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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, as were pictures of Swanwick used in a collage below. Photos of me holding The Best of CafeLit 13 were taken by Adrian Symes.

A MASSIVE thank you goes to The Chameleon Theatre Group for kind permission to use their photos (taken by Stuart Wineberg) as part of my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week.

Hope you have had a good few days. Just over a week to go for The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. So looking forward to catching up with many friends again and hoping to make still more. Have booked to go on the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering so that will be something to look forward to in October. Lady, meantime, is not that sorry we’ve had some rain and the temperature, while still high, is a little cooler.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to share my review of Bleak Expectations, recently staged by the fabulous The Chameleon Theatre Group. As you might expect from a title like that, this was the most marvellous spoof of Dickens and it was wonderfully performed by my local amateur theatre company. There were so many laughs and a great storyline. See the review for more.

If you remember the Radio Four comedy of the same name, yes, this play is based on that and written by the same writer, Mark Evans. So much to enjoy here so if you get a chance to see the play locally to you, do go.

The Chameleon Theatre Group – Bleak Expectations – Review

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Sent author newsletter out this morning. Doing this monthly means you soon realise how quickly the year is going by. The theme for this one was Special Swanwick though I also share some thoughts on Making the Most of a Writing Event (and share the link to my recent Chandler’s Ford Today article on that).

As well as looking forward to Swanwick, I’ll be off again in the autumn to go to the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering too. Looking forward to catching up with friends at both of these (and hopefully making new ones too).

I’ll be reviewing the recent performance of Bleak Expectations staged by the wonderful The Chameleon Theatre Group on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. Do look out for it. See above.

I share some thoughts on what makes a good spoof as well as part of this. And if you get a chance to go and support your own local amateur theatre company, please do. I’ve seen some fabulous performances from The Chameleons I would’ve missed out on otherwise.

Another hot day though not so warm as yesterday. Lady continues to keep cool though she was pleased to see her Hungarian Vizler chum this morning. Our park has lots of trees around it so plenty of shady spots. It wasn’t just the dogs who appreciated that.

Am currently working in short bursts with my French windows open. Helps a lot, as does keeping supplies of water, squash etc up, to aid concentration. It’s an odd thing the heat can make you tired but also stop you from sleeping! What is that about? Thankfully no issues here but every sympathy to anyone who struggles with this.

Writing Tip: Especially at the moment, if you’re finding it easier to write in short bursts, this is the time to have a go at some flash fiction writing. Perfect for short slots of time too. I like to mix up writing to 100 words (my all time favourite) to 500 words and most word counts in between. There are competitions for these too.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Two things here tonight.

Firstly, am delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Summer Stings. Hope you enjoy it.

Secondly, the annual competition which is liked to the Edinburgh Festival begins on Friday Flash Fiction from tomorrow, Saturday 3rd August and runs all the way through to the 16th August. You can submit one story per week (I.e. one from 3rd to 9th August and another from 9th to 16th August). They are only taking the 100 word stories for this competition.

The longer flash submissions will resume after the competition finished but do watch out for this on the website nearer the time. They will say when they’re open for the longer flash pieces again. And if you have a go at the competition, good luck!

Hope you’ve had a good day and managed to not get caught out by the thunderstorms. Lady and I just got back from a short afternoon walk and then the heavens opened again and again etc. I like writing flash. Not so keen on getting caught out in flash storms, mind you.

Time is an interesting theme to write about for flash fiction because you can do so much with it. I have used it in titles. I’ve written Time into a story as a character. When I’ve written pieces which nod back to the Cinderella story, time plays a major role there.

Plus you can use time as a proverb (time waits for no man is just one. I’ve used that one twice and got two different stories from it). I’ve also written two different stories with the same time travelling alien as the lead character, who gets into bother whether he goes forwards or backwards in time. All good fun to do.

But a broad theme like time is handy because you can jot down different thoughts to come from it and at least one is bound to appeal to the type of story you like to write. Below is just one of my stories based on time.

Had a lovely surprise today – an unexpected review for Tripping the Flash Fantastic by Kelvin M Knight (who discovered the book through the book shop the Association of Christian Writers have on their website. As a long term member, and former Membership Secretary for ACW, I can have my books advertised on their online book shop). Many thanks to Kelvin and to Susan Sanderson for forwarding the review to me.

This was a lovely boost. If you ever needed a reason to write a review for another author, do consider that aspect! Writers work alone, it is the nature of the job, but having good feedback every so often helps enormously.

What I love about ACW is it supports Christians who write obviously Christian material but also people like me who are Christians writing in the secular market. I appreciate both sides of this and I know it is invaluable to all members.

TRIPPING THE FLASH FANTASTIC by Allison Symes – A Review

Fairytales with Bite – Holiday Season

Does your fantasy setting have tourism? If so, what would it consist of? Where would your favourite fairy godmothers go on holiday? Is there anywhere they wouldn’t go?

After all, everyone needs a recharge now and again. Would they stay in what we would recognize as hotels or would they go in for the poshest self catering cottage imaginable? Do they get to switch the magic off for a while or are they expected to be be on call at any time or have to arrange for someone to take over their duties for a bit?

In your setting, when would most go on holiday? Does it tie in with seasons as we know them here? Which of your characters looks forward to holiday season and which dreads it and why?

Are holidays decided on because magical powers diminish when in constant use and that dictates when a break has to happen? How would your world defend itself against enemies who might look to take advantage of that low power period?

Our own lives tend to work in seasons. We have periods when busy, others when not, and still others when we take a break so how would this work out in your setting?

This World and Others – Tourism

Is tourism a major factor in your world setting? Is it seen as a good or bad thing or a bit of both? Who benefits from the tourists? Who finds tourists to be nothing but a pain in the neck? What kind of revenue is brought in by what tourists spend?

Does your world confine itself to only accepting other magical beings or would it welcome humans and other species visiting? Is tourism promoted or does your world try to keep it quiet, reluctantly accepting it will happen, people do move around, but they’re not going to encourage it to develop further? What would be the reasons behind that attitude?

Has tourism ever caused problems, such as pollution, in your setting? What happened and what did occur to put it right? That, of course, could be your story.

How would your characters get to tourist destinations? If flying is involved, can your characters do this themselves so they can take themselves off to their own destinations or would they have to charter someone, with appropriate equipment, who can do this for them? (Would we be talking the magical equivalent of a plane here or a massive flying carpet or some sort of portal device which other characters would control?).

Definite story ideas there.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the link to the September 2023 magazine which is on the theme of the timeless topic of marketing. I have two articles in this issue – Marketing Your Books and Writing for Online Magazines.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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TRIPPING THE FLASH FANTASTIC by Allison Symes – A Review @AllisonSymes1 https://t.co/ytGPNrceuJ

— Susan Sanderson (@suesconsideredt) July 31, 2024

Am delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Summer Stings. Hope you enjoy it.https://t.co/esx19FgVCe pic.twitter.com/OwsoBLxuG1

— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) August 2, 2024

The Chameleon Theatre Group – Bleak Expectations – Review https://t.co/aUzYFtSMKp Delighted to review Bleak Expectations staged by the fabulous Chameleon Theatre Group. This was a marvellous spoof of Dickens, wonderfully performed. There were so many laughs and a great storyline.

— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) August 2, 2024