Tag: Fairytales With Bite

Hopes In Writing

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good week. Do have a lovely Easter break (and Passover if you celebrate). I’m looking forward to the Easter services, always a special time. Lady and I are enjoying the sunshine and making the most of it while it lasts. Writing wise, I plough on!

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Am pleased to share Hopes In Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I look at this from the viewpoints of hopes for a writer and how we can use hopes to strengthen our characterisation. After all, our characters must hope for something, yes?

I look at hopes coming from basic needs, believable hopes for characters, and the best kinds of hopes for characters which are not necessarily the same as the best hopes because a character may hope for something but they actually need something better).

I also look at hopes for writers, especially developments in print on demand and the indie press, both of which have given more opportunities for writers.

Hope you enjoy the post too!

Hopes in Writing

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Quiet day in the park today but lovely all the same. Lady and I enjoyed the sunshine.

Don’t forget I’ll be sharing Hopes in Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I’ll be looking at hopes for writers and how we can use hopes as part of our characterisation. Hope you’ll find the post useful. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Loved the ACW group I went to online last night – good chat and laughs. There is rarely a time when that isn’t welcome!

Writing wise, I do plan to get on with more story writing over the weekend, especially on Sunday. I was pleased to recently use two stories I drafted at the last ACW Flash Fiction Group meeting for a recent Substack post and YouTube video. I do like to have stories like this in “stock” so to speak, even if they have only just been put into the “stock cupboard”. I do know I could do with topping up my supplies though! Mind you, this is a fun task to be getting on with and the Easter weekend should help a lot here.

Hope your day has gone well. Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler pal so all is well there.

Writing wise, am looking forward to “going to” an online ACW meeting this evening. It’s always a fun one. It also won’t be too long before my next article will be on Writers’ Narrative. Hope to share the link to that next week.

Also my April newsletter went out today. (1st April).

Editing Tip: The biggest one of all, I think, is to give yourself plenty of time and accept you will need more than one sweep for this. You will, in fact, need several. You will need an edit to make sure the story “works properly” (structural). You will need an edit to look for inconsistencies as well as typos and grammatical errors (copy editing). You will need a final check all is well before the manuscript goes to print (proofreading). All three take time. All three make a huge difference to how well your work comes across. Don’t sell yourself short here.

Yes, I’m biased being an editor but I think it is a good bias. I know I’ve always appreciated the editing work carried out on my books. Editors will pick up on things you won’t have seen, precisely because you are too close to your own work (and in many ways should be as it is your baby, after all, but you do need to accept you need that distance and independent eye).

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Hope to do much more flash fiction writing this weekend but meantime I thought I’d share a fun story I wrote for Flash NANO 2025 (which was alas the last one!). Hope you enjoy the following.

A Change Will Do You Good by Allison Symes

How often did I hear her say “A change will do you good”, whenever life threw bricks at me? It was her answer to everything.
I did wonder if she used it as an excuse when chatting about my latest failure with the neighbours. I guess she had to find something to say. Mums are like that.
Still, I have, at last, found a change I like. She never did want me to go to that special school. I told her she’d watched too many fantasy films. But I loved the school and finally found somewhere I didn’t stick out. Everyone else there was like me.
As for the change, I know I shouldn’t have done it but I’d just had enough.
I turned Mum into a statue. The spell will wear off tomorrow. No harm done. She’ll remember nothing.
But I get some peace and quiet for a day. That is a change I welcome. And I can use it whenever she becomes a little too much.
You do understand, don’t you?

Ends
Allison Symes – 3rd November 2025

I was looking through Writing Magazine earlier today and came across a place which specifically asked for flash prose. I know that sounds an odd term but it isn’t really. I’ve occasionally written a flash story in poetic form so it does pay to make the distinction. Certainly, flash prose does make up the vast majority of what I write.

I do write flash acrostics more often and they’re fun to do now, every now and then, as a change. It pays to keep the word or words you use for this short though.

Most of all, I do write to the different categories in flash in terms of word count as I’m pleased to say there are far more competitions about now than when I was starting out in this field. So it pays to be able to write to the various word counts required, the most popular being 50, 100, 250, 300, and 500 words.

I was talking about editing on my other Facebook page but I should add here flash needs just as much editing as any other form of writing. One thing I’m always looking out for is whether my words are the best I could choose to create the maximum impact for the fewest words used.

The other thing to watch here when writing in this form is that errors will stand out more given the reduced word counts involved so beware! Mind you, it is easier to read flash pieces out loud to pick up errors that way and to check your dialogue does flow as it should do. So there are positives here!

You still need to take your time though!

Fairytales with Bite – Sparkle and Glitter

I must admit I’m always wary when any magical character turns up in a story spreading sparkle and glitter and good will. I always want to see the context behind that. Is this character really as good as they are making out to be or is this a good cover up? What do they hope to get out of it? I want to see good deeds carried out for good reasons.

I’ve much more sympathy, and more inclined to believe, those characters who try to do what is right, sometimes muck it up, and then seek to put it right. Mind you, I’ve got more sympathy for those in life who do that.

Those characters who are generally good will be more believable if you show something of what led them to be that way. What made them decide not to go down the path for using power for their own ends and so on? Show something of the struggle they may have against that constant temptation.

I’m sure there must be magical characters who would love to “blitz” away a bad magical being for the best of reasons but know in doing so they will betray themselves and their principles so have to find a better way of dealing with this.

I also think magic is a form of power and there will be downsides to those using it.

This World and Others – Putting On A Show

Do your magical characters like to put on a show when using their powers or do they believe discretion is the better part of valour? (I prefer that myself).

Those characters who do like to put on a show – what are their motivations for this? Is it because they’re insecure or are they trying to demonstrate to others they’re worthy of promotion etc? What do they really want? There usually is something!

When shows are put on for better reasons, individually or state events, who is behind this? What are the shows for? For state events, will these be a means of controlling the population? I can’t help but think of the old Roman maxim here about bread and circuses.

What do your characters make of shows which they are either part of, attend (and do they have a choice on that?), or know about? If your characters do their utmost to avoid these things, how successful or otherwise are they at doing that? Would other characters give them grief for this?

Story ideas there!

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Templates

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Hope you have had a good week. Weather more changeable but Lady has been having fabulous times in the park with her closest chums so all well there. Glad to say my story did go out on Hannah Kate’s Spring Equinox show on Tuesday 24th March. Links below

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Am pleased to share Templates on Chandler’s Ford Today. I share thoughts on what you could put in your own template to help you flesh out characters and/or settings. All of the questions I share here will help you come up with story ideas.

I also look at the advantages and disadvantages of templates. I see them as a helpful way in to creating a new character and/or setting. Sometimes it is useful to know the setting first and then you can work out who would populate it. Often settings can almost be like characters in their own right – for example, think of the moors in Wuthering Heights or Dickens’ London as shown in Oliver Twist.

I also mix up the questions I use in templates to avoid them becoming formulaic. Hope you find the post useful.

Templates

 

Hope today has gone well. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler chum today – the dogs are always pleased to see each other. It’s lovely to see.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Templates on Chandler’s Ford Today this week – link up tomorrow. See above. I’ll be looking at the usefulness of these things (and also discuss some disadvantages, not everyone gets on with them for one thing). I’ll also be suggesting ideas for your own templates. Hope the post will prove useful.

Am glad to say I now have the link for the Hannah Kate Spring Equinox show on North Manchester FM on Mixcloud. I hope to catch up with this myself at the weekend but highly recommend a listen because I love the stories on these shows though I will admit to bias being on the show and knowing someone else who is but it is a good bias to have, I think.

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Lady had a fabulous puppy party this morning with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback friends and Coco, the lovely Labradoodle. All four dogs went home tired and happy.

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later on tonight. Our theme this time is sixty. There are various ways to incorporate that thought into stories and we will be looking at some of those this evening.

I hope to catch up with Hannah Kate’s Spring Equinox show over the weekend but many congratulations to all of the writers who had work featured here. I always enjoy catching up with these shows and listening to all of the stories – fabulous entertainment.

Writing Tip: Character names can be used to reflect something of their age and likely social status but the main thing to watch when having more than one named character in tale is to ensure the names are different enough so it is easy for readers to tell who is speaking at any given point.

Also it helps not to have the same initials. If Jake and John are in the same tale, it could be easy to confuse these unless there are other clear points of difference such as in the manner each of them speaks and the type of vocabulary they use.

A good editing tip here is when you read through your work, can you tell the characters apart easily? You should be able to do so.

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Earlier this week at the meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group, we looked at the theme of Sixty. I chose that to fit in with my special birthday (couldn’t resist it!) but it does lend itself to stories based on diamonds, special birthdays and anniversaries. You can also just use the number itself as part of a story such as part of an address, a sum of money and more.

I also set the group some exercises, one of which was to write to sixty words exactly including the title. My story for that session, to show as an example, is below. Hope you enjoy it.

My Hero by Allison Symes

I can’t say I like his handiwork but he leaves me gifts. He doesn’t do that for anyone else. He comes and sits on my lap when I feel sad. Then goes out and kills as many mice as he can find and brings them all to me.

I possibly shouldn’t have called my rough diamond Mr Tiddles.

Ends
Allison Symes – 8th March 2026

Word Count including title = 60

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The next best thing any reader can do after buying an author’s book is to review them, of course. A lovely one for my Tripping The Flash Fantastic includes the following quote.

Fabulous collection of poems and flash fiction. Some made me giggle, some made me gasp, all surprised me! I found it a real page turner, as the stories had such unexpected twists and turns!

Many thanks to my lovely reviewer here. Reviews like that reassure an author they’re on the right lines. I look to entertain with my flash and short stories so it’s good to know that is happening!

The great thing with reviews is they don’t have to be long, which is so apt for when you’re reviewing a flash fiction collection.

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Looking forward to joining in with some of the exercises I’m setting for tonight’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. Always good fun this and I get more drafts down so nothing to dislike there. Hopefully these will end up later on being polished up for competitions. Am hoping to get to write some further drafts over the weekend as there are competitions coming up in May and beyond which I always have a go at and I do like to start early. It means I get enough time to rest my drafts to assess them properly well ahead of deadlines.

I also make a point of mixing up the kind of writing exercise I use because it keeps me on my toes and I get to create more stories this way. I must admit though I do have a soft spot for the opening line kind.

Fairytales With Bite – A New Era

This topic came to mind as I’ve recently celebrated a landmark birthday. You know, the kind of one which marks the end of one decade and the beginning of another.

So how would your magical characters recognize what was a new era for them? Does your setting mark time in a similar way to ours but, if not, how do they do so? How would their eras correlate to what we would recognize as that?

Now I see my next decade as a promising one in that I hope to continue to develop my writing and hopefully have more success with it. But how would your characters see the passing of another decade (or the equivalent)? Do they worry about aging and, if so, why? Would magical powers decrease with age and that is why nobody really wants to think about getting older and what it would mean there? (There are clear parallels with us here).

Is your magical setting a benevolent one or a dictatorship? That would colour the views of your characters as they enter a new era. They may want more of the same or a complete overthrow of the regime. Good story thoughts there.

And a character’s view to aging, whether they’re magical or not, can also highlight other attitudes of theirs. If they worry about aging, could it because they know how older beings are treated? Again, good story ideas there.

This World and Others – Leaving the Past Behind

Landmark birthdays can give cause for reflection as you look ahead to the decade to come and ponder on the one you’ve just left behind. I don’t think it is entirely possible to leave the past behind. You always carry some of this with us and so should our characters. But there are times we want to not be held back by damaging things from our past and that again can often be the case with our characters.

When it comes to magical or alien characters, what kinds of things would they want to confine to the past and why? Would they have the same or similar regrets to us or would theirs be different due to their nature and/or environment?

Leaving the past behind can throw up interesting areas to explore for historians and archaeologists. What would count as archaeological finds on your setting? Would it be anything we’d recognize? Sometimes discoveries from the past can have impact on what is known now. For example, the finding of the remains of King Richard III has done this. Are there things from the past your world and/or characters wish had stayed hidden?

Definite story ideas there.

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Setting Writing Exercises

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good few days. Delighted to share broadcasting news this time (see further time) and Lady has had a great week with her pals. All have appreciated the sunshine, as have their owners.

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Delighted to share Setting Writing Exercises on Chandler’s Ford Today which I hope will prove useful to those running writing groups and/or authors who set exercises as part of their newsletters etc to engage with readers (and fellow writers).

I set tips, include examples of different writing exercises, and the importance of mixing things up here. I also look at the benefits of writing exercises whether you do them, set them, or, like me do both as often as you can.

I love writing exercises and it is a joy to set them for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group, which I lead monthly. The group have come up with fabulous stories as a result and I maintain, even if your writing work is in the longer forms, using a writing exercise as a “warm up” is not a bad idea. It gets you into writing (and you can work on those shorter pieces again later, hopefully getting those published too. Nothing to dislike about that thought!).

I hope you find the post useful.

Setting Writing Exercises

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A busy day but Lady enjoyed meeting up with the “girls”, her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals.

I’ll be sharing Setting Writing Exercises for Chandler’s Ford Today this week – link up tomorrow. See above. Will be useful for anyone running a group and/or individual authors looking to set exercises to engage with readers/fellow writers via their newsletters etc.

I’m looking forward to joining in with a Zoom meeting of the Association of Christian Writers later this evening – will be good to chat to fellow writers/ACW members. I enjoyed this kind of meeting when ACW ran it before so I’m pleased they’re doing it again. This is one of the perks of being an ACW member and it was a great meeting.

Last but not least, I’m thrilled to announce my story, Out With The Old, will be broadcast on Hannah Kate’s Spring Equinox show on North Manchester FM this coming, Saturday 21st March. Link below shares more details. (If you can’t listen live, there is a Listen Again facility. I love that facility myself and often make use of it).

North Manchester FM: Hannah’s Bookshelf Spring Equinox Special, Saturday 21 March, 2-4pm

It’s my turn once again on the Authors Electric blog and this time I look at Special Years. I have a special birthday coming up over the weekend, you know the kind that ends in zero, but it is also a reminder of my writing anniversary thirty years ago.

A writing anniversary is a good time to reflect on the writing journey to date and mine has taken many twists and turns I hadn’t anticipated when I first started out trying to write seriously for publication. I also look at how I felt when I was first starting out because it is hard to believe then the break will come and you do need persistence, grit, call it what you will, to keep going as a writer. I think it pays to remind yourself of that sometimes. And, of course, to keep going!

Hope you enjoy the post.

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I look at Setting Writing Exercises for Chandler’s Ford Today this week and, of course, it is something I do a lot of but I respond to even more writing exercises for my flash fiction. I can’t give an accurate figure on it but I estimate well over 90% of my flash stories started life as a response to an exercise. When I go to writing events such as The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, I will sometimes set exercises there but again response to even more from the tutors there.

Also, in entering competitions, especially those with a set theme, I’m responding to an exercise effectively so it is a good idea to practice writing to different kinds, something I hope to do more of later this weekend.

I must admit though I do love the opening line exercises and have used so many of these to start my flash pieces. I find they help me hit the ground running with my characters and their situations and I like that a lot.


Pleased to say I’ll be having a flash piece broadcast on Hannah Kate’s Spring Equinox show on North Manchester FM on Saturday, It has been an especially busy and tiring week so far so this was lovely news to receive. Pleased to say a dear friend of mine will also be having her story broadcast. Love it when that happens.

For stories for potential broadcast I always do record them on Zoom so I can practice reading them aloud and get my timings right. Playing them back when I finish the recorded Zoom meeting with myself is a boon as I can hear how I sound – am I reading too fast? Is my pacing a bit slow etc? Plus Zoom gives you an exact record time which is so useful.

I also use Zoom for when I’m practicing for Open Prose Mic Night sessions for the same reasons. Most of these sessions are for an upper limit of five minutes only. Nobody minds you coming in at under that time but it is unfair on the other performers to go over so using Zoom is a good way to know in advance I won’t be doing that.

It’s also useful for hearing how your dialogue sounds in longer stories too so highly recommend doing this. Back in the day I did use Audacity but I do find Zoom even easier to use.

Hope today has gone well. Lady has been busy enjoying the sunshine with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals.

Flash fiction is a wonderful format for sharing moments in a character’s life which are complete stories in and of themselves, but which are shorter than “normal” short stories. The form encourages you to cut the waffle and to only share with a reader what matters to the character. That alone tightens up your writing. I’ve found that has carried over into my blog and article work, which is no bad thing.

So when I’m outlining a character, I focus on what is the one thing which matters to them and what gets in their way of obtaining it. It’s a great story structure and naturally the tale will show whether they do obtain it or not in the end. Sometimes other things will crop up which show them what they thought they wanted wasn’t ideal for them after all and they find something better. But what matters is something happens, there is always a point of change even in the smallest piece of flash fiction.

And it is a fantastic challenge, always.

Fairytales with Bite – Party Time

As I write this in March 2026, I’m looking forward to celebrating a big birthday, you know the kind with the zero on the end. Party time is fun! But do your characters take the same view? Do they celebrate each and every birthday or just do the special ones? What kind of format would their parties take, especially if they live in a world alien to our own?

If your setting is a magical one with various species, would they all celebrate in the same way or would what would be acceptable to one kind be abhorrent to another? Could that lead to clashes?

I don’t especially like balloons (not great for the environment either) or candles (fire hazard especially with my big birthday coming up!), but what “fripperies” would your characters like to have at their celebrations? What would be considered a “must have”?

Also, who does all of the work in getting the party food and drink ready? Are certain magical characters in your setting known for their skills here?

Could be some fun stories to write up here, apt since parties should be fun.

This World and Others – Society Occasions

As well as private functions as I look at in Fairytales with Bite, most places will have some sort of society event, sombre or otherwise. What forms would these take in your setting?

Being based in the UK, we had various Jubilees for the late Queen Elizabeth (and it seems so strange still writing of her in those terms) and I enjoyed these. We also have sombre occasions such as Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day. But all of these things are important in different ways and matter in different ways.

So how would your society hold a public celebration? How would they have a remembrance event (and what are they seeking to keep in the public memory here)?

What would your characters make of these things and do they play any role in any official events like this? Is there anyone with a vested interest in disrupting these things in some way and what are they hoping to achieve?

Story ideas there!

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Getting The Hooks In

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope the week has gone well. Mixed bag with the weather though there have been some nice days and Lady has seen her friends so all well there. Writing and editing going well too. I also have publication news too, which is always welcome.

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Am pleased to share Getting In The Hooks for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I look at the importance of delivering on the hook’s promise, look at their role in non-fiction and writing exercises, the usefulness of opening line hooks, other kinds of hook, and placing your hooks (they don’t necessarily have to be at the beginning). I hope you find the post useful.

Publication News: Nice to finish the working week with publication news. Am delighted to say I’ll be in The Best of CafeLit 15 coming out later this year. Good to see some familiar names will be in that book with me but congratulations to all.

Getting The Hooks In

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Hope the day has gone well. Drizzly and blustery here though Lady was cheered to see her Hungarian Vizler chum again.

Writing wise, am happily preparing my next PowerPoint for the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group later this month. Plus my Chandler’s Ford Today post on Getting The Hooks In will be up tomorrow. See above. Am also equally happily editing and drafting bits and pieces for later use. Never a dull moment here but that is how I like things to be.

Character Tip: I always find it useful to work out what motivates my character but, on top of that, to work out what they would be prepared to do when pressurised. The differences between “normal” motivations and those actions which come as a result of dire straits can be interesting and reveal much more about your character to you.

For example, a character who is usually calm because they hate drama, unnecessary anger etc because they know how hurtful it can be, what would make them go away from that state? Would it be to help someone else and why would they help that particular character? Definite story ideas there.

Hope today has gone well. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler pal again today and a lovely time was had by both dogs.

Don’t forget I’ll be sharing Getting The Hooks In on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I share thoughts and tips here and hope the post will prove to be useful.

Writing Question: What do I most enjoy about any creative writing? I think it is the creating of something new. Okay, I know it will need a lot of work but there is something new I’ve got down on paper or on screen with potential to be better. And I find discovering that potential to be such a challenging, fun and interesting thing to do. I really do love editing. It brings out the best of those initial drafts and it’s great to get to that point. I’ve also found the more writing I do, the clearer my writing voice becomes and I like that too.

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Hope the day has gone well. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback chums today and a lovely time was had by all.

Pleased to discover yesterday I will be in The Best of CafeLit 15 later this year. Always lovely to receive news like that.

Writing wise, I hope to be back to drafting more stories over the weekend, especially on Sunday. That’s a lovely way to wind up the week as a whole. Am thoroughly enjoying reading Editor’s Choice – Friday Flash Fiction Favourites. I have some tales in there but the selection is wonderful and I highly recommend this (and not just because I’m in it, honest guv!). Link below.

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As well as writing flash fiction, I also read it. It makes sense to read in your genre. It confirms what you love about it for one thing! It also shows you what is out there already (and you can learn a great deal from that). Also reading the anthologies is simply fun to do and I read these in between reading novels. I like to make sure I read plenty in the short as well as the long forms – again, fun to do and so helpful to any writer as you learn what you like and dislike as you read. That does have a powerful impact on your own writing.

My works, including the anthologies I’m in, can be found on Amazon (as well as elsewhere). Link to my Amazon Author Central page here. (Am so looking forward to when my third collection, Seeing The Other Side, can be on there too).

Twist endings in flash work so well. You don’t have to wait long for the pay-off. Because the story is so short, the impact of that twist is stronger, I think. I often know my twist first so I then jot down different scenarios which would lead to this twist arising naturally and then go with the one which has the most impact on me. Other readers are likely to feel similarly.

I also know the kind of twist I love reading in stories written by others and why I like them. Almost inevitably it is because when I look back at the story again, I can see the clues were there which would lead to that twist and this is why it works so well.

Twists serve the story and the character. It all has to blend together nicely. A twist shouldn’t be thrown in just for the sake of it. It won’t work. But a character doing something and then because something else happens, the twist occurs, that’s fair enough. And I do love it when authors manage to wrong foot me here. I always go back and study how they’ve done it. Always plenty to learn here (which is another aspect of the writing life I love because you are always learning and that is so good for you and your creativity).

Fairytales With Bite – Going Against Stereotype

Fairytales may be seen to be stereotypical but they often go against type. When you think that many powerful magical characters are older men or women in disguise, usually to teach someone arrogant a lesson, the message there is, rightly, don’t write off or treat with contempt older folk.

I must admit I love the Shrek franchise which goes even further here in turning a typical storybook villain into the hero. Thought that was so well done. And it does throw open an interesting question – just who is the hero or villain? These can be very different characters depending on which perspective you use. Robin Hood is a great example of this – if you were from peasant stock, you’d support him. If you were the Sheriff of Nottingham, you definitely wouldn’t.

When it comes to going against stereotype in your own stories, think about what it is you want to change. Do you want to give a fairytale species a better reputation as Shrek has successfully done? Or is it a question of helping a misunderstood character type have their say and showing where it is they come from?

Motivation is key here. Show us your character’s motivation, one we can understand (but not necessarily agree with), and then we’ll follow their journey and your story is more likely to work.

Happy anti-stereotype writing! (You do need to know what it is you want to change and why and then start from there).

This World and Others – Fitting In

I’ve always had a soft spot for characters who struggle to fit in but get there in the end, usually with understanding characters who help them and/or where they themselves go to huge efforts here. Sometimes it can be a case of their saving those who are misunderstanding them.

How easily do your characters find fitting in? Is it a natural thing for them or do they have to work hard at this? What parts of their personality do they reveal to make fitting in easier? Equally, what do they hide because they worry it will put folk off?

I always look for character development in stories, yes even the flash fiction pieces I write and read, because I like to see how the situation the characters are in change them for better or worse. Going through a situation could help your characters to fit in better at the end of the story than they had been at the beginning. That is a classic story arc because it works.

In a magical setting, how easy or otherwise would your non-magical characters have in fitting in? Are they treated decently or discriminated against? What can they do the magical kind can’t? These abilities could be the way they would fit in.

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Author Interview – Wendy H Jones – A Right Cozy Historical Crime

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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.  A huge thank you to Wendy H Jones and the contributing authors to A Right Cozy Historical Crime for various pictures, including author head shots, for my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. Captions are in the article itself. Hope you enjoy it.
Hope you have had a good few days. Wonderful sunshine here – have even got my washing out, whoopee! Lady and I have loved being out in the nicer weather with pals. It does lift the spirits. Writing continues to go well. Am waiting to hear later this month about whether a flash piece of mine has been accepted but I hope to get on with some more competition entries soon.

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I’m delighted to share a fabulous author interview on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I share Author Interview – Wendy H Jones – A Right Cozy Historical Crime.

This in depth conversation with Wendy focuses on the delights of combining two great story genres – historical fiction and crime. Wendy also shares wonderful tips highlighting things you need to know if you write in this combined form. I must admit I love both genres and to combine them still further in another great love of mine, the short story anthology, is just bliss.

Wendy also shares what fascinates her about historical fiction, why she picked the short story format for combining two genres (short stories have their challenges just sticking to one genre), and getting the use of language right for the time setting of the stories while still being accessible and much more besides.

Plenty to enjoy here and I heartily recommend the anthology too. It is a great read.

Author Interview – Wendy H Jones – A Right Cozy Historical Crime

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Hope the day has gone well. Lady and I enjoyed another lovely sunny day with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback chums.

Writing wise, do look out for a super interview with Wendy H Jones on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. See above. We’ll be discussing the latest anthology to come from her publishing house – A Right Cozy Historical Crime. Plus we’ll be discussing the joys of blending historical and crime fiction, a match made in heaven given both types of story individually try to get at the truth. There will be much more too. Link up tomorrow for what will be a great read.

If you’re looking for story writing tips, especially for this kind of story, do check this out. The interview is part of a blog tour organised by Lynsey Adams of Reading Between the Lines Vlog.

And huge congratulations to all of the authors in this cracking anthology.

Another lovely sunny day Lady and I made the most of by catching up with her Hungarian Vizler friend and equally great owner.

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to an ACW group meeting this evening – these are always great fun.

Reading wise, I’m focusing on light, entertaining reading. It’s my favourite kind of reading anyway but never more so than when the times are grim. If you want somewhere to start, do check out The Great Sermon Handicap by Wodehouse. If you like humour with bite to it, do check out Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. I’d start with the Vimes books.

Writing Tip: Do have a notebook to hand (or an app for your phone handy). Ideas do crop up at odd moments and I know from experience you don’t remember them later. I must admit I don’t have a notebook by my bed for the good reason the moment my head hits the pillow, that’s it, but I do have plenty of note paper and pens elsewhere and I do make good use of these. Also, make a point of reviewing your notebooks from writing events every so often. You will find things you’ve forgotten about but which you could work up into something promising. No prizes for guessing how I know this one!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I like to mix up the mood of my flash pieces and literally go from light to dark and back again here, which gave me a useful title for my debut book!

But in anthologies generally, flash and short story ones, I like to see a mixture of moods. Fiction reflects life even where the setting is out of this world because there will be something about the characters which we understand. So therefore story moods should vary just as ours do.

Mind you, I will always have a soft spot for those tales which make us smile. I think they’re needed more than ever.

There is still time to get a story in to Hannah Kate for her Spring Equinox show on North Manchester FM. This goes out live on Saturday 21st March but the deadline for submissions is 16th March. See the link for more information and good luck if you give this a go. I’ve had a couple of festive flash pieces broadcast here and the show is always good fun to listen to. Why not check it out?

It is also good practice writing to a timed limit. You have three minutes maximum and I’ve always found it useful, once I’ve got my story sorted out, to record myself reading it on Zoom. When you end the meeting with yourself (yes, I know it sounds odd), Zoom will convert the file to an mp3 for you so you can play it back and hear how you sound. Just as importantly, it will give you the timing for your story. You can’t go wrong here and it is so easy to do.

Spring Equinox Stories Wanted for Hannah’s Bookshelf on North Manchester FM


Hope the day has gone well for you. I plan to start work soon on my presentation for the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. This time I know the theme – a certain event is coming up this month and various things can come from that, which can be put to good use for storytelling. Looking forward to working on this presentation – they’re always fun to do but I’m itching to go on this one, which is always a good sign.

Hope to start drafting some more flash pieces over the weekend for competitions later this spring which I always have a crack at. Plus I hope later this year to work on getting another collection together. Am looking forward so much to Seeing The Other Side out there in the meantime. Will keep you updated as and when I have further news to share on that.

Fairytales With Bite – Coming to Life

As I write this, there are more signs of spring coming to life around me. I love this. It’s always cheering to see the daffodils, the blossom and so on appearing (and hearing more of the bird song too).

In your magical setting, what would be the equivalent of our seasons? What would your characters consider to be their natural world coming to life again? What would they welcome seeing coming back? What would they dread? For example, if there is a quiet season when the dragons aren’t around, I doubt if your characters, unless they are other dragons, are particularly going to welcome their return!

What would be your magical setting’s equivalent of the beautiful flowers and trees we see? Are any of these magical in their own right and what good or harm could they do? I wouldn’t like, for example, to come across the magical equivalent of a Venus fly trap especially if it was huge and could take larger prey!

Are there some natural things your characters actively encourage to come back to life when the season is right and why would they do this? How can they do it? (I’m thinking along the lines of what gardeners can do to encourage plants to flourish here). Could it backfire?

Story thoughts there.

This World and Others – Career Breaks

Taking time out to have a career break has become more common in recent years. Sometimes that break leads to someone pursuing a different career altogether when they decide to return to the workplace.

What would be the equivalent in your magical world? Can your characters ever step down from magical roles, albeit briefly? If they can, would this be treated as an extended holiday, a kind of sabbatical? What would happen if your characters decided they wanted a different magical role? Is it feasible for them to change? It is possible if what they’re thinking of changing to would be more useful to your powers that be, they’d encourage this.

Are the careers available in your magical setting dependent on what your character’s species and/or status are? Can anyone break the status quo here?

What would happen if those in power decided they wanted a career break? Could a fairy monarch, say, step down briefly, there be a Regency, and then he/she returns to the throne? Also give some thought as to why they would want this. There will be story ideas there.

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Catching Up

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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. One image in my books slideshow was taken by Wendy H Jones and another by Adrian Symes. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope the week has gone well. Enjoyed the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Wednesday. Lady has had a lovely time with her closest pals all week and we have had more sunshine. Spring is finally on the way, hooray!

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Am delighted to share Catching Up on Chandler’s Ford Today this week which is a round up of my recent(ish) news. Plenty has been happening since my last writing update here as I briefly outlined yesterday.

It pays, every now and again, to look back at where you have come from on your writing journey. Mine has taken me in directions I never envisaged when I started writing seriously but am glad of every experience here. Even the dodgier ones, such as almost being caught out by a vanity publisher and I stress almost, were useful in that I learned something from it and I also discovered the fabulous Society of Authors as a result.

Hope you enjoy the post.

Catching Up

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Hope today has gone well. Lady is having an absolute ball with her pals over the park at the moment. Today she saw her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals and Coco and Charlie. All of the dogs went home tired but happy.

Writing wise, I’m sharing Catching Up on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. This is a round up of various things happening in my writing world including Writers’ Narrative’s move to Substack, my editing work, Friday Flash Fiction (which also includes publication news) and more. A lot has happened in the last few months!

Marketing Tip: I’ve mentioned before I use odd pockets of time to draft flash pieces, brainstorm for titles, opening lines etc, but you can also use these periods to jot down some ideas for future marketing for your stories. This includes making a note of avenues you would like to explore. I find I am much more likely to do this if I write this down in the first place. I guess it is a case of my making a commitment to myself here.

Hope you’ve also enjoyed a lovely, sunny Wednesday. Proper puppy party over the park this morning with Lady, Coco, the lovely Labradoole, her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals. Plus our neighbour’s Golden Retriever (who is huge and lovely) came over to say hello. Lovely time had by all. Could swear I was feeling the benefit of being out in the sunshine. The dogs certainly loved it.

Writing wise, I’m sharing Catching Up on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. This will be a round up post of recent happenings, writing wise. Again, see above.

Character Tip: Think about what can “throw” your characters – illness, work worries, just sheer tiredness. What impact would those things have on their story and how would they overcome them, assuming they do? (Might be a short story if they don’t!). I know tiredness can directly have an impact on my writing so have developed ways of limiting that, such as accepting certain days when I’m rushed off my feet all day, I will only write for a shorter time and get bits and pieces done. Makes me feel better doing those things. Means I’m not overdoing it either. So what would your characters do to help them manage things?

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am thinking of sharing some of my 100 word flash pieces on my Substack account on a regular basis. Will keep you posted when I do this. One of the things I loved about writing for Friday Flash Fiction regularly was it did get me into the discipline of writing to such a tight word count often. And I’ve found that pays off. I also love the challenge of it too.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again on 1st March and to celebrate a significant birthday for me later that month, I will be sharing something special with this one which I hope will be prove useful.

To sign up do just head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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One thing which came up in last night’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group was how a document could inspire story ideas. This is even more true if the document is something someone wanted suppressed, as is so often the way with these things.

But bear in mind you can write flash (or longer fiction) based around an object and what that means to a character. Yes, there is such a thing as a random object generator too. I share a link to one here but there are others. But you could look at what a character would do to obtain or get rid of an object. Plenty of story ideas there.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting this evening. Hope to get some more drafts written too. I like taking part in the exercises I set. Some of them I do in advance to illustrate a point but I save a lot of them so I can join in on the night. Good fun!

I also love taking part in writing exercises at the various writing events I attend. I always see these as a great challenge but they do make you “up your game” and I’ve come up with several published stories thanks to these.

You can of course set your own writing exercises. I will sometimes use the random generators for this purposes and again the challenge of writing to a prompt you’ve not set yourself will encourage creativity and lateral thinking. If you like the old school way of doing this, take a book of proverbs, pick a page number at random and then a line number at random and then write to the theme of the proverb which comes up from that line.

It all helps keep you on your creative writing toes!

Fairytales with Bite – Starting Over Again

We know what it is to have to start over again in various aspects of life and how we feel about this. Sometimes a new start is something exciting to look forward to, at other times it is simply a pain, and at still others it comes with heartache. So how do your characters, magical or otherwise, feel and manage when they have to start all over again?

What led to the circumstances causing them to have to start again? Was it through their own mistakes or something beyond their control? Where they’ve been the unfortunate victims of circumstance, how do they overcome this? Would they want the circumstances to not dictate to them – that is, they will rise above it, no matter what? Good stories to be told following that path.

Do your characters have others to help them to start again or do these secondary characters get in the way, perhaps scared of the inevitable changes that are coming? Do they hold your characters back fearing to lose them altogether if they don’t?

Again, plenty of story ideas to come there given characters will have, like we do, mixed motives at times and that will also affect how they handle having to start again.

This World and Others – Rebuilding a World

Natural disasters are, sadly, a fact of life and some of them can change an area permanently. I’m thinking of the volcanic eruption which engulfed Pompeii (though ironically it did help preserve the place for all time – archaeologists have discovered so much here).

In your setting, what natural disasters have happened there? Were your species responsible for any of that happening and, if so, how? What have they learned from this? Have they been able to put things right? Did anything “good” come out of the disaster? Has your setting and those responsible for running it learned from the disaster to prevent anything like it happening again?

If magic was involved in the disaster, did it make things worse or did it limit the damage done? Was magic used in the clearing up operations? How did it help? Who did do the clearing up?

Of course, we can also rebuild our own personal worlds, especially after a sad event. How would your characters do this? Would they be “moving on “ knowing a loved one would want them to do so? How do they start again and rebuild? What help is available to them? Is your setting/major species broadly sympathetic here or not? Does the culture expect your characters to just get on with life again?

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Writing Events

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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 Lynn Clement and Gill James for two images in my Chandlers Ford Today post this week. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope the week has gone well. Lady has had a lovely time with friends. Have had some sunshine which was welcome but more rain which wasn’t! Writing going well. Am drafting various things at the moment.

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Lady had a lovely time with her Hungarian Vizler pal today and has had a fabulous week in that she has “partied” with pals all week! You’ve got to admire the stamina…

Writing wise, I’m pleased to share Writing Events as my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. I look at the benefits for writers of going to events and how I evaluate which ones are the best for me. I also discuss day events and Zoom/online ones. (Am going to one of these later this evening in support of a friend’s book launch so the timing of this is nice).

Hope you enjoy the post and find it useful.

Writing Events

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Hope the day has gone well. Lady had a fantastic puppy party with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal and Coco, the lovely Labradoodle. Cold and drizzly out there but nowhere near as bad as yesterday.

Writing wise, I’ll be discussing Writing Events for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I share what I look for when deciding which events to go to and look at day events and Zoom ones too. Hope you’ll find the post useful. The link goes up tomorrow.

Writing Tip: When I started writing seriously, the thought of networking terrified me. When I realised going to events would mean talking about something I love, writing, with others who love writing too, those fears went. And it got me used to talking about what I do writing wise. What I did do before going to my first ever event was jot a few thoughts on what I could say about what I write. That helped give me more confidence because I knew I had something I could say and then, of course, as you get chatting to other writers, the conversation continues naturally which is wonderful.

18th February – Authors Electric

Despite cold and wet weather, Lady managed to have a great time at the park with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback chums, and Charlie, the lovely Toller. I can’t speak for the others but I do know Lady and I weren’t sorry to be indoors again.

Writing wise, it’s my turn on the Authors Electric blog and this time I look at The Shortest Time, an apt title for a flash fiction writer. I look at this from the viewpoint of meeting deadlines for competitions, using smaller pockets of writing time well so I can make better use of longer sessions, and, of course, I give my characters the shortest time possible in the format to resolve their issues. No dithering about what to do here!

Hope you enjoy the post.

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Am happily drafting a flash piece I hope to submit in the next week or so. Have got the basics okay but it is a question of now fine tuning the piece and I know I need a few days away from the work to be able to see what needs to be done and where. I’ve mentioned before it pays all writers to draft a piece, rest it for a while, and then come back to it so you can see it with fresh eyes.

The advantage for flash fiction writers here is we don’t need such a long break as, say, a novella writer would. But it still pays to put the time aside here. I always find something I could’ve phrased better etc on coming back to the work again. The distance from that initial creative spark is crucial, I think, to pick things up and make the work even better.

 
I like to use my characters to show their location. Often it is by showing you what kind of character they are. For example, if I have a dragon or fairy godmother, it’s a reasonably safe assumption to believe they’re in some sort of magical world. If they’re not, I will show them “on location”, almost inevitably confronting/being confronted by another character (and it will be clear enough where they must be based).

Flash teaches you, I think, to work out what the characters can show the readers. You haven’t got the word count room to spell everything out in any case. I must admit I love it when authors leave me to work things out. All I need is the right clues to be able to do that. The challenge to me as a writer is to plant the right clues so readers can do that with my stories without giving it all away.

I don’t use the weather much in fiction because, for me, it always a background thing. Where the weather has a direct impact on what my characters can do and how, then fine I’d write it in. But I don’t want the weather dominating the story (and when such scenes are badly written, they can be ripe for mockery. Love a laugh etc. Don’t want it to be aimed at my writing though!).

Where it can be useful is in showing more about your character. If I want a character to be struggling against the elements, I will probably show something of the clothing they’re wearing (that is often indicative of prevailing conditions). I may get them to moan about the weather to another character. That is something we an call identify with. I don’t generally need to show you the rain my character is struggling through. I will mention the lightning and rumble of thunder though which makes them start.

As with anything in fiction, it is the telling details which will make something stand out. So think about your reader, as well as your character. What would they expect to see? What would they expect to hear? Do use as many of the senses as you can.

Having a character doing the following makes something more gripping to me.

Mary knew she had to get away from the trees. The thunder was happening more often now and yes, there it was, she saw the first flash of lightning. She pressed on towards the cottage. Once there, everything else could wait including her vital message.

Allison Symes – 18th February 2026.

Hmm… now that does sound much more promising than saying something like It was pouring down!


Fairytales With Bite – Signs of Hope

February 2026 has been just as much of a wash out weather wise as January was but there are more signs of hope in February. The natural world is waking up to the thought of spring being not too far away and I’ve loved being out with the dog, despite the rain, spotting things like snowdrops, early crocuses and much more. Also the evenings, when it isn’t raining, are becoming lighter for longer.

What signs of hope would there be in your magical setting? What role does the natural world have against your main magical background? What signs of spring (or the equivalent season) would your characters like to see? Do they even appreciate these things? Do your magical characters appreciate other flora and fauna which are not used for potions etc?

Signs of hope aren’t just confined to the natural world. For example, if your setting has a dictatorial system of government or a wicked magical character in charge, but your characters are moving against all of that, what signs of hope would they have to encourage them to keep going? How would those signs of hope make a difference to the eventual and hoped for victory?

Hope can spur people on in difficult times. How would that play out in your setting?


This World and Others – The Natural World in a Magical Setting

As with Fairytales with Bite above, the role of the natural world in a magical setting is an interesting one. Yes, it will be the source of ingredients for spells and potions but it can be more than that.

I’m thinking of The Ents in The Lord of the Rings here, where they, representing the natural world as the Shepherds of the Trees, rose up against Saruman to try to overcome his wanton destruction of trees etc. The natural world can rebel against ill treatment (and I would say climate change is a warning from our own planet here. I don’t see how anyone can deny it. There have been major changes and it still befits us to take as good a care of our planet as we can – and that’s as radical as I get though to me it is plain common sense).

So how do your characters treat their natural world? Is it valued? Would your magical characters appreciate their natural world for its beauty, health benefits to walking in it etc? Where would your characters go to in your setting when they wanted to get away with it all?

Also, are any of the animals, plants etc magical in their own right? What advantages are there to this for your setting or characters? What would be the disadvantages? What are the dangers? How would the natural magical world clash or co-operate with the magical characters?

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Writing To Themes

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All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good few days. Lady has been having fabulous times with various chums all week. I’ve been very busy with writing and meetings on Zoom. Looking forward to a quieter weekend, to be honest. Will be having a super interview coming up on Chandler’s Ford Today in March (so you can guess from that some of the writing I’m busy with!).

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Am pleased to share my latest post on Chandler’s Ford Today on Writing To Themes.

I share thoughts and tips on the topic given I write to set themes almost always. Even when not doing so for competitions and Writers’ Narrative, I set my own theme, as I have done here. Themes give structure to any piece of writing and are fabulous for sparking ideas for characters and situations.

Hope you find the post useful.

Writing To Themes

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Hope today has gone well. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler friend today so has done brilliantly in seeing at least one of her closest pals all week this week. (Doesn’t always happen).

Writing wise, I’m sharing Writing To Themes for Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. I share tips and thoughts, all of which I hope will prove useful. I’m hard pushed to think of any writer who hasn’t written to a theme at some point, even if they invent the theme first!

Marketing Tip: I put aside some of my writing time to think about ways of marketing. I include my YouTube videos which I share on Mondays as part of this because they show something of my writing style. I like the marketing I do to be as much fun as possible because I then don’t mind doing it and hopefully it will be fun for readers too.

Hope you’ve had a good day. Puppy party over the park today with Lady, the Hungarian Vizler, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, Coco, and a lovely Toller called Charlie. Good time had by all. All went home tired and happy.

Writing wise, have a flash story to submit for a competition later today, plus I’m preparing a super interview to appear on Chandler’s Ford Today in March. Love conducting as well as reading/hearing author interviews – always learn something useful from them. All writing journeys are different and this, I think, helps contribute to my finding author interviews fascinating.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group later this month. We’ll be looking at On This Day…. Loads of topics for flash (and other) stories to come from that.

Writing Tip: Have put my own advice into play this week as I’ve had a couple of hectic days where I haven’t been able to write much. Lovely but so, so busy, so have focused on writing little bits and pieces, knowing I will find these useful later on. At the end of the day, the important thing is to write, whether you have five minutes or five hours.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Have had a lovely day out in deepest Dorset (super county) with other half and Lady. Even had some sunshine. Does you good to have mini breaks every so often.

Talking of which, why not send a character off for a mini break for a flash tale? Where do they go and what happens there? This would work well for longer fiction, of course, but I like the thought of a short, sharp story on this. One break. One character. One event.

Happy writing!

I mentioned yesterday about flash being strong on impact. It’s also strong on getting right inside a character’s mind for the duration of the tale. There is no word count room to dilute what your character thinks, does, or says.

If I’m showing you a story about a grumpy fairy godmother (as I love to do sometimes), I will need to show you something about what made her grumpy, what she does because of her mood, the consequences and so on.

Everything has to follow through but I cannot go on for too long. I have to show you just what you need to know to make sense of the tale. If you need to work on focus in stories, do try flash fiction. It encourages the development of focus. It has also led me to lose all fear of editing.

Plan to submit a flash piece for a 500 words maximum competition a little later today. Will be good to get that done.

Am thoroughly enjoying the co-judging I’m involved with on another flash competition at the moment.

Flash Fiction Tip: Give thought as to why your story idea would work best for a flash fiction format. What you are looking for here is maximum impact in the fewest words possible to convey that. So it is helpful to focus on one character, one incident, one impact here, I find.

Fairytales With Bite – Days Out

Every so often the other half and I take the dog out for the day. A lovely time is had by all. Does us all the world of good.

So, when your magical characters need a break, where would they go and what would they do? Does your setting have places designed for the day tripper?

How would magical characters ensure they could have a proper mini break from magical work? Also, do your characters happily go on these breaks or are they forced into them due to tiredness making them less effective? Would their bosses insist on the break?

Story ideas there for sure.

This World and Others – Down Time

We all need down time. The same goes for our characters. So how would they spend that down time?

If in things like reading or enjoying music, what would they have which would be comparable with what we have here? What would be different?
Would they have more or less down time than us? Would your characters be prepared to give up all or some of their down time should the need arise? How could they tell this was genuine rather than their bosses sneakily trying to make them work longer?

Where you have different magical species, what down time activities do they have in common? Which would be specific to species?

What stories could there be with a character having down time and something disrupts it? Or where the down time gets in the way of something important?

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Review – The Chameleon Theatre Company – Camelot The Pantomime

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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.  A huge thank you to Daisy Wilkins (Dazoo Art) for kind permission to use pictures, on behalf of The Chameleon Theatre Company, from Camelot the Pantomime in my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good few days. Lady has enjoyed seeing her friends. Mud avoidance not possible at the moment though! Glad my copy of Editor’s Choice – Friday Flash Fiction Favourites has now reached me and I’m enjoying it very much. I have a few stories in there too.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady caught up with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals again and all three went home tired but happy.

Talking of which, I came home tired and happy after seeing Camelot The Pantomime recently staged by the always excellent Chameleon Theatre Company. I review the pantomime for my post on Chandler’s Ford Today this week and hope you enjoy it. The Chameleon pantomimes are always worth seeing but they do stage other plays during the rest of the year so if you are in my area, watch out for these. I’ve taken in far more stories than I would otherwise have done watching The Chameleons on stage.

Oh and you know the old song from South Pacific, There’s Nothing Like a Dame? Great song, I have wonderful memories of a certain Morecambe and Wise sketch which used it, and it is always true for pantomimes, including Camelot.

The Chameleon Theatre Company – Review – Camelot The Pantomime


Soggy day today but Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals and Daisy the sweet spaniel. Lovely but muddy time had by all.

Writing wise, do look out for my review of Camelot The Pantomime, recently staged by The Chameleon Theatre Company, for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. It was great fun to watch the show and a real pleasure to review it. After a difficult week for various reasons (including Storm Chandra), it was such a tonic to see this. The review will share the “flavour” of the show which I hope you will enjoy. For me, it was also a chance to take in a story in a different format and I always welcome that. See above.

Many thanks for all who’ve liked my recent article on Writers’ Narrative on Substack. Articles will appear in your inbox (if you’ve subscribed to the magazine) every few days. Another one of mine will appear later this month.

Top Tip: For all of my articles, I prepare in advance as much as I can even when I know I can’t write the whole thing up until later. For example, if I need to research a particular topic but cannot do so immediately, I will make a note on my Scrivener file to remind me to check the references out and list them so they are easy to find. So I have these things to hand when I do then have the time to do the research. These notes are in with my draft article.

It’s what I love about Scrivener. It’s so easy to keep things together and even move things around as I need to. I went through a stage when Word kept crashing on me so when I discovered Scrivener, where I’ve had no problems at all, I was only too glad to move over to it. The nice thing is when I need to “compile” a Scrivener document to a Word format (for story competitions where I have to upload a file in docx format), it is so easy to do. I can also “compile” to pdf and many other formats and I’ve found that useful too.

But making a note at the time of what I need to research (and the links) at a later date saves me so much time.


Hope today has gone well. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler chum and Daisy the lovely spaniel. All three dogs had a lovely time in the park. Nice to see some sunshine about. Think we all appreciated that.

Writing wise, have now received the stories for judging for the flash fiction competition where I am a co-judge. Looking forward to reading the stories. Whether you judge stories or not, every time you read fiction you will learn something which can be useful to your own writing – what you like, dislike etc in characters, for example.

Reading/Writing Tip: If you keep a notebook to hand when you read, why not jot down what you like/dislike about a character and why. A line or two would be enough. These notes will build up over time and may well assist you in creating your own characters. You, having been the reader, will know what it is you want to see from characters. Your notes will confirm this.

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Today, 6th February, would’ve been the Accession Day for the late Queen Elizabeth the Second. Her life and her role in it changed in a moment. While knowing this would happen at some point, it came far earlier for her than expected.

Now how about applying that thought to some characters. Make them face things they are half-ready long before they truly are. How do they manage? How does it impact on their life? What problems does it cause given they were expecting this situation/role later than they inherited it? There will be good story ideas to come from that. Also there’s nothing like having a character face the unexpected (at all or early) to increase the tension/drama in your story.

Flash is a constant challenge given I have to keep on inventing characters but, given this is my favourite aspect to storytelling, it’s a challenge I love. For me, characters are the reason I keep reading any length of story. I’ve got to want to see what happens. The lovely thing with flash, of course, is you get to see what happens quickly. I love that too.

It does mean I have to work out what I need to know about my characters first before I share them in stories. I have to focus on what matters for the story only. Everything else has to be cut out. That in turn helps me meet the word count requirement.

Delighted to say my copy of Editor’s Choice – Friday Flash Fiction Favourites arrived today. Am looking forward to reading that. Good to see familiar names here (and often with more than one Editor’s Choice too, so well done all).

Have started sending in competition entries towards the end of January/beginning of February. I’ve started a little later than last year on this (various reasons for that) but am pleased to have made a start.

Competitions stretch me and it is always a great challenge to rise to a set theme.

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Fairytales With Bite – The End of the Working Week

I suspect most of us are glad to get to the end of the working week, even if we love our jobs. By the time we get to Friday, we’re usually more than ready for a break. (I salute all those who work shifts by the way, not something I could do).

But how would your characters, magical or otherwise, feel about what would be their working week? What would they do to unwind ready for the daily grind to begin again on their equivalent of Monday? Is it a case of switching magical usage off altogether and “discharging”? Or it is a case of using magic for more relaxing purposes instead of their daily work? What would their work be? If your setting is run on magical systems of any kind, I would imagine they would need “engineers” and “maintenance”. Someone has to carry out those roles.

How would time work in your setting? Would it have a week as we know it, or is their equivalent longer or shorter? Who decided who would work when? How did your world realise their workers would need a break to recharge? Nobody, even with magical powers, can keep going all of the time. There would be a price to pay there.
In the UK our weekends really began as a result of campaigns to have Saturday afternoons off in the Victorian era. That gave workers that time and Sundays off. What would have happened in your world to trigger a change in their working patterns? How has your magical world benefited from the changes? Did they have magical campaigners here?

Food for story thought there, I think.

This World and Others – Respite

Linking in with Fairytales with Bite above, how would your characters get their respite from their magical or non-magical work? Would there be sports, dancing etc and would they resemble anything we have here? If your characters prefer to listen to music or read books (or do both together), what would be available for them?

If your characters need a longer period of respite, how would they take this? As an official holiday, a sabbatical, or would they take unpaid leave? What would trigger them to have longer respite periods? Also, what would holidays look like in your setting, is everyone entitled to them, when would they be taken and how long for?

Could you set your characters in stories where they are away from their normal routine, enjoying some needed respite, when adventures intervene and how would your characters handle this? I am fond of crime stories, especially those by Agatha Christie, and you know when she sends Poirot or Miss Marple somewhere something is going to happen which means they need to use their detective skills again. Could you do something similar with your magical characters? What kind of adventures would interrupt their respite?

There could be potential for humorous stories here too.

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good few days. Lady has had a wonderful time catching up with many of her friends and I did the same when I went to our local theatre company’s excellent pantomime. Will be reviewing that for Chandler’s Ford Today in due course. The week has had its ups and downs so will not be sorry to get to the end of this one.

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Delighted to share Top Ten Author Newsletter Tips for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. It’s apt given my next author newsletter is out soon (1st February). I’m also using this post to update a couple of earlier ones I wrote for CFT on the topic. I do hope you find this useful if you are considering having your own newsletter or already have one.

Top Ten Author Newsletter Tips

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It’s my turn on More Than Writers, the blog spot of the Association of Christian Writers. This time I look at Pressing On Towards The End of the Longest Month Ever. I suspect this will remain my longest title for the ACW blog spot! Mind you, it is apt given January does seem to drag on forever.

I look at the thought of pressing on and being patient being crucial parts of both our writing and Christian lives. I also look at the advantages of pressing on. (Success cannot come if you give up. Changing direction is another matter and I’ve done that myself but giving up, no). Also it helps I think to know you’re not alone in the ups and downs of the writing life.

I hope you find the post to be encouraging in what can be a dark and dreary month.

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Hope today has gone well. Lady saw her two best friends, the Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback, today and Daisy, who we see every so often, who is such a sweet spaniel. Not as muddy as I thought it would be over the park after yesterday’s awful weather (Storm Chandra). Still boot weather, mind you.

Am looking forward to exploring the theme of Ways and Paths with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group this evening. It will be nice to see everyone again. It was too and the evening went well.

Am off to see Camelot The Pantomime tomorrow so it is proving to be a varied week. Am getting to grips with Substack as Writers’ Narrative is moving over to that platform. More on this soon. My first two posts here will be appearing in early February.

Finding topics for the Flash Group, my Chandler’s Ford Today posts etc is an ongoing task but a fun one. Proverbs and sayings can give excellent themes to write around plus the writing and editing worlds as a whole also throw up timeless topics to write about. What matters is asking myself what can I bring to the table here which will be useful to someone else. I do love the challenge of this and it stretches me as a writer too. No bad thing that.

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Hope your Friday has gone well. My next author newsletter will be out on 1st February and I include an exclusive 100 word story in it. To sign up for this, other story links, tips and prompts, do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Will be having a busy weekend with flash and short story drafts but those are the kind of weekends I like!

There are a few standard and well known competitions I have a go at during the year so will be starting to think about drafting something for those before long. I like to give myself plenty of time for these.

I’ll also be co-judging a flash fiction competition soon and am looking forward to this. It’s an enjoyable and enlightening thing to do.

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Hope today has gone well. Lady caught up with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler friends again today and we also caught up with Daisy the lovely spaniel again. Lady has done very well with her “socials” this week. I will be getting on with my “socials” this evening as I head off to the pantomime.

Flash fiction wise, I have a story in draft for a competition which I hope to sort out and send at the weekend. I have other “stories in stock” I want to get out there so hope to get back to having a look at those at the weekend too. Plus I have a longer short story to read through and hopefully submit so plenty going on here.

But for tonight though I am going to sit back and enjoy the story of Camelot The Pantomime.
Oh yes I am! And I did – great fun too. More to come on Chandler’s Ford Today in due course.

Hope to get some flash fiction drafted tonight as I join in with the exercises I set for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group this evening. I love “writing live”. It gives me a real buzz and I hope it does for the other members of the group.

Later, much later, I’ll look back at my drafts and then see what I can do to improve them. There will be room for improvement, there always is, but the idea of a first draft is to just get those initial ideas down. Once I’ve worked on the pieces more, I do send some out for competitions, save others for a future collection, and still others for use on my newsletter. Nothing goes to waste. Even the ones I decide to not take any further, I can find something in them (such as the character or a good line of dialogue) I can use elsewhere. I have gone on to have pieces published which started life as my response to a writing exercise. It can be done!

Fairytales with Bite – Looking Ahead to Brighter Times

Much as I love the classic fairytales, I’ve never gone along with the “twee” school of thought which is where some folk think they’re just sweet tales for the kiddies. Errr…. No. That tells me someone hasn’t read the original stories for one thing.

Fairytales are anything but twee and they do show darker sides to aspects of our behaviour. A wave of the magic wand does not solve all problems and generally characters have to earn their “right” to have help in that manner from a friendly magical being.

It isn’t unreasonable then to have characters, magical or otherwise, in situations where they are looking ahead to brighter times. This theme can give a great outline.

What grim situation is your character in? How did this happen (and that can very much include things which are their fault)? How do they think they can get out of it again and what brighter times are they looking forward to experiencing? Does that happen for them? You can get several stories from answering those questions. The characters and their situations change which is why you could get several stories out of this idea.

Happy writing! (And I hope your characters do earn, in some way, their brighter times. I think there should be something they do or are to contribute to them getting their happy ever after).

This World and Others – The Rough and The Smooth

Life is full of the rough and the smooth, of course, so our stories should reflect this too, I think, no matter how fantastical our settings. Indeed, showing the rough and the smooth will help make those fantastical settings more believable.

Also a character’s journey is far more interesting as we read how they cope with the rough times, overcome them or manage them well enough so they’re not destroyed by them. I know I always want to see characters do something to deserve an appropriate positive ending to their story.

The rough times shouldn’t just come out of nowhere though. Even though I love dropping my characters in the mire and finding out how they get out again, those rough times are hinted at as being possibilities earlier on in my stories. It is then a question of whether those rough times will happen and, if so as I would expect to what degree, and again a little foreshadowing means readers are more likely to accept the story premise.

For example, if I have an arrogant character, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for them to upset someone who then goes on to do something to cause grief to the arrogant character. You can see this being likely to happen. For any story to work for me, there has to be a “believability” factor.

When life becomes smoother again, I want to see the character, with or without help, contributing to that. In the example given above, I’d want my arrogant character to realise how they’ve come across and to want to put things right as much as they can. Even if things don’t quite work out by the end of the story (the other character may still be too angry to accept the “being put right” factor), I want to see my character is trying to make things better.

Stories reflect life here I think. There is a wish to see things put right and we can explore that ideas in our stories. But for that to happen successfully, there have to be the rough times for your characters to experience. The smoother times mean nothing without that.

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