Tag: Esther Chilton

Author Interview: Introducing Esther Chilton and The Secret Dragon

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Many thanks to Esther Chilton for supplying book and author pictures for my interview with her on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Great interview too.
Hope you have had a good week. Mine has involved going to see a local theatre production (a hugely funny one too), starting to get ready for Swanwick (will be doing some volunteer sessions so wanted to make sure those were ready), and plenty on the writing front. Lady has had a nice week so far too, getting to see some of her friends. Looking forward to a trip out at the weekend too.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

It’s a pleasure to welcome fellow Swanwicker and flash fiction writer, Esther Chilton, to Chandler’s Ford Today to discuss her new children’s book, The Secret Dragon.

While I am well outside the age range (the books is aimed at the 5-7 bracket!), the blurb and extract intrigues me. I almost wish I was back in that age range again! Do check out the post to read these.

Esther also shares useful writing and marketing tips, the background to how The Secret Dragon came about, discusses her writing journey to date including her work with The Writers’ Bureau, and much else besides.

Many thanks, Esther, for a fascinating interview.

Author Interview: Introducing Esther Chilton and The Secret Dragon

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Hope today has been okay.

Don’t forget I’ll be sharing a fabulous interview with fellow Swanwicker and flash fiction writer, Esther Chilton, about her new children’s book, The Secret Dragon, for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Off to watch The Chameleon Theatre Company perform Bill Bryson’s Notes From A Small Island later. Am sure there will be plenty of laughs, given all I have heard about the book. Hope to review for CFT in about a week or so.

Writing wise, I’m busy with my usual stories and blogs. Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom next week too.

Hope to get plenty of writing done while on the train on Saturday as I go to visit the Jane Austen exhibition in the Dorset Museum in Dorchester.

Hope you have had a nice day. Lady got to show off in front of her Hungarian Vizler pal today so was most happy about that. Her chum looks on indulgently, almost like a proud granny.

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to welcoming Esther Chilton to Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday to discuss her new book, The Secret Dragon. Also looking forward to catching up with Esther in person at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick which is not far away now.

Am off to the theatre tomorrow night to watch The Chameleon Theatre Company perform Bill Bryson’s Notes From a Small lsland. Should be fun. Will also enjoy catching up again with my lovely CFT editor, Janet Williams.

Writing Tip: When you go out and about over the summer months, try to jot down a few notes of impressions, sights, sounds etc which you may well be able to use in a story later on.

I’m looking forward to seeing a Jane Austen exhibition on Saturday so (a) plan to follow my own advice here and (b) get an article out of it for CFT. But trips out give you a chance to see new things and even familiar ones in your own area in a new way so you may be able to use aspects of that for your writing.

Also bear in mind you can check out the websites of various places. Some have virtual tours which might inspire you too.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Two bits of news here tonight. Firstly, a huge thanks to Rosemary Johnson for a lovely shout out over on her website. This links in with her book launch on 1st August for Past and Present, which was recently published by Bridge House Publishing. I plan to reshare the Eventbrite link for this during the next few days so do look out for that.

Secondly, it is lovely to end the working week with another story on Friday Flash Fiction. I hope you enjoy my latest here, Postcards Home. Is Barry right to worry about Shirley’s intentions here?

I got into the habit of reading my work out loud to hear how dialogue works when I was preparing for my first Open Prose Mic night, many years ago.

It was a joy to find Zoom will convert a recording you make with yourself into an mp4 file (can also get mp3 – audio) so I could play back how I came across.

I found from that I have a tendency to speak a little too fast (I blame the old adrenaline for that!) but it means I know I have to watch for this so I can slow myself down.

I hope to put my name down for the Open Prose Mic at The Writers Summer School, Swanwick again and, if picked, am hoping to get to read some material from my Seeing The Other Side. If that works out, it will be a joy to do it. Always lovely to share new material. It’s fun too.

Am also looking forward to Rosemary Johnson’s book launch via Eventbrite on 1st August for her recently published collection, Past and Present. Always good to hear when people I know have new books out. It’s even nicer when they’re with the same publishing house as me.

Flash Tip: When thinking about your character, ask yourself why would a reader want to find out what they get up to? What is it about them which appeals to a potential audience?

There has to be something a reader will latch on to with your creation. Mind you, they don’t have to like them. I can think of a few of my characters I would never share a cup of tea with, if that were possible!

Fairytales with Bite – Sharing News

Aside from what might be considered the equivalent of our media (social or otherwise), how do your magical characters get to share news?

Is telepathy a reality in your setting? Are there any controls over its usage? Can only certain species use it? What would happen if a banned species gets to develop/use telepathy themselves? What is there in place to prevent sensitive information being shared this way?

If telepathy isn’t a thing, what other magical means of sharing news would your world use instead? Would your world consider copying what we have here in terms of technology (because they could see that as a form of magic)?

Also, are the “old school” ways of sharing news still going? Think of things like the town crier, messengers sent out from villages to gather information, and those who come to villages as part of their duties. Could the sharing of news be used as a kind of barter system between different species and/or settlements in your world? If this was a settled pattern, what or whom could disrupt that and why would they do so? Is it for the best they do or are there evil plans afoot?

Also, whatever the way news is shared, is the news itself generally considered reliable? Can it be verified and who would do that?

This World and Others – Media

Wherever there is news, there would be some sort of media to spread it. Who controls that media? Is magic used in running it and, if so, who controls that and ensures it is used properly? Is the media available to all? What do your characters make of it?

Are your characters involved in producing it/presenting it? How critical or otherwise is the media in your setting of the powers that be?

Has your setting copied what media types we have here or is there something they have which we could never reproduce here? What matters here, I think, is your readers can make sense of this kind of “technology” so they can see how it would work without necessarily going into all of the details of how. Just give readers enough to see how it could be if your world existed and they had this/that capacity…

As for media itself, any form of power, including this one, can be used for great good or evil, of course. It will be how you exploit that thought which will make for gripping stories. Can your characters make use of the media they’ve got to help their cause or must they do everything they can to ensure the media doesn’t get wind of their story until the proper time?

Can your villains exploit the media for their own purposes and cause further problems for your leads?

That could be fun to find out!

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and The Benefits

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Many thanks to Janet Williams for the photo of me at the Book Fair. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good few days. Weather has turned bitterly cold. Even had some snow. Not that Lady worried. Writing wise, looking forward to sharing further author interviews on Chandler’s Ford Today. Am just putting some finishing to some flash pieces I hope to send off to competitions shortly. Wish me luck!

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to be back on Chandler’s Ford Today to talk about a topic very close and dear to my heart – Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and the Benefits. I look at focusing on the character, using the first person, and not worrying about the word count immediately amongst other things. Hope you find the post useful.

Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and the Benefits

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22nd November 2024 – Esther Chilton – Guest Spot
Not one but two posts from me on here tonight.

Many thanks to Esther Chilton for inviting me to be a guest writer on her blog. See link below. Great opportunity to talk about flash fiction and to share a YouTube link to one of my favourite flash pieces of mine, Calling the Doctor. I used this as the trailer for From Light to Dark and Back Again.

Hope you enjoy the post and the video.

Guest Writer Spot

Screenshot 2024-11-22 at 10-05-26 Guest Writer Spot Esther Chilton

Colder today than yesterday, Even had snow which lay for a while. Melted by lunchtime. Went for a swim. When the pool water feels like you’re getting into a warm bath, you know it’s perishing cold outside. It was like that today! No pals out for Lady today though she did enjoy her usual time at the park. Dogs are great believers in making the most of the simple pleasures of life.

Will be looking at Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and The Benefits for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Cracking on with Flash NANO. Am putting finishing touches to some flash pieces I want to get out for competitions in the next couple of days.

Not long now until the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event. Looking forward to that and catching up with everyone. Lovely way to finish my writing event year.

Busy putting next newsletter together as well.

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Another cold one today – the gloves came out. (No – not boxing ones!). Lady didn’t care. Too busy running around and having a fabulous time with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom next week. We’ll be looking at festive flash, which is always great fun to write. I have finally drafted some and hope to do more next week.

I do usually set exercises when I run workshops. I’ve long appreciated being on the receiving end of exercises set for me by other tutors. I’ve always got something useful out of exercises. Some pieces which started life this way ended up being published.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with Wishing Well. Tony is skeptical about Hannah’s feeling it is right to make a wish at the well but is he right to be so scathing or does Hannah have a point? Find out here.
Screenshot 2024-11-22 at 10-02-41 Wishing Well by Allison Symes - Friday Flash Fiction

Highlight of the day today was having an Options hot chocolate when coming in from my afternoon walk with the dog. It really is all about the simple pleasures of life.

Talking of which, what would your characters count as their simple pleasures? What would they do/how would they react if these were taken away from them? Could be some interesting stories there.

Also what would they be prepared to do to ensure nobody could ever take these simple pleasures away at all? Would these simple pleasures get in the way of them having relationships with others or could a shared simple pleasure lead to a romance story?

Hope you can make use of those thoughts. Will be giving some thought to them myself!

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Hope your writing day has been a good one. Looking forward to tackling Day 20 of Flash NANO shortly. Can’t believe where the time has gone on this already. Have loved all of the challenges.

Character Tip: Motivation matters, of course, but what drives your character to have the motivations they do. Are they doing what they are to defend themselves or loved ones, out of fear, out of greed or what have you?

The drivers here will be what determines whether your characters can keep going or not. The more vital the driver is (at least to the character) the more drama and tension there will be in your story, the more readers will be gripped to discover whether your character does keep going or not.

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Fairytales with Bite – Fantasy Flash

F = Flash fiction can be used for many genres including fantasy.

A = As you are following the adventures of the characters and they can be set anywhere.

N = Not a lot of world building needed, you haven’t the word count room for it, but give enough details so readers know where your characters are.

T = Telling details are what are needed here – a hint of the world your character is in, a hint of any special powers your character has and so on.

A = Always know your character well enough to know what motivates them whether you write about a fairy, an alien being or a dragon (I’ve written for all three!).

S = Story is the main focus – what is your story, what is the change, what does your character do and what are the consequences? Why does it have to be on the world you’ve created?

Y = Your character needs to grip us throughout, even in a small word count story, so how will they do that? What is it about them that appeals? No matter how alien your character, readers will still need to understand where they are coming from and what motivates them.

 

F = Flash has to be brief and to the point so what aspects of your character could use this as a strength?

L = Lively characters, an intriguing opening, a gripping middle, and a powerful ending – no pressure then!

A = Always focus on getting the story down worry about word count later.

S = Set your story aside for a while after those drafts and then come back after a break to evaluate it properly.

H = Have fun drafting your story. Later have fun editing it and sharpening it. Have fun creating your characters and as much of your setting as you can show us but remember you do only have 1000 words for flash.

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This World and Others – Food Production

I’ve not yet come across a story where the characters don’t need to eat. (I loved the hobbits and their wish for second breakfast in The Lord of the Rings). So regardless of your setting, food has to be produced somehow. What would your world use as sources of meat? (Yes, that can be especially grim and could be a source for ideas if you want to write horror).

What would your world grow as cereals and other crops? Would we recognize their farming methods? Is their equipment the same as ours, or more or less advanced than our own? Do the main characters in your story have any involvement with food production and could their role prove pivotal to the overall plot?

Whoever controls food supply wields a great deal of power, no matter what world this is on, so that could be used to good effect in a story. Naturally climate chance could also be factored into a tale involving food production. What would the impact be on the world you’ve set up?

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

This time I share the October 2023 of the magazine on the theme of horror. I look at Writing Horror: The Telling Details. And yes it is possible to write horror flash fiction. I’ve written some though mine is at the less dark end of the market.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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