1st November, throws up prompts I can use for festive flash this year. Will report back!

464150532_10162352309122053_8182550517772300368_nIt’s Monday. It’s been dull, damp, and dreary in my neck of the woods. Not much natural light at all today. Time for a story then.

Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – The Hairbrush. Now what could possibly go wrong handling and using an old hairbrush? Find out here.

 

Looking forward to my Sunday flash fiction afternoon (and it’s especially nice having come third in a competition this week, see my author Facebook page for more on that – also see above). Given it’s wet and stormy outside, the idea of writing away in a cosy room is even more appealing! Hope the weather isn’t too horrendous where you are.

Looking forward also to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Wednesday. Plus I’m off to my local theatre company’s latest production on Thursday. I enjoy their shows but I especially love those “little moments” in their plays which tell you something more about the character etc. I like to think of them as flash moments!

464061794_10162346176887053_3245492783491129070_nPleased to spread the word about flash fiction at the Book Fair at The Hilt today. This year I took part in the talk slots which were on offer.

My approach here is to share a little about what flash fiction is and to then share some stories. The best way to demonstrate flash is to read some!

The nice thing here is I can mix up the style and mood of the tales I read.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Goodreads Author Blog – Book Fairs/Events

I’ve been at a couple of book related events over the last fortnight. Both were great fun and it was especially nice to catch up with fellow authors.

It is so nice not having to explain the urge to write and, of course, the one thing which unites us all is our overwhelming love for books.

I’ve inherited my love of books from my late mother who read to me regularly and encouraged my own reading. Book events are great opportunities to bring books to people and make them aware of what is available in their own area.

So if you get a chance to support events like this, please do. Books – we need to spread the word!

Screenshot 2024-10-19 at 18-03-07 Allison Symes's Blog - Book Fairs_Events - October 19 2024 10 02 Goodreads

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the bumper January/February 2024 edition of the magazine. I ask Flash Fiction Romance: Is it Possible? I also look at New Beginnings for Characters.

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Twitter Corner with hashtag, Scrabble tiles, and the blue bird

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

Brainstorming and Spreading the Word about Flash Fiction

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.
Hope you had a great weekend. I had a lovely time at the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering writing event on Saturday in Rugby. Plan to write more about that and supportive writing groups for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Do look out for it. I’ll be sharing some tips on what to look for if you’re thinking of joining a writing group. Lady has had a good start to her week, seeing her best pals. Always comes home looking so happy when she’s met up with them.

BookBrushImage-2024-10-15-19-4856

Facebook – General

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal again today. Two happy dogs went home.

Will be sharing a bonus Chandler’s Ford Today post tomorrow advertising the local Book Fair. Do look out for it (and the event itself is this coming Saturday, 19th October. More details in the post tomorrow and if you can come along even better).

Writing Tip: Every so often have a brainstorming session. Jot down ideas for titles, opening/closing lines etc. It’s good fun, a great creative exercise, and later once you’ve reviewed what you’ve come up with, you will find something you can work up later. What’s not to like about that?

463194217_10162333244492053_4781891059878262517_n

Has been drizzly and murky here but Lady didn’t worry as she got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. Good time had by all.

Will be writing about the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering and Supportive Writing Groups for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I’ll be sharing useful tips for what to watch out for when you’re thinking of joining a writing group. Link up on Friday. More author interviews to come soon too.

Hectic day today so won’t be getting so much writing done today but Mondays are always like this for me and I more than make up for it during the rest of the week. What I do on Mondays is focus on little “bits and pieces”. I can tick some of those off my writing to do list at least. Makes Mondays a bit better for me!

463270484_999554918851036_116990171191685620_nHad a fabulous time with the Association of Christian Writers yesterday. Will be writing more about that for Chandler’s Ford Today this week but it was just marvellous getting together with people I haven’t seen in person for some time. Regards to all and I hope you all had safe journeys home.

Have spent this afternoon copying over various pieces of writing I managed to get done on the train journeys – did more than I thought. Good use of time that!

Will be back to editing and judging later today, once I’ve written and edited some of my flash pieces.. Am almost there on the story judging and plan to get results back to the writing group this week. It’s a lovely task to do and many thanks to the writing group concerned for inviting me.

Will have some news to share later in the week about my being judged for one of my stories too. I’ve often been on both sides of the editing fence at the same time but this is the first time I’ve been on both sides of the competition judging one!

Screenshot 2024-10-13 at 19-41-28 ACW - The Association of Christian Writers

12th October 2024

Am on my way to the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering at Rugby.

Looking forward to seeing everyone, the talk by Paul Kerensa, and the workshops. Will be a long but excellent day. I hope to write about this and the value of supportive writing groups for Chandler’s Ford Today next week.

Have seen dawn rise as I travel. Very nice but also proof the mornings are darker for longer. Will be pitch black when I go home again.

462600183_10162324443207053_156471981236138464_n

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Will be spreading the word about flash fiction at the local Book Fair this coming Saturday 19th October. I’ll be sharing a bonus Chandler’s Ford Today post on this tomorrow with more details. But it has been great last weekend and this coming one to be out and about on the book stands once more.

 

It’s Monday. It’s been more hectic than usual for me so I too am glad to take time out for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – The Day Out. What on earth Could Vera have done to make headlines in her home world? Find out by following the link.

 

I was glad to share the benefits of flash fiction yesterday when chatting with various people at the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering. The ACW group leaders who were present invited people to join them to discuss what their group does as the last event of the day.

I waved the flag for the online groups given the Flash Fiction Group could never get together in person, we live hundreds of miles apart, and there are a number of ACW groups like this now which have formed to cover different genres. With Zoom distance isn’t a problem though wifi connections can be at times but that’s tech for you and I found out long ato there is no such thing as the totally perfect system.

One major benefit I was keen to share about flash fiction is it helped me to get my head around the whole idea of show, don’t tell. I have got to get my characters to show you what you need to see because I don’t have the word count room to do otherwise. This is no bad thing though and it has benefited my other writing, even my blogging, because I have learned to write “tight” with no wasted words or anything that could be construed as padding!

462937063_998680788938449_22563826469131963_n12th October 2024
Am on the train today and as I travel I get glimpses of “other lives” especially as I go through the towns. Could any of that inspire flash fiction? Oh yes.

As well as Kipling’s Serving Men of who, what, where, when, how and why coming in handy here, my favourite addition of what if will also help me develop ideas. If you don’t like outlines as such, but need something to get you started on flash or other writing, all of these questions are brilliant places to start. Often I find just a one line answer is enough to trigger the ideas.

462881188_10162324444567053_3044863834906394857_n

Goodreads Author Blog – Special Book Moments

I’m sure all of us have special book moments when a story just “clicks” with us. I love those moments.

I recall studying Pride and Prejudice at school and remember loving it so much I read it again immediately at home. My mum loved Jane Austen and this novel remains a comfort read of mine. I had an excellent English teacher (Miss Mackenzie) who brought to life for me the fabulous use of irony in this book.

As for Terry Pratchett, my first Discworld novel was Jingo. Loved the cover and blurb. Hooked by the end of page one! Naturally had to read the rest of the series after that.

As for The Lord of The Rings I was intrigued by the hobbies and Gandalf from the start so naturally kept reading.

Books are so special anyway but are even more so when they give you fabulous memories too.

Screenshot 2024-10-15 at 20-03-28 Allison Symes's Blog - Special Book Moments - October 12 2024 00 01 Goodreads

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the December 2023 edition of the magazine which looked at Finishing Strong, always an apt title for an end of year issue. I looked at Finishing Strong in the Short Fiction Forms and shared a separate piece under the Writing Group of the Month section about the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group which I lead monthly. Much to enjoy in this issue and it really won’t be long now before the magazine is back!

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Twitter Corner with hashtag, Scrabble tiles, and the blue bird

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

Author Interview: Behind The Curtain with Anita D Hunt

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 Anita D Hunt and Lynsey Adams for pictures supplied for the Chandler’s Ford Today post this week.
Hope you have had a good few days. Torrential rain and brief spells of sunshine here. Hoping it brightens up for the weekend as have a family event. Writing wise, have more superb author interviews coming up on Chandler’s Ford Today in October. Will say more nearer the time though I find it hard to believe we’re almost at the tenth month of the year already! Where has the time gone?

BookBrushImage-2024-9-27-18-5850

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

As part of her blog tour, I am delighted to welcome fellow Swanwicker, Anita D Hunt, to Chandler’s Ford Today to discuss her new domestic noir novel, Behind The Curtain.

Anita shares many useful tips and plenty of great advice in this in depth interview, in which she also discusses how it can be painful getting inside your characters’ heads at times and what to look for in a writing group.

She looks at what she likes about creating characters and how Cornwall, her home county, plays a major part in her work. She discusses themes and shares an invaluable tip about writing blurbs. Do check out the interview and settle down for a riveting read.

Behind The Curtain with Anita D Hunt

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Glad to say the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom last night went well. The theme was marketing (many thanks to Rosemary Johnson for suggesting it) and I shared a few ways flash fiction can help with this.

If nothing else, sharing flash fiction stories every now and again can act as a marvellous advert for the rest of what you do. It doesn’t take long to read, it entertains potential/actual readers, and it showcases you/your work. Nothing to dislike there, I think.

And talking of marketing, it’s time for me to put in my usual end of month reminder about my author newsletter. The next one goes out on 1st October and I share stories, tips, advice (based on what I’ve found useful myself), news etc. If interested do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com where you can sign up. A huge thank you too to all of my subscribers here and on my YouTube channel.

Thought for Today: Every writer has their fair share of rejections, not doing well in competitions etc, but there’s nothing to stop you revisiting your old work, seeing if you can polish it up and get it out somewhere else. I’ve had work published that way.

Sometimes I will review a piece and with the benefit of time and that useless aid, hindsight (I would far rather have the ability to spot something wrong at the time I’m working on a piece and see my mistakes before I send anything out!), I can see why a piece failed but even that can be useful because I’ve learned from it.

So maybe hindsight isn’t so useless after all. I would still prefer foresight or at the time sight though! Suspect most of us would.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Hope you have had a good day. Lady has had a smashing one given she got to play with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. I’ve managed to avoid most of the rain today too so will take that as a win.

Don’t forget I’ll be talking to Anita D Hunt about her domestic noir novel, Behind The Curtain, on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. The interview is packed full of useful tips and advice too so do look out for it. See above. Glad to say there will be more author interviews to come on CFT in October too.

Writing Tip: I know some writers dread marketing and would far rather focus on writing. I understand that but there are creative aspects to marketing your stories too. After all the challenge here is to make what you have to say here about your work interesting and appealing to readers and not switch them off. (Saying buy my book all the time does do precisely that).

I’ve found if I can make the marketing fun for me to do it is more likely to be appealing to a reader. Sharing something of interest and/or value to readers/writers as I discuss what I’m up to writing wise is also marketing. I think it is more likely I can keep this kind of marketing going too.

My aim with posts like this one then is to have a chatty informative style, while sharing useful tips and something like oh by the way my newsletter is out soon, if you want to sign up head over to etc etc. I take the view if it is something I wouldn’t mind reading if I were on the receiving end, other readers (or at least some) will take the same view.

So work out then what you like to see in marketing you receive. Figuring out what works for you as a reader will help you come up with material based on your work you won’t mind sharing with your readers (and they won’t mind it either). The focus has to be on engagement, I think. Stories about your writing life work well too.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s Friday, end of the week time, weather iffy so definitely time for a story then. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – The Old Bat and The Cookie Tin. Think I’ve found a contender for one of my all time favourite titles!

Screenshot 2024-09-27 at 10-09-12 The Old Bat and The Cookie Tin by Allison Symes - Friday Flash FictionHope you’ve had a good day. Lady didn’t get to see any of her pals today though she hopefully will tomorrow. Have a family event at the weekend. Lady loves these because (a) she loves people, (b) she loves getting extra food and getting to be an outside Hoover, and (c) she loves playing with the visiting dog, with whom she gets on brilliantly. Am expecting Lady to be shattered on Saturday night. She was last time but happily so!

Looking forward to the local Book Fair in October and literally the week before the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering event. I shall be off to Rugby for that one and will be back to London in December for the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event. Lots going on all connected with writing and I plan to enjoy every minute! I also get to spread the word about flash fiction of course.

Prompt Idea: Events mean different things to different people so why not invent one for a character of yours and show what they make of it? Do they organise it? Do they love it? Do they dread it? What happens at this event which changes things for them?

461332721_10162283069397053_7196259478840081979_nI’ve mentioned before the importance of using the right telling details to help your readers picture your world/setting/character/any combination of those. In my The Terrified Dragon (Tripping The Flash Fantastic), I start with the line The dragon was surrounded by angry humans with weapons and realised to his dismay he was supposed to blast them all away.

Note I haven’t told you what those weapons were as that isn’t the important thing. What you need to know is the main character is a dragon who has got into trouble (which is odd in itself given dragons are usually the cause of fire-related trouble!). You need to know about the angry humans (and you don’t need telling why they’re angry given a dragon turning up is seldom good news).

But you also see something of the dragon’s attitude. He knows what he is meant to do but is strangely reluctant to do it. There is something strange about this creature. Only way to find out what is to read on. Job done.

I’ve always found it useful to figure out what a reader has to know and then decide how I am going to plant those things in the story. When I’ve outlined my character well enough, I can see how the story will develop and where those things should go. It will arise naturally, which is what you want.

BB - Flash with a Dash for TTFF

Fairytales with Bite – Flying Around

Now I know I moan about traffic in my area – I suspect most of us do – but what would this traffic look like in a magical world? How is the Eye in the Sky supposed to work when all around them are flying on broomsticks and other magical craft?

Would there be speed limits? Would there be corridors magical flying beings are supposed to stick to (if only to give the wildlife a half decent chance of being able to fly anywhere in safety? I feel sorry for birds in magical worlds. In any other kind of world the skies would be theirs. Not in this kind of environment it isn’t!).

Now we all know there are certain kinds of car driver (usually with specific brands of vehicle too) who are notorious for tailgating, jumping traffic lights, being awful at junctions etc. What would the magical equivalent of these things be in your setting? How is flying traffic controlled or is it a free for all and it is assumed the fittest/fastest/strongest survive and it’s tough luck on the others? What are the accident rates?

Are the state of the skies in your setting better than they used to be or worse? Can any magical being fly? Are the “vehicles” restricted to certain speeds?

You could have some funny stories here about the magical traffic cop and how they rein in anyone who breaks the rules here. I once wrote a festive flash piece where such a character tried to pull Santa over for speeding! Great fun to write.

BookBrushImage-2024-9-27-19-3546

This World and Others – Policing the Skies

Linking in with Fairytales with Bite, who does police the skies? How seriously or otherwise is this role taken? Does it get the support of the general public or it is looked down on? Are there any perceptions that certain flyers (e.g. witches and wizards) get away with traffic faults and other more lowly kinds (such as the trainee fairies etc) do not?

Who does control the skies in your setting and how do they do it? We consider keeping control of our own air space as vital to our defences (as proven by the Battle of Britain in World War Two) so I would assume your setting’s government would take the same view.

Who would they need to defend their skies against? What is the history behind that? What is the history behind how your government does police the skies? What have they found works well and what less so?

I quite like the idea of a traffic cop on a broomstick with a flashing blue light pulling over other magical beings for speeding etc. What punishments can be given? How are other magical beings stopped from avoiding these and/or giving the cop a hard time?

Story ideas here (and possibly funny ones too).

BookBrushImage-2024-9-27-19-4222

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Since marketing has come into this round up tonight, I thought I’d share the link to the September 2023 edition of the magazine given it has marketing as its theme. I have two pieces in here – Marketing Your Books and Writing For Online Magazines.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Twitter Corner with hashtag, Scrabble tiles, and the blue bird

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.

Characters Who Surprise and Unexpected Reviews

Leave a comment
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 weekend with the flash fiction workshop on the Friday and the Book Fair on the Saturday. More about the latter to come in my CFT post this week. Hope you have had a good weekend too. Lady has been busy catching up with her girlfriends so she has had a nice time too.

BookBrushImage-2023-7-11-20-4747

As well as selling my books, I was selling books I've contributed to - those went well too

Facebook – General

Changeable weather today – managed to avoid the rain. I got wet instead thanks to a swim! Much more fun.

Reading wise, I’m now back on the non-fiction after reading a hugely enjoyable crime novel. (And there were good examples of both kinds of book at last weekend’s Book Fair too).

Writing Tip: Never expect perfection from a first draft. It’s not what the first draft is for. I is just where you get the story down. Then you can work on improving it. It will need improving. All stories do. But unless you get that draft down, you won’t see where to improve it. And take comfort from the thought that every fiction author is in the same position here!

May be an image of text

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to see her two favourite girlfriends today – good time had by all. Busy day after a lovely weekend but then Mondays are always like that.

Can you remember the first character (or an early one) that took you by surprise? Mine was The Little Mermaid from Hans Christen Andersen. (Definitely not the Disney version!). Why? It was news to me that fairytales did not always have a happy ending. Okay, be fair, I was a kid at the time but that was a useful lesson, even if you don’t realise it is one at the time.

Another story which captivated me early on was The Snow Queen. The girl is the hero in this one! I loved that (and still do). Bearing in mind I grew up a long time ago and that kind of thing was a novelty, trust me. (It’s why I always have had a soft spot for Lady Penelope from Thunderbirds as well).

To this day, I have an even softer spot for the feisty female lead in a story who knows her own mind and acts on it, whether she gets it right or not.

May be an image of 1 person and text that says "She may be a historical figure but you will have to know her era well enough tell her o convincingly. to"

Met a fellow dog walker in the Recreation Ground today. No surprises there but she bought From Light to Dark and Back Again from me at the Book Fair yesterday. She came over and said, with a big grin on her face, she’d read the book this morning and she felt I had a “wicked sense of humour”! As I replied, that is a review! (Oh and guilty as charged here by the way. Not at all sorry!).

Looking forward to sharing a write up of how things went at the inaugural Book Fair here for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Will be an especial pleasure to share that one!

Oh and a huge thanks for the great comments coming in on Flaky, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. Much appreciated. If you didn’t get chance to spot this one, do check out the link (and check out the other stories too. You’ll be in for a good read).

 

Had a fantastic time at the book fair at The Hilt today. It was lovely to meet fellow authors, some I knew, others I didn’t, but we all got chatting to each other and to the many people who came. I’ll be writing more about this for my Chandler’s Ford Today post next Friday but it was a great event and I hope this does become a regular thing. Many thanks to the organisers, to those who kept the writers well supplied with tea and coffee etc., and to all who supported the event.

It was nice to finish my day with a meal out with family. Much appreciated. I never mind not having to cook!

Writing Tip: Never worry about your first draft being rubbish, They are kind of meant to be. It’s the editing which will polish the work and make it better. Do see the writing and the editing as two separate creative tasks. They each have their challenges and I find if far easier to keep the two tasks separate. I need to know what my story is and what really matters before I can do any editing work on it. (Oh and this ties up with the writing tip given above but I can’t stress this point enough. Write first, edit later. It really does pay.).

May be a graphic of text that says "The writing is the obvious fun side to do but editing has its creative side too."

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Many thanks for the lovely comments in on my post yesterday regarding Counting which is my latest tale on YouTube. Much appreciated. These videos are great fun to do and are another way of highlighting what flash fiction can be. Who says marketing can’t be fun?

Was at an interesting Zoom talk last night and it flagged up another source of research. For me, non-fiction has often sparked ideas for stories.

Why? Because you often come across intriguing characters and events in non-fiction. You can ask yourself what would your character do if they faced something similar. If in real life a personage did Action X, you could explore alternative history stories here by getting your character to do Y instead and work out what the consequences would be.

May be an image of text that says "Non-fiction fiction can have hooks tσσ- information of use to areader."

It’s Monday. The weather’s changeable. It’s still Monday. It’s time for a new story from me on YouTube. Counting is a result of a random number generator prompt where I generated three numbers in sequence. Thought I’d put them all into a tale and mix them up, apt for this story especially.

 

So nice to see authors I knew and those I met for the first time yesterday. Plenty of networking went on at the Book Fair (which is how it should be too).

One aspect to flash which might be overlooked is, if you’re not sure where to start with writing, the short form is a great place to begin.

Why? Well, for one thing, you’re not overwhelmed by the thought of having to come up with 80,000 to 1000,000 words for a novel. Also, with work, practice, and persistence, you can get stories submitted and hopefully build up publication credits which you could then list in a query letter to a publisher/agent when you are ready to submit a longer piece of work somewhere.

I mentioned a few times yesterday that writing flash has helped with my other forms of writing. You don’t just tighten up your editing in one form only here! The skills you learn writing the short form come in useful for the longer works too! Win-win.

May be a graphic of 1 person and text that says "Creative writing encourages analytical skills. for one thing, you need to know what makes a story/character chac work and why. You need to understand story structure tσσ. ml ."

It was a fantastic opportunity to spread the word about flash fiction at the book fair at The Hilt today. I was pleased to meet others who write flash too. Also great to see many authors who write a wide range of books here. More about this in my Chandler’s Ford Today post on Friday. So good doing live events like this though.

Glad to say the flash fiction workshop went well yesterday and it was lovely meeting everyone in the writing group online. It has been a lovely end to the week.

May be an image of text that says "deas Zoom workshops are useful for the exchange of ideas especially when not possible to do this in person."

Goodreads Author Blog – Book Fairs and Events

I was at a Book Fair local to me recently and it was great fun. As well as celebrating books, it was fantastic to meet other authors and readers. There was a good range of books on offer too covering a wide range of tastes which is exactly what you want from an event like this. (The organisers also kept the writers well supplied with tea and coffee, which was also appreciated!).

Going to events like this is a fabulous way of supporting authors you know, as well as discovering writers new to you. It’s a way of bringing books to you, especially if your nearest bookshop is some distance away.

I hope the organisers of this event do it again. It would be lovely if it became a regular event.
If you get the chance to go to such things near you, do go. You may well be surprised at the range of books on offer. Every book event I’ve been to has been seriously impressive here.

 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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.

Author Interview: Gail Aldwin and The Secret Life of Carolyn Russell

Leave a comment
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 Gail Aldwin for the wonderful book/author pics and cover reveal video she supplied for my Chandler’s Ford Today interview with her.
Hope you have had a good week. It has been cooler and both Lady and I have appreciated that. Grass still looks like straw in places mind you. I send sympathetic greetings to all fellow hayfever sufferers!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to welcome back Gail Aldwin to Chandler’s Ford Today to discuss her new novel, The Secret Life of Carolyn Russell. Gail explains how true crime podcasts influenced her for writing her book, how she managed dual timelines, and why she used a prologue. She also shares details of her Twitter launch (and this will be on Monday, 3rd July so do look out for this). We also look at outlines and Gail’s writing journey so far. Hope you enjoy what is a fabulous interview.

Author Interview: Gail Aldwin and The Secret Life of Carolyn Russell

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

It’s my turn once again on the More than Writers blog (the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers). This time I talk about a subject which is very close to my heart – Generating Ideas. Hope you find the post useful.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Am looking forward to sharing a great interview with Gail Aldwin on Chandler’s Ford Today later this week.  See above. She is discussing her new book, The Secret Life of Carolyn Russell, a psychological suspense.

Gail is a prolific writer and has written coming of age novels and flash fiction so we talk about how her short form writing has fed into her longer works. We also look at timelines and Twitter launches, which Gail will be having for her book on 3rd July, amongst other topics. Link up on Friday. I’ve mentioned before I love author interviews as I learn so much from them and this I promise is a good example of that.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

What do you do, as an older lady, when you can’t stand Victoria sponge and yet your granddaughter has brought one to you? Find out here in my latest story on Friday Flash Fiction – Your Time Your Cake. Hope you enjoy it (and many thanks for the comments coming in already on this one).
Screenshot 2023-06-30 at 09-58-56 Your Time Your Cake by Allison Symes

A cooler day today and Lady got to see a pal we haven’t seen for a while – Willow, a smashing Jack Russell. Takes no prisoners that one but Lady is very fond of her and she of Lady which is always nice to see.

Looking forward to taking part in the Book Fair at The Hilt on 8th July. Will happily be spreading the word about flash fiction. Last night’s Flash Fiction Group meeting for ACW went very well and we all produced stories with promise.

I drafted my own during the meeting and think I may have something with promise for a competition I’ve got in mind. Needs work and reducing but that isn’t a problem. Always better to have to cut than to pad (and the latter never works anyway. Experienced judges, editors etc spot it easily).

May be an image of text that says "Always a joy to write/ talk about flash fiction."

Am posting earlier today as I’m hosting the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom later. Looking forward to seeing everyone online and taking part in the writing exercises. I may set them but I love joining in with them myself on the night itself. I love “live writing”.

Find it is a good discipline for me too. Later I’ll polish these exercises up and then see if I can submit them somewhere. I usually can. But it means I get to do more draft flash fiction writing myself along with everyone else and I just love that.

May be a graphic of text that says "Jotting down ideas for future stories, blog posts etc., is a great thing to do when you're short on time. Latr tired and uninspired, you can come back to those ideas and find something you like the look ofto to write up."

Fairytales with Bite – Twists

T = Trust the magical beings to turn up when you least expect them.

W = Wands will be used – don’t get in the way.

I = Increase your wariness of older beings – they may well prove to be much younger and are merely in disguise waiting to catch out the unwary.

S = Spells can be limited or reversed – have a friendly magical being on side always.

T = Take nothing for granted – even the animal kingdom may prove to be harboring cursed or magical beings.

S = Suspect everyone as being more powerful magically than you are – and treat with respect – you’re unlikely to go far wrong doing that.

BookBrushImage-2023-6-30-19-5752

This World and Others – The Unexpected

In a magical setting, what could count as being unexpected? Where you have magic, do you have science? Would scientific discoveries be more unexpected than magical ones?

Where you have alien worlds what would they consider to be alien to them and do they come across that at all? How would they handle something/someone they consider to be strange?

Different characters will have varying ideas as to what would be unexpected. Others handle the unexpected fine. Others are completely thrown by it. How could that play out in your stories? What could this reveal about characters to others in your stories? Could it change how they act towards them?

If the unexpected is an event, what is the outcome? Could it have been predicted and maybe prevented? Where is the fallout from this?

BookBrushImage-2023-6-30-20-156

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Twitter Corner (2)

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

Part 2 – Francesca Tyer – Author Interview

Leave a comment
Image Credits:-
Many thanks once again to Francesca Tyer for author and book cover images supplied for the Chandler’s Ford Today interview this week. Also thanks to Vie Portland for supplying the images for the Book Fair at The Hilt. All other 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.
I was very sorry to hear about the Titan disaster. I hope lessons can be learned from that.
In happier news, I am looking forward to a busy summer with workshops and I am glad to say I will be, via Chandler’s Ford Today, hosting more author interviews. Part 2 of Francesca Tyer’s wonderful interview is out this week and there’s another corker of an interview to come next week. Am looking forward to sharing that too. Have a peaceful weekend.

BookBrushImage-2023-6-23-19-1147


Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am pleased to share Part 2 of a fabulous interview with Francesca Tyer for my post this week on Chandler’s Ford Today. This week we discuss workshops (Francesca runs her Untold Stories Academy – see the post for more), her involvement with Authors Reach, how she got into writing at all, and much more. Hope you enjoy the post.

Many thanks, Francesca, for the interview and good luck with your launch, soon, for your third book, The Earthstone.

Part 2 – Francesca Tyer – Author Interview

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

A better day today and it was nice having a swim earlier. Most refreshing.

Looking forward to sharing Part 2 of a great interview with Francesca Tyer tomorrow on Chandler’s Ford Today. Plus there will be more author interviews after that. See link above for FT.

Don’t forget my author newsletter is out again soon (1st July) and I share tips, news, links to some of my online stories and so on. To sign up just head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Talking of online stories, do head over to visit Friday Flash Fiction regularly. It gives you a good “feel” for what 100 word stories look like on screen and there’s a great range of material here.

 

Have had one of those irritating, everything rubs you up the wrong way kind of day, so it is a great relief to get to my desk to enjoy an evening’s writing. Always puts me in a much better frame of mind!

Am looking forward to taking part in the Book Fair at The Hilt on Saturday 8th July. For full details, follow the link. Entry is free but if you pre-book a ticket, your name is entered in a a raffle. The winner gets £10 to spend on a book from any one of the authors, including yours truly, taking part in this event. So basically you can get a free book! What’s not to like about that? (It was nice to see the advert up in our Post Office window for this event – it looks good!).

Just before this I’m running a flash fiction workshop on Zoom and am looking forward to that too. So looking forward to Swanwick in August too.

Meantime there is writing to be done so best get on with it!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s Friday. It’s time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Deserved Desserts. I do like a bit of alliteration every now and then! Hope you enjoy the story.
Screenshot 2023-06-23 at 09-56-26 Deserved Desserts by Allison Symes


Hope you have had a good day. Getting humid again. Lady and I not all that keen on this. We send greetings to fellow hayfever sufferers (as even Lady has been known to have the occasional sneeze -on days when the pollen count is sky high so no great surprises there). Good old Sneezy from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves really needed to be on the antihistamine!

Now I create flash fiction stories throughout the week. Sometimes I use snippets of reality to inspire my stories. Sometimes I completely make things up. Both are fun routes to take! But when I do use reality, I use things which have either happened to me directly or which people will know to be true because most of us are affected by these things at some point.

We all know, for instance, the frustration of being caught in a queue at an awkward moment. My story Time Waits For No Man right at the end of From Light To Dark and Back Again is my take on that situation. It is fun putting my characters through the mill here rather than experience the situation again myself though!

May be a graphic of text that says "With flash fiction, you have to focus on THE single most important aspect of your character's life"

Sometimes I get another character to “talk to” another character by narrating a story. In From Light to Dark and Back Again, I do this with You Never Know where my lead is pointing out it is not all glamour and fun being a magical tour guide. Great fun to write and I suspect my lead character enjoyed having the chance to have a humorous whinge!

What I like about this tale is my lead has to know the other person she is “speaking to” though the reader never sees them and they’re not even named. The character has to know what the other one is likely to come up with to rebut the things she thinks will be coming. This means a lot is inferred in this story regarding the character not seen.

Inference is used a lot in flash and I must admit I love being left to work things out by other authors, as long as they give me the right clues so I can do that. Naturally when I use inference, I ensure the right clues are not just there but are in the right place in the tale.

May be an image of text that says "From Lightto Dark and Back Again Allison Symes MHt e Hayn"

Fairytales With Bite – A Magical Recipe

Thought I would do something different this time. Below is a story I’ve recently written up in response to a 30 day challenge and it illustrates what I mean when I refer to “fairytales with bite”. There is humour and irony in this piece – that’s where the bite comes in. Hope you enjoy the story.

The Best Fairy Godmother

Ingredients: –

Tonnes of kindness (the more the better in fact).

Equal amount of common sense (so important knowing where and when to use magic properly which is where the common sense comes in).

A fully charged magic wand with recharging facilities. (Never rely on battery wands. They always pack up when you need them).

A selection of spell books. (No one book has them all in, at least the ones you use most often).

Fluffy white hair (optional).

Grit – lots (and not the kind you put on the road when snow is due).

Sensible clothes including a hooded cloak, a full length gown which must have pockets (you need somewhere to store your wand and books when on the go), and reliable underwear. (You don’t want that giving out on you in mid flight).

Method:-

Blend all together with years of experience on the rounds and you have the best fairy godmother going.

Now to find the clients to help but that’s beyond the scope of this recipe. You’re on your own but good luck!

Ends
Allison Symes – June 2023

BookBrushImage-2023-6-23-19-5333

This World and Others – Qualifications – Advice to a Student

Q = Quality of work will count for more than quantity in any magical world which values safety when practising magic.

U = Under good tutors, the diligent pupil will do well but be ware of those who cannot prove they’ve got experience in their field.

A = Academic scoundrels get everywhere – they’ll happily con you and you still won’t qualify.

L = Love learning for its own sake – you’ll be more likely to do well.

I = Intense revision is not avoidable in any world when exams are looming but it is a temporary phase so keep going.

F = Fantastic magical careers await those who work hard here.

I= Imagine what you could use a qualification in dragon flying for – which worlds could you get to and explore?

C = Challenge the expectations if you’re from a lowly background – no reason why you can’t quality as a wizard, fairy godmother etc as long as you put the work in.

A = Always assume you’ll be tested thoroughly on what you find your most difficult topic. This happens everywhere exams do.

T = Test yourself regularly well ahead of exam season. Okay you’ll be testing your invisibility and other spells rather than maths and geography but the principle is the same!

I = Invigilators are not out to get you – they look that stern at everyone. They’re looking for the cheats. Not easy to do in a magical setting.

O = Open your results envelope as soon as you can. You won’t be able to mind read these – they’re protected against that. Would make it too easy for someone to forge the results otherwise.

N = Never look down on those whose results are worse than yours. The magical world has a habit of the underdog coming back to do phenomenally well later on. You don’t want to be the wrong side of these people. Retribution is likely to be swift and painful.

S = Success breeds success – now build on your magical qualifications. Put them to good use and good luck!

BookBrushImage-2023-6-23-20-748

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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.