Tag: This World and Others

Using Old Sayings in Fiction

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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 week. Lady and I are loving the continuing sunshine. Writing is going well and I now have news my Seeing The Other Side should be out on 18th June 2026 – exciting times!


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Delighted to share Using Old Sayings in Fiction for Chandler’s Ford Today and I hope you get to draft some stories as a result of it. Why? Simply because I share a few old sayings and suggest ways in which they could be used for storytelling. (Incidentally the proverbs are also useful for non-fiction writing but I thought for this post I’d focus on the fiction side).

Proverbs reveal timeless truths so will always resonate with people and I think this is why they will always be useful as themes and/or titles. Basically, you do have ready made prompts here.

Hope you enjoy the post and find it useful.

Using Old Sayings in Fiction

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Hope you have had a good day. Lady and I had another great time in the park this morning. She saw her Hungarian Vizler chum and Coco, the lovely Labradoodle. Nice time had by all.

Writing wise, I’m sharing Using Old Sayings in Fiction for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I’ll be sharing some old sayings and suggesting ways in which they can be used. I hope the post will prove useful and inspire some stories. Link up tomorrow. See above.

It was great to see everyone at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting last night. There was great discussion around the prompts set too. I felt it was a particularly encouraging and inspirational session and I hope everyone goes on to edit and polish their drafts.

Publication News: I’m thrilled to tell you Seeing The Other Side has a soft launch date in the middle of June (18th). More news as and when I have it but am delighted to flag this up now. Has perked me up a lot this week, as I’m sure you can imagine!

Glad to be back on More Than Writers, the blog spot of the Association of Christian Writers, with my latest post called Controlling Characters.

Do you control your characters or do they, at least sometimes, control you? I share tips and thoughts for those occasions when your characters come out with the unexpected. I also look at whether you can control your characters while giving them some “freedom” at the same time and where knowing the major trait(s) can prove so useful.

Hope you enjoy the post and find it useful.

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1st May 2026 – newsletter
Pleased to say my latest author newsletter went out today. My theme was Dialogue in Fiction. I hope subscribers find the tips and thoughts on that topic useful.

To subscribe you just need to head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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Has been a lovely week so far with publication news (my third book, Seeing The Other Side, will be out in mid-June – circa the 18th) and a fabulous writing session with the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group last night. (On Wednesday 29th April 2026). Have also worked on a piece which I hope to submit to a competition over the weekend.

It is lovely when you have productive times like this. It makes up for those times which are more of a struggle or where all that seems to come in are turn downs from competitions etc.

Encouraging times also help you focus and move forward too. Nothing to dislike about that.

And bear in mind too encouragement can be a fabulous theme to write about. Best encourager in the “fiction business”? To my mind that has to go to Sam Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings. Frodo needed him.

Lovely morning in the park and Lady caught up with her Hungarian Vizler chum today for the first time this week so both dogs were pleased to see each other. Little moments like that are special.

You could argue flash fiction is the art of sharing the “little moments”. By that, I mean there is enough of a tale to be a proper story with a proper beginning, middle and end, but not enough for a standard length short story (usually 1500 words plus). The secret here is to ensure the “little moment” is enough of a story to be a story at all. So there must be a memorable character and something crucial happens but it is all over within a compressed word count.

If you ever want to learn to write tightly, do practice writing flash fiction. You learn to work out what you do need and what you don’t. You cut out the qualifiers such as the words “quite”, “a bit” and “very”. Usually the things these are referring to don’t need the qualifier at all. If something is “a bit” scary, say, then surely it is just scary!


Fairytales With Bite – Crashes

In your magical environment where folk can fly with or without the aid of machinery or a decent broom, how do they avoid crashes? Traffic congestion happens everywhere (and I’ve written a few humorous flash pieces around that thought – one will appear in my forthcoming book, Seeing The Other Side).

Is there a kind of magical Highway Code which people stick to? Do they learn this at their equivalent of school or is it something like our driving test which people have to do later when they are considered to be mature enough to do this?

Would your setting have anything like air traffic control, which would monitor and control air lanes?

If crashes do sometimes happen, what is the procedure for dealing with them? Is there a “magical insurance policy” drivers/fliers have to have and do claimants have to go through claims processes as we do? I smile at the thought of an annoyed witch having to file an insurance claim and being told she has been turned down or has to pay an excess. Would she dare to do anything against the assessor?

Good potential for humorous stories here, I think.

And what inspired this thought? A word game I like on my phone crashed without warning. Still, it’s given me an idea for a blog post!

This World and Others – Technology and Magic Clashes

In your magical setting, would your world consider our technology to be the equivalent to their magic? Or would they consider their magic to be far superior and would they be right to think that?

I’m thinking along the lines that certain aspects of science can “look” magical. For example, if you combine elements to create something else, that could look “magical”.

Especially if our technology can achieve things your world’s settings cannot do, would they want to try and copy what we’ve done? Or would they want to stop it and us? Or would they improve their magical powers to overtake us? Or would they simply steal the ideas from us and use them in their own way back at home?

Could our technology ever threaten their magical powers?

Story ideas there for sure.

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Writing Wishes

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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 few days. Gorgeous spring weather here. Lady and I are making the most of it. Writing and editing going well too. Not short of things to do right now!

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Am delighted to share Writing Wishes on Chandler’s Ford Today this week.

As I take a brief look at AI and the Human Authored campaign, I also look at other writing wishes, many of which are achievable! Others need working at but that is true for us all, if it is any comfort. Still others are “no-brainers” such as writers always wanting lots of nice stationery. Well, there is always room for one more notebook and pen set, isn’t there?

I also share two useful links for those seeking writing advice (and we all need that).

Hope you enjoy the post.

Writing Wishes

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler pal today. Lovely time in the park.

Today it is St. George’s Day and also Shakespeare’s birth/death days. I can only think of one other who died on their birthday, Elizabeth of York, Henry VII’s queen.

It took me ages to “get” Shakespeare at all, though like many of us I’ve used phrases I hadn’t known he invented. It took the pandemic and watching National Theatre Live, along with going to some of those productions in a local school after we were allowed out again, which changed my opinion. I do remain convinced though Shakespeare, generally, is best watched than read (with the exception of the sonnets, obviously). I saw Hamlet via NTL, both the Benedict Cumberbatch and David Tennant ones. Loved them. My late mother loved him and I’m sure she’d be pleased I’ve finally “got” Shakespeare.

Writing wise, I’m sharing Writing Wishes on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow (see above) and am ploughing on with the editing. Nice to do this with the windows open though and letting some sunshine in. It’s been months since I was last able to do that!

It has been another lovely spring day today, which Lady and I appreciated. The park was quiet and lovely. Talking of which, how about this for a prompt?

Prompt Thought: Quietness can seem wonderful or threatening, depending on circumstance and character mood. It can also seem oppressive, leading to the threatening feeling. Why not write two stories based on quietness being a wonderful thing for your character and then another tale where it is anything but that? You could also keep the word count for the two stories the same. Am sure you could get two interesting and contrasting stories here and, yes, you could use the same character but in different situations.

Happy drafting! (May well do this one myself at some point. As ever, watch this space).

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Hope the day has been a good one. Lovely weather again and Lady so enjoyed seeing her Hungarian Vizler pal. Later, she met a lovely cockapoo called Roscoe. Lady has had a good day on “the socials”. She is easily the most sociable pet we’ve had (and yes she loves it when we hold parties here so you could call her a party animal too).

Flash fiction wise, I am happily going through my third book and hope to have that done in the next few days. Then it’s back to the publisher. Exciting times.

Plus this weekend I want to dig out an old story of mine and have a look at it for a future competition. I always keep a supply of stories in stock, so to speak, for this purpose. It pays. If a theme is set, I often have a story already written in draft and I can then examine it to see if it could be submitted. Often it can be with some more work done to it, which is fine. I’ve never had a problem with editing!

I suspect by now there is a National Day of Something for every day of the year. As well as it being St. George’s Day and Shakespeare’s birth/death days, it appears it is also National Picnic Day (has anyone told the wasps?), World Book and Copyright Day (am naturally all for that), and Allergy Awareness Week. I should imagine though if you have any allergies (I do – asthma and hayfever), you are aware of that all year!

Having said that, there’s nothing to stop you weaving ideas from these days into your flash fiction stories.

For example, a character with an allergy – how does it get in their way? What do they do to overcome it as much as possible?

A character wants to set up a picnic and makes a right mess of it – could be potential for humour here. Do they give up on the idea or are they able to salvage something from the mess? Does anyone else help here?

So story ideas are there, including for flash. It’s a question, I think, of keeping an open mind to possibilities. I like to see these National Days as potential prompt ideas because you can take them that way.

I like to mix up the mood of my flash (and short) stories because I think this reflects life. Much as I’d love to find things funny all of the time, that isn’t possible. There is the darker side of life and I think it is honest to have stories which reflect both sides of life here. Certainly I believe having a mixture of the two types in a collection makes the stories, and the characters, more believable.

I do like to keep a balance in my collections though and this will also apply to Seeing The Other Side in due course.

There are times when I just know from my character outline what mood the story is likely to take. If, for example, I have a character dealing with a sad situation, there will be elements within the story which will show the character being influenced by that. I would then hope to write them going on to rise about things as much as is possible (and probably with help) but I can’t have them immune to what is going on around them. Else they would be a cardboard cut out character.

Characters make or break a story for me and even the most fantastical of creatures still has to be believable in some way. Motivation is key here. I might not understand what a great big dragon’s life is like,not having had experience of being a great big dragon (!), but I can imagine why they may want to terrorise a village. If they’re hungry, say, where would they go to look for food? Something has to drive them and basic needs can be a great way into working out what a character’s motivation would be.

Fairytales With Bite – Journeys

I like journeys. Journeys have purpose. (Okay I loathe traffic jams, cancellations on the trains etc but journeys themselves are generally fine). They are also great things to write stories around. For a magical setting, you’ve got more range as to what kind of transport your characters have to use. The sky could indeed be the limit here!

Journeys can also be enlightening. Why does your character have to go on one? What does it achieve for them? When using magic, how does that help or hinder them? Are there disadvantages to magical transport? How could it compare with what we have here? I’m thinking along the lines of energy usage here. Could your magical setting have issues with “clean” and “unclean” magical energy usage? Journeys would be likely to use up a lot of this.

What does your character think about having to go on a journey, especially if it is not something they would usually do and/or it is to somewhere they would far rather not go? Be fair, would you go to Mordor if you didn’t have to?!

This World and Others – Taking The Long Way

I remember as a kid my Dad taking the family out for day trips and, especially if we weren’t in a hurry, we’d take the long way around to get home after a great day out. It was all part of the trip and we enjoyed it. Would your characters ever choose to do that? Where would they choose to go and why? What would be their long way home?

Where characters have to take the long way out of necessity, what is behind that? How do they manage it? What help do they have along their way? Frodo from The Lord of the Rings needed others to help him. He’d have never have made it to Mordor on his own.

What kind of roads would your setting have? Is the thought of any kind of journey, long or short, something your characters might dread because of the state of the roads and/or transport networks? Would have every sympathy there!

If a character has a choice of a short or long way to achieve their objective, what would make them choose the longer, more complicated way? I would expect there to be good reasons behind that. For example, the short route could have hazards the longer one doesn’t. The longer route is safer but just longer.

Whatever journey your character is going on, what would they face along the way?

Story ideas there!

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Character Moments

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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 few days. Weather changeable – April is living up to its reputation for showers – though it hasn’t stopped Lady and I getting about. Writing and editing going well. Am off to a church event on Saturday in Salisbury and am looking forward to that (chance to catch up with some folk I know too).

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Delighted to share my latest post on Chandler’s Ford Today – Character Moments. I share some of my favourite character moments (which I am sure will ring more than one bell with you!) and ask some pertinent questions, which I hope will help you create your characters. I also discuss how using your own love of stories by others can help so much here and what character moments can mean to their author. Hope you enjoy the post.

Character Moments

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler chum today. Nice to catch up with her and her owner again today.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Character Moments for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up on Friday. See above. My next post Authors Electric will be up later this week too.

Character Tip: I’ve long found creating characters to be my favourite part of storytelling. Coming in at a close second is giving said characters the words to say/thoughts to think. It’s at that point they take on “life” for me. I can understand who they are and where they come from and what they want. From there I can figure out what kind of story these characters would best be suited for.

So it is worth taking time over creating your “people”/beings of choice? Definitely. But only you can figure out what it is you need to know about them. I always need to know what drives them. Others may need to know the character’s appearance and from that work out the kind of situation where the character would work best.

Sometimes what you need to know will change a bit from story to story, especially if you are working for a market or competition where the theme has been set. If, for example, the theme is love, you can work out what kind of love you want to write about (as it may not necessarily be just the romantic kind) and from that the kind of characters who would work best.

But prep work in terms of thinking things through does pay off. I’ve only abandoned two stories in my time and in both cases it was because I hadn’t thought things through enough. I’ve written hundreds of tales since…

Hope your day has gone well. Mixed bag weather wise here.

Writing wise, don’t forget it won’t be long before my author newsletter is out once again. To sign up for news, tips, and stories do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Have booked tickets for a multi book launch Bridge House Publishing are having in May. Am already looking forward to that. Online launches have the huge advantage of making it easier for people to get to them. I’ve attended several over the years where I know I couldn’t get to an in person event. Naturally I hope to have something like this for Seeing The Other Side in due course.

Launch Tip: You can think well ahead of time here about questions which are likely to come up and prepare some answers ready for the event. Also if you are planning to read from your book, take you time selecting what you will read. You obviously don’t want any spoilers but you do want something which will encourage your audience to want to find out more. And once you’ve found the right extract, do practice reading it out loud. It will help steady your nerves on the night of the event because you know you’ve rehearsed. You know you can do it basically!

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Hope the day has gone well. Nice to see some sunshine about. Am off for a day trip tomorrow and hope to get to do some writing though it won’t be as easy as usual. Will be on a replacement bus service rather than the train. Mind you, I suspect I can probably write some horror flash pieces about replacement bus services at some point!

Am happily working away on my third book – all is going well, I’m glad to say. So looking forward to Seeing The Other Side seeing the light of day in due course.

I’ve always loved writing dialogue for my characters and, sometimes with my flash fiction work, I write tales which are all dialogue. These stories have a great pace to them but the challenge is always to ensure it is clear to the reader who is speaking. Every line of dialogue must move the story on in some way, just as any other component in a story should do. I find it useful to establish character names in the first couple of lines and then maybe one repeat later down in the tale.

I also like to give my characters slightly different ways of speaking. One will use certain kinds of vocabulary, the other character might use slang etc. All of that helps readers.

It is great fun to do and it makes for a good writing exercise too. Why not try it? Set yourself an exercise of an all dialogue story to, say, 100 words. Good luck!

Flash is a wonderful format for exploring genre. I’ve written, and continue to write, flash tales in a wide variety of genres and moods. It’s fun and a fabulous ongoing challenge and that’s before I get to the limited word count bit!

Flash encourages you to think about your choice of words and whether or not you can express something better. A lot of the time you can do that but you need the first draft down first to be able to see it. I like to see the first draft as just getting the ideas down and then it’s a case of refining them further and getting the best out of them.

And you need to give yourself time for that. Sometimes I think that can be the hardest thing of all – to make yourself wait for a bit before revisiting a story and being able to evaluate it properly. I make sure I’m working on other things during these times. I have something else to focus on and it means I do get the time break I need.

Fairytales with Bite – Cloudy Weather For Characters

How do your magical characters cope when things are clouding over for them, when they can’t see a way through to resolving whatever their main problem is? This is where grit, determination, and some luck come into play (though I must admit I especially love those stories where you can see the characters doing something to “earn” having some good luck go their way).

It’s at this moment of a story you usually find out whether a character’s friend really is their friend or not. Tests of character are not only for the lead characters after all and not everyone passes that test. Naturally when a friend fails the test, things become even gloomier for the lead and that will be the moment they will be tempted to give up. Totally understandable to feel that way too. But what does keep them going? What keeps them believing there will be sunshine beyond the gloom?

If magical help is available to clear those clouds away, what form does it come in and who is willing to provide that help? What do they stand to gain by offering this? If it is genuine goodwill (which I would hope would be the case), is it a case of their having gone through difficult times themselves and they want someone else, your lead character, to also get through?

Story ideas there!

This World and Others – Smoothing The Way For Good or Evil

Which characters clear the way for your lead to either be the hero or the villain? Generally, these folks don’t work alone. In the case of villains, they need their minions. In the case of heroes, they need their guides.

Are your characters here motivated by ideology or something simpler like greed? Or is it a case they want to make sure they’re on the winning side and so will (a) survive and (b) reap rich rewards later on?

Do any of your characters end up regretting the choices they make here or does it all work out well for them?

When a character is helping the villain, what happens to them when the villain fails? Often the villain will make sure their minions suffer ill effects long before they themselves do!

When a character is helping the hero, what happens to them when the hero succeeds? Do they end up being disappointed by the rewards they receive? (I’d make sure they weren’t in the hero’s shoes). If somehow the villain succeeds, can this character escape any inevitable retribution the villain would want to impose?

Also, can there be the possibility your character’s ideas of who the hero and villain are could be wrong?

Again, story thoughts to explore there.

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Flash Fiction On Radio

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Hope you have had a good week. Lovely weather. Lady and I have enjoyed being out and about in that. Writing and editing going well. Steadily making progress.

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Delighted to share Flash Fiction On Radio for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I include in this a link to the Mixcloud recording of Hannah Kate’s Spring Equinox show on North Manchester FM. I was thrilled to have my Out With The Old included in this.

Also in the post are hints and tips on preparing stories for broadcast which I hope you will find useful. I also share tips on preparing the story itself. Thinking about the impact you want to have is especially useful here (and do bear in mind you are so reliant on how something sounds here).

I look at the importance of rehearsals and believe flash fiction and radio are a great match. There are opportunities out there for short form writers – community and internet stations help a lot here and are well worth supporting and listening to.

Hope you enjoy the post.

Flash Fiction on Radio

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Hope you’ve had a good day. Not as warm as yesterday but pleasant enough. Lady enjoyed seeing her Hungarian Vizler friend again.

The Society of Authors have launched a Human Authored campaign in conjunction with their American counterparts, The Authors Guild. To find out more do click on the link here.

I’ve applied for it for my Tripping The Flash Fantastic and will add future books of mine to this labelling scheme. The scheme is open to books published from 2020 onwards (which is why I can’t list From Light to Dark and Back Again as that came out in 2017). There are logos you can use on your website and I hope to put them on mine over the weekend at some point. If you’re not already a member of The Society of Authors, you can apply to do so via the link below too.

I think this is a great idea to differentiate from AI produced books and wish the scheme well.

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Gorgeous day today and Lady enjoyed catching up with her Hungarian Vizler pal. I squeezed in a short swim and a hairdressing appointment so a nice but full day and am glad to now be at my desk to write.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Flash Fiction On Radio for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I will be including in this the link to the recent Hannah Kate Spring Equinox show on North Manchester FM where my story, Out With The Old, was broadcast. I’ll also be sharing hints and tips when it comes to writing short pieces for radio. Hope you’ll find it useful. See above.

Am happily editing a short story for a competition at the moment. Am also equally happily editing someone else too. Editing others is interesting because it can show up so much about your own writing which you can take and learn from.

Editing Tip: If you prefer to edit on screen, do change the font, the font size, the colour of the text etc to make the document look new to you. That will help you pick up more errors and there will be some. There always is, for everyone. You also know you won’t be sending the manuscript out in this form but it is amazing how enlightening a “new” looking piece can be to your brain for spotting things you would otherwise have missed. It is worth doing. Also it helps to be aware the brain will fill in the words you meant to put in but which aren’t there in fact. Having a new looking document makes that kind of thing easier to spot too.

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Hope today has been a good one. Lady had a lovely puppy party in the park with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals. We also saw Daisy the gentle spaniel. Great time had by all.

I look at Flash Fiction On Radio for my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week (see my author page here for the link to that – also see above). I’ve mentioned before reading work aloud ahead of sending it anywhere is a useful editing technique. For broadcast and Open Prose Mic Nights, I would say it is essential.

I know I find it helps calm my nerves a bit precisely because I know I’ve rehearsed, I’ve played my recordings back to check how the story is coming across and so on. Good prep work helps all kinds of writing including flash.

As well as seeing my own work come out, it is a privilege and joy to see books I’ve edited for others come out. Another one of those has come out recently.

Now one of the lovely things about the writing community is it is supportive and you quickly make friends. Of all the writer friends I am privileged to know (hello, all!), I can’t think of one of them who enjoys writing their blurb. They’ve come up with thousands of words of fabulous prose and then that short bit on the back cover…

I also can’t think of any writer (and this goes for me too) who doesn’t spend considerable time on getting that short bit on the back cover right or as right as possible!

Blurb Tip: I’ve found it helpful to try to treat this as a piece of flash non-fiction writing. I will often start by working out what I know I want the blurb to end with. From there I can figure out what must come immediately before it and then that will open up ideas for how I open the piece.

Still hard work. Still plenty of crafting and editing to be done but I’ve found thinking of it in these terms has helped and I hope it helps you too.

I was talking about editing on my author page here and it is just as vital to get it right for flash fiction, as for any other kind of writing. I would also say it is easier with flash to make the classic error of leaving words out.

Why? Partly because you do have the word count limit in your mind and partly you may well be writing quickly to get that first draft down. Depending on the word count, I can draft a flash piece in fifteen minutes. It’s not going anywhere in that rough state, mind you! I easily spend several times longer than that honing and crafting the piece before it does go anywhere.

And it’s easy to think you’ve got to the required word count when you spot those dratted missing words, put them in and then need to go through the piece again to get it to what you need word count wise.

Flash may be short but there are still no short cuts with crafting it and rightly so.

Fairytales With Bite – Light Bearers

Who are the positive souls in your setting? Who could be considered to be light bearers for others who need that? The obvious one here to me is Sam Gamgee acting in this manner towards Frodo in The Lord of the Rings. Sam’s presence and actions made a huge difference and your light bearers should do the same. Their motivations for doing this should be strong enough to withstand pretty much anything because this should come from a genuine wish to help someone else. No fair weather friends here.

Even outside of quest stories, there will be times your characters may feel as if they’re stumbling in the dark, figuratively or literally. So who would be their light bearer to help them get out of this? How would the light bearer achieve this? Is magic involved at all?

What struggles would your light bearers have with their role? Many will play second fiddle to the lead character. Could they come to resent this or are they relieved about it? Sam never sort to take over from Frodo as such, neither did Sam envy him. This is just one reason why I think Sam is more heroic than might at first appear to be the case – and maybe that could be true for your characters too.

Also, what darkness is there which needs to be overcome by light? How did that come into being making light bearers needed at all?

This World and Others – Sources of Light

What sources of light does your world have? How many of these are natural for your setting? How many have been invented to suit the purposes of your setting? There could be interesting stories in working out who developed these things, their problems doing so, and how those were overcome. Also, what materials would they have needed and how easy or otherwise was it to get these things? Would your setting experience environmental damage similar to what we have had here?

Assuming sources of light have been well established, what kinds are used for what purpose? Could magic be used to produce these light sources or are they powered by magic? What would be the downside to that? Would there be a risk of running out of magical energy to keep these things going?

Who controls the sources of light and do they so fairly? Would certain magical species have access to only some kinds of light but not others (and could that be because they’ve shown they can’t be trusted with these when allowed access before?).

Story ideas there, I’m sure!

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Hopes In Writing

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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 week. Do have a lovely Easter break (and Passover if you celebrate). I’m looking forward to the Easter services, always a special time. Lady and I are enjoying the sunshine and making the most of it while it lasts. Writing wise, I plough on!

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Am pleased to share Hopes In Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I look at this from the viewpoints of hopes for a writer and how we can use hopes to strengthen our characterisation. After all, our characters must hope for something, yes?

I look at hopes coming from basic needs, believable hopes for characters, and the best kinds of hopes for characters which are not necessarily the same as the best hopes because a character may hope for something but they actually need something better).

I also look at hopes for writers, especially developments in print on demand and the indie press, both of which have given more opportunities for writers.

Hope you enjoy the post too!

Hopes in Writing

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Quiet day in the park today but lovely all the same. Lady and I enjoyed the sunshine.

Don’t forget I’ll be sharing Hopes in Writing for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I’ll be looking at hopes for writers and how we can use hopes as part of our characterisation. Hope you’ll find the post useful. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Loved the ACW group I went to online last night – good chat and laughs. There is rarely a time when that isn’t welcome!

Writing wise, I do plan to get on with more story writing over the weekend, especially on Sunday. I was pleased to recently use two stories I drafted at the last ACW Flash Fiction Group meeting for a recent Substack post and YouTube video. I do like to have stories like this in “stock” so to speak, even if they have only just been put into the “stock cupboard”. I do know I could do with topping up my supplies though! Mind you, this is a fun task to be getting on with and the Easter weekend should help a lot here.

Hope your day has gone well. Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler pal so all is well there.

Writing wise, am looking forward to “going to” an online ACW meeting this evening. It’s always a fun one. It also won’t be too long before my next article will be on Writers’ Narrative. Hope to share the link to that next week.

Also my April newsletter went out today. (1st April).

Editing Tip: The biggest one of all, I think, is to give yourself plenty of time and accept you will need more than one sweep for this. You will, in fact, need several. You will need an edit to make sure the story “works properly” (structural). You will need an edit to look for inconsistencies as well as typos and grammatical errors (copy editing). You will need a final check all is well before the manuscript goes to print (proofreading). All three take time. All three make a huge difference to how well your work comes across. Don’t sell yourself short here.

Yes, I’m biased being an editor but I think it is a good bias. I know I’ve always appreciated the editing work carried out on my books. Editors will pick up on things you won’t have seen, precisely because you are too close to your own work (and in many ways should be as it is your baby, after all, but you do need to accept you need that distance and independent eye).

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Hope to do much more flash fiction writing this weekend but meantime I thought I’d share a fun story I wrote for Flash NANO 2025 (which was alas the last one!). Hope you enjoy the following.

A Change Will Do You Good by Allison Symes

How often did I hear her say “A change will do you good”, whenever life threw bricks at me? It was her answer to everything.
I did wonder if she used it as an excuse when chatting about my latest failure with the neighbours. I guess she had to find something to say. Mums are like that.
Still, I have, at last, found a change I like. She never did want me to go to that special school. I told her she’d watched too many fantasy films. But I loved the school and finally found somewhere I didn’t stick out. Everyone else there was like me.
As for the change, I know I shouldn’t have done it but I’d just had enough.
I turned Mum into a statue. The spell will wear off tomorrow. No harm done. She’ll remember nothing.
But I get some peace and quiet for a day. That is a change I welcome. And I can use it whenever she becomes a little too much.
You do understand, don’t you?

Ends
Allison Symes – 3rd November 2025

I was looking through Writing Magazine earlier today and came across a place which specifically asked for flash prose. I know that sounds an odd term but it isn’t really. I’ve occasionally written a flash story in poetic form so it does pay to make the distinction. Certainly, flash prose does make up the vast majority of what I write.

I do write flash acrostics more often and they’re fun to do now, every now and then, as a change. It pays to keep the word or words you use for this short though.

Most of all, I do write to the different categories in flash in terms of word count as I’m pleased to say there are far more competitions about now than when I was starting out in this field. So it pays to be able to write to the various word counts required, the most popular being 50, 100, 250, 300, and 500 words.

I was talking about editing on my other Facebook page but I should add here flash needs just as much editing as any other form of writing. One thing I’m always looking out for is whether my words are the best I could choose to create the maximum impact for the fewest words used.

The other thing to watch here when writing in this form is that errors will stand out more given the reduced word counts involved so beware! Mind you, it is easier to read flash pieces out loud to pick up errors that way and to check your dialogue does flow as it should do. So there are positives here!

You still need to take your time though!

Fairytales with Bite – Sparkle and Glitter

I must admit I’m always wary when any magical character turns up in a story spreading sparkle and glitter and good will. I always want to see the context behind that. Is this character really as good as they are making out to be or is this a good cover up? What do they hope to get out of it? I want to see good deeds carried out for good reasons.

I’ve much more sympathy, and more inclined to believe, those characters who try to do what is right, sometimes muck it up, and then seek to put it right. Mind you, I’ve got more sympathy for those in life who do that.

Those characters who are generally good will be more believable if you show something of what led them to be that way. What made them decide not to go down the path for using power for their own ends and so on? Show something of the struggle they may have against that constant temptation.

I’m sure there must be magical characters who would love to “blitz” away a bad magical being for the best of reasons but know in doing so they will betray themselves and their principles so have to find a better way of dealing with this.

I also think magic is a form of power and there will be downsides to those using it.

This World and Others – Putting On A Show

Do your magical characters like to put on a show when using their powers or do they believe discretion is the better part of valour? (I prefer that myself).

Those characters who do like to put on a show – what are their motivations for this? Is it because they’re insecure or are they trying to demonstrate to others they’re worthy of promotion etc? What do they really want? There usually is something!

When shows are put on for better reasons, individually or state events, who is behind this? What are the shows for? For state events, will these be a means of controlling the population? I can’t help but think of the old Roman maxim here about bread and circuses.

What do your characters make of shows which they are either part of, attend (and do they have a choice on that?), or know about? If your characters do their utmost to avoid these things, how successful or otherwise are they at doing that? Would other characters give them grief for this?

Story ideas there!

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Templates

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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 week. Weather more changeable but Lady has been having fabulous times in the park with her closest chums so all well there. Glad to say my story did go out on Hannah Kate’s Spring Equinox show on Tuesday 24th March. Links below

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Am pleased to share Templates on Chandler’s Ford Today. I share thoughts on what you could put in your own template to help you flesh out characters and/or settings. All of the questions I share here will help you come up with story ideas.

I also look at the advantages and disadvantages of templates. I see them as a helpful way in to creating a new character and/or setting. Sometimes it is useful to know the setting first and then you can work out who would populate it. Often settings can almost be like characters in their own right – for example, think of the moors in Wuthering Heights or Dickens’ London as shown in Oliver Twist.

I also mix up the questions I use in templates to avoid them becoming formulaic. Hope you find the post useful.

Templates

 

Hope today has gone well. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler chum today – the dogs are always pleased to see each other. It’s lovely to see.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Templates on Chandler’s Ford Today this week – link up tomorrow. See above. I’ll be looking at the usefulness of these things (and also discuss some disadvantages, not everyone gets on with them for one thing). I’ll also be suggesting ideas for your own templates. Hope the post will prove useful.

Am glad to say I now have the link for the Hannah Kate Spring Equinox show on North Manchester FM on Mixcloud. I hope to catch up with this myself at the weekend but highly recommend a listen because I love the stories on these shows though I will admit to bias being on the show and knowing someone else who is but it is a good bias to have, I think.

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Lady had a fabulous puppy party this morning with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback friends and Coco, the lovely Labradoodle. All four dogs went home tired and happy.

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later on tonight. Our theme this time is sixty. There are various ways to incorporate that thought into stories and we will be looking at some of those this evening.

I hope to catch up with Hannah Kate’s Spring Equinox show over the weekend but many congratulations to all of the writers who had work featured here. I always enjoy catching up with these shows and listening to all of the stories – fabulous entertainment.

Writing Tip: Character names can be used to reflect something of their age and likely social status but the main thing to watch when having more than one named character in tale is to ensure the names are different enough so it is easy for readers to tell who is speaking at any given point.

Also it helps not to have the same initials. If Jake and John are in the same tale, it could be easy to confuse these unless there are other clear points of difference such as in the manner each of them speaks and the type of vocabulary they use.

A good editing tip here is when you read through your work, can you tell the characters apart easily? You should be able to do so.

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Earlier this week at the meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group, we looked at the theme of Sixty. I chose that to fit in with my special birthday (couldn’t resist it!) but it does lend itself to stories based on diamonds, special birthdays and anniversaries. You can also just use the number itself as part of a story such as part of an address, a sum of money and more.

I also set the group some exercises, one of which was to write to sixty words exactly including the title. My story for that session, to show as an example, is below. Hope you enjoy it.

My Hero by Allison Symes

I can’t say I like his handiwork but he leaves me gifts. He doesn’t do that for anyone else. He comes and sits on my lap when I feel sad. Then goes out and kills as many mice as he can find and brings them all to me.

I possibly shouldn’t have called my rough diamond Mr Tiddles.

Ends
Allison Symes – 8th March 2026

Word Count including title = 60

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The next best thing any reader can do after buying an author’s book is to review them, of course. A lovely one for my Tripping The Flash Fantastic includes the following quote.

Fabulous collection of poems and flash fiction. Some made me giggle, some made me gasp, all surprised me! I found it a real page turner, as the stories had such unexpected twists and turns!

Many thanks to my lovely reviewer here. Reviews like that reassure an author they’re on the right lines. I look to entertain with my flash and short stories so it’s good to know that is happening!

The great thing with reviews is they don’t have to be long, which is so apt for when you’re reviewing a flash fiction collection.

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Looking forward to joining in with some of the exercises I’m setting for tonight’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. Always good fun this and I get more drafts down so nothing to dislike there. Hopefully these will end up later on being polished up for competitions. Am hoping to get to write some further drafts over the weekend as there are competitions coming up in May and beyond which I always have a go at and I do like to start early. It means I get enough time to rest my drafts to assess them properly well ahead of deadlines.

I also make a point of mixing up the kind of writing exercise I use because it keeps me on my toes and I get to create more stories this way. I must admit though I do have a soft spot for the opening line kind.

Fairytales With Bite – A New Era

This topic came to mind as I’ve recently celebrated a landmark birthday. You know, the kind of one which marks the end of one decade and the beginning of another.

So how would your magical characters recognize what was a new era for them? Does your setting mark time in a similar way to ours but, if not, how do they do so? How would their eras correlate to what we would recognize as that?

Now I see my next decade as a promising one in that I hope to continue to develop my writing and hopefully have more success with it. But how would your characters see the passing of another decade (or the equivalent)? Do they worry about aging and, if so, why? Would magical powers decrease with age and that is why nobody really wants to think about getting older and what it would mean there? (There are clear parallels with us here).

Is your magical setting a benevolent one or a dictatorship? That would colour the views of your characters as they enter a new era. They may want more of the same or a complete overthrow of the regime. Good story thoughts there.

And a character’s view to aging, whether they’re magical or not, can also highlight other attitudes of theirs. If they worry about aging, could it because they know how older beings are treated? Again, good story ideas there.

This World and Others – Leaving the Past Behind

Landmark birthdays can give cause for reflection as you look ahead to the decade to come and ponder on the one you’ve just left behind. I don’t think it is entirely possible to leave the past behind. You always carry some of this with us and so should our characters. But there are times we want to not be held back by damaging things from our past and that again can often be the case with our characters.

When it comes to magical or alien characters, what kinds of things would they want to confine to the past and why? Would they have the same or similar regrets to us or would theirs be different due to their nature and/or environment?

Leaving the past behind can throw up interesting areas to explore for historians and archaeologists. What would count as archaeological finds on your setting? Would it be anything we’d recognize? Sometimes discoveries from the past can have impact on what is known now. For example, the finding of the remains of King Richard III has done this. Are there things from the past your world and/or characters wish had stayed hidden?

Definite story ideas there.

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Setting Writing Exercises

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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 few days. Delighted to share broadcasting news this time (see further time) and Lady has had a great week with her pals. All have appreciated the sunshine, as have their owners.

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Delighted to share Setting Writing Exercises on Chandler’s Ford Today which I hope will prove useful to those running writing groups and/or authors who set exercises as part of their newsletters etc to engage with readers (and fellow writers).

I set tips, include examples of different writing exercises, and the importance of mixing things up here. I also look at the benefits of writing exercises whether you do them, set them, or, like me do both as often as you can.

I love writing exercises and it is a joy to set them for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group, which I lead monthly. The group have come up with fabulous stories as a result and I maintain, even if your writing work is in the longer forms, using a writing exercise as a “warm up” is not a bad idea. It gets you into writing (and you can work on those shorter pieces again later, hopefully getting those published too. Nothing to dislike about that thought!).

I hope you find the post useful.

Setting Writing Exercises

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A busy day but Lady enjoyed meeting up with the “girls”, her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals.

I’ll be sharing Setting Writing Exercises for Chandler’s Ford Today this week – link up tomorrow. See above. Will be useful for anyone running a group and/or individual authors looking to set exercises to engage with readers/fellow writers via their newsletters etc.

I’m looking forward to joining in with a Zoom meeting of the Association of Christian Writers later this evening – will be good to chat to fellow writers/ACW members. I enjoyed this kind of meeting when ACW ran it before so I’m pleased they’re doing it again. This is one of the perks of being an ACW member and it was a great meeting.

Last but not least, I’m thrilled to announce my story, Out With The Old, will be broadcast on Hannah Kate’s Spring Equinox show on North Manchester FM this coming, Saturday 21st March. Link below shares more details. (If you can’t listen live, there is a Listen Again facility. I love that facility myself and often make use of it).

North Manchester FM: Hannah’s Bookshelf Spring Equinox Special, Saturday 21 March, 2-4pm

It’s my turn once again on the Authors Electric blog and this time I look at Special Years. I have a special birthday coming up over the weekend, you know the kind that ends in zero, but it is also a reminder of my writing anniversary thirty years ago.

A writing anniversary is a good time to reflect on the writing journey to date and mine has taken many twists and turns I hadn’t anticipated when I first started out trying to write seriously for publication. I also look at how I felt when I was first starting out because it is hard to believe then the break will come and you do need persistence, grit, call it what you will, to keep going as a writer. I think it pays to remind yourself of that sometimes. And, of course, to keep going!

Hope you enjoy the post.

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I look at Setting Writing Exercises for Chandler’s Ford Today this week and, of course, it is something I do a lot of but I respond to even more writing exercises for my flash fiction. I can’t give an accurate figure on it but I estimate well over 90% of my flash stories started life as a response to an exercise. When I go to writing events such as The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, I will sometimes set exercises there but again response to even more from the tutors there.

Also, in entering competitions, especially those with a set theme, I’m responding to an exercise effectively so it is a good idea to practice writing to different kinds, something I hope to do more of later this weekend.

I must admit though I do love the opening line exercises and have used so many of these to start my flash pieces. I find they help me hit the ground running with my characters and their situations and I like that a lot.


Pleased to say I’ll be having a flash piece broadcast on Hannah Kate’s Spring Equinox show on North Manchester FM on Saturday, It has been an especially busy and tiring week so far so this was lovely news to receive. Pleased to say a dear friend of mine will also be having her story broadcast. Love it when that happens.

For stories for potential broadcast I always do record them on Zoom so I can practice reading them aloud and get my timings right. Playing them back when I finish the recorded Zoom meeting with myself is a boon as I can hear how I sound – am I reading too fast? Is my pacing a bit slow etc? Plus Zoom gives you an exact record time which is so useful.

I also use Zoom for when I’m practicing for Open Prose Mic Night sessions for the same reasons. Most of these sessions are for an upper limit of five minutes only. Nobody minds you coming in at under that time but it is unfair on the other performers to go over so using Zoom is a good way to know in advance I won’t be doing that.

It’s also useful for hearing how your dialogue sounds in longer stories too so highly recommend doing this. Back in the day I did use Audacity but I do find Zoom even easier to use.

Hope today has gone well. Lady has been busy enjoying the sunshine with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals.

Flash fiction is a wonderful format for sharing moments in a character’s life which are complete stories in and of themselves, but which are shorter than “normal” short stories. The form encourages you to cut the waffle and to only share with a reader what matters to the character. That alone tightens up your writing. I’ve found that has carried over into my blog and article work, which is no bad thing.

So when I’m outlining a character, I focus on what is the one thing which matters to them and what gets in their way of obtaining it. It’s a great story structure and naturally the tale will show whether they do obtain it or not in the end. Sometimes other things will crop up which show them what they thought they wanted wasn’t ideal for them after all and they find something better. But what matters is something happens, there is always a point of change even in the smallest piece of flash fiction.

And it is a fantastic challenge, always.

Fairytales with Bite – Party Time

As I write this in March 2026, I’m looking forward to celebrating a big birthday, you know the kind with the zero on the end. Party time is fun! But do your characters take the same view? Do they celebrate each and every birthday or just do the special ones? What kind of format would their parties take, especially if they live in a world alien to our own?

If your setting is a magical one with various species, would they all celebrate in the same way or would what would be acceptable to one kind be abhorrent to another? Could that lead to clashes?

I don’t especially like balloons (not great for the environment either) or candles (fire hazard especially with my big birthday coming up!), but what “fripperies” would your characters like to have at their celebrations? What would be considered a “must have”?

Also, who does all of the work in getting the party food and drink ready? Are certain magical characters in your setting known for their skills here?

Could be some fun stories to write up here, apt since parties should be fun.

This World and Others – Society Occasions

As well as private functions as I look at in Fairytales with Bite, most places will have some sort of society event, sombre or otherwise. What forms would these take in your setting?

Being based in the UK, we had various Jubilees for the late Queen Elizabeth (and it seems so strange still writing of her in those terms) and I enjoyed these. We also have sombre occasions such as Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day. But all of these things are important in different ways and matter in different ways.

So how would your society hold a public celebration? How would they have a remembrance event (and what are they seeking to keep in the public memory here)?

What would your characters make of these things and do they play any role in any official events like this? Is there anyone with a vested interest in disrupting these things in some way and what are they hoping to achieve?

Story ideas there!

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Getting The Hooks In

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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 the week has gone well. Mixed bag with the weather though there have been some nice days and Lady has seen her friends so all well there. Writing and editing going well too. I also have publication news too, which is always welcome.

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Am pleased to share Getting In The Hooks for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I look at the importance of delivering on the hook’s promise, look at their role in non-fiction and writing exercises, the usefulness of opening line hooks, other kinds of hook, and placing your hooks (they don’t necessarily have to be at the beginning). I hope you find the post useful.

Publication News: Nice to finish the working week with publication news. Am delighted to say I’ll be in The Best of CafeLit 15 coming out later this year. Good to see some familiar names will be in that book with me but congratulations to all.

Getting The Hooks In

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Hope the day has gone well. Drizzly and blustery here though Lady was cheered to see her Hungarian Vizler chum again.

Writing wise, am happily preparing my next PowerPoint for the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group later this month. Plus my Chandler’s Ford Today post on Getting The Hooks In will be up tomorrow. See above. Am also equally happily editing and drafting bits and pieces for later use. Never a dull moment here but that is how I like things to be.

Character Tip: I always find it useful to work out what motivates my character but, on top of that, to work out what they would be prepared to do when pressurised. The differences between “normal” motivations and those actions which come as a result of dire straits can be interesting and reveal much more about your character to you.

For example, a character who is usually calm because they hate drama, unnecessary anger etc because they know how hurtful it can be, what would make them go away from that state? Would it be to help someone else and why would they help that particular character? Definite story ideas there.

Hope today has gone well. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler pal again today and a lovely time was had by both dogs.

Don’t forget I’ll be sharing Getting The Hooks In on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. I share thoughts and tips here and hope the post will prove to be useful.

Writing Question: What do I most enjoy about any creative writing? I think it is the creating of something new. Okay, I know it will need a lot of work but there is something new I’ve got down on paper or on screen with potential to be better. And I find discovering that potential to be such a challenging, fun and interesting thing to do. I really do love editing. It brings out the best of those initial drafts and it’s great to get to that point. I’ve also found the more writing I do, the clearer my writing voice becomes and I like that too.

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Hope the day has gone well. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback chums today and a lovely time was had by all.

Pleased to discover yesterday I will be in The Best of CafeLit 15 later this year. Always lovely to receive news like that.

Writing wise, I hope to be back to drafting more stories over the weekend, especially on Sunday. That’s a lovely way to wind up the week as a whole. Am thoroughly enjoying reading Editor’s Choice – Friday Flash Fiction Favourites. I have some tales in there but the selection is wonderful and I highly recommend this (and not just because I’m in it, honest guv!). Link below.

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As well as writing flash fiction, I also read it. It makes sense to read in your genre. It confirms what you love about it for one thing! It also shows you what is out there already (and you can learn a great deal from that). Also reading the anthologies is simply fun to do and I read these in between reading novels. I like to make sure I read plenty in the short as well as the long forms – again, fun to do and so helpful to any writer as you learn what you like and dislike as you read. That does have a powerful impact on your own writing.

My works, including the anthologies I’m in, can be found on Amazon (as well as elsewhere). Link to my Amazon Author Central page here. (Am so looking forward to when my third collection, Seeing The Other Side, can be on there too).

Twist endings in flash work so well. You don’t have to wait long for the pay-off. Because the story is so short, the impact of that twist is stronger, I think. I often know my twist first so I then jot down different scenarios which would lead to this twist arising naturally and then go with the one which has the most impact on me. Other readers are likely to feel similarly.

I also know the kind of twist I love reading in stories written by others and why I like them. Almost inevitably it is because when I look back at the story again, I can see the clues were there which would lead to that twist and this is why it works so well.

Twists serve the story and the character. It all has to blend together nicely. A twist shouldn’t be thrown in just for the sake of it. It won’t work. But a character doing something and then because something else happens, the twist occurs, that’s fair enough. And I do love it when authors manage to wrong foot me here. I always go back and study how they’ve done it. Always plenty to learn here (which is another aspect of the writing life I love because you are always learning and that is so good for you and your creativity).

Fairytales With Bite – Going Against Stereotype

Fairytales may be seen to be stereotypical but they often go against type. When you think that many powerful magical characters are older men or women in disguise, usually to teach someone arrogant a lesson, the message there is, rightly, don’t write off or treat with contempt older folk.

I must admit I love the Shrek franchise which goes even further here in turning a typical storybook villain into the hero. Thought that was so well done. And it does throw open an interesting question – just who is the hero or villain? These can be very different characters depending on which perspective you use. Robin Hood is a great example of this – if you were from peasant stock, you’d support him. If you were the Sheriff of Nottingham, you definitely wouldn’t.

When it comes to going against stereotype in your own stories, think about what it is you want to change. Do you want to give a fairytale species a better reputation as Shrek has successfully done? Or is it a question of helping a misunderstood character type have their say and showing where it is they come from?

Motivation is key here. Show us your character’s motivation, one we can understand (but not necessarily agree with), and then we’ll follow their journey and your story is more likely to work.

Happy anti-stereotype writing! (You do need to know what it is you want to change and why and then start from there).

This World and Others – Fitting In

I’ve always had a soft spot for characters who struggle to fit in but get there in the end, usually with understanding characters who help them and/or where they themselves go to huge efforts here. Sometimes it can be a case of their saving those who are misunderstanding them.

How easily do your characters find fitting in? Is it a natural thing for them or do they have to work hard at this? What parts of their personality do they reveal to make fitting in easier? Equally, what do they hide because they worry it will put folk off?

I always look for character development in stories, yes even the flash fiction pieces I write and read, because I like to see how the situation the characters are in change them for better or worse. Going through a situation could help your characters to fit in better at the end of the story than they had been at the beginning. That is a classic story arc because it works.

In a magical setting, how easy or otherwise would your non-magical characters have in fitting in? Are they treated decently or discriminated against? What can they do the magical kind can’t? These abilities could be the way they would fit in.

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Author Interview – Wendy H Jones – A Right Cozy Historical Crime

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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 Wendy H Jones and the contributing authors to A Right Cozy Historical Crime for various pictures, including author head shots, for my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. Captions are in the article itself. Hope you enjoy it.
Hope you have had a good few days. Wonderful sunshine here – have even got my washing out, whoopee! Lady and I have loved being out in the nicer weather with pals. It does lift the spirits. Writing continues to go well. Am waiting to hear later this month about whether a flash piece of mine has been accepted but I hope to get on with some more competition entries soon.

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I’m delighted to share a fabulous author interview on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I share Author Interview – Wendy H Jones – A Right Cozy Historical Crime.

This in depth conversation with Wendy focuses on the delights of combining two great story genres – historical fiction and crime. Wendy also shares wonderful tips highlighting things you need to know if you write in this combined form. I must admit I love both genres and to combine them still further in another great love of mine, the short story anthology, is just bliss.

Wendy also shares what fascinates her about historical fiction, why she picked the short story format for combining two genres (short stories have their challenges just sticking to one genre), and getting the use of language right for the time setting of the stories while still being accessible and much more besides.

Plenty to enjoy here and I heartily recommend the anthology too. It is a great read.

Author Interview – Wendy H Jones – A Right Cozy Historical Crime

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Hope the day has gone well. Lady and I enjoyed another lovely sunny day with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback chums.

Writing wise, do look out for a super interview with Wendy H Jones on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. See above. We’ll be discussing the latest anthology to come from her publishing house – A Right Cozy Historical Crime. Plus we’ll be discussing the joys of blending historical and crime fiction, a match made in heaven given both types of story individually try to get at the truth. There will be much more too. Link up tomorrow for what will be a great read.

If you’re looking for story writing tips, especially for this kind of story, do check this out. The interview is part of a blog tour organised by Lynsey Adams of Reading Between the Lines Vlog.

And huge congratulations to all of the authors in this cracking anthology.

Another lovely sunny day Lady and I made the most of by catching up with her Hungarian Vizler friend and equally great owner.

Writing wise, I’m looking forward to an ACW group meeting this evening – these are always great fun.

Reading wise, I’m focusing on light, entertaining reading. It’s my favourite kind of reading anyway but never more so than when the times are grim. If you want somewhere to start, do check out The Great Sermon Handicap by Wodehouse. If you like humour with bite to it, do check out Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. I’d start with the Vimes books.

Writing Tip: Do have a notebook to hand (or an app for your phone handy). Ideas do crop up at odd moments and I know from experience you don’t remember them later. I must admit I don’t have a notebook by my bed for the good reason the moment my head hits the pillow, that’s it, but I do have plenty of note paper and pens elsewhere and I do make good use of these. Also, make a point of reviewing your notebooks from writing events every so often. You will find things you’ve forgotten about but which you could work up into something promising. No prizes for guessing how I know this one!

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I like to mix up the mood of my flash pieces and literally go from light to dark and back again here, which gave me a useful title for my debut book!

But in anthologies generally, flash and short story ones, I like to see a mixture of moods. Fiction reflects life even where the setting is out of this world because there will be something about the characters which we understand. So therefore story moods should vary just as ours do.

Mind you, I will always have a soft spot for those tales which make us smile. I think they’re needed more than ever.

There is still time to get a story in to Hannah Kate for her Spring Equinox show on North Manchester FM. This goes out live on Saturday 21st March but the deadline for submissions is 16th March. See the link for more information and good luck if you give this a go. I’ve had a couple of festive flash pieces broadcast here and the show is always good fun to listen to. Why not check it out?

It is also good practice writing to a timed limit. You have three minutes maximum and I’ve always found it useful, once I’ve got my story sorted out, to record myself reading it on Zoom. When you end the meeting with yourself (yes, I know it sounds odd), Zoom will convert the file to an mp3 for you so you can play it back and hear how you sound. Just as importantly, it will give you the timing for your story. You can’t go wrong here and it is so easy to do.

Spring Equinox Stories Wanted for Hannah’s Bookshelf on North Manchester FM


Hope the day has gone well for you. I plan to start work soon on my presentation for the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group. This time I know the theme – a certain event is coming up this month and various things can come from that, which can be put to good use for storytelling. Looking forward to working on this presentation – they’re always fun to do but I’m itching to go on this one, which is always a good sign.

Hope to start drafting some more flash pieces over the weekend for competitions later this spring which I always have a crack at. Plus I hope later this year to work on getting another collection together. Am looking forward so much to Seeing The Other Side out there in the meantime. Will keep you updated as and when I have further news to share on that.

Fairytales With Bite – Coming to Life

As I write this, there are more signs of spring coming to life around me. I love this. It’s always cheering to see the daffodils, the blossom and so on appearing (and hearing more of the bird song too).

In your magical setting, what would be the equivalent of our seasons? What would your characters consider to be their natural world coming to life again? What would they welcome seeing coming back? What would they dread? For example, if there is a quiet season when the dragons aren’t around, I doubt if your characters, unless they are other dragons, are particularly going to welcome their return!

What would be your magical setting’s equivalent of the beautiful flowers and trees we see? Are any of these magical in their own right and what good or harm could they do? I wouldn’t like, for example, to come across the magical equivalent of a Venus fly trap especially if it was huge and could take larger prey!

Are there some natural things your characters actively encourage to come back to life when the season is right and why would they do this? How can they do it? (I’m thinking along the lines of what gardeners can do to encourage plants to flourish here). Could it backfire?

Story thoughts there.

This World and Others – Career Breaks

Taking time out to have a career break has become more common in recent years. Sometimes that break leads to someone pursuing a different career altogether when they decide to return to the workplace.

What would be the equivalent in your magical world? Can your characters ever step down from magical roles, albeit briefly? If they can, would this be treated as an extended holiday, a kind of sabbatical? What would happen if your characters decided they wanted a different magical role? Is it feasible for them to change? It is possible if what they’re thinking of changing to would be more useful to your powers that be, they’d encourage this.

Are the careers available in your magical setting dependent on what your character’s species and/or status are? Can anyone break the status quo here?

What would happen if those in power decided they wanted a career break? Could a fairy monarch, say, step down briefly, there be a Regency, and then he/she returns to the throne? Also give some thought as to why they would want this. There will be story ideas there.

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Catching Up

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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 in my books slideshow was taken by Wendy H Jones and another by Adrian Symes. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.
Hope the week has gone well. Enjoyed the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Wednesday. Lady has had a lovely time with her closest pals all week and we have had more sunshine. Spring is finally on the way, hooray!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to share Catching Up on Chandler’s Ford Today this week which is a round up of my recent(ish) news. Plenty has been happening since my last writing update here as I briefly outlined yesterday.

It pays, every now and again, to look back at where you have come from on your writing journey. Mine has taken me in directions I never envisaged when I started writing seriously but am glad of every experience here. Even the dodgier ones, such as almost being caught out by a vanity publisher and I stress almost, were useful in that I learned something from it and I also discovered the fabulous Society of Authors as a result.

Hope you enjoy the post.

Catching Up

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Hope today has gone well. Lady is having an absolute ball with her pals over the park at the moment. Today she saw her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals and Coco and Charlie. All of the dogs went home tired but happy.

Writing wise, I’m sharing Catching Up on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. This is a round up of various things happening in my writing world including Writers’ Narrative’s move to Substack, my editing work, Friday Flash Fiction (which also includes publication news) and more. A lot has happened in the last few months!

Marketing Tip: I’ve mentioned before I use odd pockets of time to draft flash pieces, brainstorm for titles, opening lines etc, but you can also use these periods to jot down some ideas for future marketing for your stories. This includes making a note of avenues you would like to explore. I find I am much more likely to do this if I write this down in the first place. I guess it is a case of my making a commitment to myself here.

Hope you’ve also enjoyed a lovely, sunny Wednesday. Proper puppy party over the park this morning with Lady, Coco, the lovely Labradoole, her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals. Plus our neighbour’s Golden Retriever (who is huge and lovely) came over to say hello. Lovely time had by all. Could swear I was feeling the benefit of being out in the sunshine. The dogs certainly loved it.

Writing wise, I’m sharing Catching Up on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. This will be a round up post of recent happenings, writing wise. Again, see above.

Character Tip: Think about what can “throw” your characters – illness, work worries, just sheer tiredness. What impact would those things have on their story and how would they overcome them, assuming they do? (Might be a short story if they don’t!). I know tiredness can directly have an impact on my writing so have developed ways of limiting that, such as accepting certain days when I’m rushed off my feet all day, I will only write for a shorter time and get bits and pieces done. Makes me feel better doing those things. Means I’m not overdoing it either. So what would your characters do to help them manage things?

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am thinking of sharing some of my 100 word flash pieces on my Substack account on a regular basis. Will keep you posted when I do this. One of the things I loved about writing for Friday Flash Fiction regularly was it did get me into the discipline of writing to such a tight word count often. And I’ve found that pays off. I also love the challenge of it too.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again on 1st March and to celebrate a significant birthday for me later that month, I will be sharing something special with this one which I hope will be prove useful.

To sign up do just head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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One thing which came up in last night’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group was how a document could inspire story ideas. This is even more true if the document is something someone wanted suppressed, as is so often the way with these things.

But bear in mind you can write flash (or longer fiction) based around an object and what that means to a character. Yes, there is such a thing as a random object generator too. I share a link to one here but there are others. But you could look at what a character would do to obtain or get rid of an object. Plenty of story ideas there.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting this evening. Hope to get some more drafts written too. I like taking part in the exercises I set. Some of them I do in advance to illustrate a point but I save a lot of them so I can join in on the night. Good fun!

I also love taking part in writing exercises at the various writing events I attend. I always see these as a great challenge but they do make you “up your game” and I’ve come up with several published stories thanks to these.

You can of course set your own writing exercises. I will sometimes use the random generators for this purposes and again the challenge of writing to a prompt you’ve not set yourself will encourage creativity and lateral thinking. If you like the old school way of doing this, take a book of proverbs, pick a page number at random and then a line number at random and then write to the theme of the proverb which comes up from that line.

It all helps keep you on your creative writing toes!

Fairytales with Bite – Starting Over Again

We know what it is to have to start over again in various aspects of life and how we feel about this. Sometimes a new start is something exciting to look forward to, at other times it is simply a pain, and at still others it comes with heartache. So how do your characters, magical or otherwise, feel and manage when they have to start all over again?

What led to the circumstances causing them to have to start again? Was it through their own mistakes or something beyond their control? Where they’ve been the unfortunate victims of circumstance, how do they overcome this? Would they want the circumstances to not dictate to them – that is, they will rise above it, no matter what? Good stories to be told following that path.

Do your characters have others to help them to start again or do these secondary characters get in the way, perhaps scared of the inevitable changes that are coming? Do they hold your characters back fearing to lose them altogether if they don’t?

Again, plenty of story ideas to come there given characters will have, like we do, mixed motives at times and that will also affect how they handle having to start again.

This World and Others – Rebuilding a World

Natural disasters are, sadly, a fact of life and some of them can change an area permanently. I’m thinking of the volcanic eruption which engulfed Pompeii (though ironically it did help preserve the place for all time – archaeologists have discovered so much here).

In your setting, what natural disasters have happened there? Were your species responsible for any of that happening and, if so, how? What have they learned from this? Have they been able to put things right? Did anything “good” come out of the disaster? Has your setting and those responsible for running it learned from the disaster to prevent anything like it happening again?

If magic was involved in the disaster, did it make things worse or did it limit the damage done? Was magic used in the clearing up operations? How did it help? Who did do the clearing up?

Of course, we can also rebuild our own personal worlds, especially after a sad event. How would your characters do this? Would they be “moving on “ knowing a loved one would want them to do so? How do they start again and rebuild? What help is available to them? Is your setting/major species broadly sympathetic here or not? Does the culture expect your characters to just get on with life again?

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