Tag: Lynsey Adams

Blog Tours and The Final Blog Tour Reviews for Seeing The Other Side

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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’ve had a good weekend. The blog tour for Seeing The Other Side ended on Sunday but it was a fabulous experience. Final blog links below plus I will be sharing soon a Chandler’s Ford Today post which looks at the advantages of these things for writers and will share all of my links in one handy place. Lady is doing well. The autumnal temperatures suit her well.

Facebook – General

Hope today has gone well. So enjoyed my swim today. Good to chat with friends there too. I once thought I’d use my swimming time to think of story ideas etc. Not a bit of it – I find my mind just empties and I focus on the swimming. Mind you, that emptying of the mind is incredibly useful, as well as the physical exercise. Writer’s bottom (it spreads!) is real, folks!

Writing wise, I’m ploughing on with enjoyable proofreading work, blogging, and I hope to get back to story competitions from the weekend. Am also putting finishing touches to a presentation I hope to share at an online group next month. Went to their meeting last night for a thoroughly enjoyable talk about an aspect of World War One history I didn’t know much about. History is a vast subject and perfect for fiction and non-fiction writers alike to write about.

Also it won’t be too long before my next author newsletter will be out again so will be working on that later this week. I’ve found adding to it as the month goes on makes it an enjoyable and less pressured way to get the newsletter written. It also gives me the option of adding in late items of news as has been the case for me lately.

To sign up for story links, tips and more, do head over to https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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Hope you have had a good start to the week. Quiet one in the park for Lady though hopefully we’ll catch up with pals, human and doggy, later in the week.

Meantime, it’s Monday, always a hectic day for many of us, and it’s time for a story. I share my latest on Substack, which went up on that platform yesterday.

Hope you enjoy On The Late Side. Look out for my YouTube story too this week as it follows on from this one (see further down) but both stand alone.

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13th September – last blog tour post Melanie Robertson- King – Celtic Connexions

The last blog post for the Seeing The Other Side tour comes from Melanie Robertson-King/ Celtic Connexions. Many thanks, Melanie.

I’ve had a wonderful time on this blog tour. A huge thanks go to Lynsey Adams of Reading Between The Lines Book Vlog for organising everything so well.

I’ll be celebrating good blog tours and book events for my Chandler’s Ford Today post next week so do look out for that. As well as sharing the blog links for my tour in one handy post here, I’ll also look at the advantages of such things for writers. It may not be relevant for where your writing is at right now but it may well become relevant. I’ve often found this to be the case for me as my writing has developed. Link up on Friday.

13th September –  Kaz Warrent

The week has whizzed by once again and now it is time to share the final two posts from the blog tour for Seeing The Other Side. First up is Kaz Warrent whose review is on Instagram though I share a screenshot of the review below. Many thanks, Kaz.

12th September – Val Penny Review
Hope the weekend has got off to a good start. All well here and I’m delighted with the latest review for Seeing The Other Side, which has come in from Val Penny. Just a quick extract here:-

This third book of flash fiction stories, Seeing the Other Side, by author Allison Symes is a long-awaited treasure and I was thrilled to be invited to join the tour organised by Lynsey Adams of Reading Between the Lines.

I write novels and in which an extra word or two is not an issue. Therefore, I am always in awe of poets and flash fiction writers who choose their words so carefully and can portray ideas and stories with delightful brevity.

Seeing the Other Side is a larger collection of stories that either of her previous books, From Light to Dark and Back Again, and, Tripping the Flash Fantastic. However the increased quantity has not diluted the sparkling quality. Each of the stories is a gem with an unexpected twist in the tale.

Many thanks, Val. Do see the link for more details.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Was delighted to receive my second order of Seeing The Other Side. It is a joyous moment when you receive your first lot of books. It’s an even better joyous moment when you receive a second lot through because you’ve had to reorder. So much a nice “problem” to have and I hope to have to put in more orders in due course, naturally.

Am so thrilled with the lovely reviews which came in for the book during the blog tour. I hope to have fun creating some graphics via Book Brush with some quotes from these to use later. I find Book Brush easier to use than Canva to be honest and like BB’s templates – there is a good range of these. But I need time to do that and I hope to have a look at this at the weekend.

Another busy Monday and so it’s time for another YouTube story from me. This one follows on from my story, On The Late Side, which was on Substack yesterday (see above) but both stories stand alone.

Hope you enjoy Blind To The Obvious.

Despite past history, will Dora finally believe Tom when he says he is trying to do the right thing by her? What will happen if she doesn’t? Find out here.

 

This week has been a thrill in terms of celebrating flash fiction generally via the blog tour for Seeing The Other Side. With that now ended, I hope to resume having a go at various flash fiction competitions. I know there is at least two I would like to try for before the end of the year and may well come across others before that.

I haven’t written so much for competitions this year, which I will try and rectify for 2027, but I think having a new book out, my first in six years, would count as a valid excuse!

One of the joys of flash fiction is there are so many more competitions available now and these can be a great way of getting your name and work out there. I’ve found competitions useful practice for writing to deadlines too, which also comes in useful for longer works!

Thrilled with the latest review for Seeing The Other Side which came in today from Val Penny. The blog tour concludes tomorrow but it has been a fabulous experience. See above.

I’ll be talking about Blog Tours and Book Events for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. As well as sharing the links to my blog tour in one handy post, I’ll be looking at the advantages of these things, especially the blog tours, from a writer’s viewpoint. I hope that will prove useful.

Often I decide on a topic for CFT based on what I know I would have found useful had it been around earlier in my writing career and this is one of those themes.

And, of course, I’m spreading the word about flash fiction in all of this too. Nothing to dislike there!

Goodreads Author Blog – Blog Tours

I’ve recently been on a blog tour for my third flash fiction collection, Seeing The Other Side. It has been a fabulous experience and generated some great reviews. It also spreads the word about flash fiction as a fabulous format to read too.

I write non-fiction too and often interview authors as part of their blog tours. I find it fascinating to find out what inspires them and their books. Blog tours are so useful in promotion, of course. I also feel such things also promote the joy of reading and enable more people to find out about more books and in genres they’d not considered before. All useful stuff.

So if you can support other authors on their blog tours, I’d do so. You will find you will end up reading more. This has happened to me. And it’s not as if reading more can ever be a bad thing, right?

Certainly checking out the reviews the blog tours generate has led to me discovering books new to me. Win-win here for the readers, I’d say.

MAILERLITE – ALLISON SYMES – NEWSLETTER SIGN UP

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WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

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ALLISON SYMES ON SUBSTACK  

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Blog Tour for Seeing The Other Side – Days 1 & 2 – and Meeting Readers

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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 weekend. Busy one here. Lovely time at the book event for Seeing The Other Side at Salisbury URC on Saturday, new CafeLit story out on Sunday, and my blog tour starts this week too. So plenty going on. Lady has been catching up with friends she hasn’t seen much of over the holiday so all well there too.

Facebook – General

8th September 2026 – second post

Delighted to share another blog tour post today. I was interviewed by Wendy H Jones on The Nuts and Bolts of Flash Fiction as part of the tour for Seeing The Other Side.

It was wonderful answering the in-depth questions and I had great fun here. Amongst topics discussed are what drew me to flash fiction writing, why I think flash is growing in popularity as a genre (and long may that continue), and I share thoughts on first steps in writing flash too. There is much more in the interview so do check it out.

There is also another fabulous review for my new flash fiction collection so many thanks to Wendy for that and the interview.

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8th September 2026 – 1st post

Day 2 of the blog tour for Seeing The Other Side sees my book reviewed by Maressa Mortimer on her Vicarious Living website. Many thanks, Maressa, for a fabulous review.

To check the full review out and a great summary of what flash fiction is and can be do see the link. Meantime one happy author will share a snippet of that review here.

Seeing the Other Side is a great collection of Flash Fiction stories, the third in the series. Allison Symes, the author, has done a brilliant job with this third book. Although each of her books are slightly different, this new collection is varied and attractive. Seeing the Other Side is another great looking book, and as the stories are so short, it makes an ideal present or coffee table book.

Seeing the Other Side ~ Allison Symes

 

7th September – Writers’ Narrative – 1st post

Busy day today. More posts from me today too. First up is my latest article on Writers’ Narrative, where I look at The Business of Writing In The Short Fiction Forms.

I discuss why networking with other authors, as well as being great fun, can do so much with your getting to know the writing industry. You do need to know that which is relevant to your writing.

Part of the problem can be in not knowing what you need to know or knowing you need advice but have no idea where to turn for that. This is where supportive fellow authors are a real blessing. I’ve learned so much over the years from talking with other writers which has been so beneficial.

It was another author who told me about The Society of Authors and someone else mentioned The Association of Christian Writers, both of which have given me so much help and support over the years.

I also look at knowing what to expect for submissions and I share useful tips too, all of which I’ve made good use of and continue to do so.

Hope you find the post useful.

7th September – 2nd post – start of my blog tour for Seeing The Other Side

Second post tonight is to celebrate the start of my blog tour for Seeing The Other Side. Many thanks to Lynsey Adams of Reading Between the Lines Book Vlog for organising everything.
It is apt she starts the tour by interviewing me about what inspired me to write my new flash fiction collection and by also sharing a splendid review. Do see the link and screenshot for more.

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7th September – 3rd post – Substack story
Third post tonight and just in case you thought I’d forgotten, given it’s Monday, it’s story time. I share The Advert which I first shared on my Substack platform yesterday. Do look out for my YouTube story which I’ll be sharing on my From Light to Dark and Back Again Facebook page because the two stories are linked.

Hope you enjoy both but first up for your delectation is The Advert.

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6th September – CafeLit story
Hope the weekend has gone well. Good to have a quieter day after being out and about yesterday. I hope to join Salisbury URC again later in the year for their Christmas Fayre. More details nearer the time.

Blog tour for Seeing The Other Side starts tomorrow, 7th September. Looking forward to that.
Meantime, I’m delighted to have another story up on CafeLit – Truth Hurts. Doesn’t it just at times? Hope you enjoy it. And now to crack on with writing more flash fiction.

5th September

Many thanks to the lovely people at Salisbury URC for enabling me to have a book event as part of their regular book stall sales. It was great to catch up with people I know from the church and, as well as making sales, it was good to chat to people passing by. It was especially encouraging seeing and chatting with folk about encouraging the love of reading as early as possible. The children’s book stall did especially well which was fantastic to see. It was encouraging too. Children do read.

I had a fantastic time and the train journey is especially nice. It goes through some beautiful scenery. I hope to join Salisbury URC again later in the year to have a table at their Christmas Fayre. Yes, I know, but it will be with us before we know it. The event happens in November and I’ll share further details nearer the time. Always nice to come home with another “gig” booked up too!

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Using Autumn In Your Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. I share plenty of tips and suggestions here and hope you’ll find it useful. It’s certainly timely! Link up on Friday.

 

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

One of the joys of creative writing as a whole is you never stop learning. You always want to improve on what you do and you do with good advice and practice find the ways which work for you. This is especially true for flash fiction, I think, given you have a restricted word count to work with but that limitation can and does inspire creativity.

Flash fiction has shown me what my wasted words are, how to tighten phrases and express things in a clearer, tighter way, all with the objective of saving on the word count, but it does also have the benefit of improving your writing. I’ve found those techniques have also helped with my article and blog writing.

Flash fiction writing has made me think along the lines of what images do I want to plant in a reader’s head, how do I want to make them feel by the end of the story, and all of that means I am always writing with my audience in mind.

No bad thing that!

It has been an especially busy Monday for me given my new Writers’ Narrative article is out and the blog tour for Seeing The Other Side has also begun today. See above for all here.

But it is still Monday and around here that means it’s time for my latest story on YouTube. Hope you enjoy The Summoning. It links to my Substack tale, The Advert, which I’ve shared on my author page on Facebook. Both are inspired by one word from a prompt set by writing friend, Jennifer C Wilson. At some point I will do the prompt itself!

Meantime I hope you enjoy The Summoning.

Can there ever be a time when an advert in a paper is more effective than using some magic to bring someone back to where they need to be? Find out here.

 

Nice quiet Sunday. Lovely autumnal weather too. Will be looking at ways to use autumn in writing for my Chandler’s Ford Today post next week. Plenty of tips and prompt ideas to come from that. Have used some of these thoughts already but all of them are timeless and you can return to them again and again. Do look out for the post on Friday.

About to start flash fiction Sunday. I did get to share some stories from Seeing The Other Side at my event in Salisbury yesterday. It remains the best way to show what flash fiction is. I’m all for showing what a great format it is.

Flash Tip: I often start a flash story with dialogue but do get your character to hit the ground running with whatever it is they say. You want to create intrigue in the reader so they have to find out what follows on. The dialogue doesn’t have to be overly dramatic either.

I’d be intrigued to read on if I was to read something like ‘Jane, what have I told you about pegging your washing out properly? Your underwear is halfway to Portsmouth by now. Look outside.’

I would have to find out what Jane did or tried to do next, wouldn’t you?

Had a fantastic time at Salisbury with the URC for my book event today. I hope to write more about that for a future Chandler’s Ford Today post in a couple of weeks time.

Meantime, I look forward to having another story on CafeLit tomorrow, 6th September. It has been a while since the last one. Will try and rectify that. Hope tomorrow, as well as getting on with my usual Sunday flash fiction afternoon, to record a story for submission. Don’t want to leave it until last minute but I must admit I can’t believe where this week has gone. Did get the recording done and the story sent off. Now to wait to hear back.

And Monday sees the start of my blog tour for Seeing The Other Side. So all go on that front which is great.

Will be nice to write some more flash tomorrow though. I find it a hugely enjoyable way to finish my writing week. And you should love what you do generally because if you don’t enjoy it, why should anyone else?

Goodreads Author Blog – Meeting Readers

I was at a book event for my Seeing The Other Side recently which formed part of a wider bookstall selling good quality second hand books which raises funds for a church I know. It was great fun to take part in this and I had some wonderful conversations with people who did buy from me and others who didn’t.

What was fabulous was seeing so many still have the love of books and reading. I suppose that shouldn’t come as any surprise given we’re all on Goodreads after all but sometimes all you see in the media is depressing news about people, especially children, not reading for pleasure as much.

All I can say from my observations at the event was take this with a pinch of salt. Books and stories are still very much valued and I found that so encouraging as a writer with a love of reading I owe to my late mother.

Ebooks are appreciated – they do have their uses – but people still love the paperbacks. I hope to go back to this venue later in the year for a Christmas event and hope to meet even more readers, and maybe other authors, then.

I’ve also put in a pitch for a library talk locally to me and hope it comes off as that is also a fabulous way to meet readers and supports the library.

I think the hardest thing any lover of books and stories has, whether you write them as well or not, is trying to convey something of that joy to those who are not convinced. Always worth a go though!

MAILERLITE – ALLISON SYMES – NEWSLETTER SIGN UP

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WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

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ALLISON SYMES ON SUBSTACK 

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AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Author Interview: Miriam Drori – Loyalty and the Learner

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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. A big thank you to Miriam Drori and Lynsey Adams (Reading Between the Lines Book Vlog) for photos supplied for my interview with Miriam on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Miriam also sent pictures of her setting with captions so do check those out. Settings add so much to a story.
Hope you have had a good week. Lady has seen her friends most of the time so she’s happy. Am off to Rugby on 12th October to go to the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering event. Looking forward to catching up with friends, making new ones, and enjoying the workshops. Also looking forward to Flash NANO which starts soon too. Hope I can get another 30 draft stories out of it this year! (Have also been playing with Book Brush for my flash fiction collections – see below!).

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to welcome Miriam Drori to Chandler’s Ford Today this week to discuss her new novel, Loyalty and the Learner. She also shares her views on titles (especially as she has used alliterative titles for her other book in the Jerusalem Murder Mystery series, Style and the Solitary) and what led her into creative writing at all, given her career was in a very different direction. Even her other writing has been in a different direction as Miriam has also written on social anxiety.

Miriam also discusses writing blurbs and writing guides with me. Plenty to enjoy here and lots of useful thoughts. Do enjoy!

Many thanks for joining me on CFT, Miriam, and good luck with the book.

Meeting Miriam Drori: Loyalty and the Learner

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Don’t forget to check out a superb interview with Miriam Drori on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Miriam discusses her new book, Loyalty and the Learner. The interview is part of a blog tour organised by Lynsey Adams of Reading Between the Lines Book Vlog. See above.

It was lovely to meet Miriam in person at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick back in August and both of us took part in the Open Prose Mic Night there.

Miriam shares wonderful tips on book launches and her approach to marketing. She shares what led her into writing crime at all and her favourite aspect of storytelling. She also discusses how she handles the inevitable ups and downs of the writing life and there is much more besides. Do look out for it. Looking forward to sharing this tomorrow. Do look out for the link.

 

Hope you have had a good day. Lady did. She got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals – all three so pleased to see each other. Off to have my flu jab later.

More author interviews coming up on Chandler’s Ford Today in the run up to that famous event in December (it is too early to mention it by name yet, though I note that thought clearly hasn’t occurred to the supermarkets). Am looking forward to sharing those.

Am a fair way through a first draft of a fourth flash fiction collection and am preparing a submission for something else which I hope to get out in the next few weeks. I’m at that stage where I’m resting it as I want to judge it again before I send it off. Time away from any piece of work is the only way I know to be able to judge a piece objectively enough.

Am also happily judging a flash fiction competition at the moment too. Love doing this kind of thing and I always critique. I’ve been on the receiving end of critiques myself and have always found them useful. They do have to be constructive though.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Put That Light Out. Fans of Dad’s Army should recognise that phrase and who said it in the series. It directly inspires this story. Hope you enjoy it.
Screenshot 2024-10-11 at 10-26-43 Put That Light Out by Allison Symes - Friday Flash Fiction

Have another train trip over the weekend so hope to use some of that travelling time in drafting blog posts, flash fiction etc. Am delighted the notes app on my relatively new phone replaces Evernote for me. I didn’t need a paid for subscription with them given I use this kind of note program only when travelling like this and Evernote have been pushing towards subscriptions, which I think is a shame. Never used to do that but I understand they were taken over by someone else a while back so that probably explains the change of viewpoint!

Paid for subscriptions are not for everyone. I only ever pay for something I know I will use. I use graphics a lot so having a paid for plan with Book Brush makes a great deal of sense for me. Likewise I have a paid subscription for my website and I am always keen to renew my subs with the Society of Authors as I have long found their advice useful. There is a huge business in services fur authors. Just know what you’re getting into and always check things out before committing to anything.

I am looking forward to getting on with some drafts on the train on Saturday though. It’s amazing how much I can get done and I like making good use of time like that.

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So looking forward to taking part in Flash NANO again. Not long to go now. Have enjoyed taking part over the last couple of years and some of those pieces have gone on to be published. If you want to take a look at what it is all about, do follow the link below.

A huge thanks to those members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group who put me on to this. I just love the whole idea of having something for the short form writers while the novelists crack on with NaNoWriMo (and if you are taking part in that, good luck!).

Screenshot 2024-10-07 at 20-40-54 Nancy Stohlman

Fairytales With Bite – How Do You Know When Your Wand Needs Servicing?

Time for some lighthearted nonsense I think.

You know it’s time to get your wand serviced when fur slippers become glass ones.

You know it’s time to get your wand serviced when the three bears have to call in carpenters to sort out the ruined furniture because your wand decides it doesn’t “do wood”. The one comfort you have here is in knowing a certain time travelling alien with two hearts has s sonic screwdriver which also doesn’t “do wood”. On the plus side again, you are unlikely to upset the Ents from The Lord of the Rings precisely because your wand doesn’t “do wood”.

You know it’s time to get your wand serviced when it misfires and what would normally emerge as sweet little tweeting birds turn out to be huge vultures who don’t look that pleased to see you. They’re even less pleased when you aim your wand again and they become those sweet little tweeting birds with feathers missing. Somewhere in their brains they will recall they had been much bigger and more threatening and they liked that role. They also begrudge the missing feathers.

You know it’s time to get your wand serviced when, despite all magical attempts to get spinning wheels out of the magical kingdom, one still manages to turn up.

You know it’s time to get your wand serviced when despite using it for help with your baking, your cake still has a soggy bottom and despite using fabulous ingredients it still tastes like fairy dust (which is dry and bitter).

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This World and Others – Equipment – Servicing and Manufacturing

Hope you enjoyed Fairytales with Bite. Now for story ideas.

Fairy godmothers and the like will need to have somewhere to go to get their wands etc serviced, replaced (if damaged in the call of duty or because they simply fancy the latest model). The Harry Potter series famously had Diagon Alley for this.

What would your world have or does your setting import this kind of service and manufacturing from other places? If so, why? What set the tradition for importing skills and services? Does that have a downside? There is one obvious one – they better not be at war ever with the world which supplies them!

Story ideas could also come from following the tale of a craftsman here. What do they produce? How did they get into the trade? Is their reputation a good one? What would they do if made to make equipment for someone they really don’t want having it? Good tension raising drama there!

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the November 2023 edition of the magazine which was on the theme of novels. Timely too given November each year sees both NaNoWriMo and Flash NANO. My piece in here looked at writing novels and shares what I learned from writing my, as yet, unpublished one.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Twitter Corner with hashtag, Scrabble tiles, and the blue bird

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Author Interview: Behind The Curtain with Anita D Hunt

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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 Anita D Hunt and Lynsey Adams for pictures supplied for the Chandler’s Ford Today post this week.
Hope you have had a good few days. Torrential rain and brief spells of sunshine here. Hoping it brightens up for the weekend as have a family event. Writing wise, have more superb author interviews coming up on Chandler’s Ford Today in October. Will say more nearer the time though I find it hard to believe we’re almost at the tenth month of the year already! Where has the time gone?

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

As part of her blog tour, I am delighted to welcome fellow Swanwicker, Anita D Hunt, to Chandler’s Ford Today to discuss her new domestic noir novel, Behind The Curtain.

Anita shares many useful tips and plenty of great advice in this in depth interview, in which she also discusses how it can be painful getting inside your characters’ heads at times and what to look for in a writing group.

She looks at what she likes about creating characters and how Cornwall, her home county, plays a major part in her work. She discusses themes and shares an invaluable tip about writing blurbs. Do check out the interview and settle down for a riveting read.

Behind The Curtain with Anita D Hunt

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Glad to say the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom last night went well. The theme was marketing (many thanks to Rosemary Johnson for suggesting it) and I shared a few ways flash fiction can help with this.

If nothing else, sharing flash fiction stories every now and again can act as a marvellous advert for the rest of what you do. It doesn’t take long to read, it entertains potential/actual readers, and it showcases you/your work. Nothing to dislike there, I think.

And talking of marketing, it’s time for me to put in my usual end of month reminder about my author newsletter. The next one goes out on 1st October and I share stories, tips, advice (based on what I’ve found useful myself), news etc. If interested do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com where you can sign up. A huge thank you too to all of my subscribers here and on my YouTube channel.

Thought for Today: Every writer has their fair share of rejections, not doing well in competitions etc, but there’s nothing to stop you revisiting your old work, seeing if you can polish it up and get it out somewhere else. I’ve had work published that way.

Sometimes I will review a piece and with the benefit of time and that useless aid, hindsight (I would far rather have the ability to spot something wrong at the time I’m working on a piece and see my mistakes before I send anything out!), I can see why a piece failed but even that can be useful because I’ve learned from it.

So maybe hindsight isn’t so useless after all. I would still prefer foresight or at the time sight though! Suspect most of us would.

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Hope you have had a good day. Lady has had a smashing one given she got to play with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. I’ve managed to avoid most of the rain today too so will take that as a win.

Don’t forget I’ll be talking to Anita D Hunt about her domestic noir novel, Behind The Curtain, on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. The interview is packed full of useful tips and advice too so do look out for it. See above. Glad to say there will be more author interviews to come on CFT in October too.

Writing Tip: I know some writers dread marketing and would far rather focus on writing. I understand that but there are creative aspects to marketing your stories too. After all the challenge here is to make what you have to say here about your work interesting and appealing to readers and not switch them off. (Saying buy my book all the time does do precisely that).

I’ve found if I can make the marketing fun for me to do it is more likely to be appealing to a reader. Sharing something of interest and/or value to readers/writers as I discuss what I’m up to writing wise is also marketing. I think it is more likely I can keep this kind of marketing going too.

My aim with posts like this one then is to have a chatty informative style, while sharing useful tips and something like oh by the way my newsletter is out soon, if you want to sign up head over to etc etc. I take the view if it is something I wouldn’t mind reading if I were on the receiving end, other readers (or at least some) will take the same view.

So work out then what you like to see in marketing you receive. Figuring out what works for you as a reader will help you come up with material based on your work you won’t mind sharing with your readers (and they won’t mind it either). The focus has to be on engagement, I think. Stories about your writing life work well too.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s Friday, end of the week time, weather iffy so definitely time for a story then. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – The Old Bat and The Cookie Tin. Think I’ve found a contender for one of my all time favourite titles!

Screenshot 2024-09-27 at 10-09-12 The Old Bat and The Cookie Tin by Allison Symes - Friday Flash FictionHope you’ve had a good day. Lady didn’t get to see any of her pals today though she hopefully will tomorrow. Have a family event at the weekend. Lady loves these because (a) she loves people, (b) she loves getting extra food and getting to be an outside Hoover, and (c) she loves playing with the visiting dog, with whom she gets on brilliantly. Am expecting Lady to be shattered on Saturday night. She was last time but happily so!

Looking forward to the local Book Fair in October and literally the week before the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering event. I shall be off to Rugby for that one and will be back to London in December for the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event. Lots going on all connected with writing and I plan to enjoy every minute! I also get to spread the word about flash fiction of course.

Prompt Idea: Events mean different things to different people so why not invent one for a character of yours and show what they make of it? Do they organise it? Do they love it? Do they dread it? What happens at this event which changes things for them?

461332721_10162283069397053_7196259478840081979_nI’ve mentioned before the importance of using the right telling details to help your readers picture your world/setting/character/any combination of those. In my The Terrified Dragon (Tripping The Flash Fantastic), I start with the line The dragon was surrounded by angry humans with weapons and realised to his dismay he was supposed to blast them all away.

Note I haven’t told you what those weapons were as that isn’t the important thing. What you need to know is the main character is a dragon who has got into trouble (which is odd in itself given dragons are usually the cause of fire-related trouble!). You need to know about the angry humans (and you don’t need telling why they’re angry given a dragon turning up is seldom good news).

But you also see something of the dragon’s attitude. He knows what he is meant to do but is strangely reluctant to do it. There is something strange about this creature. Only way to find out what is to read on. Job done.

I’ve always found it useful to figure out what a reader has to know and then decide how I am going to plant those things in the story. When I’ve outlined my character well enough, I can see how the story will develop and where those things should go. It will arise naturally, which is what you want.

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Fairytales with Bite – Flying Around

Now I know I moan about traffic in my area – I suspect most of us do – but what would this traffic look like in a magical world? How is the Eye in the Sky supposed to work when all around them are flying on broomsticks and other magical craft?

Would there be speed limits? Would there be corridors magical flying beings are supposed to stick to (if only to give the wildlife a half decent chance of being able to fly anywhere in safety? I feel sorry for birds in magical worlds. In any other kind of world the skies would be theirs. Not in this kind of environment it isn’t!).

Now we all know there are certain kinds of car driver (usually with specific brands of vehicle too) who are notorious for tailgating, jumping traffic lights, being awful at junctions etc. What would the magical equivalent of these things be in your setting? How is flying traffic controlled or is it a free for all and it is assumed the fittest/fastest/strongest survive and it’s tough luck on the others? What are the accident rates?

Are the state of the skies in your setting better than they used to be or worse? Can any magical being fly? Are the “vehicles” restricted to certain speeds?

You could have some funny stories here about the magical traffic cop and how they rein in anyone who breaks the rules here. I once wrote a festive flash piece where such a character tried to pull Santa over for speeding! Great fun to write.

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This World and Others – Policing the Skies

Linking in with Fairytales with Bite, who does police the skies? How seriously or otherwise is this role taken? Does it get the support of the general public or it is looked down on? Are there any perceptions that certain flyers (e.g. witches and wizards) get away with traffic faults and other more lowly kinds (such as the trainee fairies etc) do not?

Who does control the skies in your setting and how do they do it? We consider keeping control of our own air space as vital to our defences (as proven by the Battle of Britain in World War Two) so I would assume your setting’s government would take the same view.

Who would they need to defend their skies against? What is the history behind that? What is the history behind how your government does police the skies? What have they found works well and what less so?

I quite like the idea of a traffic cop on a broomstick with a flashing blue light pulling over other magical beings for speeding etc. What punishments can be given? How are other magical beings stopped from avoiding these and/or giving the cop a hard time?

Story ideas here (and possibly funny ones too).

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Since marketing has come into this round up tonight, I thought I’d share the link to the September 2023 edition of the magazine given it has marketing as its theme. I have two pieces in here – Marketing Your Books and Writing For Online Magazines.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Author Interview: Val Penny – Hunter’s Rules and Lynsey Adams – Book Blog Tour Organiser

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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 Val Penny and Lynsey Adams for images associated with their interview on Chandler’s Ford Today this week.
Funny old week again. Lovely sunshine followed by heavy rain – the British summer is in full swing! Had a lovely time watching The Chameleon Theatre Group’s latest production – review to follow on Chandler’s Ford Today in due course. Do check out your local amateur theatre companies. I’ve seen some splendid shows staged by The Chameleons. You may well be in for some good surprises here with your own companies. Also I see plays as staged stories so that and the idea of supporting local theatre all at the same time is a fabulous one I heartily endorse.

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Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

So pleased to welcome back Val Penny to Chandler’s Ford Today. We celebrate her Hunter’s Rules, which was recently launched at the Harrogate Crime Festival. Well done on achieving something so prestigious, Val!

In this in depth interview, Val shares with me the joys of coming back to write about familiar characters, writing straplines, what she loves about book blog tours and crime fiction, and much else besides. Plenty of useful thoughts and advice here – do check this out.

I also have a brief chat with Lynsey Adams who organised Val’s book blog tour. Lynsey shares a few tips on what authors should think about when planning their own book blog tour. Again do check this out.
Am sure you will find plenty of information which is useful and entertaining from both ladies. Thank you both for taking part in this.

Author Interview – Val Penny – Hunter’s Rules and Book Blog Tour Organiser interview – Lynsey Adams

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Am off to see Bleak Expectations, the latest show to be staged by The Chameleon Theatre Group, tonight. Looking forward to that and catching up with my lovely editor at Chandler’s Ford Today too. Plays are staged stories when all is said and done so I see these as another way of taking in wonderful tales I might not come across another way. Nothing to dislike about that!

Writing Tip: When you’ve enjoyed a fabulous tale of any word count, why not look at it again and work out what it was you especially liked. If the characters gripped you (as I would hope they would), work out what it was which made them “do” that to you. What made them stand out? How did the author achieve that? Which details were key in getting the character across to you that way? There will be something!

Another thought – re dialogue. Now we know that fictional speech can only replicate real speech but it has the advantages of having far fewer hesitations and repetitions in it because we don’t want our readers to nod off due to boredom. But if you’re tempted to abbreviate fictional speech think about how it will look on the page/on the screen to your reader. It still has to “look right” to read right.

Whatever your kind of character, their dialogue has to fit their portrayalHope you’ve had a good day. Lady managed to see her Hungarian Vizler friend and Gertie, a lovely Golden Retriever, whom we see from time to time. Lady went home shattered but happy (as one of her favourite tricks is to suddenly get a burst of energy and run around pals showing off as she plays with her toys. I have no idea if that impresses them but it impresses her).

Am off to the theatre again tomorrow for a Chandler’s Ford Today works outing! My lovely editor and I will be seeing Bleak Expectations (a stage play based on the hilarious radio comedy of that name) being staged by The Chameleon Theatre Group. Review will follow in due course. Am expecting plenty of laughs and Dickens based jokes. Should be a lot of fun. If you can, do check out the radio show. I thought it was fabulous.

Talking of CFT, I’m talking with Val Penny about her Hunter’s Rules and Lynsey Adams about book blog tours on Friday. Lots of useful information from both ladies. Be sure not to miss it and well done to Val for having her new book launched at the Harrogate Crime Festival too. See above.

As for this evening, I’m running the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom later. Theme is summer. Jury is out as to whether summer has turned up. I have had the sun back out today so I would give a cautious thumbs up to this one (given I know the rain is back for me tomorrow!).

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my new story, Life Dreams. What does someone, whose species uses dreams to communicate, do to avoid being caught by them and dragged back to their own planet? Find out here!
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Do look out for Friday Flash Fiction’s annual Edinburgh Festival competition (it runs in conjunction with the actual festival). See screenshot but more details will be put on the website soon. The FFF competition runs over two weeks. Worth having a go. It is free to enter. You can enter one 100 word story per week for the fortnight the competition is on so two stories in all.

The 100 word category is a popular one for competitions. It is a great discipline for sharing what matters to your characters. You give the reader what they need to know and the rest they can infer. Well worth practicing regularly (which is one reason why I submit stories to FFF often!).

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Writing to closing lines is great practice for coming up with punchlines or twist endings. Every so often one of my brainstorming sessions will be to do this. (I also use such sessions for coming up with title ideas and opening line possibilities).

Once I’ve got some closing lines down, I rest them for a while before having another look and seeing what I could use. Inevitably there will be some discards but there will be ideas which literally stand the test of time with me. I then have the fun of working out how I could get to that closing line. The line will throw up different possibilities and I go with the one which appeals to me the most.

For example, if my closing line was And the day had started so well too, I could use that line to produce a humorous story. I could also use it to produce a sad or slice of life tale. I would then decide what mood I wanted to write to and then figure out what character could serve my purposes here. All good fun and then I write my first draft.

But what I am keen on is to ensure that lovely closing line I’ve got seems like the only way to end my story. It has to seem natural and not tacked on though that is true for any line for any length of story.

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Fairytales with Bite – Agencies

In your fantasy setting, what agencies exist? Is there one, for example, to train fairy godmothers to an acceptable standard? Is there a law and order agency (and, if not, why not? Who would ensure criminal magic did not run riot here?). Who runs the agencies and are they accountable to higher powers? How do those higher powers operate?

Within the agencies themselves, what hierarchies exist and how did these come about? There would be potential for humorous stories here I think as well as dramas. Where you have organisations you have the competent, the incompetent, and those who muddle their way through. You could have fun here!

How would your characters fit into that kind of set up? Could one of your “muddling” characters develop something which proves to be brilliant? How would they handle their unexpected success, given others wouldn’t have expected it either?

You may not want one hugely powerful magical being running everything. It would be bound to drain powers etc. So how would the ones at the top of the tree farm out jobs for others to do and where could your characters fit in to this?

Would the agencies be your world’s major employers and how easy or otherwise is it to get a job with them? Does it depend on the “old boys’ network” and could someone break that if so?

Story ideas there I think.

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This World and Others – Who Does What?

Wherever there is a setting, no matter how far away or fantastical it is, you have administration! It does get everywhere. To be fair, a job has to be done, someone has to do it (and therefore has to organise how they do it).

I’ve always loved the quote about Death from the Discworld novels by the much missed Terry Pratchett. The Archchancellor refers to Death as a Professional fellow with a job to do. And if you read the Death novels here you will discover there is an immaculate system of hour glasses and books. There is a reason why Death has a huge desk!

So for your characters who does do what job? Is it based on their species, their class status, or a mixture?

Do certain species have certain talents so your setting rightly deploys them for the jobs requiring those skills? How did those talents develop in the first place? Who organises your setting? Discworld has the Patrician and the Guilds. Who runs your world? Are they good at it? Is there any threat to their position? Do they give the most awkward jobs to the ones who might challenge them? Do they give offers others cannot, dare not, refuse? (Good way of dealing with enemies!).

If your characters are nowhere near the seat of power, and perhaps glad to be so, what would they do? What would they be expected to do in usual circumstances? If those change, what would your characters have to learn to do (and quickly)?

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I’m sharing the link to the May 2024 issue which was about memoir. My article is about Using Memoir Techniques for Character Creation.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Author’s Voice, Revising, and Parties as Settings

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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 good weekend. Lovely one here. Family party which we all loved and Lady was brilliant with our youngest family member (1 this coming week!) and a visiting spaniel. We found Lady crashed out in our hall at about 7.30 pm! I suspect the spaniel crashed out too. This week I’m running a flash fiction group for ACW and am off to the theatre on another evening so all go but should be fun all around.

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Facebook – General

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to see Willow, a lovely small Jack Russell, today, and Daisy, a very gentle spaniel. Whenever Lady gets to see any of her pals, she feels her day has not been wasted! Hope to be back in the swimming pool later this week. Missed it today. Was waiting for MOT result on my car today, thankfully it passed.

Writing wise, I’ve redrafted a competition entry. Am now resting it again. Have got it to the required word count simply by tightening up how I’ve phrased things. For short stories (this one has to be 250 words maximum), I do find it easiest to run it out on paper and edit it the old-school way. Doing that for this one highlighted where I could phrase things better and so I have!

Am planning to submit it over the coming weekend (deadline is end August but I want to make sure I don’t forget to do it before heading off to Swanwick).

452637013_10162048436782053_4036150123600301241_nA busy day but changeable weather again. Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler though. Lots of affection shown and they both mug the Vizler’s owner for treats. Two happy dogs went home.

Looking forward to sharing a fab interview with Val Penny on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I’m also popping in a couple of questions to book blogger, Lynsey Adams, as part of this as she organises Val’s blog tours. Lots of good tips and advice from both writing and book blogger viewpoints. Be sure not to miss it!

In other news, I’m thrilled to say Writers’ Narrative will be back in December, earlier than originally thought. Will share more information nearer the time.

Am counting down the days to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick too. Not that far away now.

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Despite the rain, we had a wonderful family party yesterday. Am recovering today (as is the dog, who was just brilliant. She loves people. She is literally a party animal).

Thinking about your characters, are they the type who love parties or hate them? Are they the type of characters people would be only too keen to invite along to a do or do folk ensure these never get invited to their place? Whatever your answers here, give some thought as to why the answers are the way they are. Story ideas are likely to crop up. To name just one, suppose a character turns up at a party. They have had the invite. It was sent out in error. What happens next?

Also thinking of having a party as a setting, what could happen there to change a character’s life for good or ill? Do they end up regretting going to that do or are so pleased they did go? Potential I think for feel good and humorous stories here. Goodness knows, the world could do with many more of both of those kinds of tale!

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Apologies this is later than normal but have had a fabulous day celebrating other half’s birthday with family. Lady and my cousin’s dog, Lily, a lovely spaniel, get on really well and had a magnificent time. They also make excellent biological vacuum cleaners!

Am looking forward to welcoming back Val Penny to Chandler’s Ford Today next week. She’ll be discussing Hunter’s Rules with me, her new book which will be launched at the Harrogate Crime Festival in the next few days. Well done, Val, on that! I’ll also be having a chat with Lynsey Adams as part of this interview about book blog tours and there will be tips shared. So please do look out for this. It will be an excellent and enlightening read.

(What’s nice is I’m due to see Val again on Zoom soon. After that I’ll be meeting up with her in person at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Looking forward to both of those things!).

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Don’t forget my next author newsletter will be out again soon. If you’ve missed any of my YouTube stories I do share links for the month in my newsletter. I also share links to anything I’ve had on Friday Flash Fiction for the month.

To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com and I will also take this chance to say a huge thank you to my subscribers. Support much appreciated.

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It’s Monday. The weather has been all over the place again. It’s still Monday. Time for a story then. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Selections. Does the genie finally get to meet a non-greedy human? Find out here.

 

It took me a long while to discover what my author’s voice is and what helped me discover it at all was to write and to keep on writing. As I produced more short stories, blogs, flash fiction etc, a style emerged and I realised that was my author’s voice coming through. (Reading my work out loud regularly also has helped me hear my style and voice emerge).

One thing which is underrated, I feel, is the need to have a backbone of steel so you do keep on writing. You accept there will be rejections and disappointments but you also realise this happens to every writer. I’ve found knowing that makes me feel a bit better when the turn downs do come in, funnily enough.

I hope when I mention here I’ve had a rejection it will encourage others to realise that it doesn’t mean you stop writing. What you do try and do is write better, while accepting not everyone will get what you do. You have to allow for subjective tastes too.

The other thing which has helped a lot is reading more widely and in contemporary fiction, as well as the classics and favourites we all know and love. This is why going to writing events and discovering authors and books new to you is such a wonderful aid to any writer because you can’t know in advance always what will inspire your own stories (and it is fun finding this out).

452231899_10162042748972053_1141268187125797544_nI mix up how I decide my flash pieces are going to be. Sometimes I know the mood of the story I want to write. Sometimes I know the theme. Sometimes I have a character making themselves known to me and I have to get their story down.

For competitions, I like the open theme and the set ones. The latter challenge me to write to what someone else has decided here and that is a good discipline and worth practicing.

The former challenges me to think deeply about my theme and characters. Given the competition is an open one, I have to ensure my storyline and characters stand out. They have to be memorable to the judge who is likely to be reading several stories.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Children’s Books

I have a very soft spot indeed for children’s books. My late mother encouraged reading and a love of stories from an early age, something I’ve always appreciated. I have fond memories of children’s classics such as Black Beauty, the Famous Five, Heidi, and, of course, my beloved fairytales.

Being hooked on red reading early on encouraged my development into reading adult books. No such thing as a YA category in my day – I would’ve loved it and I think it is a superb idea. I collected the works of Agatha Christie via Odhams Book Club (remember them, anyone?) and still have these now. But without my love of reading the children’s books, would I have gone on to read the Queen of Crime? I doubt it.

Someone has to hook you into reading in the first place and this is where the children’s authors come in. It has long been a belief of mine that all writers of books for adults owe a huge debt to the children’s writers. They do grow our audience for us.

It was a great joy, when I became a parent, to select children’s books and, later, to see my child pick their own. (That’s a good thing to encourage too). I was especially fond of the children’s treasuries of stories (as my child was) precisely because there were lots of tales to dip into. They are the perfect books for that.

Each generation needs its children’s writers. It also needs its adult writers. I don’t know if any survey has ever been done on this but it would not surprise me much if it was found 90% + of all readers say they owe their love of reading to loving books as a child.

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WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

The fabulous news is Writers’ Narrative will be back in December 2024, earlier than anticipated. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the edition from June 2024 which focused on poetry. My article explored the links between flash fiction and poetry. There are more than you might think!

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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