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 PHOTO OF AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR I DISCOVERED AFTER RETURNING FROM A RECENT VISIT TO THE DORSET MUSEUM. SEE MY CHANDLER’S FORD TODAY POST FOR THAT.
Hope you have had a good few days. Am thrilled to now reveal my full book cover for Seeing The Other Side. See below. Lady and I have managed to avoid most of the rain this week so I think we can say it has been a good few days so far!
Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today
After an exciting week with my book cover reveals (see further down), I’m equally glad to share my latest Chandler’s Ford Today post – Discovering Classical Authors.
This post was inspired by my recent visit to The Dorset Museum with editing colleagues to see the Thomas Hardy exhibition, which was fascinating. I report on that but also share ways in which I’ve discovered classic authors. These vary from film and TV adaptations to plays and more.
Hope you enjoy the post and discover plenty of classic authors by whatever means. Sometimes the books aren’t the immediate way in. That was the case for Dickens with me. More in the post.
Book Cover Reveal
A week to go and it is time, I think, to share the full book cover for my Seeing The Other Side.
Have been looking forward to doing this, as you can imagine.
I’m pleased the book will be in the classic Chapeltown Books (part of Bridge House Publishing) framed square design. They look distinctive and make excellent gift books, which is part of the reason for this design, of course.
There are a fair few in the series now but I will always have a soft spot for my debut book, From Light to Dark and Back Again, because it was the first one to come out in this format (as well as it being my first book, naturally. I was glad my late Dad got to see that. My late Mum got to see my first printed story – A Helping Hand in Alternative Renditions, a Bridge House Publishing anthology back in 2009. There is a nice symmetry to that, I think).
Hope to share more details of my third book as and when I have them.
Hope the day has gone well. Lady caught up with her Hungarian Vizler pal again today and I’ve enjoyed an online editing meeting this afternoon.
Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Discovering Classical Authors on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. This post came about thanks to my recent visit with editing colleagues (whom I caught up with again this afternoon online) to The Dorset Museum to visit the Thomas Hardy exhibition. My post will look at various ways to discover classical authors. I’m sure these will resonate. Looking forward to sharing the post.
Many thanks for the great responses to my sharing of a partial book cover reveal yesterday for Seeing The Other Side. I’ve sent off various items connected with this to enable a launch to happen at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick in August. On my to do list will be to set up other in person and online launches. So there will be more news in due course.
I’ve now seen the back cover for my new book and I have to say the whole cover looks fab. Will share the full cover soon. See above! Just over a week to go before the book is due out too!
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
What a week! A huge thank you for the wonderful responses to my book cover share for Seeing The Other Side. Much appreciated. More news to come on the book as and when I have it.
Meantime, there is still plenty of flash fiction to be written, which I hope to get to later in the weekend.
Flash Fiction Tip: Are you intrigued by your potential characters? Do you want to find out what they get up to, what could go wrong for them, and what they do to rectify matters?
You should be. You are your own first reader. The characters do have to grip you first.
But this is where I find working out my potential characters helps so much. As I begin to flesh them out, I get a feel for the attitudes they are likely to have, what kind of troubles they are likely to have due to said attitudes and much more.
I’ve always found time spent getting to know my characters is never wasted time. Indeed, it can save many a rewrite later.
A week to go before my third book, Seeing The Other Side, comes out. Exciting times. I hope there will be further publication news later in the year too.
Looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group next week. Am bringing it forward for various reasons this month but I hope we get to discuss questions and how we can use them to set themes, characters and more. There will be plenty of fun writing exercises to have a go at too and, yes, I do these too. It’s a great way to get more flash fiction drafted after all.
When I write flash, I am either writing to a competition or there Is a topic I especially want to write about. Sometimes I have an idea for a character and then work out what kind of story would best suit them.
Sometimes I know a rough story outline and then work out the best character to “play the lead part”. I have used snippets of overheard conversation before now as a trigger point (not that the original speakers would ever know). I also know sometimes I want to write a light piece or, conversely, a dark one.
Finding a way into writing a story usually isn’t an issue. What can be is working out the best route to go. But it is a fun challenge and one I am always up for!
My new book, Seeing The Other Side, will be my biggest collection to date. There are over 200 stories in there so plenty of reading to be done there!
I’ve also had fun writing more linked flashes for this book, acrostics and so on, as well as writing to the different word counts in flash up to the maximum of 1000. Am really looking forward to seeing the book out there, as you can imagine.
I’m also glad, whenever I promote any of my books, that I’m also promoting flash fiction as a format. It is an enjoyable challenge and addictive to write and read. It is also the perfect “quick read” for those times when you can’t read for as long as you like but you can still read something.
And I’ve long held the view flash can be useful in bringing in the reluctant readers, those who won’t read a massive book, but could be tempted in by the shorter formats in the form of collections like mine.
More news to come on the book as and when I have it.
Fairytales With Bite – Seeing The Other Side
Naturally given my third flash fiction collection, Seeing The Other Side, is due out on 18th June 2026, my thoughts do turn to this topic. Many of my stories in the book will, I hope, help you see how things look from the “other side of the fence” given what the characters are going through.
For our magical characters and settings though, this is a topic worth exploring further. For every character who benefits from magical assistance, who is the one who misses out or is harmed by it in some way? There is always another side to the story.
Indeed, my first story in print was A Helping Hand in Alternative Renditions (Bridge House Publishing – 2009) and that had this thought in mind. My tale was based around the character of Cinderella’s younger stepsister. Fairytale retellings or additions to the original stories have always been popular. Seeing the other side resonates here!
Also within your setting, which of your characters loves it? Which of your characters hate it? Both will have good reasons for feeling the way they do and what would happen if you bring those two together? Clashes galore and some interesting stories would emerge, I’m sure.
If your characters have specific tasks to do what elements of the setting would help them or get in their way? Would they see another side to where they live based on this?
Again, story ideas there.
This World and Others – Perspectives
My strapline for Seeing The Other Side reads Perspective can be wonderful but will you still feel the same if your view from the fence changes?
This theme underlies many of my stories in the new book but it is a great one to write around.
Perspective will change depending on whether you’re writing from the viewpoint of the hero/heroine or the villain, for example.
Often the villain will see themselves as being hard done by rather than being out and out evil (though of course there are exceptions to that. Some of the most over top characters are the villains who know they are and have a ball with it. My thoughts go to the Sheriff of Nottingham as played by the much missed Alan Rickman in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves here).
Perspectives change significantly depending on whether your character has a task to do or someone else is getting them to do it! I always think if Character B insists Character A is the right person for the job, I want to know why and also why Character B isn’t doing it. Not unfair to think that, I think, and this can be used to show Character A struggling to come to terms with what they’re supposed to do. You can also explore why Character A either believes Character B or argues with them over it. Definite story ideas there.
My main way into writing stories is to know my character(s) traits and attitudes and actions likely to come from that. I have to know their perspective on things. This underpins all of my stories and it is what readers latch on to. They need to understand where the character is coming from even if they don’t agree with what is happening.
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Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to see Daisy, a gentle older spaniel today. We meet up with her and her owner sometimes and it was lovely seeing them both again today.
Had a lovely evening with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group last night. (Held on 25th June 2025). Good to see everyone. The topic was Perspectives and I was looking at the use of 1st/2nd/3rd person usage in flash fiction. Naturally I set exercises too though we ran out of time to do all of them.
I mentioned this briefly over on my main author page on Facebook, but do bear in mind there are 750 word stories competitions out there (I’ve just spotted one) which don’t market themselves as flash fiction but it is what they are. It is worth keeping an eye out on all short story competitions because some of those will also allow stories from 1000 words onwards so flash fiction writers could have a go at these.
