Tag: poetry

New Books For A New Season?

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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. Back to the drizzle and the mist here! Still lovely seeing the spring flowers though. Some cheer in the gloom, which I think a good book can also do for you. Lady doing well. We’re all appreciating the lighter evenings. Writing going well and am back to the editing work too.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler pal. Both dogs were trying to eat the mud – argh! Both dogs are old enough to know better. Other than that, they had a lovely time (and probably saw their owners as spoilsports).

Writing wise, I’m back to editing work again, which is lovely, and I hope at the weekend to start work on stories which I want to submit for certain competitions later this year.

Author Interview Tip: Read and listen to as many as you can, even if you haven’t had anything published yet. You will learn from them and remember those authors being interviewed were newbies once too. I always see author interviews as encouraging just on that thought alone.

Hope the week has got off to a good start. Not bad here though the weather isn’t a patch on last week’s delightful few days of sunshine.

Writing wise, I’m glad to report my second flash fiction story is now up on my Substack account. Hope you enjoy my Smashing It. You can find my Substack account at Substack.com/@allisonsymeswriter1

And if you scroll down to my other page here, From Light to Dark and Back Again, you will see the link to my YouTube story for this week called Clearing Up. There is a link between the two tales, see if you can spot it.


Hope the weekend has gone well. Back to drizzly and murky weather again though.

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Getting The Hooks In for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I’ll be looking at why these matter, some thoughts about placing them in pieces of work (and, yes, non-fiction needs them too), and more. Link up next week.

Will be shortly getting on with flash fiction Sunday. Making good progress on the co-judging I’m currently undertaking too.

Writing Tip: When you’re reading work from other authors, once you’ve enjoyed a good read go back through the tale and see what the stand out moments were for you. You are highly likely to learn something useful here you can then apply to your own creations. Just why are these stand out moments so important to you? Do these reveal something about character and/or pacing etc?

And it’s fun to do too!

Glad to be back on Writers’ Narrative on Substack today. The theme this month is Writing Fiction and my post is Writing Fiction – The Joys of Making It All Up. I share a little about why I write fiction and what its values are. Not everyone appreciates fiction. I had a dear friend who only saw the point of non-fiction and they weren’t the only one to hold that view. I also share useful tips.

Hope you enjoy the post and remember the magazine is free to subscribe to and you receive a wealth of useful information written by experienced writers. Nothing to dislike there!

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Had a nice task today. Have wrapped up and posted my two flash fiction collections – From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping the Flash Fantastic – to the competition organiser whose event I am co-judging. It was a pleasure to sign these copies and get them posted off. I do hope the eventual recipient enjoys them.

Flash Fiction Tip: Make yourself practice writing to different word count lengths for flash. Focus on 100, 250, 300, and 500 words especially as these are, by far, the most common competition brackets I come across in this field. Also it’s fun to do!

You also get to see what the different word counts “look like” whether you just work on screen or print out on paper and that will come in useful later as, with more experience, you will get a feel, when drafting a story, when you’re at or about the “right” word count for the category you’re writing to. You will find, as I have, when you do check the word count, you won’t be out by that much but the practice at writing to these different lengths helps no end with future stories, I find.

Another busy Monday and am so looking forward to enjoying catching up with a lovely online group I go to once a month. I get to listen and chat about history and it is lovely. Meantime, I hope you enjoy my latest story on YouTube – Clearing Up.

The dangers of sitting on high walls are shown up here as all of the King’s Men face a messy cleaning task or do they? Find out here.

If you check out my author page here, you will see my Substack story, Smashing It. There is a link between the two tales. I do this every now and again. Why? For the best reason of all, it’s fun!

Hope you enjoy both of the stories.

 

Will be getting on with a couple of 100 word stories shortly. I do need to start drafting some longer pieces for competitions soon but the next couple of weeks will be especially busy so I may need to put these on the back burner for the moment. Mind you, that doesn’t stop me thinking about and jotting down potential ideas.

What does make for a great piece of flash fiction? I don’t think there is one single answer to this but I know I like to read about a character who grips me and where the ending is appropriate for them. I like twist endings/humorous punchlines too but I have to feel that everything I read before leading up to these is also gripping and there could be no other ending.

Sometimes I do know a potential ending for a story first so I note that and then work out what could come from it. Once I’m happy with a potential scenario, I get on with my first draft. I do know it has to be the idea which has the most impact on me because I figure it will do likewise for readers and if I’m not gripped by it, nobody else will be.


Drizzly damp day today but Lady still had a nice time over the park.

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Getting The Hooks In for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. A huge thank you also to the lovely comments on yesterday’s post – Author Interview – Wendy H Jones – A Right Cozy Historical Crime.

As ever, tomorrow will be flash fiction Sunday and I do plan to share a 100 worder on Sundays on my Substack account. It will be a good challenge for me and I hope enjoyable for you.

It was the 100 worder, also known as the drabble, which got me into flash fiction writing at all so it will always have a special place in my writing heart. And it’s thanks to flash fiction, I have two published books with a third due.

Even if you’re not specifically looking to write flash fiction as your main writing format, it is an excellent writing exercise and can be a useful warm up for your longer writing work. I find this to be the case ahead of writing my blogs and articles.

Also congratulations to all who took part in the 500 Words competition. I understand presentations were made at Windsor Castle by the Queen earlier this week. Well done, all. (What a fantastic way to get into writing, especially flash fiction).

Goodreads Author Blog – New Books for a New Season?

Do you read new books for a new season? I do save certain favourite books for re-reading at other times of the year. One example of this is Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett which I save for harvest time.

But generally I work my way through my To Be Read pile. I usually find it goes down for a while and then by some strange circumstances, such as me going to writing events, I find the pile gets bigger again. This is a lovely problem to have and, given the current troubling times, I think having plenty to read which you know you will like is an enormous blessing.

If you do read new books for a new season, do you try to match the mood of the books/stories you read with the seasons? For spring, I would imagine that mood would be light and bright. For winter, much less so!

Mind you, there is never a season when you won’t need books! There is never a season which won’t be enhanced for you in some way by having new books, whether you buy them or borrow them from the libraries.

For every season, there are books galore to enjoy and I do think that is worth celebrating.

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Books Which Live On

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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. One image of me holding Creativity Matters and my flash collections was taken by Adrian Symes, as was the photo of me signing copies of Tripping The Flash Fantastic. I was being watched over by a distinctly unimpressed Lady! Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope you had a good weekend. Fabulous one here – lovely family party. Good time had by all, including the dogs. Lady was so tired on Saturday night! Pleased to say the second part of the serialisation of Seeing The Other Side is now on CafeLit – link below. Looking forward also to helping a friend with her online book launch on 1st August – details below.

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady had a lovely time in the park. Have been very busy, so much so my feet feel like they need a retread! Good to be at the desk writing.

Don’t forget it won’t be long before my next author newsletter will be out. To sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

I share news, tips, discuss a topic, and share story links, including to the partial serialisation of my Seeing The Other Side plus more on my newsletter. Would be good to have you aboard. A huge thanks to all who support me here. It is much appreciated.

Am looking forward to watching The Chameleon Theatre Company perform the stage version of Bill Bryson’s Notes From A Small Island later this week. Should be great fun. I plan to review it for Chandler’s Ford Today at a later date.

Plus I am off to visit a Jane Austen exhibition at the weekend. Plenty going on. Loving it all.

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Hope your week has got off to a good start. Lady got to play with Coco, the lovely Labradoodle, today and saw Tao, who looks as if he could be Lady’s big brother (but isn’t!).

Event News:  Am delighted to say I’ll be quizzing dear friend and former ACW colleague, Rosemary Johnson, about her new book, Past and Present, which has recently been published by Bridge House Publishing. She will be holding an online book launch via Eventbrite, hosted by Bridge House Publishing, on Friday 1st August from 7.15 pm (UK time). The event will last for an hour.

Do check out the link to find out more – the event is free. Rosemary will also be sharing extracts from her book so if you love stories, especially those of a historical ilk, do come and join us on 1st August. And you can put questions to the author herself too. Hope to see you there.

Lovely family party yesterday. Weather okay in the end (and thankfully cooler thanks to the rain in the morning). Lady enjoyed playing the role of doggy host to Lily and Teddy. Lady was absolutely shattered at the end – caught her out for the count in our passageway. She also slept really well last night but I suspect those of us with two legs, as well as those with the four, all did!

In writing news, I will have news of an event I am helping with for a friend’s book launch in the next day or so. Launch itself will be on 1st August. See above.

Serialisation News:  And I am pleased to share the second part of the serialisation of my Seeing The Other Side (due out on May 2026). Hope you enjoy the selection in the link.

Hope you’ve had a good day. Other half had his birthday yesterday. Family do today. Great fun. Wonderful seeing everyone. Knackering? You bet but isn’t that the sign of a good party?

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to welcoming fellow Swanwicker and flash fiction writer, Esther Chilton, to Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday to discuss her new book, The Secret Dragon. Looking forward to sharing that. The book is aimed at 5-7 year olds and I can tell you now the blurb and extract she shares with me for the post makes me almost wish I was that age range again! More nearer the time.

Sometimes things occur which you hadn’t thought about but it has a special resonance. Yesterday, 18th July, I shared my Authors Electric post about Jane Austen. Her birthday is commemorated later this year (December) but 18th July is the anniversary of her death in Winchester. I hadn’t picked up on that. Always good to re-read her works though. You don’t need a special event for that.

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Hope the day has been a good one. Have a couple of competitions (flash ones) in mind to start drafting for at the weekend (or at least I hope to get to do that. Do have plenty of time for the deadlines which helps).

Also looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom next week. Will be looking at the topic of summer for that. The seasons can throw up plenty of ideas for stories.

Also do consider using the game of Word Association to help trigger prompts, which in turn can trigger story ideas.

It’s Monday. It has been an especially hectic one, at least for me. All I know is it is time for a story. Hope you like my latest on You Tube – Prompts.

Which three prompts could Shirley pick out to cause any concern to Barry, someone who has never understood her wish to write? Find out here.

 

Hope all well with you. Will be getting on with flash fiction Sunday shortly after a lively and fabulous weekend.

The second part of the serialisation of my Seeing The Other Side is now out on CafeLit. See the link (though it is over on my author page here too).

One of the nice things about having a book accepted is getting to read your stories again after a gap apart from them. I hope to take part in the Open Prose Mic night at Swanwick again this year so hope to share some of my new material from this book there too. 
Did manage to get my competition story off during the week, the one I mentioned last weekend. Have another competition to have a crack at – a lovely 750 words one. Plus there is another one which links with a book festival where I can go up to 1000 words.

I sometimes have a look at my past Flash NANO stories and polish those up for competitions. They’ve had long enough to rest up before I use them. I can usually spot things I can strengthen them so I do. When I draft those tales for the event in November each year, I do have this idea in mind. I’ve found it useful.

Goodreads Author Blog – Books Which Live On

Books which live on is an apt topic for me at the moment as I’ve just written about Jane Austen for another blog I contribute to monthly and it was a lovely, enjoyable thing to do. Her books will live on and have lived on long after her because she creates such memorable characters and situations. That, I think, is the secret to any good story.

Yes, sure, styles of storytelling do change over the years. We don’t need descriptions in the way Dickens wrote them because we have our own references to helps us picture things. His readers would not have had those things – being in the film, radio and TV age does make a difference, as does universal education. But we can still understand his characters and what motivates them. I do feel it is the characters which are the important connection in any story.

Any book which does that should live on. I think the classic books can give us insights as to how life was lived back then so they can be educational in that respect. I don’t want stories dismissed just because they’re old or not read for that reason. (Same applies to the authors!).


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Author Interview: Introducing Gemma Owen-Kendall

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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 Gemma Owen-Kendall and Lynsey Adams (Reading Between the Lines Vlog) for author and book cover pictures for the Chandler’s Ford Today interview this week.
Hope you have had a good few days. Storm Eowyn is on its way. Take care and keep safe. Have had an odd week in that I’ve had a lovely time with the good people at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group (Wednesday night) and then had technical issues with Chandler’s Ford Today which now appear to have been sorted. A mixed bag of a week! But do check out the CFT interview with Gemma Owen-Kendall – it is a great read.

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Am delighted to welcome Gemma Owen-Kendall to Chandler’s Ford Today for an in-depth talk about her debut novel, Red Daisy. This was launched at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick last August.

Gemma shares thoughts on marketing, editing,her writing journey, and her love of fairytales, a huge influence on her novel, and much else too. She has also written flash fiction and short stories so there is much to share here.

Hope you enjoy the post (and naturally I am especially pleased to welcome a fellow flash fiction writer to CFT!).

Author Interview: Introducing Gemma Owen-Kendall

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Glad to report the technical issues with Chandler’s Ford Today now appear to have been sorted out so I will be sharing a fabulous interview with Gemma Owen-Kendall about her debut novel, Red Daisy, from there tomorrow. Tech issues never happen at a good time! See link above – such a relief this has been sorted out.

Gemma discusses her journey to publication with SpellBound Books and shares thoughts on marketing and editing amongst other gems so do check the interview out. It’s a great read! Link up tomorrow.

 

Hope you’ve had a good Wednesday. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal and to play with Coco, the lovely Labradoodle. These two are younger than the Vizler (though Lady incredibly is eight now. You wouldn’t believe it to see her run). Anyway the two younger dogs had a fabulous time running around the park. Lovely to see them.

Writing wise, I am interviewing Gemma Owen-Kendall about her debut novel, Red Daisy. This will be part of the Reading Between the Lines Vlog book tour.

The bad news is Chandler’s Ford Today is down at the moment due to technical issues which I hope will be sorted out soon. There is never a good time for technical issues! Thankfully sorted.

Meantime I will be sharing Gemma’s fabulous interview from my own website (Allison Symes Collected Works) on Friday. Do look out for it. Gemma shares about her writing journey and there are plenty of useful thoughts for all writers here. (I will share the interview again from CFT the moment it is available but these things are sent to try writers, I think). This is what is known in the business as having a Plan B! I highly recommend it!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest story, Getting On With It. Even fairy godmothers don’t like the return to work after a Christmas and New Year break. Find out why here.

Lovely evening spent with the good people at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group last night (22nd January). The theme was All Things New. Newness in itself is a fabulous topic, especially apt for the first month of a new year, and I set a few exercises based on it which I hope they enjoy.

One of those exercises was to use the word new itself in an opening line and then, separately, in a closing line.

Why not give it a go and see what you come up with? Have fun!

Sometimes a flash piece of mine has scope for being expanded into a longer short story and so I do that. The story and the characters have to suit and sometimes I do need 2000 words to tell the whole tale rather than the top limit for flash of 1000. That’s fine, especially since I know I will be drafting other flash pieces before long.

Top Tip: I’ve long since learned the most important thing to do is to write the story. Then after a break from it I edit it. I leave it again for a while and review it again. Then and only then will I start to think about the word count. I’ve learned over time when to leave a story alone. When I honestly feel I cannot add a word or take anything out without spoiling the story, I leave it. And, as I say, that sometimes does come in at above the flash limit.

Fairytales with Bite – Continuing Professional Development

As a writer, I’m learning all the time ways to improve my stories (and with that I hope my changes of publication). I read about my craft. I go to writing events – in person and online ones – and am part of writing groups (online). It’s all fun too (and hard work but when it is work you enjoy it helps a lot!), I see all of this as my Continuing Professional Development.

So what would your characters see as their Continuing Professional Development? How do they learn their craft? How do they improve their skills as they do the work? Who manages all of the training? I could see there being potential for humorous stories here.

And how about characters who use their training well – what stories could they share? What about those who misuse their skills (deliberately or accidentally). What would happen here?

And can someone unexpectedly rise through the ranks and surprise everyone with how well they do with their development? Fairytales are often based on those who are not expected to do well but, with some help (often from a handy fairy godmother), they do go on to do well.

So why not set stories like this in a learning environment? The “fairy godmother” here could be an exceptional teacher. What would they make of their student doing well like that?

As ever what are the consequences? Not everyone would take someone unexpectedly doing well that well themselves. Plenty of possibilities for conflict here thanks to a character getting on with their Continuing Professional Development. Not everyone is professional about these things themselves.

This World and Others – Monitoring Standards

When it comes to education or other forms of learning (vocational etc), who would monitor standards in your setting to ensure all is as it should be? Could they be open to persuasion that those who are not expected to do well are allowed through or are stopped from making the best of their learning? Good potential conflict stories there.

Does your setting and it authorities keep standards as they have always been or are they open to developments in their equivalent of technology and/or science, which would lead to needing new sets of standards every so often?

When I began writing seriously as a writer, I was using a typewriter. There wasn’t such a thing as the Data Protection Act. So of course when computers became more readily available, writers like me had to adjust to using them, have our own websites, ensure we obey data rules and so on. We have had new standards to stick to so does your setting have this kind of ongoing process here?

Who is open to change? Who is open to ensuring standards continue to be monitored well? Who might get in the way of all of that? Not everyone welcomes change. Again good conflict stories could be found here.

 

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Good news:  Next issue (January/February 2025 is due out soon).

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The magic of stories. Image via Pixabay

RESUMING WORK

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FAIRYTALES WITH BITE

It always takes me a few days after a break like Christmas to get fully back into my writing again.  Resuming Work looks at what fairytale characters might do in the way of employment either after a break from what they usually do or if their work there has come to an end.  I hope to put up some more on this topic tomorrow.  I love writing fun posts like these.   See what you think!

THIS WORLD AND OTHERS

There are certain qualities my heroes/heroines must have if they’re going to make it into my stories.  I look at these in What My Heroes/Heroines Must Have post.  I suspect you’d be able to add to my list.  Comments welcome.

FACEBOOK PAGE/CHANDLER’S FORD TODAY

I talk about what irritates me in characters and how I like my heroines to be active and not passive (which influenced what I wrote about in This World and Others).  I also share a link to a wonderful poem by a friend of mine, Sandra Lyn Gordon, which appeared tonight on Chandler’s Ford Today.  Fantastic review of the year!

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Poetry conjures up images so beautifully. Image via Pixabay. See Sandra Lyn Gordon's wonderful poem on Chandler's Ford Today for another example of great imagery.

Poetry conjures up images so beautifully. Image via Pixabay. See Sandra Lyn Gordon’s wonderful poem on Chandler’s Ford Today for another example of great imagery.

 

 

Poets stand and stare and then write down. Image via Pixabay.

MAGICAL GOVERNMENT

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FAIRYTALES WITH BITE

The trouble with living in a magical environment is it would be only too easy for everyone to resolve arguments with magic and, basically, the most powerful would always win.  The realm itself would almost certainly be in a bad way as nothing can stand having too much magic go through it at one go.  So politics has to creep in – an accommodation has to be found.  And that is the theme of Magical Government.

THIS WORLD AND OTHERS

With You Must be Joking I go from one sort of joke – politics (!) – to another and ask what role does humour have to play in the fictional world you’ve set up?  Is satire allowed?  Who does do any joking in your setting and what happens if they break the rules?  There could be a comic tale or several and/or tragedies to write here.

OTHER NEWS

Last week’s Chandler’s Ford Today post on the Story Shuffle Project has led to some Twitter activity about it.  Many thanks to all who retweeted the link to the post.  And I am glad to say I have been looking at the edits on my flash fiction collection (couldn’t believe some of the silly, but easy to correct, errors I’d made but then that is why you need a good editor!).  I’ve also sent the edits back to the publishers.  So it has been a busy week already and it is only Tuesday!!

FACEBOOK PAGE

I discuss poetry tonight and list one of my favourites from Pam Ayres.  Though I do find with poetry I can’t really name a favourite as so much depends on mood – mine and the poet’s!  What do you think?

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Poetry conjures up images and war poetry conjures up some of the most famous of all. Image via Pixabay (and I think one of the loveliest I've ever shared. Simple but stunning).

Poetry conjures up images and war poetry conjures up some of the most famous of all. Image via Pixabay (and I think one of the loveliest I’ve ever shared. Simple but stunning).