Image Credits:-
Many thanks once again to Francesca Tyer for author and book cover images supplied for the Chandler’s Ford Today interview this week. Also thanks to Vie Portland for supplying the images for the Book Fair at The Hilt. All other 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.
I was very sorry to hear about the Titan disaster. I hope lessons can be learned from that.
In happier news, I am looking forward to a busy summer with workshops and I am glad to say I will be, via Chandler’s Ford Today, hosting more author interviews. Part 2 of Francesca Tyer’s wonderful interview is out this week and there’s another corker of an interview to come next week. Am looking forward to sharing that too. Have a peaceful weekend.
Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today
Am pleased to share Part 2 of a fabulous interview with Francesca Tyer for my post this week on Chandler’s Ford Today. This week we discuss workshops (Francesca runs her Untold Stories Academy – see the post for more), her involvement with Authors Reach, how she got into writing at all, and much more. Hope you enjoy the post.
Many thanks, Francesca, for the interview and good luck with your launch, soon, for your third book, The Earthstone.
Part 2 – Francesca Tyer – Author Interview
A better day today and it was nice having a swim earlier. Most refreshing.
Looking forward to sharing Part 2 of a great interview with Francesca Tyer tomorrow on Chandler’s Ford Today. Plus there will be more author interviews after that. See link above for FT.
Don’t forget my author newsletter is out again soon (1st July) and I share tips, news, links to some of my online stories and so on. To sign up just head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com
Talking of online stories, do head over to visit Friday Flash Fiction regularly. It gives you a good “feel” for what 100 word stories look like on screen and there’s a great range of material here.
Have had one of those irritating, everything rubs you up the wrong way kind of day, so it is a great relief to get to my desk to enjoy an evening’s writing. Always puts me in a much better frame of mind!
Am looking forward to taking part in the Book Fair at The Hilt on Saturday 8th July. For full details, follow the link. Entry is free but if you pre-book a ticket, your name is entered in a a raffle. The winner gets £10 to spend on a book from any one of the authors, including yours truly, taking part in this event. So basically you can get a free book! What’s not to like about that? (It was nice to see the advert up in our Post Office window for this event – it looks good!).
Just before this I’m running a flash fiction workshop on Zoom and am looking forward to that too. So looking forward to Swanwick in August too.
Meantime there is writing to be done so best get on with it!
Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again
It’s Friday. It’s time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Deserved Desserts. I do like a bit of alliteration every now and then! Hope you enjoy the story.
Hope you have had a good day. Getting humid again. Lady and I not all that keen on this. We send greetings to fellow hayfever sufferers (as even Lady has been known to have the occasional sneeze -on days when the pollen count is sky high so no great surprises there). Good old Sneezy from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves really needed to be on the antihistamine!
Now I create flash fiction stories throughout the week. Sometimes I use snippets of reality to inspire my stories. Sometimes I completely make things up. Both are fun routes to take! But when I do use reality, I use things which have either happened to me directly or which people will know to be true because most of us are affected by these things at some point.
We all know, for instance, the frustration of being caught in a queue at an awkward moment. My story Time Waits For No Man right at the end of From Light To Dark and Back Again is my take on that situation. It is fun putting my characters through the mill here rather than experience the situation again myself though!
Sometimes I get another character to “talk to” another character by narrating a story. In From Light to Dark and Back Again, I do this with You Never Know where my lead is pointing out it is not all glamour and fun being a magical tour guide. Great fun to write and I suspect my lead character enjoyed having the chance to have a humorous whinge!
What I like about this tale is my lead has to know the other person she is “speaking to” though the reader never sees them and they’re not even named. The character has to know what the other one is likely to come up with to rebut the things she thinks will be coming. This means a lot is inferred in this story regarding the character not seen.
Inference is used a lot in flash and I must admit I love being left to work things out by other authors, as long as they give me the right clues so I can do that. Naturally when I use inference, I ensure the right clues are not just there but are in the right place in the tale.
Fairytales With Bite – A Magical Recipe
Thought I would do something different this time. Below is a story I’ve recently written up in response to a 30 day challenge and it illustrates what I mean when I refer to “fairytales with bite”. There is humour and irony in this piece – that’s where the bite comes in. Hope you enjoy the story.
The Best Fairy Godmother
Ingredients: –
Tonnes of kindness (the more the better in fact).
Equal amount of common sense (so important knowing where and when to use magic properly which is where the common sense comes in).
A fully charged magic wand with recharging facilities. (Never rely on battery wands. They always pack up when you need them).
A selection of spell books. (No one book has them all in, at least the ones you use most often).
Fluffy white hair (optional).
Grit – lots (and not the kind you put on the road when snow is due).
Sensible clothes including a hooded cloak, a full length gown which must have pockets (you need somewhere to store your wand and books when on the go), and reliable underwear. (You don’t want that giving out on you in mid flight).
Method:-
Blend all together with years of experience on the rounds and you have the best fairy godmother going.
Now to find the clients to help but that’s beyond the scope of this recipe. You’re on your own but good luck!
Ends
Allison Symes – June 2023
This World and Others – Qualifications – Advice to a Student
Q = Quality of work will count for more than quantity in any magical world which values safety when practising magic.
U = Under good tutors, the diligent pupil will do well but be ware of those who cannot prove they’ve got experience in their field.
A = Academic scoundrels get everywhere – they’ll happily con you and you still won’t qualify.
L = Love learning for its own sake – you’ll be more likely to do well.
I = Intense revision is not avoidable in any world when exams are looming but it is a temporary phase so keep going.
F = Fantastic magical careers await those who work hard here.
I= Imagine what you could use a qualification in dragon flying for – which worlds could you get to and explore?
C = Challenge the expectations if you’re from a lowly background – no reason why you can’t quality as a wizard, fairy godmother etc as long as you put the work in.
A = Always assume you’ll be tested thoroughly on what you find your most difficult topic. This happens everywhere exams do.
T = Test yourself regularly well ahead of exam season. Okay you’ll be testing your invisibility and other spells rather than maths and geography but the principle is the same!
I = Invigilators are not out to get you – they look that stern at everyone. They’re looking for the cheats. Not easy to do in a magical setting.
O = Open your results envelope as soon as you can. You won’t be able to mind read these – they’re protected against that. Would make it too easy for someone to forge the results otherwise.
N = Never look down on those whose results are worse than yours. The magical world has a habit of the underdog coming back to do phenomenally well later on. You don’t want to be the wrong side of these people. Retribution is likely to be swift and painful.
S = Success breeds success – now build on your magical qualifications. Put them to good use and good luck!
AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsDeserved Desserts, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/f8nN8LqbnX It’s Friday. It’s time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Deserved Desserts. I do like a bit of alliteration every now and then! Hope you enjoy the story. pic.twitter.com/l5VX2nFanx
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) June 23, 2023
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsPart 2 – Francesca Tyer – Author Interview https://t.co/S1ft69oUad Am pleased to share Part 2 of a fabulous interview with Francesca Tyer. We discuss workshops, her involvement with Authors Reach, how she got into writing, and much more. Hope you enjoy the post.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) June 23, 2023
Allison Symes: Collected Works 