Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Many thanks to Francesca Tyer for supplying author and book pictures for the first part of her fabulous interview on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

Another hot few days but Lady and I have been keeping as cool as possible. Delighted to share Part 1 of a great interview with Francesca Tyer, YA fantasy author, who is part of the Authors Reach stable. Wide ranging questions and more to come next time too.

I’ve talked before about interviewing characters to find our what they’re made of – it is a fab idea, I’ve used it many times, but don’t forget to ask open questions so “they” can’t answer with a simple yes/no. You want your characters to have to explain “themselves”.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to welcome Francesca Tyer, YA fantasy author from the Authors Reach stable, back to Chandler’s Ford Today. This is the first part of a fabulous in depth two-part interview. This week Francesca and I discuss inspiration, poetry, writing follow on books, writing routines, and much more. Hope you enjoy it and I look forward to sharing Part 2 next week.

Author Interview – Francesca Tyer – Part 1

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It was so good to go swimming today, I can tell you! Pity I had to get out again but there you go. Can’t have it all.

Don’t forget Part 1 of a fabulous interview with Francesca Tyer is live on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday – will put the link up tomorrow. See above. Looking forward to sharing that. More interviews to come later in the month too.

Looking forward to running another flash fiction workshop in early July. Then there will be the Book Fair at The Hilt. And after that I will begin my official countdown to when I go to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, which is the biggest highlight of my writing year. It will be so good to catch up with friends (and hopefully make new ones) there. Am also looking forward to running my editing workshop there.

Towards the end of the year will be the Bridge House Publishing celebration event and I am looking forward to that too. So plenty going on, writing wise, which is how I like it.

Oh and I should have news to share about online magazine Writers’ Narrative fairly soon too.

Hope you have had a good day. More breeze today which Lady and I have welcomed.

On Friday, I’ll be sharing Part 1 of a wonderful two part interview with Francesca Tyer. She is a YA fantasy author whose third book, The Earthstone, will be out soon. This is the follow up to The Firestone and The Seastone.

We’ll be discussing what led Francesca into writing YA fantasy, her love of poetry, her writing routine, and she shares some useful tips and there is much more besides. Looking forward to sharing the link later this week. See above.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to share Anniversary, my latest 100 word story on Friday Flash Fiction. See what you think about Helen, my lead here, and her take on anniversaries.

I often ask myself questions as I’m outlining my story. I want to quiz my characters so I know what they’re made of and it reminds me why I want to write about these people/other creatures of choice in the first place. I ask myself whether my title would lure me into reading the story if it were written by someone else. I also ask what is in this for the reader?

The last question is a good one. It helps me to focus on what matters for my characters. It encourages the ruthless cutting out of any purple prose and to ensure my wasted words (very, actually, and that are the worst) have been removed.

I like to keep my titles to the point. Often when I’m entering competitions, I’m conscious I need something that will “hit” the spot immediately. After all I’m trying to hook the reader into reading the rest of the story – in this case the competition judge.

I want my title to help the story stand out and give it a better chance of a placing. For those competitions where the title is part of the word count allowance, I have an even more powerful reason to keep my titles short. I want to save the majority of the word count allowance for the story itself.

The role of the title is to set the scene for what is to come in the story. It should be a good lure!

Fairytales with Bite – Magical Extremes

What are the ranges of magical ability in your setting? What would count as magically “low” ability and “high” ability? Is this dictated by the character’s background? Can your characters improve what they do or are magical educational establishments only for the privileged few? Is this something that has been inherited or are your characters seeking to change the system?

Talking of systems, is there an agreed definition of what would constitute “bad/evil” magic and which would be considered “good”? Is anything banned and what would happen if someone broke that ban?
How has your world discovered what works and what doesn’t here?

The past history here might not make it into your story but it will colour your characters’ views and behaviour. That can change your plot. So it is worth working out what you need to know here. It will add depth to your characterisation knowing X is doing Y because….

This World and Others – Climates

Your setting is likely to have more than one climate. As well as the geographical variety, and there will be different regions with different temperatures etc., think about what the political climate could be like. Everywhere has some sort of political elite so what form would yours take? Do your characters come from that elite or are they against it? How interested in politics are your characters? If they’re disillusioned, why would this be?

If your setting has a religious element, there will be a climate there too? Is is a moderate one or an extremist type? How does that play out?

Class and social status can have a major effect on the kind of climate your character lives in. If they’re lower down the social scale, how does poverty affect the kind of climate they live/work in? Are there tensions fuelled by poverty in and around them? Can your characters work to improve things here?

If a character is within a family unit, what kind of climate exists there? Is s it a loving one or does your character struggle to fit in? Why would that be? Personal climates will affect attitudes and actions of your character too.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

Anniversary, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/deqIurTGi4 Pleased to share Anniversary, my latest 100 word story on Friday Flash Fiction. See what you think about Helen, my lead here, and her take on anniversaries. pic.twitter.com/JzugEzAQRT

— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) June 16, 2023

Author Interview – Francesca Tyer – Part 1 https://t.co/JNxMlalhKH Am delighted to welcome Francesca Tyer, YA fantasy author from Authors Reach, back to CFT. Francesca and I discuss inspiration, poetry, writing routines, and more. I look forward to sharing Part 2 next week.

— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) June 16, 2023