Tag: New YouTube video by Allison Symes

Having A New Book Out

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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 huge thank you to Rosemary Johnson for sharing a reel she created on my behalf on Instagram, one platform I’m not on at the moment. Also a huge thank you to my Slimming World consultant for letting me read a SW related story from Seeing The Other Side at our group session – marketing takes many forms!
Hope you have had a great weekend. Cooler here which is welcome. Writing going well. So looking forward to book launch events for Seeing The Other Side.

 

Facebook – General

Bonus Post

A huge thank you to Rosemary Johnson for posting a reel about my Seeing The Other Side on Instagram.

Lovely day here. Lady caught up with her Hungarian Vizler pal today. The dogs haven’t seen each other since the heatwave started and the Vizler is considerably older than Lady so would have found the heat even harder going. The dogs were delighted to see each other. It does seem to be dog reunion week so far.

Writing wise, I’m going to be sharing one of my stories from Seeing The Other Side at my Slimming World group tonight with the consultant’s blessing. This particular tale will have resonance with everyone there and I’m looking forward to sharing that. (Whether it leads to book sales remains to be seen!). Glad to report the reading went well!

Have also been getting on with some admin which will end up hopefully giving further publicity to my new book via a website and in house journal. These are nice tasks to be getting on with!

And I’m also looking forward to meeting up with members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group next week. Am delighted one member has had a story broadcast since we last met.

Marketing Tip: Think about what you’d enjoy doing. It pays to plan things out. As I’ve mentioned prepare some material so you are ready to tell others what your book is about and remember this is an ongoing process. It can’t be done all at once, which is as well really.

Fantastic start to the week for Lady as she got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal. The dogs haven’t met up properly since the heatwave started for obvious reasons. They were overjoyed to see each other. And I had a good natter with the Ridgeback’s human mum so that got the week off to a good start for me too.

Writing wise, it is time to share the story I put on my Substack yesterday. Hope you like my A Good Show.

Look out for my YouTube story this week, If I’d Known, because it links to the Substack one. Good fun to do and I hope you like both of them.

Meantime, it is indeed time for a good show…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Hope the weekend has gone well. So much cooler, a lot nicer to be honest. Back to normal walks for Lady today for the first time in what seems like forever. She’s enjoyed that but I do know she’s missing her dog friends. Am hoping we’ll catch up with some of them at least this coming week. We did!

Writing wise, I’m glad to report I will be having a blog tour for Seeing The Other Side. Likely to be in September. More news as I have it. Hope to get on with some admin relating to promoting the book later today which will include working on my newsletter, which will be out again on 1st August. To sign up for that, just head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

While there if you head over to my books page, you will see I’ve added in recent publications including the new flash fiction collection to that. This kind of admin I never mind doing!

And it won’t be that long before I’m off once more to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Am so looking forward to seeing everyone again and this year will be extra special given it will be the first time I’ve had a launch here.

A writer’s life is made up of special moments – over time you realise how important it is to make the most of them because you can’t know when the next will be. It does help a lot to know you need to see all of this as a long term investment in your writing.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Thankfully it’s cooler today though we still have to be careful with Lady. But at least there’s a decent breeze which helps a lot.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Summer Reading for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. I’ll be looking at what I like to read over the lighter months of the year and flagging up flash fiction and short story anthologies as good reads, especially if your reading time is more limited due to other commitments.

And, yes, I’m biased here obviously, but I do like to include the shorter forms of fiction, as well as the longer ones, in my overall reading “diet” and highly recommend this. I’ve discovered some great authors this way.

Short Fiction Tip: What is the one single thing which matters to your character(s)? (For flash it will often be one character). Focus on this and why it matters and you have an excellent framework for your story.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Another cooler day which is most welcome. Certainly Lady has been appreciative of it.

Flash Fiction Tip: Don’t be afraid to start with the ending first. In many of my tales I know this first and then work backwards to get to a starting point.

But when I do things this way, I know why the ending is the way it is. That matters because it conveys truth and it is easier to work backwards to the starting point for my character because I will already know why they have concluded the action in the tale the way they have.

Motivation matters. I do think of my characters as if they were a cast. Are they the right fit? Do they have the right motivation to do what has to be done for the tale to make sense? I find this helps.

Not so hot as it has been which is a relief but still hotter than I’d like. And it’s Monday which scuppers most things anyway. So it’s definitely time for a story and my YouTube one this week links up with my Substack one (see my author page for the link for that). See above.

Hope you enjoy my latest video, If I’d Known.

Some people have to learn their lesson in life the hard way but for this guy it involved a bear, a girl and a woman who was more than she appeared to be. Find out more here.

 

Will be cracking on with flash fiction Sunday shortly with the weather cooler and pleasanter. It is hard to focus in a heatwave (though having shorter pieces of writing to work on does help!).

I never know exactly what I’ll be writing for these flash sessions and that is the fun of it. The challenge to come up with something interesting is an ongoing one and should be – it keeps me on my toes. I usually know what mood of story I’d like to write though. I find that a useful starting point.

From there it is a case of working out which kind of character would best suit that mood and then I need to know something about the character themselves to convince me this one is interesting enough to write up. Then I get drafting.

Sounds complicated? It isn’t really. What I have found is that, over time, you do develop a better instinct at what character would best suit a story and what is fascinating about them to have them as your “star”. Definitely instincts worth cultivating.

Quiet weekend this time and a cooler one. Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday tomorrow. Also looking forward to sharing readings from Seeing The Other Side in due course. It’s lovely having more material to choose from!

I’ve often recommended reading your work out loud as part of your editing processes. (Yes, there is definitely more than one!). I’ve found doing this helps me spot missing words. It also flags up clunky dialogue and where you think you’ve put a crucial element to the story in somewhere and then realise you haven’t.

You haven’t missed this before because, of course, you know the story inside and out so it won’t necessarily stand out to you that you haven’t put in the necessary elements to make it clear, but your reader doesn’t. Reading your work out loud and ideally playing it back means you can take in the tale as a reader would and it is so enlightening.

For longer works, it is still possible to do this though it would pay to break it down into scene and/or chapter segments. There’s nothing to stop you making notes on what works and what doesn’t as you go through the whole of your book a piece at a time and then come back to the correction stages only once you’ve gone through the whole book. Your notes will show you what needs work and where. That will save you a lot of time later.

Goodreads Author Blog – Having A New Book Out

It’s always a special moment for an author when they have a new book out. I’ve had the joy of this recently given my third flash fiction collection, Seeing The Other Side, came out on 16th July 2026.

As I write this, I’m happily arranging book events and updating certain records, including my website, to show off my new creation, of course. This kind of lovely work will go on for some time.

But for a writer, the moment you hold your new book in your hand is the special moment, I think. All the work, all the edits, and here the final result is – you’ve done it!

But now the hard work begins in promoting your book and any others you may have out. It’s also the time authors most appreciate reviews, especially here on Goodreads.

Other than buying a book from an author, the next best thing you can do to support them is to leave a review. It doesn’t have to be a long one. It does have to be honest.

So if you know someone with a book out, do give them a review. It helps more than you know. I use quotes from reviews I’ve had so far on my other two books (From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping The Flash Fantastic) as part of my marketing.

It shows readers this is a real author, someone else read their work and liked it, so it is worth them checking it out.

And you are encouraging reading too when all is said and done. That has to be a good thing!

MAILERLITE – ALLISON SYMES –  NEWSLETTER SIGN UP

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

ALLISON SYMES ON SUBSTACK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Flash Fiction Formats

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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 great weekend. Lovely one here despite the heat. Great family gathering enjoyed by all. Am starting work on setting up things re Seeing The Other Side – news to come as and when and I will be sharing a general update for Chandler’s Ford Today later this week.

Facebook – General

Hope your day has gone well. Loved my swim today. Lady still on hot weather scheduling.

Writing wise, I’m pleased to say I’m currently sorting out an in person book signing event for Seeing The Other Side in September and hope to share more details of that nearer the time.

I can’t begin to say how wonderful it is to have my book finally here. A lot of work has gone into it on all sides of this and it is lovely things are beginning to happen. It does make it real!

It’s also lovely to have new characters and situations to share and am looking forward to doing this. I often read some stories at book events. It goes down well, gives a good flavour of the book, is great fun to do and encourages sales – nothing to dislike there!

A cooler morning today than we’ve had for some time but it made up for it this afternoon!

Still, it is time to cool down a bit as I share my story which was shared on Substack yesterday.

This one is based on the number 67 (I used a random number generator to come up with that) and the story is 67 words long, excluding the title. Despite the heat though, this tale might give you a chill or two.

Hope you enjoy my The New Neighbour.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Hope your weekend is going well. It was wonderful to catch up with family and friends yesterday. Grateful for (a) the gazebo, (b) fans for inside the house, and (c) whenever there was any breeze whatsoever.

Many thanks again to Val Penny for hosting me on her blog yesterday. See below. It was a joy to discuss Flash Fiction Formats with her. I’ll shortly be cracking on with flash fiction Sunday. Don’t yet know which formats I’ll use today but look forward to finding out!

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing an Update – Local Author News – Seeing The Other Side by Allison Symes on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday, the after my book is officially out. I’ll be sharing news of my launch at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, my other news so far on various events connected to the book, as well as links to the ebook and paperback versions. I’ll also be sharing more about the book itself given it is my largest flash fiction collection to date.

Flash Fiction Tip: Think about the theme or character or setting you would like to write about first. Worry about the word count later.

When I know I want to enter a competition with a specific word count, I work out what I need to be able to do in each “third” of the story. For example, if it is a 100 words competition, by about word 33, you must know the character and situation by word 66 or so, you’ve got the problem and my character’s initial attempt to sort it, and by the end you’ve got the resolution. I find it so helpful to break the story into segments like this.

It usually means my first draft is not far out from the word count specified. I always write over it but also know there will be my wasted words and other things I can genuinely cut out to bring it back to where it should be. Having this kind of framework in place though means I know the story does hold together and does what it is meant to do.

Am delighted to be back on Val Penny’s blog to discuss Flash Fiction Formats. I’ve used more of these in my new book, Seeing The Other Side, which is available to pre-order now and comes out on 16th July 2026. Find out more about flash fiction formats in my post here and a huge thank you to Val for hosting me again.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Two days to go before official publication day for Seeing The Other Side. It’s fantastic having another flash fiction collection about to come out and I do hope the new book will introduce more people to the form.

Flash is fun to write and to read. It is the perfect form for short, sharp reads and those times, which we all get, where you would like to read more but for whatever reason, you can’t. There is a form of fiction which suits this – flash!

Top Flash Tip: Always focus on the character. Who are they, why must you write their story up, what grips you about them (which in turn will grip a reader), and what is their situation. One character (generally), one situation, one outcome (though this can be open to interpretation).

Bear in mind you can set your character in any location, any point in time, in this world or whatever you care to invent. Have fun!

Despite a cooler start today (which was so welcome), it has become horribly hot again. Time to cool down with a story, this time the one on my YouTube channel. As with my Substack story (see my author page for that – see above here), this is based around the number 67 but this one worked better at a longer word count length.

Hope you enjoy my Being Impressed.

Not much impresses an old fairy godmother but her niece managed it. Find out how and why here.

 

Hope you’re managing to keep cool. Still pretty hot here. Lady still on her hot weather schedule but she’s doing fine, drinking plenty of water and resting. She really won’t be sorry when the hot weather breaks. Neither will I be, to be honest.

Talking of cool, it can be great fun to write flash pieces when the character loses their cool altogether. You can explore what triggered that and whether your character gets their cool back again or not. Sometimes if the trigger is another character, that secondary one could be right to make your lead lose their cool. Maybe the lead character has done or is thinking of doing something stupid, for example.

Happy writing! Now back to keeping my cool in this temperature as I get on with more writing!

Won’t be writing much today as having a family do which will be huge fun, despite the temperature. Am pleased to be back on Val Penny’s blog – see my author page for the link. See above.

Always thrilled to be talking about flash fiction and in the post I look at some of the different formats you can use. I expect I’ll be using more of them for flash fiction Sunday tomorrow!

Meantime take care and keep cool.

GOODREADS AUTHOR BLOG – Book Parcels

It’s always lovely to receive a parcel full of books and even more so when they’re your books from your publisher! I received my copies of Seeing The Other Side, my third flash fiction collection, earlier this week.

Now I can crack on with planning events including a blog tour. Did feel sorry for the delivery guy though – there has been a heatwave again where I am (and most of the UK in fact). Book parcels are not light!

It’s always a wonderful moment to receive such parcels though. It makes it real. My new book is a good summary of my flash fiction work over the last three years or so. So to see it in print is a fabulous thing and I can’t wait for it to come out on 16th July though it is available to pre-order now via a certain well known online retailer.

I also like other kinds of book parcels – the ones which can be used for charitable purposes. Also bear in mind if you have books you really cannot keep and they’re in good condition, it might pay to ask your local library if they could use them. Given book budgets are so tight, this could well be a blessing to them and helps you.

MAILERLITE – ALLISON SYMES – NEWSLETTER SIGN UP

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

ALLISON SYMES ON SUBSTACK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

How Using Nature Can Enhance Your Fiction

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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. Nice one here. So pleased my book order for Seeing The Other Side is now in and am looking forward to receiving these. Lovely Zoom with writing friends and a great meal out with family made the weekend especially nice. Lady doing well too though we will have to watch the temperatures again this week.

Facebook – General

Pleased to share my latest Writers’ Narrative post – How Using Nature Can Enhance Your Fiction.

Nature inspires so much fiction but it can also help inspire ours too. You can also show so much about your characters just by revealing what their attitude is towards the natural world around them, no matter how fantastical a setting they might be in.

I share useful tips as to how you can use nature effectively in your own work.

I hope you find the post useful.

Hope you’ve had a good start to the week. It was okay in the park this morning for Lady but for the rest of this week, it will be back to the early shift. So hot this afternoon so we’re staying in. None of us will be sorry.

Writing wise, I’m delighted to share my Substack story which I shared on that platform yesterday. I hope it makes you smile. Hope you enjoy Melting. The fact it is due to be another hot week where I am inspired this one though there are other circumstances where melting can occur.

Mind you, just looking at the image I chose for this story makes me feel a bit cooler and I hope it does the same for you!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Hope you’ve had or are having a lovely Sunday. Starting to warm up here so will have to be careful with Lady again, though we did get her out earlier today when it was fine. Having said that, we now have a hot weather routine to follow and she was fine with that. We had wondered if she’d be restless, not being able to exercise as much, but not at all which tells us we got this right. She did briefly see her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal in the distance earlier. Think both dogs were wondering why the other was going the wrong way!

Writing wise, I’m cracking on with various blog posts, will be getting on with flash fiction Sunday shortly, and other writing tasks such as my next newsletter. I’ve found it helpful to draft the latter over the whole month so there is no last minute panic. Had a lovely Zoom meeting with writing pals last night, which was fabulous. A good boost to morale.

Pleased to say I was invited to submit a blog post by another author where I talk about flash fiction formats. Hope to share the link for that next weekend.

Blog Tip: It’s not a bad idea to have, say, up to 500 words prepared on what you write and why you love the writing you do. There is always a home for this – on your own website, guest blogs and so on. It also means when you meet up with other writers for the first time you have a rough idea of what you will say when folk ask about your writing, as they do.

I found networking easier to handle on realising it is talking about something you love – writing – with others who have the same love. And it’s not long before good conversations start because naturally you will ask about what they write and things take off from there. It has always been my experience this is the case and it is such a positive one.

But having something in mind to say here is useful. Helps against your own nerves especially if you’re going to a writing event for the first time.

Hope your weekend has got off to a good start. Not bad here. Busy evening so am posting early.

Will be sharing Marketing and Writing on Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Will be sharing thoughts and tips as to how balance these two halves of the writing life. Both are very much in my mind right now given the imminent release of Seeing The Other Side, of course.

Writing Tip: I use an old school diary to plan out when I must have work in by when. It’s not fool proof. It is still possible to miss things (guess how I know but I also suspect this happens to most writers at some point!) but it reduces the chances of you doing so considerably. It also means when there are extra competitions I’d like to try, I can figure out how I could do this around my existing writing commitments.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am thrilled to say the paperback of my Seeing The Other Side is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Woo-hoo! Delighted to see that now on there. Am expecting my copies to come in either later this week/early next week.

After 16th July will come the work of setting up events, updating my records on the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society, updating my records on The Society of Authors website, updating my own website and much more.

I also hope there will be a blog tour.

Watch this space as they say and the great thing with all of this? It will be fun!

 

It’s Monday and another hot one where I am so that led to the inspiration for this one. Hope you like my latest here on YouTube – Too Hot.

Sometimes arrogance can cross dimensions but it still doesn’t pay off. Find out how and why here.

Beginning to get seriously warm again. Am grateful I write in the cool (or relative cool anyway). Will be writing some flash fiction shortly.

I sometimes decide I will write to a specific word count on my flash fiction Sundays. At other times, I know I’ve got a topic in mind so will focus on that. I have found that for Substack and YouTube, both work best if I keep my tales up to about 100 words (also known as drabbles).

Suits me. Keeps me working on the form of flash fiction which led to me discovering what a great format flash is and to now having three books to my name. Let’s hear it for the drabble!

Nice day here. Looking forward to flash fiction Sunday tomorrow. Will shortly be penning a guest blog about flash fiction formats. That will be going out on another platform and I will share the link as soon as I have it. Am very pleased to have the opportunity to do this (and a huge thanks to the author concerned for inviting me on – more details later).

I always like to celebrate flash fiction, not least when I have a new book out (can’t imagine why!), and I still think it is a great form for drawing in the reluctant reader or those who prefer short reading sessions. Flash is ideal for these.

And even if you write longer works, flash is also ideal as a warm up writing exercise. The great thing here is you can polish these stories up and get them out there too if you wanted to do so.

Goodreads Author Blog – Ordering New Books

I’ve had the great joy this week (first week of July 2026) to put in an order with my publisher for my stock of my new flash fiction collection, Seeing The Other Side. The book is due out on 16th July and the ebook version is already available on Amazon for pre-order (and since this post went out on Goodreads originally, the paperback is now  up there too). I should receive my paperbacks in a week to ten days’ time. My publisher’s delivery system is very good. Last time I was able to do this for my own collection was for Tripping The Flash Fantastic back in 2020. It has been a while then! (All sorts of reasons for it too and the pandemic didn’t help).

All of this led me to wonder about ordering new books. Now I do use the online retailers including people like Waterstones, Hive, Bookshop.org, Bridgetown Cafe Bookshop (which is my publisher’s online shop) and others.

Now in common with all indie presses, my publisher uses print on demand. It’s a great idea. No storage costs, no distribution costs, kinder to the environment and so on. One slight snag it is can show up on screen as not being in stock. Please ignore this. If you order it, the retailer will get it in quickly and then the book is on its way to you.

I wish they didn’t do this. Print on demand books are never in stock so to speak but they are readily and easily available. I’ve never had any problems when I’ve ordered books like this from other authors.

It is a joy to order new books of mine as a writer. I enjoy ordering books from other authors whose works I know I’m going to like I often use ebooks by them as a way of finding whether I like their work or not incidentally.

I do like the fact there are online retailers such as Hive and Bookshop.org who also help independent bookshops. Every purchase you make on them has a proportion going to an independent bookshop you nominate – fabulous idea. You can also arrange for your ordered books to be collected from those bookshops or delivered straight to your home. Lovely to have the choice like that.

So let’s hear it for ordering new books. I also think it is great to have a variety of ways in which to do this.

Mailerlite – allison symes – newsletter sign up

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

ALLISON SYMES ON SUBSTACK  

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Sparkling Dialogue

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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 a lovely photo from my local wildflower meadow.
Hope you’re all okay. Am so thankful the weather cooled down over the weekend, especially on Sunday. It was a relief all around, including for the dog.
Writing going well. Delighted to say Seeing The Other Side is now up on Amazon for pre-ordering – Kindle version only as I write this. Paperback will follow. Am getting there!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Facebook – General

Another lovely cooler day and Lady again got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal so all well there.
Writing wise, my author newsletter goes out again tomorrow and I can hardly believe we’re almost into July. My Seeing The Other Side will be out on 16th July though so am very much looking forward to that. (The ebook is already up on Amazon for pre-orders).

Will be discussing What I Look For In a Writing Advice Book for Chandler’s Ford Today later this week and I share tips, which I hope will prove useful given there are many excellent guides out there. Link up for that on Friday.

Was so sorry to hear of the death of Dame Penelope Keith. Loved The Good Life and To The Manor Born. She was my late mother’s favourite comedic actress (and mine too) so another link with the past gone thinking about that too. I hope they put on some repeats of these two series. I think they stand up well over time. Also Dame Penelope’s appearance on the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show was legendary! Well worth checking out, especially if you’re a fan of staircases… enough said.

In happier news, Lady was thrilled to catch up with Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, and her Hungarian Vizler pal in the park this morning. I think that was what Lady missed most of all last week in that heat – not being able to see her friends. All had a good and cool time this morning.

In other news, I’m delighted to be able to share my new post on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. ACW moved platforms for their blog last month and it is now on WordPress.

My post this time is on Sparkling Dialogue. Amongst other things, I look at how we can use dialogue to show a lot about our characters and the importance of not writing dialogue for the sake of it. As with any element of a story, there has to be a good reason for it to be there.

Hope you find the post useful.

Sparkling Dialogue by Allison Symes

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Even cooler today and it was lovely being able to resume a post church walk with Lady today. She loved it. Also, our park has a wonderful wild flower meadow in it and it looks amazing at the moment. Photo below gives a good idea. The park has had a meadow like this for the last three years or so and there is a different mix of wildflower for each year. It’s a fabulous idea.

Talking of colours, bear in mind these can be great to bring into a story. It helps, for example, with picturing what a character is wearing. Also you can use colours to help flesh out your character more – what are their favourite colours and how do these come into their stories?

A character who loves pink, say, is likely to have an item of pink on them as they get on with whatever is going on in the story. I know I like to wear a mixture of favourite colours myself and even when not, I’ll have a bag or something which will be in one of those colours.

Colours can also be linked to memories. I recall my late grandmother, who died when I was a young child, always had Rose’s Lime Cordial in. I can still picture the colour of that green (delicious) liquid well over fifty years later!

There is a series of linked flash stories in my forthcoming Seeing The Other Side which are based around the theme of “red”. Great fun to write and I hope readers will enjoy them too in due course.

Thankfully it is cooler today though we’re still being cautious with Lady. She has been especially good this week. Dogs like their routines, it gives them a sense of security, so to have that disrupted can disturb even the most placid of dogs. It is due to become cooler still next week, which will be most welcome.

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at What I Look For In A Writing Advice Book for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. I’ll be sharing tips as to what I’ve found useful to know ahead of making any purchases. Link up on Friday.

Delighted to say my Seeing The Other Side is now available for pre-order on Amazon but with the Kindle version only. Stay tuned for further updates. It is just a matter of time before the paperback is up there too but I was so pleased to discover this late yesterday. The official publication date is now 16th July – not long to go!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

At the end of June already! The year flashes by, does it not?

Talking of which, what do your characters make of time flashing by for them, whether they are set in this world with our time system or somewhere different which has its own ideas on how time should be?

I do know that whenever I do anything boring, such as the housework, time drags. Again, story thoughts here. What would your characters find makes time drag for them and what do they do to try to improve matters? I could see there being some humorous tales there.

Two stories to share here tonight – one for Substack and the other for YouTube. Hope you enjoy them both.

First up is my tale which appeared on Substack yesterday – Discussing a Problem With A Friend.

Find out why an icing gun comes into the tale.

Second up on tonight’s menu is my YouTube story – Timings 2 (Confession time: I forgot I already had a video with this title here but this story is different and amusing and I liked the title so it stays!).

The local kids’ football match has additional help nobody knew was needed. Excellent play and all that but there is a but. Find out more here. This one isn’t based on a true story but it could be!

Looking forward to cracking on with flash fiction Sunday shortly and very pleased to be doing so in much cooler conditions. The temperature where I am is in the early to mid twenties, as opposed to the late thirties during the week.

Ten may not seem significant as a number but in terms of lowering the temperature by that much, it is considerably something as Lady would also testify if she could!

Talking of the number ten, why not try a ten word story as a flash fiction exercise? I’ll let you have the title though! Hope you have fun with this. I find it a great exercise to return to every now and then. My examples below:-

1. He wondered if he’d finally find the ice cream van.
2. She couldn’t believe Granny left her a talking magical mirror.
3. When time is all you have, you will do anything.

The great thing with this kind of exercise is you can obviously write the stories up further and use these lines as the beginning, the mid point, or the ending of your tales.

Hope you have fun with your own ten word creations.

Nice the weather is cooling down a bit, Lady is far happier, but it will be much better still from next week so we soldier on.

Flash fiction is great if you like to write to the seasons. There can be broadcast opportunities for the seasons too – see Hannah Kate’s show on North Manchester FM for more on this. I was pleased an ACW friend recently was on the midsummer show.

I hope to submit something much later in the year when the season will be so different from what we have now. It will probably be sometime in the autumn when I start thinking out my ideas for this one. Hard to get your thinking cap on for it when the season is so different to what will be required for the tale. That is my excuse and I will be sticking with it!

Having said that, I do usually draft for seasonal writing well ahead of time given most deadlines for these things are either ahead of the actual days or are right at the beginning of them.

Goodreads Author Blog – Reading in Hot Weather

As I write this in late June 2026, most of the UK has experienced a severe heatwave with temperatures in the high thirties (and overnight in high twenties!). Thankfully it is beginning to cool a bit (anything is welcome, especially if you own pets) and it will be better still hopefully as we go into July.

But it made me wonder do you find it easy to read in hot weather? Generally, you may need to wind things down which may free up more time for reading but do you actually feel like reading?

I found I continued my magazine reading (writing advice ones) as usual. I often save these for lunchtime reading and that continues to be fine. My main book reading though is at bedtime and I managed to do some but nowhere near as much as I’d have liked.

There is something about hot weather which zaps concentration levels, even when you do all of the right thing especially regarding hydration, so I suspect this is why I struggled. I hope to get back to normal reading when the weather resumes normal for the UK for this time of year.

As for the kind of reading to be done, when you can, when it is so hot, I like to keep it light. Now is not the time for “serious literature” for me. I want entertaining and funny. It keeps my mind off how hot things are for a start!

MAILERLITE – ALLISON SYMES – NEWSLETTER SIGN UP

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

ALLISON SYMES ON SUBSTACK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

What Attracts You to a New Book/New Author

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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. Very hot here and will be for next few days so Lady won’t be out so much. Writing continuing to go well. More news on Seeing The Other Side soon.

Facebook – General

Even hotter than yesterday (with more to come) and Lady continues to chill out at home. We’re taking her out early and then she spends the rest of the day pottering around our well shaded garden. She is being so good and (unusually for her!) sensible!

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Using Dates in Fiction for Chandler’s Ford Today. The link will be up on Friday. I will be sharing various ways of using dates this way, all of which I hope will trigger story ideas.

It won’t be long before my next author newsletter will be out. I know, I know. Where is the year going? Anyway, for flash tips, news, story links and more do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

A very hot and sticky Monday. Lady was out earlier than normal. Managed to see her Hungarian Vizler pal but the rest of the day has been spent quietly in and out of our sheltered garden. It will be enough for her for the next few days.

As it’s Monday, it’s story time of course. I shared this one on Substack yesterday but it is time to share it here too. Hope you like my latest on this platform – I Got Away.

Busy and hot weekend. Lady’s not going out so much, as you can imagine. Next couple of days will be especially tricky but I’m grateful she readily drinks water. It helps (my last two dogs didn’t).

Am also very pleased I have one of those boards with a fan in it for my laptop. It comes into its own when the weather is hot and helps me also have the right angle to write to. The board is tipped at an angle so air can also get in underneath it. Highly recommend. Have had mine for years.

Writing wise, I hope to crack on with flash fiction Sunday shortly. Hope to use some of my drafts from the meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group earlier this week to get me off to a good start.

Hope your weekend has got off to a good start. Will need to be careful with Lady over the next few days as the temperatures will be rocketing again.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Using Dates in Fiction for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. I’ll be sharing various ways in which you could do this and why dates can be such a useful telling detail in and of themselves. Link up on Friday.

Don’t forget it won’t be too long before my next author newsletter will be out. For tips, news, story links etc., do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

One nice job I’m looking forward to doing when Seeing The Other Side comes out is to update my books page on my website. I’ll take the chance to have a bit of a “tidy up” while doing this. It’s not something I feel the need to do often but the occasional refresh is always useful.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I hope over the weekend to review some of my notes I jotted down during last week’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. I know there are some story ideas to come from these so hope to make a start on some of these then.

I like to mix up the kinds of random generator I use too when I’m seeking ideas. My two stories on Substack and YouTube earlier this week (see above AND below!) were inspired by a random picture generator.

There are loads of these things out there. There is bound to be at least one which will suit you and by putting your own spin on what comes up, you create even further ideas.

Have fun with these, I do!

So glad writing is something I can do in the (relative) cool. Well, almost anything is cooler than the pavements etc at the moment. And as it is Monday, a hot and sticky one at that, it’s time for another story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Best Left.

Both this one and I Got Away on my Substack platform were inspired by a random picture generator. I then put my own spin on the image and have got two stories from the one image. I like this!

She loved her old home. She really didn’t want to leave it but it was best left now. Find out why here.

 

Another hot day here in Hampshire but am keeping nice and cool where I write. Dog is happy in the cool too.

Thought I’d share five tips for flash I continue to find useful. Hope you’ll find them helpful too.

  1. Work out what the story is first and then worry about the word count.

  2. If your character portrayal is great and the story works, then don’t try to cut the story down for the sake of making it fit the “right” word count. I’ve often had to leave stories at 150 words, say, and accept I need to write something else for, say, a 100 word story competition.

  3. Think tight turns of phrases so no “he ran quickly”. It isn’t specific enough. “He raced” is specific and I believe is easier to visualise because people’s definitions of “quickly” can vary.

  4. Have a concrete detail In the story readers can picture. This can vary from being the colour of something to a named place or historical setting. What you want readers to pick up from this is a clear idea of where your character is in time and, from that, what they are likely to be wearing. For example, if you show me your story is set in the Tudor era, I will expect a high born character to be wearing a ruff.

  5. Think about what you want the impact of the story to be on your reader. Do you want to make them laugh or cry? Do you want them to feel empathy for your character? You can then look at ways to do this and my way in here is always to work out what I need a character to do and be to achieve the objective. Most of my characters I want readers to feel empathy for will be on the “goodie” side as a rule.

Hope you find that useful.

I’ve sometimes used the letter format for flash fiction and short stories. It’s fun to do but you need a strong character voice to make it work. For me, this is another great reason to get to know your character ahead of writing their stories up. I need to know the kinds of things they would say and/or write and/or think and what’s behind that.

Motives are usually simple ones – greed, jealousy and, on the more positive side of life, love, wanting to help someone etc. Motives will colour what a character says, does and thinks but get to the bottom of that and what your character comes up with is more likely to be believable. It will “ring true”.

Goodreads Author Blog – What Attracts You to a New Book/New Author?

I think the top thing which attracts me to a new book and/or new author (new to me anyway) is a good recommendation by friends, especially other writing ones. We love good stories. We aim to write themselves, of course. We’re inspired by what has come before (and continue to be). So when a writing friend recommends a book or author, I will sit up and take notice.

Sometimes seeing or listening to an excellent adaptation will make me read the book and find out more works from the author. That was the case for me with Dickens, funnily enough. Watching Shakespeare has introduced me to many of his wonderful works but I remain convinced, other than his sonnets, he is meant to be watched rather than read as such. Ironically, I have the pandemic to thank here because it was thanks to the National Theatre Live productions which were put on at that time which drew me to the Bard.

Sometimes browsing in a book shop will introduce me to a new author. I discovered Terry Pratchett that way. It was the Josh Kirby covers on the Discworld series which drew me in but once I’d read my first Pratchett, which was Jingo, I knew I had to read the rest.

What I remain glad about is there are so many ways to discover new books and authors. There will always be plenty to read out there (and authored by humans too!).

That’s how it should be too.

MAILERLITE – ALLISON SYMES – NEWSLETTER SIGN UP

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

ALLISON SYMES ON SUBSTACK  

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Publication Week

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

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. Plenty of behind the scenes work happening with Seeing The Other Side. More news soon. Lady and I are enjoying the return of the sunshine too.

Facebook – General

Hope the day has gone well. Lady caught up with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal only today but a fab time was had by both of them, despite me managing to lose one of Lady’s toys. (The whippet who lives in the garden where the ball landed will be pleased at least!).

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Publication Thoughts for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday and will look, in a shorter version, on the same topic for Authors Electric. Link up for the latter on Thursday.

Naturally this is a topic preoccupying me this week (!) but I do share thoughts and tips, especially in the CFT post, which I hope will prove useful to those approaching their own publication days.

Character Tip: What makes your character fascinating to you? What makes you keen to write their story up?

Answer those questions and you will get to what will make readers like them too (and sometimes at least love to hate in the case of villains. I still say in many ways Dolores Umbridge was more scary than Voldemort in the Harry Potter series so who was the bigger villain there?).

Hectic as ever for a Monday but Lady was delighted to catch up with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. Weather lovely and the three dogs had a great time.

I shared this story on my Substack yesterday but now it is time to share it here. Busy days = time to unwind = stories. Well, I think it’s a perfectly good equation.

Hope you like my latest Substack tale – Get Writing. I used a random verb generator to trigger three words for this one. And it ties in with my YouTube story this week too (Moved On). See further down.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Hope the weekend has gone well. Lovely to see the sunshine back. Lady and I made the most of that earlier.

Writing wise, this coming week should be a cracking one with Seeing The Other Side due out. I will share links as and when I can. A huge thanks to all who commented when I shared the book cover. Much appreciated as further comments have come in since I last thanked you all which is lovely.

Will be cracking on with flash fiction Sunday shortly but am putting competitions to one side for the moment. Hope to get back to those later in the summer. Am looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group on Wednesday.

All in all, it will be a busy, flash fiction focused week but I like that!

Hope your weekend has got off to a good start. Busy here with preparations for the publication of Seeing The Other Side. More news in due course.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Publication Thoughts – Seeing The Other Side on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I’ll be looking at some of the work which comes after your book is published, as well as celebrating the fact it has been! I hope others will find that post useful. I will be sharing some pointers here.

Newsletter Tip: I find it useful to have a theme to write to for my newsletters. It means I can focus on relevant tips and keep the newsletter to the point. I think it makes it more interesting month by month too. Certainly, the newsletters I subscribe to tend to do this and it also means I know what I’m going to be writing about and can plan what I do when for this.

Topics can of course include general writing ones but if there is something special coming up, you can base a newsletter around that. Naturally mine at the moment are full of news about my new book. I suspect later in the year I will share news on launches (and tips on having these. I know I’ve found these kinds of tips useful in the past).

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Flash comes in various forms and I like writing to many of them. It also is a great challenge and writing should stretch you. You want to build on what you’ve written already and try and improve on what you do.

My favourite flash fiction forms will always be the 50 and 100 worders (also known as dribbles and drabbles respectively). I do come across more competitions for the 100 word form so if you like competitions in the very short form, it would be good to practice writing to that word count.

Am looking forward to meeting with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group tomorrow.

It’s Monday. It has been hectic. Story time then. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Moved On. It ties in with my Substack story – Get Writing

.Why would a witch want to be kind to a young fairy who crashed into her gingerbread house?

Find out here.

 

Will be getting on with flash fiction Sunday shortly. It has been a joy re-reading my Seeing The Other Side collection as part of the process of it coming out into the world. Hope you will enjoy reading it too. Will share links as and when I can. Hope to be getting creative with marketing items for the new book soon too.

I like to use a variety of ways to create new flash stories. I often use proverbs and phrases (sometimes as the theme, sometimes as the title, sometimes both together). I also use a huge range of random generators. Just generating a single word has given me several story ideas. Object and photo generators (as well as photos from my phone I’ve taken) can inspire ideas too.

The books of prompts are useful too (and I’ve contributed to some before now – Bridge House have a Big Book of Prompts which is well worth checking out – see link).

Indeed in Seeing The Other Side I share how I’ve created some of the tales in there. All of the generators, prompt books etc do so much to encourage creativity. I’ve occasionally used these for non-fiction ideas too.

Happy writing (and reading!).

Naturally this coming week is a big one for me on the flash fiction front! More immediately, I’m looking forward to flash fiction Sunday as ever tomorrow. I am going to have to put competition thoughts to one side at the moment but hope to resume writing stories for and entering these later in the month/early into July. Mind you, it is great to be so busy with a new book!

I do say on the back cover for Seeing The Other Side that I hope the book helps people to discover the joys of flash fiction as a format. I like the idea of promoting the form, as well as my own work, because flash is a great writing format and I’ve learned so much from writing it.

Goodreads Author Blog – Publication Week

This coming week is a special one for me in that my third flash fiction collection, Seeing The Other Side, is due to be published. This latest collection has been a long time in coming and will be my biggest book to date. Am so looking forward to holding my copies in my hands too!

Publication week does act as a kind of validation for most writers. We work for years on stories, novels, what have you, and then there is the hard work of trying to find a publisher or do the hard work necessary if you go down the self publishing route.

My books are with a traditional small independent press, who are great. (I had some input into my book cover, for example. I know not every author can get to do that).

After that comes the work of letting people know about your book. So there is so much going on around a book being published.

Let’s hear it for all of the authors out there!

And the best thing of all? We add to the books and stories out there. We add to human creativity (and I can’t stress that point enough).

Books are wonderful things but they have to be written by humans for there to be real meaning to them, I think.

Mailerlite – allison symes – newsletter sign up

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

ALLISON SYMES ON SUBSTACK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Seeing The Other Side – Book Cover News

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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 the lovely lady at my local blood donor clinic who used my phone to take a photo of me celebrating their first anniversary at their new place. A very worthy celebration!
Hope the weekend went well. Not bad here. Wet week ahead but Lady and I just get on with things here. She dries off faster than I do! In other news, I’m thrilled to say I have now seen the book cover for Seeing The Other Side and well… see below!

Facebook – General

Hope you have had a good day. Lady and I caught up with her Hungarian Vizler friend after breaks away. Both dogs pleased to see each other again, Lady was especially affectionate.

Now in other news, I mentioned yesterday I had news on the book cover for Seeing The Other Side. See the partial reveal photo below and I hope to reveal the whole cover later this week). I created this image in Book Brush and it was fun and easy to do.

Image reveals part of a book with a yellow cover and two books in green, one called From Light to Dark and Back Again and the other Tripping The Flash Fantastic.

More news to come in due course.

Delighted to share my latest story which went out on Substack yesterday. Now time to share it here! Both this story and the one I’m sharing on YouTube this week took the phrase Goody Two Shoes as a theme. Hope you like both tales but first up here is the Substack one – Atonement Time.

And in other news, I plan to share more news on the book cover for Seeing The Other Side tomorrow. Exciting times. See above!

Am delighted to share my latest piece on Writers’ Narrative – Food Writing in Fiction. Food can /be used successfully in stories of any length to help with characterisation, setting, time period and more. Also, whatever kind of character you create, they are bound to need to eat at some point!

Do see the post for more and I hope you find the tips and thoughts useful. I almost always end my posts here with a question. Why not check out the latest one? Comments are welcome and don’t forget Writers’ Narrative is free to subscribe to. As it is now on Substack, what happens is you receive an article on the topic of the month every few day or so. Easy way to take in plenty of useful writing advice.

Soggy old day today. Lady and I went around the park in record time!

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Discovering Classical Authors for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. This post is inspired by my recent visit to The Dorset Museum to see the Thomas Hardy exhibition. I also discuss in this post other ways bar books to discover classical authors and I share some of the ways I’ve used here. Post up on Friday.

Looking forward to sharing that and unusually for a CFT post I put in a PS but you’ll have to wait until next week to find out what that is and why it has gone up. Mind you, it was a joy to do!

Reading Tip: I’ve often mentioned the need for writers to read in and out of their genre. Aside from anything else it is fun to do and inspiration can spark from other stories so the wider you read, the greater the chance there is of this happening for you.

But mix up, not just the genres, but the lengths of stories and whether they’re classical or contemporary. While it is true writing styles have changed over the years, you can still learn loads from studying how the classical authors created their characters and situations.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Thrilled to bits I have now shared a partial book cover reveal for Seeing The Other Side over on my Facebook author page. See above here. I hope to share the full cover later this week.

But it is always exciting when you know you are so close to having a book with your name on the cover in your hands again.

The thrill of being published doesn’t diminish and I am looking forward to sharing more about my new flash fiction collection soon.

It’s a soggy Monday and time for a story. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – The Reason For The Name.

There are always those who don’t get the point of a training scheme for self improvement and that goes for the magical world too. See what my fairy character who is about to be “properly qualified” is planning to get up to when allowed out in the world.

Both this story and my Substack one, Atonement Time, are based on the theme of Goody Two Shoes. Hope you like them both.

And look out for book cover news for Seeing The Other Side from me tomorrow. See above. This will be my first book out since 2020 so am naturally rather excited about it!

 

Now when I flag something up it is usually something to do with writing, as you’d expect, but this one is a bit different but could lead to a writing idea or two, maybe suitable for flash stories too.

Earlier this week, I went to give blood and it was the first anniversary of the Blood Service being at their base near where I live so there were plenty of balloons out (red ones naturally). Having donated blood, I then happily posed for a picture. See below. If you can give blood, please do as it is such a worthwhile thing to do.

Now how can that, worthy as it is, lead to a writing idea?

Easy! You meet all kinds of people at blood donation sessions so you could invent characters who meet there. What happens next? You could also use the donor centre as a setting.

Off you go and happy writing!

(And if you do give blood, I know the blood people would want to thank you. I know what I like most is finding out what happens to mine about a fortnight or so after the donation. It’s fascinating to know).

Flash fiction has been around for a long time, centuries in fact, but has been known by many different names. Jesus’s parables and many of Aesop’s fables would come in at under 1000 words.

I must admit my favourite name for the format is postcard fiction because it sums up things well. You’d be hard pushed to get more than a 100 words or so on the back of a postcard (unless you have tiny writing like I have which might push it up to 200!).

Indeed a good writing exercise is to take a blank postcard and get a complete story to fit on it. (I’d aim for 50 to 100 words here).

GOODREADS AUTHOR BLOG – Reading Acrostic

Hope you like the following acrostic. Has been a while since I last wrote one here.

R = Reading does so much for you, not least of which is increasing your vocabulary.

E = Entertainment awaits within books if that is what you choose; education is also an option.

A = Adventures in this world and others just within the power of the imagination await the reader.

D = Dastardly villains, heroes, heroines and more – all fabulous characters with stories to share.

I = Imagination fired up, maybe enough to write your own stories.

N = Nothing beats reading for all you can have from it and there are plenty of formats to choose from.

G = Get reading – old favourites, new books, ideally both!

 

 

 

mailerlite – allison symes – newsletter sign up

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

ALLISON SYMES ON SUBSTACK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Discovering Classic Authors New to You

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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 great weekend. Had a lovely time out at The Dorset Museum with editing colleagues and the weather is pleasantly cooler. Lady and I are not sorry about that. My latest newsletter is now out and am so looking forward to Seeing The Other Side come out later this month.

Facebook – General

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady did. She managed to have a puppy party in the park today with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals plus Coco, the lovely Labradoodle. Tired and happy dogs went home. Job done there then. And we’re all thankful the temperature has come down somewhat.

Writing wise, am cracking on with blogs and material I will need later and enjoying this. There is a writing competition I’ve got in mind to enter but will have another look at my “story store” over the weekend, I hope, to see if I have something which would suit. The theme is an open one which helps!

Also found out today another competition entry didn’t make the cut but I will have another look at this story later and see if I can find another home for it. Sometimes, I can.

Hope today has gone well. Lady was reunited with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal for the first time in a couple of weeks today. Both were thrilled to see each other and had a lovely time in the park. None of us are sorry the temperature has come down.

Has been a busy day or so on the writing front. My author newsletter went out again today.

Plus I share here my latest story on Substack which went out on that platform yesterday. I hope you enjoy Banners Banned. It was great fun to write. Back to the good old drabble (aka the 100 word story) for this one. Incidentally I used a random word generator and the word “banner” for my stories here and on YouTube this week.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Hope the weekend is going well. Cooler and pleasanter day today. It was a joy for Lady and I to be out (so unlike most of last week!).

Writing wise, I’ll be getting on with flash fiction Sunday afternoon shortly. The coming week will probably be based around various blogs and background work for when Seeing The Other Side comes out. All will be a joy to do.

I love all forms of creative writing and editing so it is always a joy to be back at my desk. Yes, there are some writing admin and editing tasks which are less interesting, but when you think these things will help improve your work and can make the difference between being published or not, then that thought makes them easier to deal with.

Editing Tip: Do think of reading work out loud (or recording on Zoom/Audacity etc and playing back) as one of your rounds of edits and yes, there will be more than one round! This kind of editing alone can show up clunky dialogue, missing words and much more and is so worth doing.

For longer work, break this down into chunks such as chapters or two or three scenes in a chapter. I’d also recommend, as you play something back, making notes as to what isn’t working and then go through and amend once you have a complete list to work through.

For short stories and flash, this won’t take long. For novels, as I say, you may want to do one chapter or significant sequence at a time but work through your list and make amendments once you have gone through the lot. When you look at the list as a whole, you may spot where the weaker bits are but I think you do have to see the whole to be able to do that.

I can’t recommend this technique highly enough.

I drafted this on my way down to Dorchester to revisit The Dorset Museum for a Thomas Hardy exhibition. I caught up with editing colleagues here and it was great to see them. On the train home, there was a splendid writing and editing conversation going on.

I used my Senior Railcard for the first time. Today’s trip, including posting the tickets to me, came in at a very good rate indeed.

One thing we know about as editors is deadlines. I’ll be talking about that for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday.

Deadlines are a fact of life for writers and editors alike, of course. I’ll be sharing tips on handling deadlines which I’ve found useful over many years and still do.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Flash tightens up your writing thanks to its restricted word count but another advantage to it is if you have a character and storyline you’d like to do more with, you can.

I’ve sometimes expanded a story which started life as a flash piece and turned it into a longer standard length short story but only because the character and plotline were both strong enough for that.

With my competition judge’s hat on, you can spot where you think someone has padded out a story and this is why that kind of thing never works. Every part of a story, regardless of its word count, has to feel to someone reading it as if it must be there and couldn’t work without it.

Now there’s a challenge for us all!

It has been a cooler and frankly more pleasant Monday today compared with the sweltering heat of last week. Mind you, it is still a Monday and that means it’s story time again. I hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Proper Spelling and Everything.

Joey thought he was doing the right thing with his banner but his teacher shows him there could be a downside. Find out what here and what Joey did get right.

 

Almost time to get on with flash fiction Sunday, which is always a joy. As I’ve been out and about and am now catching up with work, I may need to put back looking for another competition to enter until next weekend.

One good thing about that is I do know there will be something out there which will be worth my while trying. There are far more flash fiction and short story competitions about so there is more choice but, as ever, always check the background of the competition out and ensure all is as it should be. Entry fees should be proportionate to the entry fee. You shouldn’t have to give up your copyright either. And you should be able to find a track record for the competition organisers.

Flash Fiction Tip: Lead with your character is usually my way into creating a new flash piece. I have to know who they are, what their major trait is and from there I can work out the kind of trouble they’d be likely to get into – all good fun!

But I often also start with a line of dialogue or internal thought. Just writing that down can give me a good indication of my character type. Someone who speaks “posh” will use certain words while those who aren’t “posh” would speak in a different way.

From that you can work out where someone is likely to live and something of their background. So if you’re thinking of creating a character and am not sure where to start, write down a random line of dialogue and see what it shows you about the speaker and where this is likely to take them.

Happy writing!

Have been out and about on the trains today having a lovely time.Naturally part of this is looking out for those sparks which can trigger story ideas.

Those sparks can include things like overhearing interesting snippets, spotting oddities (or things which strike me as that), spotting wildlife (there can be room for them in stories too) and much more.

Will be fun finding out tomorrow, hopefully, if any of my “finds” make it into my tales I draft for this week’s flash fiction Sunday.

Goodreads Author Blog – Discovering Classic Authors New to You

I spent the last Saturday in May 2026 visiting a Thomas Hardy exhibition at The Dorset Museum in Dorchester with editing colleagues. We like a jolly every now and then! The exhibition was fascinating and I’m glad I went but must confess to not having read Hardy.

And it made me think about how do you discover those classic authors whom everyone has heard of but you yourself just haven’t got into their works.

I suspect this trip out will lead me into reading Hardy and that may well be the point of exhibitions like this.

My late well read mother had Dickens and Austen at home. But it was at secondary school when Pride and Prejudice was a set book, I discovered dear Jane for myself.

As for Dickens, I watched the old black and white film of Oliver Twist on BBC2 one weekend afternoon which led me into reading Dickens. This film starred Sir Alec Guinness as Fagan and Oliver Reed as Bill Sykes. They were both seriously scary. I had to read the book to see if the original story really was like that. And yes it is.

Which classic authors have you yet to read for yourself? As a writer too, I’m aware of the need to read contemporary fiction, which I do, but it is good to read the classics too. You will often spot the influences on other writers from them.

Mailerlite – allison symes – newsletter sign up

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

ALLISON SYMES ON SUBSTACK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Favourite Aspects of Stories

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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 great weekend. Lovely one here. Very warm so keeping Lady in the cool as much as possible but we have especially enjoyed woodland walks. Writing and editing going well. It has been nice being able to have my office doors open long into the evening over the last few days. Coolness helps the brain I find!

Facebook – General

Even hotter day so Lady has stayed at home more. One brief session out this morning, she’ll have another later, but being in the (relatively) cool and shade is the order for the rest of this week.

The pavement test is useful and a potential life saver. I tested the ground outside the leisure centre where I swim just as I came home from there today. You’re supposed to be able to hold your hand on the pavement for a good fifteen seconds. I didn’t manage two. No going out for Lady this afternoon then. So be careful, folks. Thankfully our garden has plenty of shrubs and shade so Lady has enjoyed some time out there.

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group tomorrow.

And I’ve seen the draft of my book cover for Seeing The Other Side. Very exciting, more news to come on this later.

Writing Tip: Finding it hard to concentrate in this current heatwave? Keep drinks to hand (ideally non-alcoholic – you want refreshment here, honest!). Write in short stints. Break. Write again. And do give flash fiction a go – but then I’m bound to say that!

Another hot day so limited exercise for Lady. She is pretty sensible and stays in the shade. Unlike my previous two dogs, I don’t need to persuade her to drink water either – she goes for it, the other two I had to bribe them to get them to have any. Still, where we are, we have woods near by and my house is north facing, all of which is helping a lot right now. Hope you are keeping your cool where you are.

Shared my latest Substack story on that platform yesterday. Here’s your chance to see it here. Hope you enjoy Make Your Mind Up. A lot of dog owners will identify with this one and I hope it raises a smile or two.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Hope the weekend is going well with you. Very hot here. Lady staying out of it.

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to getting on with flash fiction Sunday shortly. Am keeping the office nice and cool – it is bliss to be in here. I also have a board my laptop rests on which has an inbuilt fan. It’s useful when the weather is this hot.

The editing work is going well too.

There won’t be a post from me this month on More Than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers, as ACW is moving the platform for this. I hope to be back in June on this and hope and pray the transfer goes well.

It’s a gloriously sunny day here today (23rd May) but you’ll be glad to know Lady is keeping things nice and cool.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing a fabulous interview with fellow Swanwicker, Esther Chilton, for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. She’ll be discussing her second book in her six part Saffy’s Secret Quest series which is called Myths and Magic. Plenty of useful thoughts for all writers here. Do look out for that next week.

As well as the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting next week, I’m looking forward to revisiting The Dorset Museum in Dorchester with editing colleagues. We went to a Jane Austen exhibition here last year which was great. This time, we’re looking at the life and times of Thomas Hardy, someone I admit I’ve never read. I expect that will change! Naturally I’m looking forward to getting some writing done on the train trip here.

Oh and one joy of turning the big 60 in March is discovering I now qualify for the Senior Railcard which gives me discounts on train trips for the whole country and not just my network. Am planning to put this to good use! Plenty of opportunities for trips out, making notes on my trips and drafting some flash fiction – all good to me!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

As I mentioned over on my author page, I have seen the draft cover for Seeing The Other Side. Looking forward to being able to share that in due course. Seeing the cover, albeit as a draft at this stage, brings it home this really is happening and you don’t lose the thrill of being published. I just wish I could bottle the feeling to be able to imbibe it during those times when the writing life is on the tougher side.

But this is why it is important to celebrate your small wins as well as your larger ones. The smaller wins mount up over time, for one thing. For another, just getting anything out there which is your creation is so special and should always be celebrated.

It’s a hot Bank Holiday Monday in the UK today (25th May 2026) but for me the important point is it still a Monday and that means story time. I hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – A Canine Wish. There is a dog theme this week, what with my Substack story too, but I hope you enjoy both tales or should that be tails?

 

Am enjoying sharing stories on Substack as well as YouTube. Substack has proved surprisingly easy to you, which is always welcome, because there nearly always are teething issues as you get used to a new website, form of social media etc.

Have got my entry in for The Bridport Prize. The deadline is the end of May so there is still time if you fancy trying this. Hope to pick another competition to try next weekend.

I’ve been returning to the good old dribble, the 50 words story, for Substack and YouTube recently and hope to continue with this.

Hope the weekend has got off to a good start. It’s a long weekend here in the UK given Monday is a Bank Holiday. (To me, Monday is Monday but there you go).

Hope to resume looking for flash fiction competitions to have a crack at from next weekend as I’m busy editing as well as writing at the moment and, of course, it won’t be that long now before Seeing The Other Side comes out. There will be plenty to do when it is out! Having said that, this kind of work is such a joy to do.

I will be cracking on with my usual flash fiction Sunday tomorrow though, which is always a great way to end the week/start the next one (delete as you see fit! I see Sunday as the end of a week but know not everyone does).

GOODREADS AUTHOR BLOG – Favourite Aspects of Stories

I love all aspects to stories but some do stand out more for me as I suspect they do for most people. One favourite aspect is dialogue between the characters. Having been intrigued by the story’s opening, this is the point where the characters start to come to life for me and it is here I am keen to find out what happens to them.

Dialogue reveals so much about character attitude, as well as revealing aspects of back story, and I think that is why I am always gripped by well written examples of this. Well written for me is when it reveals what I need to know and I feel not a word could be added or taken away without losing something important.

I must admit when it comes to writing my own tales, I have to make sure I don’t get into “conversational ping pong”. It is huge fun to write but not necessarily for a reader to read and it is what they need which has to come first.

I so want to get behind a character to root for them whether it is to succeed or fail (the latter generally for villains). I want the ending of the story to deliver on its premise. I want to feel that yes, this was the right ending for these characters and their circumstances.

I guess what I am saying here is I really do want a good read! Well, I’m not alone on that wish, am I?

MAILERLITE – ALLISON SYMES – NEWSLETTER SIGN UP

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

ALLISON SYMES ON SUBSTACK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Light Reading

Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

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 scottish photo – spot the dog! 
Hope you have had a good weekend. Had a lovely week on the north-east coast of Scotland last week. Now back to normal routines though Lady is pleased to be seeing her pals again.

Facebook – General

Apologies this is a day later but I’m now delighted to share my latest Authors Electric post on A Change of Scene (and yes I’m talking about the same topic for Chandler’s Ford Today this week too. There is plenty of think about on this one!).

For Authors Electric, I look at how our characters would have the change of scene which would do them good and act as a pivotal story point. I also look at whether such changes of scene need to be “dramatic” or not.

Hope you enjoy the post and find it useful.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Hope you’ve had a good start to your week. Lady was especially pleased to see her Hungarian Vizler chum and Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, for the first time in ten days or so. Great time had by all.

Pleased to share my latest story on Substack. Hope you enjoy I Wish. It also ties in with my YouTube story for this week. See further down. Both come in at the 50 word mark. Pleased to get back to the good old dribble writing again.

Have spent the last week on the fantastic north-east coast of Scotland, enjoying the breathtaking scene and the bracing air! Now it’s time to get back to “normal” though Lady was pleased to see one of our other regulars, the wonderful Stately Stanley, over at the park today.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing A Change of Scene for Chandler’s Ford Today next week and will focus on how we handle changes of scene for our characters. More to come on Friday. After that, there will be a super interview with Esther Chilton about her latest children’s book, Myths and Magic, so plenty to look forward to on CFT.

Shortly, I’ll be cracking on with flash fiction Sunday. Later in the week I’ll have editing to return to and a PowerPoint to finish off. It’s just as well I like to be busy!

Hope your weekend has got off to a good start. Am on way home after a wonderful break in the north-east of Scotland. Seeing plenty of snow on the Cairngorms as we drive through the national park. Very impressive.

Writing wise, I’ll be back to my usual writing routine from tomorrow though it has been lovely doing some writing while away. Well, when you’re writing with views of mountains around you, it is a great encouragement to write. The creativity of the natural world can and does inspire writing.

I suspect some of the fantastic scenery I’ve seen this week will end up in my stories as settings.

Photos can make wonderful story prompts.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope the day has gone well. Lady caught up with her Hungarian Vizler pal again today and a nice time was had by both. I enjoyed resuming my swimming today though must admit it was hard work!

Writing wise, I’ll be working on presentations, blogs and editing for the rest of this week, which I’m looking forward to doing. Always pays to enjoy your work, generally and most of the time at least.

Also hope to book my train tickets for The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick soon. I’ve found it pays to book ahead and have saved money doing that but it also means one of my favourite events of the year is getting nearer. That is always a cheerful thought, especially this year when I have my Seeing The Other Side with me too.

It’s Monday. Why is it the first Monday back after a holiday is even more hectic than normal? Oh well, it’s time to unwind with a story then.

Hope you like my latest on YouTube – Working Things Out. This ties in with my Substack story this week – I Wish. Both come in at 50 words. I like to mix up my word counts every now and then and writing to a specific word count is a great writing exercise.

 

Flash fiction is also good for those short moments which are a complete story in and of themselves but which could not be expanded into a standard length short story. Indeed, it is a great writing exercise to practice writing to 50, 100, 250 words etc because the art of flash fiction is to write what has to be written in as few words as possible.

This is why it helps you improve your editing skills because you learn to go for better turns of phrase, cut out repetitions (unless you’re using it for effect but then you’re doing this knowingly), and to kill most of those wretched adverbs.

Incidentally there are always exceptions to any writing rule but for adverbs, so often you could express something without using them so why not do so and save on the word count?

Flash fiction focuses on important moments in a character’s life but what is important varies from character to character. What matters is readers can see why the moment matters.

The lovely thing with flash is those moments can be funny, sad, or what have you. I love mixing up the moods of the tales I write but then I think fiction reflects all aspects of life.

Having said that, I especially love writing the lighter stories. Life is grim enough as it is and fiction can do much to give some much needed escapism.

Goodreads Author Blog – Light Reading

I love lighter reads. They bring much needed cheer and provide escapism. For me, lighter reads include Jane Austen. I love the thought of some of the classic novels being light reads too.

What a light read isn’t is a simple read. There are plenty of depths to Pride and Prejudice, for example. A light read, for me, is an easy read with plenty going on and which keeps you gripped to the end, but it should also make you smile.

The fiction world does need the darker books but I would like to see the “seesaw” going in favour of the lighter reads. I’ve never liked lighter/genre books being looked down for not being “worthy” enough.

Entertainment is just as valid a reason to read as anything else, after all.

Mailerlite – allison symes – newsletter sign up

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

WRITERS’ NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

ALLISON SYMES ON SUBSTACK 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

This slideshow requires JavaScript.