Tag: inspiration

Being Interviewed

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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 Chandler’s Ford Today post this week was kindly supplied by Wendy H Jones but added to by me thanks to the wonder that is Book Brush! Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you have had a good few days. Has turned cold and bright here but Lady and I love autumn days like this. Writing going well. Had a lovely time at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group where we looked at linked flash. I’ve written more of that for my Seeing The Other Side. Good fun to do.

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Pleased to be back on Chandler’s Ford Today with my latest post, Being Interviewed. This has come about because I am about to be interviewed for Writers’ Narrative in the forthcoming October edition about Short Form Fiction. More news on that next week.

Meantime, this post shares hints and tips about preparing for interviews, even if you are not published yet, or if this kind of thing seems a long way off. There is much to learn from author interviews right now.

I also look at what I think makes for a good interview and discuss prep work needed by interviewer and interviewee alike.

Hope you find the post useful.

Being Interviewed

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Another lovely autumn day at the park for Lady and I. We hope to catch up with her best buddy tomorrow.

Writing wise, don’t forget my post on Being Interviewed, which is full of useful tips, will be out on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above.

It’s also not long before the next issue of Writers’ Narrative is due out but, meantime, why not check out the current issue, which is full of useful information about publishing. 

 

Hope today has gone well. An odd one for me as today would have been my late parents’ wedding anniversary. Lovely autumn day, another one of the kind Lady and I love though, so a joy to get to the park though we didn’t see any doggy chums today. Also looking forward to ACW Flash Fiction Group meeting tonight. It was good!

Will be sharing Being Interviewed on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I share tips and thoughts on handling interviews which will be useful, even if you have not been published yet and this kind of thing seems a long way off. (It may well come around sooner than you think!). See above – and I was glad I prepared for interviews ahead of actually having them. It paid. See CFT for more.

Writing Tip: You know your character. You know what drives them. Do you know what kind of vocabulary they would use? Would they have any pet phrases which could reveal something about them? Do they have any pet phrases which others could use “at them”? I can think of some my late parents did use with me. Am not saying what! But you could use this kind of thing to give even greater depth to your characters and make them seem more real to your readers.

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Friday Flash Fiction is taking a short break from submissions and won’t take any until after 3rd October. Do see the screenshot and I hope all at FFF enjoy a well earned break.

But if you want a great read do check out the link as there is plenty to enjoy here.

In other news, I’ve booked my ticket for the Bridge House Publishing celebration event in December. It will be great to catch up with fellow flash fiction and short story writers here. Looking forward to this already. 

Don’t forget my next author newsletter will be out next week. I share tips, flash fiction story links, news, and much more. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

A huge thank you to all of my subscribers – the support is much appreciated.

There is another flash fiction competition I want to make sure I have a go at before the end of the year so hope to start work on a piece for this over the weekend.

Also delighted the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group yesterday on the theme of linked flash went well. People had plenty of cracking ideas here and I hope they go on to write the stories up.

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What makes your character’s irritable, other than things like tiredness, not feeling well, overwork etc? What would happen if they had to face something which would trigger their irritable mood but they couldn’t react in the normal way they would do? Perhaps they are trying to impress someone so know they have to rein the irritability in somehow.

How do they do it? Does it pay off? If they can’t keep the irritability in, how would the other character react? Would they prefer your lead character to just be honest in the first place?

Definite story ideas there.

Fairytales with Bite – Celebrations

Shortly, I’ll be hosting a family celebration – everyone is looking forward to it – but what would this kind of thing look like in your setting, especially if magic is involved or could be involved? I must admit I love the opening of The Lord of The Rings with Gandalf’s fireworks. Rightly these are spectacular.

So how would your magical characters celebrate anything? How would the governing powers arrange state celebrations (or commemorations for that matter. Sometimes a commemoration can involve an element of celebration especially if you are recalling a moment of deliverance, say).

Would your characters use magic or any other form of power they have to help with their celebrations? Are certain powers only used for this kind of thing and who developed these things and the rules for their usage?

How long do the celebrations go on for and does everyone have a good time (I personally would hope they would!)?

This World and Others – Official Events

Linking with Fairytales with Bite above, how would official events be run? Are these all sombre occasions or is there a mixture of celebratory and commemorative events? What would be the history behind these things? Is magic involved in running these events of would that be deemed inappropriate if, say, one event involved remembering the misuse of magic and the consequences of that?

Are all of your characters pleased to take part or witness these commemorative/official ceremonies or do any of them see it all as a waste of time/public money/both? Do any of your characters protest/otherwise try to disrupt these things and, if so, what are the consequences? Would the “general public” (in whatever forms they are!) be against for for them?

Are there events your characters feel should be commemorated officially but are not and, if so, why was that decision taken and by whom and can it be changed?

Story ideas there!

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As I shared the September 2025 issue above, I thought I’d pick out a back issue for this spot. All great reading.

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Meeting Up With Other Writers

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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 was one photo for my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. The photo of me being “mugged” by Lady while on a previous holiday was taken by Adrian Symes. He also took the shot of me holding up a copy of Creativity Matters. Always handy having someone on hand for photos!
Not long back from another fabulous few days at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Hope to write more about that for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Getting back to my usual writing routine – a bit at a time in this heat, mind you! Lady was so excited to see me back, which was lovely. It was fabulous taking her round the park again. What I also relished was a welcome return to the swimming pool. In this heat, I never want to get out of it!

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Lady got to see Daisy, a lovely cocker spaniel we see from time to time. I returned to the swimming pool for a shortish swim but it was so nice!

Writing wise, I’m pleased to share Meeting Up With Other Writers for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. It’s an apt post given I’ve just come back from Swanwick though I hope to share specifically more about that next week.

For this post, I look at the many benefits of writing events and getting to know your fellow authors, whether these events are online, in person, or you mix both. I like to do that. Why not get the best of both worlds after all?

Quick reminder for readers in my area – John Puzey will be holding his book event at Chandler’s Ford Library tomorrow, 16th August from 10.00 am, to discuss his new book, Captive Audience (Authors Reach Limited). All are welcome.

Meeting Up With Other Writers

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Am on my way home as I type this. Have had a fabulous time at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. No surprises there! Am looking forward to catching up with my family which will include being mugged by an excitable collie cross!

While not directly about Swanwick, my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week is called Meeting Up With Other Writers. I explore why this is a good idea. Link up tomorrow and I hope to write specifically about Swanwick for Friday week. See link above.

Hope all at Swanwick had good journeys home. Hope to see you there next year.

Update: I was home by early afternoon, which was great. I was indeed mugged by said excitable collie cross. Even got my laundry done. Now back to my writing life – but it will be a slow return to it. So muggy here (but it was in Derbyshire too). Pic below from a previous holiday but when Lady wants a cuddle, she wants a cuddle!


Well, it’s the final full day of The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick 2025 and I can hardly believe where the time has gone. My courses today were Effective Listening by Heather Swash and Magic In the Archives by Dr Erica Canela, both of which were fascinating and informative.

The latter also proved to have great acting skills in last night’s Page to Stage, which is our evening entertainment after dinner on the penultimate night of the School.

The performances for that were all wonderful. Scripts are written by Swanwickers and submitted for independent judging ahead of the School taking place. Winners are selected by the independent judges and the mini plays are performed (and directed) by brave volunteer delegates.

The rest of us get to watch some fabulous dramas and comedies. We vote on these at the end. It is always hard to choose the one drama, the one comedy, the one actor in each of these, which stand out for you. They would all be worthy winners. Winners are announced at the farewell event after dinner this evening.

Will I be back next year? Wild horses wouldn’t keep me away.

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The competition Friday Flash Fiction runs to tie in with the Edinburgh Festival ends today, 15th August, so again, for this week, there are no names or comments on the stories.

But I am sharing the link to the latest and last batch of drabbles for the competition, which does include another one of mine. You could enter two stories over two weeks.

Hope you enjoy the tales. There is fabulous work here.

It is true what they say – time flies when you’re having fun. It seems like yesterday when I was arriving at Swanwick. Now I’m heading home.

Pleased to see flash fiction had a good shout out at Swanwick. As well as Esther Chilton’s specific course about it, it cropped up in Della Galton’s short story one too.

Well, flash, for me at least, is the ultimate challenge in the short fiction forms precisely because of that 1000 words upper limit. Having said that, one of my favourite short stories comes in at just under 4000 words and couldn’t be any shorter or longer without something vital being lost. This is how you know when your story is at the right length for it to be the story it is meant to be.

What is that short story? It’s Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl.

Update: Back home, Lady thrilled to bits I’m back, and do read Dahl’s masterpiece. It is a classic story. I first came across it when it was adapted for Tales of the Unexpected.

Sometimes ideas for flash fiction (and indeed other stories) can come from unexpected places. This has proved to be the case for me again today at my final full day of Swanwick 2025. A course on what you can find in archives to inspire your writing (fiction or otherwise) has inspired ideas I hope to write up further once I’ve had chance to come down from the magical creative writing world which is Swanwick. That will take some days I expect!

Fairytales with Bite – Writings in the Magical Worlds

What kind of writings exist in your magical settings? I am thinking outside of things you would expect like spell books. For example, has someone written down the legends which apply to your setting? Did they do this with official blessing or have they written a strictly unauthorised account? Can anyone in your world access these kinds of writings?

What led to someone realising these things had to be written down? Would your world permit books and other writings on things like its geography, its political history and so on? (Could be useful to an enemy though to me it would make sense residents in your setting would understand what their geography is so they can take better care of their world – humans, please note!).

I’ve just come back from a wonderful week at a summer school for writers. Would there be such a thing in your setting to encourage your world’s creative writers? Could your world’s government do something like this to ensure things were written down “in the right way” (and yes there could be sinister implications from that)?

This World and Others – Historical Writings

One of the courses I attended at a recent summer school for writers looked at how what you can find in the archives can inspire your writing (and that includes fiction too). I found the course fascinating. Diving back into history can inspire fictional works. So in your setting what kind of historical writings exist? Who wrote them? Are they accurate?

Are writers encouraged in your setting at all? Can they write as they wish, or do they have to stick to strict guidelines, including on how your world’s history is written about?

What kinds of historical writings exist in your setting? How are they stored? Are these things used in schools and other educational establishments? Or are certain tellings banned? Naturally someone would find a way to access anything banned so how could this apply here? What history do they want to expose in your world? What historical writings are considered dangerous?

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Balancing Writing and Reading

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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 had a lovely weekend. Great one here. Was so pleased Rosemary Johnson’s book launch for Past and Present went well on Friday night. Had a lovely Zoom call with Swanwick friends on Saturday. Talking of which, I am now busy getting ready to head off to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick at the end of this week. So looking forward to that. Lady will be well cared for and will mug me the moment I’m home again!

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Lovely time out with the dog and then, later, in the swimming pool. Refreshing but tiring (for both things!).

Looking forward to sharing Visiting Jane Austen in Dorchester for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. This will take a look back at the recent exhibition I visited.

There will be a second CFT post coming out on Friday from me. I’m flagging up a forthcoming local author event by John Puzey in our excellent local library.

Looking forward to attending an ACW group meeting tomorrow. Plus I have started packing for Swanwick. Couldn’t resist doing that any longer!

Hope you’ve had a good day. Windy and wet here though not as bad as further north. Hope everyone is okay. Has brightened up this evening.

Busy day as always on a Monday so it is a relief to get to the desk and write for a while. Will focus on “bits and pieces” tonight. It’s a lovely way to unwind after a hectic day and I often get useful writing admin done. It frees up my time later in the week for longer bouts of writing.

Just to flag up Friday Flash Fiction are running their annual Edinburgh International contest to tie in with the Edinburgh Festival. Full details can be found at the link. The contest runs for two weeks and you can submit one story per week. Usual 100 words limit for this competition. They’re not taking any other longer submissions during this period so you will need to wait for the contest to finish before you can do that again. 


Very much with the blessing of publisher and author here, I am delighted to be able to share the YouTube link to Rosemary Johnson’s online book launch for her Past and Present short story collection. This was held on Friday 1st August and Rosemary shares two stories from her book, which I am sure you will enjoy.

We also have an in depth conversation about how she came to write the book and much more. Plenty of interest for writers and readers here. Hope you enjoy it and many congratulations to Rosemary once again for the publication of her collection.


Hope you have had a good day. I was back to creosoting my fence today. Much preferred going to see the Jane Austen – Down to the Sea exhibition at The Dorset Museum last week with colleagues from the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading. Talking of which, I will be sharing a review of that exhibition on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday.

Also the countdown is now on for me. It’s a week to go before I am back at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Looking forward to seeing everyone again and learning so much from the courses and workshops.

Pleased to report the online launch for Rosemary Johnson’s Past and Present (Bridge House Publishing), which was held on 1st August, went well. BHP hosted the event, I was compere, and a wonderful discussion and readings entertained the audience. It’s exactly how you want an online launch to go. Well done, Rosemary. Fantastic start to a weekend I’d say! See above for more.

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Hope to get my 750 words story submitted to a competition before I head off to Swanwick. Not sure what stories I will be able to write etc next week so, as ever for this wonderful week I will play things by ear. I am sure I will come home with lots of ideas for future stories from the courses I go to though as in previous years!

It’s Monday. As ever, it has been a hectic one. Definitely story time then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Not Looking Up.

There are advantages to humans having smartphones as my alien character discovers in this story. Mind you, the birds are a different matter. Find out why here.

Will be getting on with my usual flash fiction Sunday shortly but, firstly, I wanted to share Part 4 of my serialisation of Seeing The Other Side which is now live on CafeLit. Hope you enjoy the latest selection.
Secondly, it is now less than a week to go for when I am at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. The case is out!

Many thanks for the kind comments in on my Clock Watching which was Editor’s Choice for Friday Flash Fiction yesterday. Much appreciated.

Am looking forward to my usual flash fiction Sunday tomorrow. As well as what I usually do, I have a story for a 750 word story I want to put my final edits to (with the idea being I will probably submit it just ahead of my going to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick next weekend).

Flash Tip: I’ve mentioned before that one advantage to writing flash fiction is it makes you focus on what matters to the character, that and nothing else. In the word count limit we have, it does have to be one focus.

So when I outline my character I ask what matters most to my character. I then put them in a situation where this “comes out” and readers get to see what my character does to handle the situation or other character which means so much to them.

Goodreads Author Blog – Balancing Writing and Reading

I would be most surprised if any author doesn’t find it tricky, at least sometimes, to balance their writing and reading lives. I know I do.

One way I get around this issue to ensure I do read at lunchtimes – usually a magazine – but it all counts! I can sometimes be far too tired at bedtime to read then.

I do sometimes find if I have had an intense period of writing, I will read less. Or I will read something totally different to what I’ve been working on. So if I’ve been writing a lot of fiction, I will crack on with my non-fiction reading. If I fancy fiction but have been writing lots of short stories and /or flash, I will read a novel.

As well as being a good idea anyway, because you get to read more, mixing up the types of reading I do helps here. It means I am nearly always reading something, And that is always a good idea!

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Inspiration Ideas

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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 week. Lovely time had here – made the most of the glorious weather. Writing wise, am busy preparing the next author newsletter and a fabulous author interview for Chandler’s Ford Today. More details on that next week. Meantime, I write on (and that is just how how I like things to be).

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Pleased to share Inspiration Ideas on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Hope you will find it useful.

I share tips on making the most of being out and about over the next few lovely weather months (well, they usually are most of the time, can’t say fairer than that!). The best thing of all is the tips I share here apply just as well if you’re not venturing far from home this summer. The idea behind all of the tips shared here is to spark your inspiration and that is always useful.

Inspiration Ideas

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Lady and I again spent plenty of time in the glorious fresh air and sunshine today. Had a fabulous time. Not too hot, pleasantly warm – just how we both like things. Has tired us both out nicely too.

Writing Tip: Think about how you can use how the good weather makes you feel for characters in your stories. Also could the weather get in their way at all?

Could good weather (dry, pleasantly warm, lots of light etc) be a disadvantage to them? Are they of a species sensitive to light levels for instance? How do they manage their “condition” here? Light isn’t always avoidable! How can your characters here get on with other species for whom light isn’t an issue?

Lady and I were out and about enjoying another glorious day. Hope you have had a good day too. Spring is at its finest right now, I think.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Inspiration Ideas for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. This post will include hints and tips for making the most of being out and about this spring and summer too. See above.

Next author newsletter will be out before we know it. To sign up for writing tips, news, story links and more, do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Newsletter Writing Tip: I find it a great help to write sections of my newsletter during the month. It avoids a last minute rush (and forgetting to do one at all). I also find it useful to think of a rough theme for the month as that will give me ideas for the different sections I write. I also love newsletters which have a theme running through it and find these grip me more when reading them.

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Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my new tale, Rivalry. Two fairies are up for a top godmother job. One of them has a wand which keeps backfiring but she knows this is no coincidence. Who will prevail and get the top job here? Are more dirty tricks involved? Find out here.

Hope today has been a positive one for you.

I like to mix up themes for those places where I submit flash fiction regularly. I deliberately write lighter pieces, darker ones and then go back to light again. I like a good mixture in which I read here, as well as what I write myself.

When I am deciding on the mood of a piece, I start by outlining my character because I need to find out why they would be best suited for a light or dark piece. There should be good reasons behind your character’s approach to life (and therefore what they are likely to do and say).

Hope you have had a good day.

Don’t forget my two flash collections (From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping the Flash Fantastic) are available via Amazon but you can also get them from The Bridgetown Cafe Bookshop. This is the online shop for my publishers and this link (see below) also means you can buy from independent booksellers such as The HIve (UK) and Barnes and Noble (US).

Wherever you buy from, and not just for me, do leave a review. Brief is fine (and for flash collections suitably appropriate I’d say!).

Fairytales with Bite – Getting Away From It All

One of the joys of getting away from it all is to have a break from the normal routine. So what would your magical characters do to get away from their normal routine? Where would they go? Can they really escape their magical work? Or would it be a case of reducing their magical usage to the bare minimum so they recharge that way? At least they wouldn’t be on call all of the time…

Are there special places the magically inclined can go to recharge? How would these places be protected from those who would want to take advantage of magical characters being on their “down time”?

Also how eager or otherwise are your magical characters about returning to their normal lives again? Did the down time do them good, make them more efficient than before etc? How would that impact on their usual roles?

This World and Others – Exploring Other Worlds – Encouraged or Not?

Does your alien (sci-fi or fantasy) world encourage the exploration of other words or is this strongly discouraged? What are the reasons for the attitude here? Has exploration ever taken place and did it go well or otherwise? Sure to be story ideas there!

What similarities does your setting have with Earth? Could humans ever reach your setting (via time travel, portals, or extending our current scientific abilities for space travel?). Or has your world taken steps to ensure that cannot happen?

How have they encountered humans before to make them want to take those steps – or are they relying on things they have heard about us? We may not be considered the best species everywhere! Mind you, many of us here don’t believe that either or at least feel we could do a lot better than we are!

Where exploring other worlds does happen, which are considered worth exploring by your home setting and why? What is your setting hoping to achieve or gain from this? Again, sure to be story ideas there.

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Why I Write – Guest Blog Appearance – and Characters

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Many thanks to Janet Williams for the photo of me signing books – always good to share those photos! Image from the Autumn Gathering in October 2024 (an Association of Christian Writers event) was taken by me, Allison Symes, as were all screenshots taken by me.
Hope you have had a good weekend. Ghastly weather all over the UK. Very wet with some flooding here. I hope all clears up soon. Writing wise, it was good to get back to my usual flash fiction Sunday afternoon, the first of the New Year. Am also looking forward to sharing author interviews on Chandler’s Ford Today in due course. And I’m delighted to say I was on Val Penny’s blog as a guest writer looking at Why I Write. Link below.

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Sorry running very late today (7th January 2025). Have had one of those days – good but busy. Lady was delighted to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal again today and I was delighted later, to have my first swim of 2025. The water seemed warm compared to the cold outside!

What one thing about creative writing do you enjoy the most?

My answer is creating characters who come to life as I flesh them out more. I love that process. It means I know I’ve got a character who has a story to share.

Okay, what other thing about creative writing do you enjoy the most?

My answer is getting the story finished, submitted, and accepted!

Best get on with things then!

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Hope the first Monday of the New Year hasn’t gone too badly. Lady got off to a good start by seeing her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals again. Avoided part of the park (think muddy ski slope and you have a good idea as to why my doing this was a good idea!).

Glad to see Writing Magazine have issued their competitions guide again. Will have a good look through at at some point soon and mark up some possibles. I find doing that is a good inventive to then get something in for said possibles!

Character Tip: Give some thought as to what you most love about your character and also what you loathe about them. Think about why you come up with the answers you do here. It will give you further insight as to what your character is made of and you are bound to find that useful as you tell your story (sorry, their story!).

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Hope you are having a good weekend. No snow here, thankfully, but it is very wet and there is flooding in the usual places around here.

Will be looking at a topic close to my heart for Chandler’s Ford Today this coming week. I’ll be discussing The Joys of Fairytales. It’s apt too as later in the month I will be going to see Cinderella, as staged by my excellent local theatre company, The Chameleon Theatre Group. Looking forward to seeing that and sharing something about my love of a classic story form on Friday.

Also glad to report there will be more author interview coming on CFT too. More details nearer the time.

4th January 2025
Many thanks to Val Penny for inviting me on to her blog today. It was a joy to talk about Why I Write. It is a great topic!

It makes you think about why you put yourself through producing work you don’t know will see the light of the day. (It’s why acceptances mean so much when you get them). You do need a thick skin and the love of story I think to be able to keep going despite setbacks (which every writer faces).

I also share something of my writing journey as that has a huge impact on why I write at all. See link.

Screenshot 2025-01-07 at 20-40-45 Why I Write by Allison Symes

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I usually submit stories for Friday Flash Fiction over the weekend so will look forward to doing so again this coming one. It will keep me on track (though they are open for submissions again from today, 7th January).

I like to mix up my story moods for all flash I write and go from a mixture of light and dark (which directly inspired the title of my first collection, From Light to Dark and Back Again. Sums the book up well, I think).

Given fiction reflects the human condition – with all our failures and vices – I think a mixture of light and dark is appropriate for that reason too!

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6th January 2025

It’s the first Monday of the New Year. It’s dark, the weather’s ghastly, and it is still a Monday. Definitely time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Making the Best of Things. Perhaps an apt title!

 

I get my inspiration for my flash fiction and short stories from many different sources. I like this a lot. I’ve found it pays to keep the ways you’re inspired varied as it keeps things more interesting for me too and encourages me to “raise my game”.

Naturally I’m inspired by books and stories I love written by other authors. The various prompts are a huge source of inspiration, especially if I tweak them a bit to suit my purposes better.

The proverbs and well known sayings are often great for use as themes for your stories. And ideas do occur as I’m out walking the dog. (I note them down as soon as I can on getting home again). Reading comes into all of this a lot. I’ve been inspired for stories by interesting non-fiction articles or books as I wonder what my character might make of what is in that article or book.

Ideas are all around but it is a question, I think, of expecting there to be ideas and thus to be open to spotting them. Reading does expand the mind. It can expand your own imagination too. I like that a lot too.

The one thing I consistently find is if I’m especially tired, that is when ideas can be harder to spot. So I aim to be kind to myself, get some rest, and read. I know that will fire up my own imagination again in no time, spurred on by that rest.

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Hope you have had a good day. No snow here but did have a very heavy frost. Am so thankful writing is something I get to do in the warm!

Looking forward to resuming my flash fiction Sunday afternoons tomorrow. I’ve also got a couple of short story competitions I want to enter so will try to start fleshing out ideas for those as well. Plan to send in a story for Friday Flash Fiction when they re-open next week.

Good to have my copy of Writing Magazine come through the letter box. Pleased to see Debz Hobbs-Wyatt’s piece in there. I recently interviewed her for Chandler’s Ford Today re her novel, If Crows Could Talk. I always see it as a good month when I know (or have heard of) at least four or five authors in the magazine. It is a good month this time!

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Goodreads Author Blog – Influences

Isaac Newton claimed “If I have seen further it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants”, rightly meaning he was building on what had gone before. But every single writer does this, regardless of what we write. Every reader will experience it, regardless of what you read. Why?

Simply because every author has their influences – the writers who have gone before. I have too many to mention but I especially love Pratchett, Austen, and Wodehouse (what a trio!). Every writer is inspired by what they read and readers get the benefit of that though they won’t know it directly.

Austen showed me the wonderful use of irony in fiction. Pratchett showed me fantasy and humour were a superb mix. As for Wodehouse, his mastery of the English language is sublime and his creations live on long after him. Nobody will forget Jeeves and Wooster.

Any time I enjoy a book, I am indirectly taking in what and whom the writers of those books were influenced by. I think this is a lovely thing.

Screenshot 2025-01-04 at 18-00-53 Allison Symes's Blog - Influences - January 04 2025 10 00 Goodreads

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Introducing Rosemary Johnson – Wodka, or Tea with Milk: The Road to Publication

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Many thanks to Rosemary Johnson for supplying author and book cover pictures and images of her trip to Poland for the Chandler’s Ford Today interview this week.
Hope you have had a good week so far. Christmas preparations are coming along. So pleased to have my cards out! Mind you, it is lovely seeing the cards coming in. Nice way to keep in touch. Lady, as ever, will be looking forward to her Christmas dinner and inevitable toys. She is a great believer in Santa Paws. Writing wise, so pleased to be back on Hannah Kate’s Three Minute Santas show again and also to have another story on CafeLit (coming up later this week, will share on next post here).

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Am delighted to welcome Rosemary Johnson to Chandler’s Ford Today this week to talk about her novel, Wodka, or Tea With Milk. Rosemary shares her road to publication, which has not been an easy one, and what she thinks about writing blurbs. There is much here for many writers to identify with!

She looks at what triggered her love of creative writing and much else besides. Do enjoy a cracking interview and, many thanks, Rosemary for coming on to CFT. Also thanks for a shout out on your blog (see second link) and for referring to me as a flash writer supremo!

Introducing Rosemary Johnson – Wodka, or Tea with Milk: The Road to Publication

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Will be sharing a fabulous interview with Rosemary Johnson on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. Do look out for it. See above. Rosemary will be talking about her book Wodka, or Tea With Milk, which is set against the backdrop of the Solidarity movement in the early 1980s, a time I recall well.

I love author interviews. I always learn so much from them. And even if you are not published yet (note the yet!), it is worth preparing for these.

Why? Because it gives you some useful practice in working out what to say about your book or story and to keep it succinct and interesting. That may well prove to help you in preparing a short description when you are ready to submit said work to a publisher. In reading/listening/watching other author interviews, you can learn from how they’ve done this. I know it has stood me in good stead.

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Lady got to play with Coco today. Two happy dogs. Always nice to see that.

My story, I Do, I Don’t, will be on CafeLit on 17th December. This story started life as one of this year’s Flash NANO prompts. Link to come later in the week.

Looking forward to an informal Christmas chat/review of writing year with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group next week. Glad to say three of us will have pieces on the Three Minute Santas show hosted by Hannah Kate at the weekend. This is especially nice as we managed this last year too!

Writing Tip: Festive flash fiction is the main seasonal writing I do. I’ve found it helps to focus on one thing – whether I’ll feature Santa or someone present at the Nativity etc. But for the other seasons, you can pick telling details to flag up to a reader the season in question.

For autumn, I could mention the nights drawing in earlier, or harvest events, or leaves changing colour but I would pick one as the detail for the reader to pick up on. I’ve never believed in laying it on with a trowel! One good thing about flash is the word count limit does stop you doing that.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to share my story, Breakdown, on Friday Flash Fiction. This is the second entry by me for the Christmas competition. Here you can find out why Santa needed to call out a mechanic. Hope you enjoy the story.

Screenshot 2023-12-15 at 11-54-50 Breakdown by Allison Symes

Closing date for the Friday Flash Fiction Christmas Competition is midnight tomorrow, Friday 15th December. Entries to be 75 to 100 words (and the word counts are checked!). So you do still have time to get something in for this one. More details in the link.

Have another story I want to enter for a competition elsewhere. It is almost ready. Deadline is the end of the year but I want to get it in this side of Christmas to make sure (a) I don’t forget to do it and (b) to follow my own advice to get a submission in about a fortnight ahead of the closing date!

If you are entering any Christmas related competitions, good luck! Even if you don’t win or get shortlisted, these are still good things to try as they’re fun and they get you working to a deadline and word count. That is always useful to practice.

Screenshot 2023-12-15 at 17-28-56 Christmas Contest Entries

Every so often I will use something I’ve seen in a film to inspire a flash fiction story. Where the Wild Wind Blows (Tripping the Flash Fantastic) is an example of that. The film in question is The Wizard of Oz. This is good fun to do because I can take the viewpoint of another character and run with that.

Indeed it is how I got into print back in 2009 with my A Helping Hand in Alternative Renditions (Bridge House Publishing). So give some thought to the films and stories you love. Is there someone you think has been unfairly represented and who deserves to have their story told? In my first story, I went for the viewpoint of the less unkind stepsister to Cinderella.

Think about the kinds of characters you love to read about. What is it about them that draws you? What can you take from that to put into your own creations? Inspiration comes from thinking about what you like yourself in stories. So the more you read, the more inspiration you’re opening yourself up to getting! That’s never a bad thing.

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Fairytales With Bite – The Christmas Tree Fairy

Hope you enjoy the following festive themed tale of woe. Who would be the fairy on top of the Christmas tree?

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The Christmas Tree Fairy by Allison Symes

They get me out of the big cardboard box once a year.
They need five minutes to get the dust out of my ear.
I am given the place of honour, you see.
I must sparkle and shine, every part of me.
I look down at the festive tinsel and lights.
While affixed, I get ladders in my tights.
I watch them scoff all the Christmas chocs
Then doze away by the telly box.
I try to make the most of what I can see.
Takes my mind off having been rammed on a tree.
Pleasant it is not, there are places pine should not go
But I’m just a toy fairy, they think, what would I know?
And then before I know it Twelfth Night is here.
Tomorrow I go inside for the next year.

Ends.
Allison Symes – 13th December 2023

Advantage to flash is setting characters anywhere

This World and Others – Unexpected Visitors

In your fantasy setting, what would count as alien to your usual residents? What would they make of unexpected visitors? What do they expect to be “normal”?

In the Nativity story, I have every sympathy with the shepherds being terrified when the angels arrived. Well, you would be, wouldn’t you? The shepherds knew that bright light wasn’t a natural one (at least not natural to this world). But what would frighten your characters? Would they listen to whoever their unexpected visitors were?

Why would the unexpected visitors come to your setting? Is it a peaceful trip or is there sinister intent behind it? How would your main characters handle this?

I would expect fear, hostility but do you have characters who could see the potential of getting along with the visitors, seeing benefits to both worlds? Would anyone listen to them and give them the chance to see if that potential could be realised?

Definite story ideas there!

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The Joys and Pitfalls of Writing Research

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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. Photos of Swanwick were taken by me, Allison Symes. Many thanks to colleagues who took images of me on my phone about to run the workshop on editing there in 2022.
Hope you have had a good week. Loved running the workshop on Monday. I’ve had some lovely feedback on that too. Weekend will be a bit odd. On Sunday it will be the anniversary of my Dad’s passing (six years) and I’ll be ordained as an elder in my church. Mixed emotions especially as he would’ve loved to have seen that service (as would my mum and late in-laws). Lady and I have relished the emergence of consistent sunshine this week though. Not before time we think!

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Pleased to be back on Chandler’s Ford Today. My post this week is called The Joys and Pitfalls of Writing Research. All writers need to carry out research (yes it goes for fiction too) but the advantages we have now are easier access to a wider range of material and a greater appreciation of keeping and treasuring records of the past.

Hope you find the post useful. I share tips on researching and useful questions to ask yourself as you do. It is too easy to get sidetracked on to an interesting section of research which is not needed for your story or article.

The Joys and Pitfalls of Writing Research

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It’s my turn to be on Authors Electric and this time I talk about Story Shapes. What do I mean by that? Well, I often use linear shapes in my writing – a straight sharing of a story where I start at A and finish at Z, but I also write circular ones too. This is where my end line repeats the opening line (or has strong echoes of it). The repetition is deliberate and works so well for poignant stories. But can shapes apply to blogs too? Check out my post and see what you think. Hope you enjoy it.
Screenshot 2023-05-18 at 09-48-22 Story Shapes by Allison Symes

Another lovely day here and Lady got to play with three of her girlfriends today – the Rhodesian Ridgeback, the Hungarian Vizler, and a lovely Labradoodle. Very much a girls morning out in the park!

Am pleased to say I’ll be running a one hour workshop at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, in August. I’ll be looking at editing from both sides of the fence given I’ve been edited and have been editing at the same time at different points in my career. For more details on the school, do see their website.

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Many thanks for the lovely comments coming in already on News, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. If you’ve ever had round robin letters, you may well sympathise with my character, Wilma, in this one!
Screenshot 2023-05-19 at 09-49-56 News by Allison Symes 
Hope you have had a nice day. Lady got to show off in front of her Hungarian Vizler chum so Lady definitely has had a good day. (And her pal never minds the showing off so all well there).

I’m talking about The Joys and Pitfalls of Writing Research for Chandler’s Ford Today (link up tomorrow). See above. Do I need to research for my flash pieces? Simply, yes and often.

For a crime flash tale, I might need to find out what poisonous plants would be found in a garden (and I have researched that one!). For historical flash pieces, I need to get dates etc right if I use them. I sometimes need to know if something was available at a certain time period.

Research comes into fiction, as well as non-fiction, writing in all sorts of ways and it is great we have a wider range of materials available for research purposes. More in my post tomorrow.

But bear in mind a story has to ring true for a reader even if it is set in a bizarre setting. Using facts from what we know here on Earth (especially for world building) can help give that sense of “this could be real if this world existed somewhere”. So yes research is needed for fantasy too!

May be an image of text that says "ਜਗ |could happily while away many hours researching in here!"

Many thanks to Medway Mermaids, the writing group I presented my flash fiction workshop to on Monday for some wonderful feedback. Very much appreciated.

“It was comprehensive and informative, giving writers an excellent guide to the art of writing short fiction”.

Now that is a quote I am proud to share!

One problem all authors have is that most of the time we work alone. We don’t always know how our work is going down with others. So feedback is useful (and it is something I appreciate from Friday Flash Fiction as well).

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Fairytales with Bite – Inspiration

What inspires your characters to take the actions they do in your stories? Is it a question they have no choice but to do whatever it is you’ve set them – it is life or death for them here – or because they are motivated to help someone else in need of help? (Sam Gamgee did not have to go with Frodo in The Lord of the Rings. It is just as well that he did).

When your fairy godmother is looking for a suitable spell or to create something suitable to help a client, what inspires her? Does she base her creation on years of experience, stick strictly to the books, or is happy to add her own special ingredients given she knows they’ll give her magic that bit of “kick” she feels her client needs?

What inspires your characters to keep going when it would be the easiest thing for them to give up and go home? (And even more so when they could go home and nobody would blame them!).

Also think about what inspires you from the classic fairytales. For me, a big one here is seeing wrong being righted as we all know that so often doesn’t happen in life, unfortunately. But the thought of that inspires me to write my own fairytales with bite where I can ensure wrong definitely is righted! Good fun to do too!

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This World and Others – The Creative Industries

Industry can sometimes seem as if it is a negative word. It conjures up images for me of factories and works back in the Victoria era where conditions were often not that great.

On a more positive note, we talk about the creative industries. What does your setting have in the way of these? Are the arts celebrated? Do they bring in significant income for your world? (They do for the UK, for instance).

What creative industries would your characters be involved in? Are they involved in these willingly or is it expected of them because they’re following a a family or tribal tradition? The kind of thing which goes “your grandfather was a musician, your father was too, so guess what you’re doing!” There is potential for humour here if the unfortunate character really cannot play a note no matter how hard they try.

What is the attitude of your setting’s governments to the creative industries? Do they welcome them or view them with suspicion given they can be a vehicle for free expression? What would happen if there are clashes here? Who would win? On the face of it you might think it would be the powers that be and in the immediate term that might be the case. But the creative industries live on for centuries. People look back at events. Views change and the arts can help change them so I wouldn’t see this a s a clear cut thing at all.

Do your characters take part in the creative industries just for fun? If so, what is their main work and how do they find the arts helps them?

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Allison Symes - Flash Fiction Collections

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Author Interview: June Webber – Publication: Never Too Late

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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 photos of The Hayes, Swanwick as part of my CFT interview this week. Talking of which,  many thanks to June Webber for great author and book pictures for her interview with me on Chandler’s Ford Today.
Has been a cold week hre but Lady has got to have many “puppy parties” this week with her best friends over the local park so she’s happy at least.

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I am thrilled to welcome dear friend and fellow Swanwicker, June Webber, to Chandler’s Ford Today, to share her writing journey in Publication – Never Too Late. Her writing story is an encouraging one. I very much hope you enjoy the post and find it encouraging too.

Author Interview: June Webber – Publication: Never Too Late

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Hope you have had a good day. Another bitterly cold one here. Looking forward to chatting with June Webber on Chandler’s Ford Today – link up tomorrow. Her story is an inspiring one and I’m only too pleased to be sharing it. See above.

Where do you get your inspiration for writing from? As well as using the random generators to trigger ideas, the biggest inspiration comes from what I love reading.

I’ve always loved the classic fairytales so they are a huge influence on me. I love the humour of Austen, Pratchett, and Wodehouse, so those are huge influences on me.

This is why the more you read (in terms of numbers of books read and genres), the bigger and wider are the sources of inspiration for you to draw on. Other sources of inspiration can be topics on which you have strong feelings. I like to see justice done and the evil not to get away with it (again the fairytales have a definite influence on me there) so I will read crime stories which reflect this.

So having a broad reading diet then is a very good idea indeed!

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It’s my turn on the Authors Electric blog and this time I’m talking about Flash NANO – A New Challenge In the Old Year. I look at what Flash NANO is and share what I found useful about it. It is good to be stretched, writing wise, every so often, and Flash NANO did that for me. Looking forward to the next one already.

Screenshot 2023-01-18 at 09-31-41 Flash NANO - A New Challenge in the Old Year by Allison Symes

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Delighted to share Reasons, my latest Friday Flash Fiction story. Many thanks for the great comments coming in on this one already.

Screenshot 2023-01-20 at 09-27-41 Reasons by Allison Symes

Looking forward to giving my flash fiction workshop this weekend and also the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction Group meeting next week. I like a mixture of in person and Zoom events – both kinds of event have their bonuses.

If you’re thinking of putting a collection together, remember the independent press is a great avenue to explore as they are much more open to approaches from non-agented writers. And having short stories/flash fiction published online or shortlisted in competitions makes for great material to put in your query letter.

May be a cartoon of text that says "Creative writing is fun and good for the brain ίσσ."

Many thanks to #ValPenny for sharing Writing Pitfalls, a recent blog I wrote for Chandler’s Ford Today on her blog today. A great way to spread the word! One writing pitfall I didn’t mention either here or earlier on CFT is not realising just how many kinds of writing there are out there and therefore to take your time working out which suits you best. I am so glad I discovered flash fiction for instance though I’d never heard of it when I started out.

Writing Pitfalls by Allison Symes

Screenshot 2023-01-20 at 20-17-43 Writing Pitfalls by Allison Symes

Fairytales with Bite – Magical Seasons – Characters and Magic

How does your magical world have its seasons? Are they similar to Earth’s four and, if so, is magic more prominent in any one of them? If so, why? Does the winter, for example tend to dampen down magical activity? Does magic abound in the spring with longer days and brighter weather?

Do your characters have seasons in their life where their magical performances are significantly better or worse than others? Indeed, are waning powers a sign of illness/a character’s life coming to an end, again on the grounds everything has its season and it applies to characters too? Or does everyone experience a drop in performance at certain times and they’ve learned how to cope with that?

Do you have characters who cope with the down times better than others and how do they achieve this? Does the availability of light make a difference?

I also love characters who are older but with tonnes of useful magical experience behind them yet are still capable of “outgunning” those far younger than them because of that experience. How would their magical season progress?

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This World and Others – Climates

Does your world have one predominant climate or several? How does this/these affect the geography of your fictional world? Equally how does the geography affect the climate that can only exist because, for example, your world has a lot of water in it? Can your characters change the climate (for better or worse) and. If so, how?

Are there wars between different peoples because one has a better climate than the other? What pressures are there on food production etc which could lead to such conflicts and how are these things resolved?

What kind of climate do your characters prefer to be in? There will always be those who relish causing trouble so like a climate in which that is easily done. They would be bored senseless in a climate where peace prevails and nobody argues about anything. (Would make for a boring story too).

And how do shyer characters cope in a climate where people/other beings of choice are expected to be upfront and dominant? My thinking here is climate can be about social context and prevailing attitudes, as well as the geographic kind.

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ALLISON SYMES – BOOK BRUSH READER HUB

MOM’S FAVORITE READS – CHECK OUT THE MAGAZINE INCLUDING MY FLASH FICTION COLUMN HERE

Book Events, Videos, and Inspiration

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Image Credit:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing.
Brechin/Angus Festival related images created by Sarah Archibald. All screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes, as were the photos of my copies of The Best of CafeLit 10 and the extract from my story in that. Photos of me reading at the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School Open Prose Mic Night were taken by Geoff Parkes and Fiona Parks. (Great job done too, guys, thank you!).
Hope you have had a good week so far. Am busy getting ready for the Brechin/Angus Book Festival. Will write more about that in due course, especially for Chandler’s Ford Today. Looking forward to catching up with writer friends here too (and making new ones!).

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Hope you have had a good Tuesday. I’ll be packing tomorrow for my trip northwards to the Brechin/Angus Book Festival. Now apologies are due from yours truly. I forgot to share my latest YouTube video yesterday so am making up for that now. Hope you enjoy this one – Rocket.


Many thanks to the good folks behind Christmas Book Hub for featuring my Tripping The Flash Fantastic today. (15th November 2021 – see screenshot below). Much appreciated especially the link

Am away from Thursday for the Brechin/Angus Book Festival. I will be posting but at different times. I look forward to reporting back (via Chandler’s Ford Today in particular) about how the Festival went.

TTFF on Christmas Book Hub 2021

Not a bad weekend. Just asked Amazon Author Central to include Resolutions: An Anthology, the latest book from Bridge House Publishing, to my page. I’m one of the contributing authors with my story Next Time, Maybe. For all of the anthologies I’m in I have to ask Amazon to add it to my page and they usually do so within a day or two.

I take the opportunity while doing this kind of thing to ask the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) to add the book to my list with them. Why? Because I can earn some money from ALCS for all the books I either write or contribute to which are listed with them. (Can’t do ebooks as ALCS need an ISBN rather than an ASIN) but, as a certain supermarket would say, every little bit helps. It is always good to get more books added to the list!

Resolutions 3D

Hope you have had a good day. Glad to see the comments are still coming in for The Gift, my latest story on Friday Flash Fiction. Thanks, everyone.

So looking forward to the Brechin/Angus Book Festival next week. I’m going up on the Thursday and hope to report back on the Festival for Chandler’s Ford Today later in November. It will be great catching up with writer friends at this Festival too. (And do bear in mind that book events are great places to start your Christmas shopping. Just saying and all that…!).

I plan to do plenty of writing on the train up to Scotland – flash fiction, blogs etc. The great thing with doing this is I know I will use all of what I draft even if I don’t do so immediately. And I find that the act of writing in itself can trigger other ideas to explore. There is truth in the saying the more you write, the more ideas you will have. It is as if you need to get started and then a creative spark kicks in and before you know it other ideas have occurred to you (which you jot down immediately to avoid forgetting them again).

Screenshot 2021-11-12 at 16-51-35 The Gift, by Allison Symes

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Just a quick reminder that I often post flash fiction videos over on my YouTube channel. You can check it out at the link below. Latest story up is called Rocket. (Sorry meant to share this yesterday but forgot). Anyway hope you enjoy the videos. My sympathy on Rocket is definitely with the recipient here. See what you think.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPCiePD4p_vWp4bz2d80SJA

 

Screenshot 2021-11-16 at 20-25-46 Allison Symes

A quick heads up for my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. I am going to be discussing flash fiction with a fellow writer, Lynn Clement, in the first half of a two part interview. There is a lovely story behind how Lynn and I met and how we crossed paths again professionally recently. Lynn also has a splendid new book out called The City of Stories (published by Chapeltown Books). I look forward to sharing the link on Friday.

As I am away at the Brechin/Angus Book Festival from 18th to 22nd November, my postings will be at different times to my usual ones but thank goodness for Evernote, a smart phone, and a WIFI connection! They make postings possible! (I have to laugh at myself a bit here as I held out against a smart phone for ages. Can’t imagine my life without one now!).

 

Inspiration for my flash tales comes from all sorts of things – proverbs and phrases as I’ve mentioned before, but also personal tastes. In my Taking Time Out From the Day Job in The Best of CafeLit 10, my character’s secret sin is revealed to be chocolate bars, in particular Dairy Milk. Hmm… I didn’t have to look far for inspiration for that idea!

So you can take bits and pieces you like and loathe (either work) and see why your characters have these likings and loathings. Where a liking would not usually be a problem, put your character in a situation where it becomes one and see how they manage it. Good potential for comedy there. And what if a loathing for say travelling stops your character making progress in their career yet they want to advance in what they do and have to find a way around their travel phobia? What would they do? Again good story potential here.

CafeLit10 3D

 

One thing I’m looking forward to doing at the Brechin/Angus Book Festival I’m taking part in next week is reading out some of my flash fiction. It is a great way to both demonstrate what flash is and entertain your audience. Flash has the benefit too of its restricted word count – you can’t go on for too long! Everyone likes that!

I’m running a workshop on flash fiction and giving a separate author talk on The Ups and Downs of Becoming an Author. This topic is especially apt as I discovered flash fiction by accident but it is definitely one of the “ups”!

Goodreads Author Blog – All The Fun of the Book Event

Next week, I will be at the Brechin/Angus Book Festival where I will be running a workshop on flash fiction and giving an author talk on The Ups and Downs of Becoming An Author. Very much looking forward to this.

I always enjoy spreading the word about my genre, flash fiction, and it is my great hope that, as a format, it might be useful in drawing in the reluctant reader given I’m not asking them to commit to too much in one go. Once you have someone reading, who knows where that will take them?

Book events are great fun because there is a lot of camaraderie between the authors taking part, hopefully you sell books, and the event in and of itself is a celebration I think of the written word. That is always a good thing. And, especially at this time of year, they make great places to begin your Christmas shopping! Well, there must be someone you know who’d appreciate a good book!

Why not pop across to your next book event and see if you can tick some more items off your present shopping list?

Of course, I will get to see what other books are available at the event. What are the chances of me coming home again without having added to my To Be Read list?

That’s right – none whatsoever! (And I think that is the way it should be too).

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WHAT MAKES A GOOD WRITER?

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Now here is one of those questions that will never date!

FAIRYTALES WITH BITE

In What Makes a Good Writer?  I share my thoughts on the issue.  Amongst other things, I cite the importance of not giving up.  A good writer will know their characters “inside out”.  When you read a piece by them, you are left with the feeling that nothing else could have been added.  I also strongly suspect any such piece of writing will have gone through multiple edits.  I do know that if anything looks easy, whoever is behind that anything will have worked extremely hard to get to that point!

THIS WORLD AND OTHERS

Developing the Vision looks at whether it is more important to see your characters or whether hearing their voice is better.  I always hear my major characters speak and I then work out what they look like.  I like hearing the characters – I can gauge their attitude to life and I think that is far more vital than knowing immediately what their appearance is.  That tends to be one of the last aspects I “fill in”.

FACEBOOK PAGE – GENERAL

A short post tonight looking at how characters can inspire a story.

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FACEBOOK PAGE – FROM LIGHT TO DARK AND BACK AGAIN

I look at outlining and discuss why I do this now, when I never used to.  I stress the advantages and, yes, I’ve outlined for flash fiction too!

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Fill that blank sheet with ideas from non-fiction as well as other fiction works - image via Pixabay