Tag: Numbers by Allison Symes

Moments in Stories

2 Comments

SOA_Member_rgb

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. Weather still a mixture of torrential rain, sunshine, cloud, and high winds. More to come too. I am so thankful that writing is something which is usually done indoors in the warm!

BookBrushImage-2023-10-30-20-294

Facebook – General

Next author newsletter due out tomorrow but there’s still time to sign up. Please head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com for tips, news, story links etc.

Also due tomorrow is the start of Flash NANO where I’ll receive 30 flash fiction prompts for the whole of November. I took part for the first time last year and had a wonderful time with this. I am looking forward to more of the same! It’s a fabulous way to get some drafting done.

I think that’s the secret, if you can call it that, to this and NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). See these as ways to get first drafts done. Editing can come in later. But getting those stories down is vital and these ideas can help you get off to a cracking start. You can’t edit a blank page now, can you?

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to show off in front of her Hungarian Vizler pal, who she treats like a mother figure (and the Vizler loves it too, she loves being “boss dog” here). Managed to avoid most of the rain. Always see that as a bonus. Lady and I don’t always manage it so see it as a win when we do.

How do your characters react to the weather? Equally how does the weather affect the story? It is often used to make life more difficult for the characters (see The Lord of the Rings for more on this!) but could you use it to help your characters instead?

For example, bright sunshine will make any journey more pleasant for most of your characters but if they’re facing threats from vampires, guess who the sunshine isn’t going to help!

Perspective is an issue here too. What some characters see as helpful, others won’t though it can be interesting to explore why the latter take a negative attitude as that may well have a bearing on how well or otherwise they “do” in the story. Outcomes could change too.

397416176_762152169257980_240353700408585862_n

Am pleased to be back on More than Writers with my post Moments in Stories. I look at some of the memorable moments in fiction I love but also discuss whether, as a writer, you can know what these are for your stories before you’ve gone through at least one edit. I also ask why do you care about your characters enough to write their stories up at all. Hope you enjoy the post

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Hope you have had a good day. Very changeable weather today. Still the rain did make me get round to one job I often put off doing – the ritual tidying up of the desk!

Will be looking at Stories Based On Other Stories for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Looking forward to sharing that. I love stories full stop. I have even more love for a story which is based on or inspired by another, stays true to the character/setting portrayal of the original or is upfront enough to say it is Tale X based in the Year ZZZ, but is its own tale too.

Not an easy balance to get right but it can be done. So many tales have been inspired by Pride and Prejudice, for example. Not all are set in the Regency period. Must admit though I don’t like the zombie cross one though. That just seems wrong to me. I dread to think what Jane Austen would have made of that.

Author newsletter due out again next week. I compile this during the month as news and story links come in and is great fun to put it together. I had hesitated about having one but am now glad I have gone ahead. I think it is vital to enjoy what marketing you do here. It is that enjoyment which will help keep you going.

397132103_760803386059525_8581472945422075657_n

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Hope you have had a good day. I don’t “do” Halloween (much prefer All Souls’ Day) but I have written the odd ghost story in flash fiction. Like any other character, I give good thought to the motivation behind a ghost turning up. There has to be a good reason for it.

In Tripping the Flash Fantastic, in my story Getting It Right, I write from the viewpoint of the recently murdered Richard III who is lamenting how he has been misrepresented. It gave him a chance to have his say to a modern audience! That was my motivation there.

For almost all of my historical pieces, I “allow” my characters to speak in relatively modern English so they can make themselves understood to us in the present day. Olde worlde English can be tiresome to read in huge quantities. As with accents, slang etc, a little goes a long way and I have always felt the most important thing is to get the character and their situation across in a way readers will want to follow. So the use of modern English is my one conceit here.

I have written from the viewpoint of Anne Boleyn too and it was, again, much more important to get her as my character to show you how she is feeling on the eve of her execution and to hopefully encourage sympathy for her and her plight. The Tudor English would get in the way of that, I think.

Allison Symes - Book Collection and TTFFIt’s Monday. The clocks have gone back in the UK. It’s darker earlier. There has been more heavy rain. It’s Monday. You know where I’m going with this – it’s definitely time for a story.

Hope you enjoy Numbers, my latest on YouTube, and see how my postie characters deals with the stuck up folk in Wisteria Crescent.

Many thanks for the comments coming in on Musical Neighbours, my latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction. If you missed it, you can check it out at the link below. I love coming up with the 100-word stories (aka drabbles) for FFF. Great fun to do. And do check out the website for great reads. (My problem here is tearing myself away from the stories but that’s a good problem to have!).

Am looking forward to Flash NANO which starts on 1st November. Had a great time with this last year and out of the 30 prompts, I was able to get stories I was happy with out of most of them which is fair enough. Not every prompt will suit every writer but I had a great time responding to the challenge.

Screenshot 2023-10-27 at 09-46-42 Musical Neighbours by Allison Symes

A huge thank you for the wonderful comments coming in on my news about Gifted, the latest Bridge House Publishing anthology. Much appreciated. Am so looking forward to the BHP celebration event in December.

One of the things I love about writing flash stories is I can give the characters who deserve it their well earned comeuppance quickly! I tell you writing can be so therapeutic at times – for the author at least! But whatever kind of flash tale I write, I do have to know my character well enough to know they are going to deserve to have me drop them right in it. Then it is great fun delivering on that!

Flash works so well for twist stories and humour too. My ideal story is a flash one where a character gets their comeuppance and it is a funny one. Love reading that kind of tale too. Probably says a lot about me but one of the joys of fiction is in knowing that a lot of the time justice is done (especially in crime stories) when in life it sometimes isn’t.

397004445_760805369392660_3992321432977366604_n

Goodreads Author Blog – Anthologies and Collections

I’ve had the lovely news this week that another story of mine is out in the latest anthology by Bridge House Publishing called Gifted. My story in there is called Desperately Seeking Talent. I often submit work for anthologies and it has been a great joy many of my stories have appeared in these over the years.

But I love reading anthologies and collections as well as contributing to them. I love discovering the different styles of the writers. I was one of the winners of the Waterloo Arts Festival Writing Competition where the writers had to write to 1000 words all on the same theme. Fifteen different writers came up with fifteen varying stories and it was amazing to see the creativity here and a joy to be part of it.

Reading anthologies and collections is also a great way to discover writers new to you. Why not use what you like about their short form work to check out their longer stories and books?

I see books like this as “mixed assortments” of stories. What is there not to like about that? I also read these books in between novels as I like to mix up reading the long form with the short form. There is so much to enjoy about both kinds of writing and I want to make sure I get plenty of reading done in both forms.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
Allison Symes - advertising books and services resized 640

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

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Snow, Anthologies, and Broadcast News

Leave a comment
Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Many thanks to Hannah Kate for kind permission to use her photo regarding Three Minute Santas. Very cold this week and have seen first lot of snow for the winter. Writers often talk about having “layers” to their characterisation. Right now, the one having layers around here is me!

BookBrushImage-2022-12-13-20-5822

Facebook – General

Busy day. Bitterly cold one too. Lady had a great day though playing with her “boyfriend”, a lovely tri-coloured Aussie Shepherd. He had the perfect coat for this weather. I did go swimming today. How can you tell when it is really cold outside? When the pool water feels like you’re swimming in a warm bath. Trust me. The water isn’t like that!

Looking forward to sharing my post on Chandler’s Ford Today about the recent Bridge House Publishing celebration event. Such fun to go to that – and lovely to have it again after the turmoil of recent years cancelling it.

Chandler's Ford Today post reminder picture(1)

Have you made any writing plans for the New Year? I’m hoping to resume work on another long term project I’ve got in draft now I’ve submitted my third flash fiction collection to Chapeltown Books. Oh and I’ve booked for The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick taking advantage of the Early Bird rate (which means I’ve paid the same as for this year’s event).

In the run up to 2023 though, I plan to continue to submit flash tales and blog posts but will slowly wind down as we reach Christmas Day. I’m looking forward to doing a lot of reading over the Christmas holidays too. And if the weather stays this cold, staying indoors to write and read seems like an even better idea than it already is!

Hope you have had a good Monday. Lady got to play with her best buddy, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, who looked very smart in her coat. I was wrapped up like the old Michelin Man. (It is not a good look!). Then their other friend joined us, the Hungarian Vizler, also looking very smart in her coat. Am so grateful writing is generally done indoors!

Broadcast News: Looking forward to sharing the link for Three Minute Santas on Hannah Kate’s show on North Manchester FM when I get the link. The show goes out on Saturday 17th December from 2pm and it is great fun listening to the variety of festive flashes here.

North Manchester FM: Hannah’s Bookshelf, Saturday 17 December, 2-4pm

Screenshot 2022-12-11 at 20-43-39 North Manchester FM Hannah's Bookshelf Saturday 17 December 2-4pm - Hannah Kate

3 Minute Santas

Had our first lot of snow today. Laid briefly too. Lady not too understanding about the fact Mum wanted to keep moving when we were out on our walks today. She wasn’t fazed at all. Mum on the other hand just wanted to keep as warm as possible. (Mind you I was doing a great impersonation of the old Michelin man – readers of a certain age will remember that one well. Let’s just say it isn’t a flattering look on anyone. I lost count of how many layers I had on!). The highest temperature reached in my part of the world was +1 and that was at midday.

Have put in my book request list for Christmas. (I don’t think I’m on Santa’s naughty list – well, I wasn’t the last time I checked – so am looking forward to book shaped presents under the tree in due course!). Have submitted my annual flash piece for a national competition so fingers crossed time again.

Don’t forget my latest story, Numbers, is up on Friday Flash Fiction.

Screenshot 2022-12-09 at 16-48-49 Numbers by Allison Symes

Hope you’ve had a good day. One benefit of raking up the leaves in front of my place is it does keep your warm! No snow in my part of the world but the frost is deep, crisp, and even.

Will be taking a look back at the recent Bridge House Publishing celebration event for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. Link up on Friday. After that I hope to write up my usual festive flash piece for CFT where I’ll also take a look back at my writing year. (I hope by then I’ll be able to share the link to the Hannah Kate Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM. That show goes out on Saturday 17th December).

Writing tip: I’ve mentioned having a stock of stories before. Certain themes always crop up in competitions – love, justice, crime, and so many more. So you could prepare stories on those themes knowing you are very likely to find a home for them. Also prepare other stories because there are a lot of “open” competitions around too. I often batch cook – it saves time overall. You can batch write too – same result in terms of time!

Also it pays to have another look at stories you haven’t placed. You’re likely to have had enough time away from these to be able to judge them objectively. Is there something you can now do with them that you weren’t able to see before? Always worth another look. I’ve gone on to have work published doing this.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I often use major traits to get into a character’s mindset. Someone who is honest – well I can then put them in situations where it would pay them to lie and see how they manage it.

Knowing the trait means I can then work out the situations they would find easy to handle and, far more interestingly, the ones they wouldn’t.

Minor traits feeding off the main one can also be great areas to explore. An honest person could be tactless as well. Why? Simply because they’re so honest they can’t tell even white lies when it would be kinder to do so. What kind of trouble could that land them in?

May be an image of text that says "Knowing my character's outlying traits means I can write about them more convincingly too."

Pleased to share my new YouTube story, Travelling Light. It is time for the Christmas puns to start! Hope you enjoy.


Hope you have had a good day (and kept warm – you can see why mulled wine is such a big hit at this time of year! Mind you, I prefer hot chocolate).

Got a flash piece off a for a competition and am looking forward to listening to Hannah Kate’s Three Minute Santas on 17th December. Her festive show on North Manchester FM is great fun and it is a joy to have a piece included in it again this year.

I like being able to set my characters anywhere and everywhere in flash and, of course, with festive flash, you can have great fun playing with the traditions in it. After all, Santa is known to have elves as assistants but what it they’re disgruntled with their lot etc? There is fun to be had in writing that kind of story up but you need to give thought as to what would make your elves feel this way and to how the problem here is resolved. It is what you bring to the mix here that makes your story stand out.

May be an image of sky and text that says "One advantage to flash fiction writing is I can set my characters anywhere. I do too!"

Themes for flash pieces (and often things like blog posts too) can be found via books of proverbs, random generators, and many other sources. Think of themes that would appeal to you and ask yourself why this is and can you do something with that topic for your own writing?

You can also think of themes which would appeal to your characters but not necessarily to you! Again have a look at why this might be and put yourself in your characters’ shoes. They will have good reasons for feeling the way they do about this theme.

This is where interviewing your characters is a great technique for getting to the bottom of why they feel the way they do. You do have to understand your characters. You don’t need to like them, just know where they’re coming from.

Goodreads Author Blog – Anthologies

I’ve been fortunate to be published in many anthologies including the most recent from Bridge House Publishing (Evergreen – an Anthology). It is great fun to write for these and it’s a privilege and pleasure when your story is selected.

I read anthologies too, regardless of whether my work is included or not, because I’m a firm believer in supporting the market I want to be in! Also, I want to mix up the kind of things I read. I read novels, novellas, flash, short stories, collections of the latter two categories, as well as magazines and the like. I want a good and varied reading “diet”.

Anthologies are a great way to find authors new to you and many either support charities or are produced by independent publishers who give more authors a voice. For many it is their way into being published at all. It was for me.

I also like varied moods in my stories (whether I read or write them) and in anthologies, you get this in one book so that’s another reason to love them. You can also work out the kind of writing style and mood you prefer by reading these. I tend to like a lighter touch. I’ve described my own collections as “mixed assortments” and this can apply to most anthologies too.

Even when on a single theme, you can be amazed at what the contributing authors have come up with for it. I’ve done this myself. For the Waterloo Arts Festival Writing Competition a while back, I had to write to a set word count on a set theme. Fifteen winners (including me) wrote to those stipulations but the way all of the authors took the topic was amazing.

I often use anthologies to read in between reading novels to make sure I do mix up my reading and to help me make up my mind which genre of novel I will read next.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Twitter icon

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Allison Symes – Book Brush Reader Hub

Screenshot 2022-12-06 at 21-14-32 Reader Hub Book Brush

Deadly Traditions with Wendy H Jones

Leave a comment
Image Credits-:
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots and post box photos were taken by me. Allison Symes, as were photos of Evergreen – An Anthology. Well, what writer doesn’t want to take picture of their books when they arrive?!
A huge thanks to Wendy H Jones for supplying author and book pictures for my interview with her on Chandler’s Ford Today.
Temperatures have dropped significantly in my part of the world – brrr…. Still it’s time to get out the hot chocolate once again (and I love the mint and orange flavours from Options). Meantime, someone has been busy with our local post box…

Facebook – General

It’s with great pleasure I welcome back Wendy H Jones to Chandler’s Ford Today. We discuss Deadly Traditions, a cozy crime at Christmas anthology, in which Wendy has a short story. Given Wendy is well known for her full length work (fiction and non-fiction) one of my question was about how she found writing in the shorter form. It is a different “beast” after all.

I also asked how she found combining a crime story (normally serious) with a lighter touch expected from a Christmas story (true most of the time. I know there are exceptions). Check out the post to see what she said and do pick up her excellent tips for contributing to anthologies.

Deadly Traditions – Interview with Wendy H Jones

This slideshow requires JavaScript.


Brrr…glad to see Lady running around earlier with her gentleman friend, Bear, a lovely tri-coloured Aussie Shepherd. At least both of them have good coats. They’ll appreciate them right now. (As I prepare this in the evening, it’s already -2 out there. I know – that’s nothing compared to many places but it is on the early side for my part of the world. We usually get this kind of temperature towards the end of the month/early January onwards). As I prepare this round up on Friday evening, it is still saying -2 out there!

Looking forward to sharing my Chandler’s Ford Today post tomorrow where I’ll be talking to Wendy H Jones about Deadly Traditions, a cozy crime at Christmas anthology. See above.

One thing I do regularly (and where Flash NANO has helped a lot too) is to build up a stock of flash pieces and short stories on themes which are open to interpretation. It is then a question of finding the right market/competition come up for these but there will be something. I often draft potential blog pieces too which I can then place as needed throughout the year. Again when I have odd pockets of time, I can draft something here which I know I’ll get to use later. Helps my productivity no end!

May be an image of text that says "Never Neverworry worry about how much time you have to write. Five minutes of writing builds up over time and is perfect for drafting short pieces. V"

Chandler's Ford Today post reminder picture(1)

Glad to say my copies of Evergreen – An Anthology arrived today. Always nice to open a parcel with your books (or books you’ve contributed to) inside!

Talking of anthologies, I’m pleased to be welcoming back to Chandler’s Ford Today Scottish crime writer, Wendy H Jones, who will be talking about Deadly Traditions, where she has a short story. Link up on Friday. See above.

Once nice thing I will have to do in next few days is ensure I notify the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society about my contribution to Evergreen – an Anthology. I also need to get things set up on my Amazon Author Central page, Goodreads, my book page on my website etc. Those will be pleasant tasks though – it is always nice to update with another publication credit. You can’t know these things are coming (you can only put in your best effort and hope) but it is always a joy when they do.

 

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted my story Numbers is up on Friday Flash Fiction. I used the random number generator and came up with the number 14. See what I did with it via the link!

Screenshot 2022-12-09 at 16-48-49 Numbers by Allison Symes


If you’ve not yet had chance to do so, why not check out the recently released special fiftieth edition of Mom’s Favorite Reads? Link here. I talk about Fifty as my theme for the December 2022 double issue. I also set a double challenge here and people responded excellently to both.

Hope you have had a good day. Temperatures are set to plummet even further here. One lovely thing about writing is it generally is something you can do in the warm!

When I read at events, I like to mix up the moods of what I read. It makes for a great advert for what flash fiction is and can be. I also mix up my use of first and third person stories. I occasionally use second person but find this works best as a short (even by flash standards) tale and not often. It can come across as a bit gimmicky but the odd use of a “you” story can be effective. So much depends on your character’s (the narrator’s) voice here being strong enough to carry a story like that.

I also practice what I’m reading by going over it a few times. I’ve mentioned using Zoom here and I always do for new material which I’ve not read before. Only way to be sure of my timings and to ensure the story flows. What looks good written down doesn’t always read out well and if I stumble over my words, a reader will too. But that’s what the edit is for – to iron all that out. I enjoy that kind of ironing at least!

May be an image of 1 person and text

Allison Symes - Flash Fiction Collections

Fairytales With Bite – Tips for Surviving in a Magical World

You know how it is – you go through some portal or down a rabbit hole and before you realise it, you are in a magical world. Now what? The following tips will be useful.

  • Don’t eat or drink anything until you are 100% certain it is real food and drink and doesn’t have unfortunate side effects. It is not practical or helpful to suddenly discover you’ve grown several feet (in height or in literal feet – think of the shoe bills!).
  • Don’t annoy any little old men or women. They’re nearly always powerful magical beings in disguise. You don’t want to get the wrong side of them.
  • Be humble and not arrogant. It will help you with 2 above.
  • Expect talking animals. Try not to be annoyed when they prove to be better conversationalists than you are.
  • Take nothing at face value. If you come across a rather hairy old woman in a night gown, it might be worth checking out if they really are human or not.
  • Get out of said magical world as soon as you can. Nobody will blame you for running away.

BookBrushImage-2022-12-9-20-4112

This World and Others – Getting By

Now there are a variety of ways we all get by so this should be reflected in your fictional world. What kind of jobs do people do? If they’re not earning money to pay bills, how do they manage? Is there a barter system and skills are traded?

What kind of employment does your fiction world offer its characters? Are certain occupations reserved for certain species/classes and how did that come about? Are there skills your world has to import and where would they get these from? What can they offer in exchange?

Another thing to think about is what happens to those characters left behind by the leads going off on quests etc? How do they manage?

One interesting thing about The Lord of the Rings which the book shows well is when Frodo and the hobbits return to The Shire. It is quickly made apparent that all have been changed by what has happened. The Shire and its inhabitants are not the same as when Frodo and company left them (albeit in something of a hurry!).

Could you show something of this kind of thing in your story, especially if you want y our hero(es) to return home? Getting by includes making adjustments to resume normal life again too.

BookBrushImage-2022-12-9-20-494

Twitter Corner

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

Allison Symes – Book Brush Reader Hub

Screenshot 2022-12-09 at 20-52-17 Reader Hub Book Brush