Tag: Character Development

Author Interview: Val Penny – Hunter’s Secret, Writing a Series, and Blog Tours

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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 and photos of the lovely area of Northumberland taken by me, Allison Symes.
Coming to the end of my time in Northumberland as this goes out. Had a lovely time. Gorgeous scenery and the break has been much needed. Is lovely to be writing somewhere else now and again too. Lots of walking done – we’ve averaged five miles a day. Lady, because she has a fine line in zig-zagging everywhere like our dog, Gracie, used to do, has probably averaged at least a third again on top of that!

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am thrilled to welcome back Val Penny to Chandler’s Ford Today as part of her blog tour for her new book, Hunter’s Secret. Val discusses her latest book in her DCI Hunter Wilson series and shares fabulous advice on blog tours, useful information for all writers. She also shares great advice on what writers can do to help themselves in the run up to publication day. Do enjoy a great read and good luck with the new book, Val.

Author Interview: Val Penny – Hunter’s Secret, Advice on Writing a Series, and Blog Tours

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Another glorious day at the Druridge Bay Country Park though this time we took a different direction on that glorious beach and had a fabulous three miles walk towards Cresswell. Then it was time for our around the lake walk after lunch and then coffee/hot chocolate and cake before heading back to our cottage. This is what we call a good day.

Lady having a wonderful play on the beach and a calming walk after lunch is what she calls a good day (though she wouldn’t have minded snaffling some cake from the couple next door to us at the cafe. Fortunately they liked dogs! Lady didn’t have any. I brought her own treats for cafe time). We worked out we’ve averaged five miles a day walking while we have been here (and on one particular day we have cause to think it was closer to eight). We have all been sleeping very well. No surprises there!

Will be sharing a great interview with Val Penny tomorrow on Chandler’s Ford Today. Link above. She discusses her new book, Hunter’s Secret, and shares a wealth of useful information especially on blog tours. So do watch out for this if you are planning a blog tour yourself.

I know I’ve been grateful for all I’ve learned from author interviews over the years, whether I’ve conducted them or not. And learning like this can help save you a great deal of time as you work out what is likely to work best for you.

 

Smashing day out again at Kielder Forest and Water Park. There are so many different walks here and it was a joy to do some different ones today (as well as admiring the marvellous view over the Kielder Viaduct again). There was a wonderful sunset as we came back to our cottage too. Autumn in Northumberland is lovely.

Finished listening to Thud (Terry Pratchett) today and started Feet of Clay (also Pratchett – it is a fabulous crime story. All of the Vimes novels in the Discworld canon stand alone as detective tales). I love the characterisation in Discworld and the dialogue between regular characters in particular. Vimes has a fine line in sarcasm.

Talking of dialogue, this is another area where writing flash fiction helps you hone this. Dialogue in flash fiction needs to be kept to the point. I love getting characters to talk but the need to keep things concise means I ensure all I get them to say is relevant to the story. Anything else gets cut.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to share my latest tale, Lucky Thirteen, on Friday Flash Fiction. But is the number thirteen as lucky for my character, Shelley, as she thinks? Find out here.

Screenshot 2023-10-13 at 15-50-30 Lucky Thirteen by Allison Symes

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again on 1st November. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

The November edition of Writers’ Narrative will be out soon too. To make sure you don’t miss an issue, do subscribe (for free) at http://subscribepage.io/WritersNarrative

I do follow a number of author newsletters. I love reading them and it is a great way of keeping up with authors you like. I prepare mine over the course of the month, adding in news items as I get them in, and find that a useful way of compiling the next edition. Doesn’t take too long doing it this way either.

 

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group meeting at the end of the month. It’s always great fun and I love the way information is shared two way. Also looking forward to running an editing workshop via Zoom in November for another writing group. Zoom has been a great tool for workshops.

I’ve mentioned before that flash makes for a great writing exercise and you can use this in different ways. Firstly, you can choose which word count to work to. After all, if you like to start your main writing work by a warm up exercise, why not write a flash fiction tale to 50 words, to 100 words, to 300 etc? It gives you something else to try and get published later as well.

Secondly, in writing flash, you write concisely. You can apply that to any other form of writing you do. Thirdly, if you are writing long form work, there will be a time when you are resting that ahead of editing work. Why not have fun writing the short forms in the meantime?

Less is More is the theme for flash fiction writers

Fairytales with Bite – Character Development

One of the things I love about Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series is the way his characters develop over several novels. Sam Vimes, I think, is the best here. But what about our own characters? Can your characters develop even if they are “one-offs”?

For the vast majority of my flash fiction and short story work, my characters are “one-offs” but they develop over the course of the story I’ve put them in. After all, every story has to show change and that change is how our characters develop. Okay, the outcome might not always be a positive one but it will still be change. My characters are not the same at the end of the story as they were at the beginning and that is how it should be.

So in a magical setting, how would your characters develop? Is it a question of improving their skill sets, their ability (or otherwise) to get on with others, their growing realisation that magic is not always a good thing etc? Development takes many forms after all and our stories can reflect that.

What I want to see in characters I read is to see how they change. Sometimes I’ll root for them because the change they’re going through is, to my mind, the right one. There are others I want to scream at because I feel they’re taking the wrong path (and often in the story, later on, I am proved to be right).

What I never want to read or write are static characters. Where is the interest there? For magical characters, development can be enhanced or complicated by their magical skills (or lack of).

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This World and Others – Supplies -Magical or Otherwise

How do your magical characters top up on supplies? Are there things which a wave of the old magic wand simply cannot produce? (I must admit if I was living in a magical world, I would want my food and drink produced naturally, the old school way if you like. I would be deeply suspicious of anything produced by magic which is meant to be edible. Snow White should have taken the same view!).

When your setting has things which have to be produced by means other than magic, how is this done? Is there agriculture, for example, as we would know it? Are the producers of non-magical items respected or looked down on? What is the attitude of the society around them?

Does your setting have to import its supplies from other sources (other planets, other countries on their own planet etc)? Does your setting ever have problems getting supplies in and how is that overcome? Does your setting trade magical skills to get in supplies from elsewhere? Who would organise getting those supplies? How would trading agreements work?

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Underlining In Fiction

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots and one photo were taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week. Mixed bag weather wise (hot, cold, windy etc). Will be having another story on CafeLit next week and am looking forward to sharing that. Working away on further workshop material too.

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Screenshot 2022-06-24 at 09-19-44 Underlining in Fiction - Chandler's Ford Today

Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to share my latest Chandler’s Ford Today post on Underlining in Fiction. I look at how writers can stress points without seeming to repeat themselves. Also I look at where repetition, carefully used, can be effective too in underlining an important point. I give an example of underlining that I use when running workshops. (It’s also a good example of show and not tell).

I discuss how characters themselves can do the underlining, whether they are conscious of that or not, and why it matters to pick the right thing to underline.

For example, I want my readers to pick up on my themes from what I show them through what my characters say, do and think. I don’t want to have to spell everything out (for one thing I think that’s boring – I love working things out for myself when I read other writers’ books. I just need the right clues).

The best underlining is subtle. You want your readers to absorb things and work things out and to have fun doing that!

Underlining in Fiction

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Cooler today though Lady, and her lovely gentleman friend, a wonderful Aussie Shepherd, were clearly happy about that as they ran around. It was a joy to watch them.

My Chandler’s Ford Today post (Underlining in Fiction) goes up tomorrow – I don’t know where the time has gone as I rapidly head towards the end of this series. Link up above.

I use a variety of ways to find ideas for my blog posts, as well as my fiction. Often the random generators (especially the theme and question ones) can be used to trigger ideas for a CFT post say.

For example this came up on the random question generator I often use – If you lost all of your possessions but one, what would you want it to be?

  1. I could invent a character here and get them to answer the question (and that would be the story. Nice thing about that is I’ve got a basic structure in place immediately too. Questions always need answering!).
  2. I could answer the question directly and frame a CFT post around it.

You get the idea so why not give the random generators a go if you are looking for non-fiction inspiration.

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Another hot day here though Lady was pleased to see her best buddies, the Rhodesian Ridgeback and a lovely Hungarian Vizler, today. Am looking forward to another swim tomorrow.

I’ll be talking about Underlining In Fiction for Chandler’s Ford Today – post up on Friday. See above. Am busy getting my author newsletter ready for July. Do sign up for tips, stories, prompts etc at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com.

Do you find it harder or easier to write much in the hot weather? I must admit I flag a bit but this is where writing short pieces is a bonus as I still feel like I’ve got something useful done and that is enough for me.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s Friday. It’s storytime. It’s time for Friday Flash Fiction. Hope you enjoy my latest – A Picture Paints a Hundred Words. Written in exactly one hundred words of course, barring the title.

Screenshot 2022-06-24 at 11-42-40 A Picture Paints A Hundred Words by Allison Symes

Getting into the head of your characters is vital in any fiction but for flash, with the short word count, it is essential to do that from the get-go. This is why I outline what I need to know about a character before I start writing their story up. I need to know what their reactions to any situation would be at once – I can then decide which situation I’m going to throw them in! It is great fun dropping your characters right in it.

I read a wonderful short story ages ago in The Oxford Book of Humorous Prose (compiled and edited by the much missed Frank Muir) where the characters come to life and berate their author. Very funny – and a teensy weensy bit scary for any writer I think!

Knowing your character’s basic attitudes (and why they have them) is a good way in here. Fleshing your character out means you are more likely to write their stories up with conviction because you know your character is definitely capable of this. You’ve already seen how and why they would be like this.

I’m convinced a writer’s belief in their character does come through in the story. Certainly I can sense when a writer has fun with their character precisely because I do the same thing myself with mine.

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I have fun sometimes having titles which are capable of more than one interpretation. For example in my story Serving Up a Treat from From Light to Dark and Back Again, I can take that in a lighthearted way or not, as I see fit. (Not saying which way I did though – do check out the book! Yes, I know I’m bound to say that!).

I also see this as giving my imagination more room in which to work. Proverbs and well known sayings come in handy here. And guess what I just found? Yes that’s right – a random proverb generator! Will take up less room than the old book of proverbs I suppose but this will prove to be another useful tool to use to trigger story ideas. Hope you have fun with it too.

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Fairytales with Bite – Character Development

I am partial to character development in any story, regardless of what genre it is or its word count length. Indeed I don’t think you can have a story without it given something has to change and often it is the character that does the changing. Sometimes it is forced on them if they are going to survive. Sometimes they are happy to change. Maybe they have been waiting for the chance to do so and escape something.

In fairytales, I think this is even more important. I don’t think a wave of the magic wand should be the cure to all ills. Where’s the drama in that? Even when the fairy godmother turns up to help out, I still want the main character to have done something to merit that help and to still have problems to sort out after the wand waving!

To avoid the old problem of character cardboard cut-outs, your character does need to have some sort of back story which has a bearing on their story now but which they overcome. That is the kind of development I love to read and write.

So think about how your characters will develop over the course of your story. Where is the moment when they have to change and go on to better things? How do they make themselves face up to what has to change? Great conflict can come from a character’s internal struggle as well as external circumstances.

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This World and Others – Formative Experiences

One of my earliest formative experiences is that of my late mum teaching me to read before I went to school. Back in the day, she got told off for that. (These days they’d probably give her a medal). Apparently Mum taught me in the wrong way. Have I felt the lack? Not a bit of it. Am I grateful to Mum for giving me my life-long love of books and stories (and from there the wish to write my own)? Oh yes!

What kind of formative experiences have shaped your characters? What impact are they having on your characters’ lives now for the purpose of your story? I don’t always put such things into my stories but I need to know enough about my characters to be able to envisage what they would do and how they would react in any given situation. Knowing what drives them including formative experiences is so useful here.

Also bear in mind a society’s formative experiences as well. A society which has had to face continual threat of invasion is likely to have a reasonably strong military to try to counter that and/or seek alliances with other threatened worlds. So their attitudes towards diplomatic relations will be different from a strong, isolated kingdom which feels it has no need of anyone else. Their people’s views and attitudes will be coloured by things like that.

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Music and Characters

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Facebook – General

Loved listening to a wonderful hour of Dr Who music on Classic FM tonight. Each piece brought back many happy memories of wonderful editions of the show. I suppose that is one reason why I love music – it can be so evocative – and for films/TV etc, it can really help set the tone for what is to come.

With stories, of course, there is no background music usually! We have to set the mood through what we reveal about our characters in what they say, think, and do. But the great thing about being the writer of the stories is you get to make the characters dance to YOUR tune! The really fun bit is making that tune varied – no monotones here, thank you.

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It was great fun earlier today taking part in #ValPenny‘s book launch for her second novel in the Edinburgh Crime Series, Hunter’s Revenge. Many thanks, Val!

The great thing about things like this is it makes you think about what you are reading and what you particularly enjoy.

The big thing for me with series novels is discovering how the characters change and develop from one book to another. Great fun. I also see it as getting more than one story for your money.

Not only is there the individual story of each book to follow, you get to see how your favourite (and least favourite) characters move on or not, as the case may be.

My overall favourite for character development is Terry Pratchett’s Sam Vimes. Compare him with how he appears in Guards, Guards to how he is in Raising Steam. Literally a character that comes a long way!

Good luck to Val and I hope everyone has a fabulous time with their reading and writing. It should be fun.

 

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How often do you review where you are with your writing? I tend to do this at the end of each year. What I’m looking for here is where I’ve been published during the last 12 months and whether I’ve achieved something I’ve not done before. I also set myself a couple of goals that I’d like to achieve in the next 12 months.

With regard to my CFT posts, I tend to look back at my topics every time I write a new article. This is partly because I’m looking for links to go with the current post. Often one writing related topic will kick off ideas for others. I love that when this happens.

In fiction, what I really love is getting ideas for other characters from the characters in the story I’m currently writing. Say Character A acts in a certain way due to pressure being put on them, I come up with a Character B who faces different pressures but reacts differently.

I love the creative buzz you get. It is always a good sign when you are buzzing with ideas to write up at some point.

A truly beautiful book. Pixabay image.
It always is! Reflecting first helps a lot! Pixabay image
Always time for a laugh with writer friends! Many thanks to Cheryl Holland for taking this with my phone.
Assemble your characters, assemble your world. Image via Pixabay
Always good advice! Pixabay image.
Online writing -v- on a line writing! Image via Pixabay
I’ve never read a book in these conditions, have you? Pixabay image.
Whenever and whatever you read, enjoy. Image via Pixabay.
Books have their own sense of time and space. Image via Pixabay.
Generating the writing ideas. Image via Pixabay.

Other than people giving plot endings away, what is the one thing you loathe most which is writing connected? (I take loathing the giving the plot endings away thing as read by the way!).

I suppose mine is when someone believes short stories (including flash fiction) must be easier to write than a novel. What is forgotten here is, no matter the length of story, all tales have to be edited and polished well ahead of submitting them anywhere.

Sure, a novel is going to take longer. Of course it is but it doesn’t mean short stories (including flash fiction) are any less worthwhile. Far from it. And, of course, many novelists write shorter pieces too!

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Managed to write some flash fiction on the way to and from an Association of Christian Writers Committee meeting today. I do love using train journeys for this! I find it liberating to be writing but away from my desk.

I drafted a nice mix too – one story was a very short piece, the other I think is going to come in at about 200 words, but both can be submitted somewhere later once I’ve had the chance to polish them.

Looking forward to giving a brief talk on flash fiction at the Hampshire Writers’ Society in October. Will post more details nearer the time.

The beautifully decorated section of the Winchester Discovery Centre where the local authors gathered recently. Image by Allison Symes
Fiction should show you new ways of looking at the world. Image via Pixabay.
Getting away from it all by train. Pixabay image.
What wonderful worlds we can creat! Image via Pixabay.
The art of the flash (fiction). Image via Pixabay
Escape with a good book. Image via Pixabay.
Books are a fantastic form of escapism. Image via Pixabay
Let those ideas flow! Image via Pixabay,
Editing – the crucial part to getting a story right. Image via Pixabay.
Is the truth welcome in your fictional world? How does your community react to it?. Image via Pixabay.
Fiction is strengthened when backed by fact. Image via Pixabay

I like story collections which offer a variety of moods of story. I see it as dipping into a “selection box” of story treats (and a lot less fattening than dipping into an actual selection box!). This is why I wanted From Light to Dark and Back Again to be like this and that mood selection inspired the title too.

As for flash fiction collections on single themes, I like those too. (Dawn Knox’s The Great War is a fabulous example of this). Don’t know if I’ll go that route myself but it’ll be posted here first if I do! It’s fantastic having so much choice with flash fiction.

FLTDBA for sale in the Swanwick Book Room. Image by Allison Symes
Let your stories have impact. Image via Pixabay
Where my stories are in print. Image by Allison Symes
Let the writing flow and if music can help it along even better! Image via Pixabay
There can be reality behind fairytales. Image via Pixabay (and image used as part of book trailer for From Light to Dark and Back Again)
My book on sale at Bay Leaves Larder, a wonderful local cafe that does a lot to support writers in the area.
Preparing a talk or a flash fiction story perhaps. Image via Pixabay.
Chapeltown Books have a distinctive central image in a frame such as with mine. Image by Allison Symes
The art of the flash (fiction). Image via Pixabay
Says it all really and applies to non-fiction equally as fiction. Image via Pixabay.
Back cover of FLTDBA. Image by Allison Symes
What most writers connect to! Image via Pexels
Flash fiction, by its nature, has to take one look at a situation to be a story but you can get quite a bit into that “one look”. Image via Pixabay.
Creating great characters does mean hard work. Image via Pexels.
What every writer needs. Image via Pexels.

I like being able to come up with different settings for my flash fiction stories. Though my rule here is one setting for one story and generally one character too. (Sometimes I’ll use two but if I’m keeping to the 100-word limit especially it is nearly always one character only and often I’m telling the story in the first person for a more immediate impact).

The great thing is the character or the setting can dictate the story genre being used. If I mention a character is a fairy godmother, well you’ve got the fantasy genre there in a nutshell. What images you have of what a fantasy world with fairy godmothers in it looks like will almost certainly differ from the images I conjure up here (pun intended!), but that’s good. We bring our differing experiences and thoughts when we read a story. How much more when we write them too!

Studying to see if all the corrections have been dealth with. Pixabay image.
Shakespeare had his quill, modern writers have their laptops. Image via Pixabay.
Beautiful pens. Pexels image.
Fairytale magic can go awry – characters lose powers or become power obsessed. Neither is a pretty sight. Image via Pixabay.
The Kindle. Has expanded my reading (no more worrying about how many books I can take on holiday either!). Image via Pixabay.
Stories can take you to fantastic places. Pixabay image.
What lies beyond the shore…. ideas for stories? Image via Pixabay
Aiming for more “magic” from my stories this year! Image via Pixabay.
The perfect place to reflect and take stock. Pixabay image.
My laminated book cover on the way into the Fair. Image by Allison Symes
Where almost all stories spring from these days. Image via Pixabay.
Simply stunning… image via Pixabay

I find it hard to say whether I prefer writing the lighter or darker stories in From Light to Dark and Back Again (and indeed the book I’m currently working on).

I love coming up with something humorous but with the darker pieces, I often feel there is more character development in those.

Certainly whenever I read darker flash fiction whether it is written by myself or others, I am always wondering what led to that character being like this and thinking about what their back story could have been. This is a good sign as it shows that character has really come to life in your imagination.

With humorous pieces, I am kind of working to the “punchline” though this must wrap the story up beautifully, make sense, and be funny.

Another one I’ve yet to see happen. Pixabay image.
I don’t understand those who dislike books, in whatever format. Image via Pixabay.
My stand at the Winchester discovery Centre event. Image by Allison Symes
Assemble your characters, assemble your world. Image via Pixabay
Something I’ve yet to see happen! Pixabay image.
I’ve never read a book in these conditions, have you? Pixabay image.
What writing triggers will help you create your new worlds? Image via Pixabay
Stories can take you to fantastic places. Pixabay image.
Or get away from it all in one book. Pixabay image.

Goodreads Author Blog – Read the Book First or Watch the Film?

When it comes to adaptations, do you read the original book first or watch the film and then decide to go and read the book?

I must admit I’ve done both. I read The Lord of the Rings before seeing the films. I read Oliver Twist after seeing Alec Guinness play Fagin on TV all those years ago. (Mesmerising performance in evil manipulation there!).

I must admit one thing I love about the Muppets’ version of A Christmas Carol is they plug reading the original book right at the end of the film. (And they’re right – you should read it!).

A good adaptation will bring a story to life and help draw people into reading the original book. A bad one will do the exact opposite!

So where DO you turn first – the book or the film? Why do you think you’ve chosen as you have?

Says it all really. Image via Pixabay. And am glad to say my poorly border collie, Mabel, has very much been showing this spirit.
Someone likes a light read. Pixabay image.
Images from the magical world… Image via Pixabay
I try NOT to chain down my creativity! Pexels image.
Never give up, work hard, be disciplined… all valuable traits for success, whether you’re a tennis player, a writer or a character in a story! Image via Pixabay.
Time for the SERIOUS reading! Pixabay image.
Unless in a thunder storm or high winds, this is a good idea! Image via Pexels
Something I’ve yet to see happen! Pixabay image.
Let the words flow! Image via Pixabay.
Where will your writing take you? Forward into the future or backwards in time? Image via Pixabay.
Let the ideas flow and let journeys encourage that! Image via Pixabay
Reviews can have global reach. Most impact I think can often be local to the writer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEVELOPMENTS/MAKING PROGRESS AND BOOK FAIR REPORT

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Lots happening tonight!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

I shared details of my latest Chandler’s Ford Today post earlier in the day about last weekend’s Book Fair. Going to share it again as my lovely editor has turned the galleries of photos into slideshows (which look fab. Many thanks, Janet).

I take a look at, not at only the event itself, but why I think the Book Fair helped writers (and is of wider benefit to a community that no longer has an independent bookshop). I also love the fact that when writers work together, great things can happen and the Fair was a great example of that.

Image Credit:  The photos in the slideshow are a mixture of those taken by me and my lovely Chandler’s Ford Today editor, Janet Williams, who started the site alone and has developed it into a popular online magazine.  Slideshow right at the end of this blog post.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I love the way stories can come in so many different formats – literally everything from flash fiction to epic novels. This aspect was very well represented at the Chandler’s Ford Book Fair last weekend.

Then there are the formats of “transmission” – everything from the book itself to the audiobook to the play and film scripts. A good story is adaptable to more than one medium and can be appreciated and loved in more than one medium too. I have a soft spot for radio (and one thing on my To Do list is to try to write something for radio that makes it on to the air).

As well as “straight” stories, so to speak, there are the well-done spoofs, which are a sheer joy to read or watch. Last weekend was a busy one with the Book Fair in the morning and my going to see the Chameleon Theatre Group’s production of Murdered to Death by Peter Gordon in the evening.

I’ll be writing about that for next week’s CFT post but just wanted to say now that the story world, regardless of genre, truly is a fantastic one. The fact it can send itself up via farces/spoofs as well just adds to my love of stories overall.

 

My stories are in The Best of Cafelit 4, 5 and now 6 and also by Bridge House Publishing (Alternative Renditions). My first collection From Light to Dark and Back Again is published by Chapeltown Books.

My stories are in The Best of Cafelit 4, 5 and now 6 and also by Bridge House Publishing (Alternative Renditions). My first collection From Light to Dark and Back Again is published by Chapeltown Books.

Fairytales With Bite – Developments

There have been developments in my writing career which I thought I’d take the chance to share now.  I also hope to look at how I’ve changed the ways in which I develop my characters.

Firstly, I’m now part of the Goodreads Author Programme.  I am blogging on here once a week but am also open to questions on its Q&A section.  So if there is anything book/story/writing related you would like to ask, please head on over and send me some questions!

Secondly, Goodreads have author/book widgets for those writers on their programme, meaning you can link to reviews of my book, From Light to Dark and Back Again.  Also listed on Goodreads is Alternative Renditions, an anthology by Bridge House Publishing, where the first thing I ever had appear in print, A Helping Hand, was published.  I think it is quite a nice symmetry to have my first book and my first published story listed in this way.  (What is also nice for me is my late mum, who so encouraged my love of books, got to see my first published story.  My dad, who I lost earlier this  year, got to see my first published book).

Thirdly, I am now taking part in more book related events and loving each and every one of them.  The latest was a local Book Fair and my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week is a report on this.  There are plenty of pictures so it does give a good “flavour” of the event.  All good fun and I very much hope there will be more Fairs like this.  I hope to have more news of further events later on in the year.

As for character development, increasingly I am looking at what impact I want my characters to have on my readers.  This is, I think, essential for flash fiction with its tight word count.  The stories have to be character led so I am looking more closely at my characters’ motivations and what they are prepared to do to achieve their wishes!  I am also looking at how I want my characters to make the reader feel.  Those two things together, I’ve found, are giving me a clearer picture of my characters in my head before I actually write them and are helping with the writing of the stories immensely.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34146438-from-light-to-dark-and-back-again

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Let your stories have impact. Image via Pixabay

This World and Others – Making Progress

All writers should, obviously, seek to make progress with what they do but I would add that the progress should be what you are happy with.  Writers work at different paces so therefore progress has to differ.  Besides, nobody can guarantee publication or an instant best seller but you can work towards the first (and hope for the second, we all do!).

Also with the second, most of us would recognise that book sales are not necessarily the most reliable indicator of a book’s quality (am not going to name titles here, but I’d be surprised if you couldn’t think of some titles where you wonder how that got published at all! Again, we all do).  I think most of us would recognise then that you need to put your work out there, do what you can with regard to marketing (this will vary from writer to writer), and that sales build up over time (usually).

What I’ve sought to do since seriously trying to write for publication is to make steady progress year on  year.  Some years that has been just to have more work online.  Now I do have a book out, From Light to Dark and Back Again, my aim has been to promote it as much as I can and carry on writing the follow up to it.  I’ve recognised that book marketing is an ongoing thing.  Even when I have book 2, book 26 or what have you out there, I will always be referring to my back list etc.  So to a certain extent marketing for any one book doesn’t really stop.  Therefore it makes no sense to put myself under unnecessary time pressure.

On my Fairytales with Bite site tonight, I’ve written about Developments (both mine and in how I write characters now, as opposed to when I first started writing) and I share that link here.  I am now on the Goodreads Author Programme and talk about that in this post and welcome writing related questions on the Q&A spot it has so please do go and have a look and come back to me!  I’ve shared on there the Goodreads widget leading to my book reviews, below I share the widget showing my books.  What is nice here is you see both my first published book and the anthology, Alternative Renditions, where my first published story appeared, A Helping Hand.

As for progress for 2018, I don’t really make New Year’s Resolutions but I do over the Christmas break, think about what I’d like to see what happen – and then do what I can to achieve it.  At the end of the year, if I’ve achieved it all, brilliant.  If I’ve achieved some (and especially if opportunities have opened up where I didn’t expect and I’ve rightly followed those), equally brilliant.  If I’ve achieved “just” some, then that’s fine too.  Onwards and upwards!

Image below is just a screen shot but if you follow the links above via Goodreads you will come to my author page with all relevant information on it.

Goodreads Snip

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