Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you’ve had a good weekend. Much cooler, almost feeling autumnal now but this is most welcome. Am looking forward to the book blog tour for Seeing The Other Side in September, along with my signing event at Salisbury. I hope there will be more things to come here – more news as I have it. Glad that writing and my new editing job is going well. Like to keep busy and Lady can always help me fill my time too, I guess she sees it as her job!
Also, late news coming in, am so very sorry to hear of the death of Dolly Parton. A great singer and an even greater person. Her literacy work was amazing. Favourite songs? Hard to tell but I love Jolene, 9 to 5, her own version of I Will Always Love You (and I like Whitney Houston’s cover too), Islands in The Stream and so many more. She will be much missed.
Facebook – General
Hope the day has gone well. Had a gentle swim today. It was nice. Good to see some chums too. Still feeling bruised from my fall but am considerably better so hope another gentle week will put the rest to right. Thankfully, writing can be done sitting down, which helps a lot. Standing desks definitely wouldn’t be for me right now.
Writing wise, I’m getting back into my pre-Swanwick routine. Have prepared some non-fiction pieces and scheduled those ready to appear later this month/early September. Have almost finished drafting my September newsletter. Would like to have a crack at a flash competition this weekend I think. It’s been a while since I last had a go at one. Always good to keep your hand in!
Want to resume working on my long term non-fiction project later on in the autumn. Picked up some useful thoughts for it while at Swanwick and want to put them into practice but know I need to clear my diary a bit for that and October is likely to be the earliest for that.
Mind you, that will be here before we know it. It’s a matter of time before we see the adverts for the festive chocolates and it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re already out, says she, sighing heavily!
Hope you’ve had a good start to the working week. Not bad here. Cooler and pleasanter, both Lady and I appreciated that.
But it is Monday so it’s time for my story which I first shared on Substack yesterday. Hope you enjoy First Home. If you think to do lists are a good idea but struggle to stick with them, this one may resonate.
Hope the weekend has been a good one. Much easier walking the dog now the temperature has gone down a few notches!
Will be working on flash fiction Sunday shortly. Good to be back to that again. Had a lovely chat on Zoom with fellow writers last night. Great way to spend a Saturday evening.
Don’t forget it won’t be long before my next author newsletter is out. To sign up for news, tips, stories and more do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com
Newsletter Tip: I make a point of sharing tips which will be of use to other writers in mine (and even more so when I have lots of news to share about what I’m up to, as is the case at the moment). I want readers to find the newsletters useful as I know the majority of my subscribers are fellow writers.
I will sometimes share links to articles I’ve written elsewhere given these can be a good summary of the topic for the month for the newsletter. And I do this because I subscribe to a number of author newsletters myself. Love them and these kind of “useful bits” for readers is what drew me into them in the first place and keeps me subscribed to them.
I’ve found it pays to draft the newsletter a bit at a time as the month goes on so there is no rush to get it out on your chosen date. I draft a lot of things as I go during the month as it is so it made sense to do this for the newsletter too.
Will be nice to have a quiet weekend. August has been pretty hectic though the combination of a family wedding and The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick is a smashing one!
Writing wise, I’ll be looking at The Joy of Responding To and Setting Writing Exercises for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Plenty of tips as you’d expect. Link up on Friday.
Writing exercises are great for stretching the creative mind. Many of mine end up as finished work, published in print or online or both. Others I know I won’t take further but I am never sorry to have had a go at the challenge in question.
Sometimes it is a case of this particular exercise not being the best for me but until I gave it a go, I wouldn’t know. Sometimes even there the spark of the idea I had I can use in another story. Little is wasted in writing. It might take a while for you to use it but the prospect is there.
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
Nice time in the park with Lady earlier though I suspect we’ll catch up with human and doggy friends once the new school term starts. Holiday times can be a bit odd like this. You don’t see your usual crowd. You do see people you wouldn’t normally come across.
And a bell in the back of my head is telling me there are flash fiction stories to be written about that thought!
Fancy a go?
Meantime I’m looking forward to taking part in some writing exercises I’ve set with members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group tomorrow. I sometimes draft an exercise response in advance to give an example but I don’t always do this. Sometimes I write live on the night with the others which I hope to be doing again tomorrow. It’s good fun!
It’s Monday but at least it isn’t as hot and sticky as it was a couple of weeks back. Still time for a story though. Hope you like my latest on YouTube – The Perfect Recipe.
Mum has found the perfect recipe for a cherished family dish but will a certain blonde brat agree? Find out here.
One of the joys of having fun with what Vistaprint has to offer writers is getting to update my business card. It is one of the most useful things a writer can have on their book event table. People do take them and I attribute spikes in my Kindle sales to people taking these and looking up my books later on.
I’ve taken the chance to have thumbnails of all three flash collections of mine on my updated card, plus my latest author photo, plus my website details on the front. On the back I’ve gone for a simplified version of where you can find me online.
As well as sharing them at my recent book launch at Swanwick, I’ve had opportunities to give them out elsewhere since then including on the train home from Derbyshire. I do usually keep some on me on the “just in case” principle. It has been nice to act on that principle recently!
Looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group this coming week too. Have set some fun exercises and plan to do them myself on the night.
It’s a great way to get more flash written and I love “live” writing exercises. Always an enjoyable challenge.
Am looking forward to joining the good folk at Salisbury URC for my book signing event there on Saturday 5th September from 10.00 am to 12.30. See the link for more info.
Am pleased to say September will be a busy month as the blog tour for Seeing The Other Side also happens then from 7th to 13th September. More details to come on that.
I hope to set up some local (to me) events but will come back on that as and when I have something set up. Having my own card reader now is going to make life easier here.
Looking forward, as always, to flash fiction Sunday tomorrow. Am so glad I responded to the CafeLit 100 words challenge all those years ago. Three books later…
Goodreads Author Blog – The Joys of Book Rooms/Stalls
I’ve not long returned from one of the highlights of my writing year – The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. This year was even more special as I had my book launch for my third flash fiction collection, Seeing The Other Side, there. It was a huge success. I sold two-thirds of my stock at the event.
Later the same day, I took part in an Open Prose Mic Night, read from my new book, and then discovered the next day in the Swanwick Book Room, the rest of my stock had been sold. I’d also sold copies of my earlier flash collections, From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping The Flash Fantastic. To say I was thrilled would be a considerable understatement.
I make a point, when at events, of always going to their book room/stalls etc. As well as contributing to what is on offer, such things give me a good chance to browse the works of other authors. I nearly always come away with purchases and love getting them signed for me by the authors in question.
Much as I find the ebook useful, this is where I think the paperback will always win. There is something special about getting a signed copy of a book from its author (and even more special when you’re doing the signing on one of your books – I wish I could bottle that feeling!).
I’ll be having a signing event at Salisbury URC on Saturday 5th September to celebrate my new book. They have a regular book stall there and it will be good to support that (and their coffee shop) as well as have my signing event.
Books and book rooms bring people together and, as an author, I relish the chance to chat with potential readers too. Books and stories are special. Chatting to readers directly is also very special and I hope promotes the written word more too.
Hope you have had a good day. It was great to welcome back Jenny Sanders to Chandler’s Ford Today for the last couple of weeks and I hope to have further author interviews later in the month. Next week’s post though is called Having a Superpower. Those who went to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting recently will recognise this as I used it as a prompt for two exercises, one of which was to write a non-fiction piece on the topic. I’ve done so and it will be on CFT on Friday!
It’s Monday. It’s been manic for me. It’s still Monday. Time for my latest on YouTube then. Hope you enjoy A New Start but does Jemma actually get to have the new start she wants? Find out here.
Brrr…. Am so glad writing can be done in the warm! (Ironically I have enjoyed my swims so far this week. When the weather is this cold, the water feels like you’re getting into a tepid bath. Trust me it isn’t like that!).
