Bridge House Publishing Celebration and Broadcasting News

December 20, 2024Leave a comment

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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. I’m one of the tens of thousands affected by a water outage – has not been great. Am hoping it will be restored very soon and hopefully by the time this post goes out. Water was finally restored at 11 pm on Thursday 19th December – I so enjoyed my shower on the morning of the 20th!

Writing wise, am now winding down for the Christmas break and will resume normal posts from towards the end of next week onwards. Meantime do have a very happy Christmas and may I wish you all the best for the New Year. (Lady loves Christmas – gets spoiled rotten and she has high hopes from Santa Paws, of course).

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Hope you have had a good day. Joy reigns supreme here as we got our water back at 11 pm last night! I so enjoyed my shower this morning! Would like the Southern Water bosses to lose their unearned bonuses though. Can’t think how they could possibly justify those – and that’s as political as I get, folks.

Nobody around here has a good word to say for SW. We feel sorry for the engineers and the ones handing out the water bottles at the various centres (only three of them for 58,000 people – madness) but the management? Bah humbug as someone once said!

On a much happier note, I’m delighted to share this week’s Chandler’s Ford Today post on Bridge House Publishing Celebration and Broadcasting News. I share a round up of the recent BHP event and links to last weekend’s Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM where 23 authors, including me, had their festive flash tales put out on air. Do have a listen. The tales were lovely to listen to and cheered me up no end. My tale, Perspective, is on in the first half of the show (the first link shared in the CFT post).

Bridge House Publishing Celebration and Broadcasting News

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Still no water here. Hoping it will be restored tonight/tomorrow. There are tens of thousands unhappy customers of Southern Water right now including yours truly.

Looking forward to sharing a round up post on Chandler’s Ford Today about the recent Bridge House Publishing Celebration event and the Hannah Kate Three Minute Santas Show, where my story Perspective, was broadcast recently – link up tomorrow.

It was good to be in splendid company on the radio show too – I know five of the authors who were part of it and have heard of many of the others. I call this a result!

Loved the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting last night. It was good to see everyone and I look forward to catching up with everyone again in January.

Not a great day. I’m one of the tens of thousands currently without water thanks to Southern Water. Have not been able to get through to them, even online, and the earliest re-connect time will, hopefully, be tomorrow! Grrr… Turned out we didn’t get water back until Thursday – water was off for 36 hours.

On a happier note, Lady did get to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. I’m looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group later this evening – it’s our wrap up and chat session for the year. Hopefully some festive flash pieces will be shared too.

Will be sharing Bridge House Publishing Celebration and Broadcasting News on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

No story on Friday Flash Fiction from me now until after the Christmas break but I did want to say a huge congratulations to the winner of their Christmas competition plus the runners-up and all who were Highly Commended or Commended. Do check out the link to the 100 word stories section of the website and enjoy a great read, folks. (Am feeling much more cheerful than I did yesterday as our water supply was restored at 11pm last night).

Hope you have had a good day. Still waiting for Southern Water to restore “services”. (So if you are seeing posts saying it has been fixed, well not yet is the true position).

Something I mentioned at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting last night is, when you’ve got a topic you know will always come up, do jot down ideas for it early. Do get that first draft and polishing done early.

I know there will always be calls for festive flash so I can prepare a lot of work in advance of the actual call here. There are so many topics you can do this with too – there will always be calls for love stories for February, spring stories in March/April etc etc.

So it’s worth keeping an eye out on the calendar then and not just as we approach the year end.

One week to go to Christmas Day. Am I ready? No but am well on the way. It’s where I am usually at around this time. (Would however like my water supply back, pretty please Southern Water – grrr).

Probably won’t be submitting any further pieces to Friday Flash Fiction until the New Year as they are having a well deserved break. I know I’ll only be writing bits and pieces from the weekend onwards. One of my favourite aspects of the break is getting to spend more time on the sofa with my feet up and enjoying a good book. Always look forward to this as don’t get to do this as often as I would like.

Fairytales with Bite – Where a Wand Simply Will Not Do by Allison Symes, December 2024

Where A Wand Simply Will Not Do
Where a wand simply will not do is where a fairy needs to cheer her client up first.
Cinders needed this before the wand could be put to work.
The professional fairy will ensure all needs are met and not just by a wave of the wand.
Cinders needed reassurance, then the gown, then the coach etc.
Just a pity the girl had no sense of timing but even then magic isn’t the answer to that.
What Cinders really needed was a decent watch and the sense to check it regularly!
And the fairy godmother needed an updated spell book where poor Cinders did get fur slippers and not glass ones.
Those must’ve been hell to dance in.

Ends
Allison Symes – 18th December 2024

Hope you enjoyed that.

This World and Others – Winter/Story Festivals

Does your setting have anything like Christmas? (Discworld does – it has Hogswatch. Narnia gets Christmas back of course ). What do your characters do to pass away the time during the long winter months? What would they celebrate? What stories would they recount at these times?

Most places would have some sort of winter event – usually connected with showing the light in some way – so what would your setting have here? What special foods and drinks would there be?

Does everyone join in with the festivities or are there those who are deliberately excluded or choose to avoid the events? Why would either of these cases be?

When it comes to storytelling for festivals, are there writers who are banned? If so, who and why? Are there stories everyone expects to hear? What are these and how did they come to be part of your setting’s heritage?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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No story on Friday Flash Fiction from me now until after the Christmas break but I did want to say a huge congratulations to the winner of their Christmas competition plus the runners-up and all who were Highly Commended or Commended. https://t.co/Jvd2WGpy87 pic.twitter.com/erNztg5OqV
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 20, 2024

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Bridge House Publishing Celebration and Broadcasting News https://t.co/9wyteHV2fa In this week’s CFT post, I report on the BHP event and share links to last weekend’s Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM where 23 authors, including me, had festive flash tales on air.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 20, 2024

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What I Look For In A Good Story

December 13, 2024Leave a comment

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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. Many thanks to Lynn Clement and Janet Williams for publicity shots of yours truly above. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

Hope you’ve had a good few days. Has been bitterly cold, not that Lady appears to have noticed. Looking forward to listening to all of the 23 festive flash pieces, including mine, which are due to be broadcast on Hannah Kate’s Three Minute Santas show on Saturday 14th December from 2 to 4 pm on North Manchester FM. Should be a fabulous afternoon of being read to!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share What I Look For In a Good Story for Chandler‘s Ford Today this week. I share an ingredients list for what I think is crucial for a cracking read, look at character -v- plot, and ask short or long term fiction or both. Hope you enjoy the post and you end up with even more good stories to enjoy over the Christmas period.

What I Look For In A Good Story

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Another cold day today though Lady was too busy running around with Coco, the fabulous Labradoodle, to notice. Both dogs had a fabulous run.

Will be sharing my What I Look For In A Good Story on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. Comments are always welcome in the CFT comments box. And I hope Santa provides plenty of chances for you to discover even more good stories this Christmas time!

The following week’s post will be a festive flash and other news round up and I hope to include the link to the Three Minute Santas show as part of that.

I will take the chance to say a big thank you now to all those I’ve interviewed on CFT this year. Without exception, the resulting articles have been excellent. I hope to conduct more such interviews in 2025 of course.

Meantime, it’s back to finishing various bits and pieces off ahead of 31st December. It’s the nearest I get to finishing the year with my desk clear (and I really mean my electronic desk aka my laptop as my actual desk, while reasonably tidy, cannot be said to be uncluttered! I was cheered up enormously when I saw a picture on Facebook of Albert Einstein’s desk as he left it. I felt so much better on seeing that – there is hope for me yet!).

Hope you have had a good Wednesday. Another chilly one but Lady was overjoyed to see her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal again this morning. Plenty of running around. Those two didn’t feel the cold.

Don’t forget I’ll be looking at What I Look For In a Good Story for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. And on Saturday once I’ve heard the Three Minute Santas show, I would have heard 23 good stories! I hope to be talking about that show and the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event in more detail for CFT on 20th December, my last pre-Christmas post for the year. It’s amazing where the time goes, is it not?

Am not entering any more competitions until the New Year now though I have entered the festive and/or flash related ones I wanted to try.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my second story for their Christmas competition. This time the word featured is good will. See what use I make of it in my story, And To You, Pal.

I am sure that is something we have all said or thought at some point but hope you enjoy the story anyway! Find our why my character thinks the way they do and whether or not for once poetic justice is seen to be done. Can my character be full of goodwill after all?

Hope the day has been a good one for you. Busy working away on various pieces I want to put to bed before the end of the year. Making good progress. (Also making some on the festive preparations – have started wrapping some presents much earlier in the month than I usually do!).

Flash Tip: It is worth having some flash pieces drafted on always topical themes such as hope, light, darkness etc. These topics come up often and it means you’re a little ahead of the game here. Also think along the lines of having some flash pieces connected to genre – there will be competitions for flash crime stories, love theme ones etc.

Something you’ve started as a flash piece could always be expanded out into a short story. I’ve occasionally done this when a character has gripped me and I want to share more of their tale but then I save this as a short story only and submit it to the appropriate market. But without the idea for the flash piece in the first place, I wouldn’t have gone on to have done this.

Plan to look at my Flash NANO drafts sometime in January. It’ll give me enough time away from them to evaluate them properly. I will be issuing an author newsletter on 1st January though I suspect most reads will take place much further on in the month! I’ve just found the first is the easiest day to remember for a newsletter. I receive a number of author newsletters myself on the same day so am clearly not the only one who thinks this!

Looking forward to a more informal Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting this time next week as it is a wonderful way to wrap up our writing year. Plan is to share any flashes for feedback and to discuss all things writing related. It has been a great year for the group with four of us having festive flashes broadcast this coming weekend. More power to our pens and PCs, folks!

Screenshot 2024-12-10 at 17-33-52 North Manchester FM Hannah's Bookshelf 3 Minute Santas Special Saturday 14 December 2-4pm - Hannah Kate

Fairytales With Bite – Fairies and Festivities

What involvement do your magical creations have with any kind of festivities? My thoughts are always drawn to the line by Slade on their fabulous Merry Xmas Everyone to the line about “fairies keeping Santa sober for a day”. Am assuming that takes some work!

But what do your fairies to to help or hinder festivities? (Forget the one about sending a young princess to their doom via spinning wheel needle – it’s been done!). Is magic welcome at celebrations or does it get in the way? How do fairies celebrate their festivities? Is food created magically or is that done the old school way? Is magic saved for fireworks, decorations, music etc? What would your fairies celebrate in the first place? Do they allow other species to join then or it is just for the fairies only?

I would imagine there would be some sort of celebration when a new fairy graduated and “got her wings” (sorry, couldn’t resist that one) so what format would this follow given this would be likely to be a tradition.

I would certainly hope your magical creations had a great deal of fun, as I hope you do too with your Christmas traditions.

This World and Others – Managing Celebrations

As well as private events, I would expect your setting to have some sort of official public celebration for varying things. There will be commemoration events. There will be something to indicate the end of a certain time period as we do here every 31st December.

Within your setting and if you have specific countries, there will be historical events to commemorate in some way – some of which will be sombre in tone and others anything but.

So who would be responsible for ensuring public events were conducted “properly”? In the UK we have an Earl Marshal who organises coronations etc. But who would your creation be and what would they have responsibility for exactly? Are celebrations managed well or otherwise?

Has historical precedent meant there has to be someone organising it all now? What would happen to anyone who went against what is expected in terms of public behaviour here?

Above all, do your characters have fun at these things. Do the events serve as a way of the public letting their hair down (including magically) without it all going horribly wrong?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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🎅 Saturday at 2pm on @normanfm1066… it's #3MinuteSantas on Hannah's Bookshelf! Tune in for a record-breaking selection of festive flash fiction from 23 amazing writers! 🎅 https://t.co/LEi6cg38Zv
— Hannah Kate (@HannahKateish) December 12, 2024

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What I Look For In A Good Story https://t.co/55ohiOfPGO Delighted to share What I Look For In a Good Story for CFT this week. I share an ingredients list for a cracking read, look at character -v- plot, and ask short or long term fiction or both. Hope you enjoy the post.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 13, 2024

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Pleased to be on FFF with my second story for their Christmas competition. This time the word featured is good will. See what use I make of it in my story, And To You, Pal. I am sure that is something we have all said or thought at some point but hope you enjoy the story anyway! pic.twitter.com/Yf9zMNLpdS
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 13, 2024

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Author Interview: A Right Cozy Christmas Crime with Wendy H Jones

December 6, 2024Leave a comment

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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. Many thanks to Janet Williams for the shots of me signing books at The Hilt Book Fair.

Hope you have had a good few days. Had lovely trip out with other half to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Lady had a fabulous time too. Pleased to say I have broadcast news and I know others who will be on the same show so am pleased for them all too. More details below with a link to come later.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am delighted to share a wonderful interview with Wendy H Jones about A Right Cozy Christmas Crime (Scott and Lawson), a recently released anthology of cozy crime stories. We discuss the joys of anthologies, the appeal of cozy crime, and the use of Christmas as a setting plus much more besides. Do check the interview out. And maybe you’ll have an extra idea for your Christmas present list.

What I love about short stories and flash fiction is you get to visit so many different “worlds” and characters and anthologies are the prefect place to have such stories collected. I deliberately read novels, then shorter forms of writing, then back to novels again. I want to read across the spectrum and often will check out an author new to me when they’ve got work in an anthology like this one before going for their longer works.

A Right Cozy Christmas Crime with Wendy H Jones – Author Interview

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Had a lovely day out with other half and Lady today. Other half and I were celebrating our 37th wedding anniversary.

Writing wise, don’t forget there is a fabulous interview coming up with Wendy H Jones about A Right Cozy Christmas Crime (Scott and Lawson) on Chandler’s Ford Today – link up tomorrow. See above. I love short stories, crime tales, and anthologies. This latest publication has the lot. Plenty of useful thoughts are shared. Do check it out.

Last but not least, I’m thrilled to say my festive flash fiction story, Perspective, will be broadcast on Hannah Kate’s Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM on Saturday 14th December 2024. The show is on from 2pm to 4pm. Congratulations to all who have had their tales chosen. I’m looking forward to hearing them all. It’s a lovely show and supportive of writers and the story world. I hope to share a link later.

Social media poster for A Right Cozy Christmas Crime

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal this morning and, to our great surprise and delight, her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal this afternoon on our usual walk. An unexpected and welcome play time ensured as the walk has a nice area of green where the dogs can play. They had a lovely time.

Looking forward to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event on Saturday and to an ACW group meeting on Zoom this evening where I love joining in with talk about science fiction and fantasy. A lovely time is had by all.

Character Tip: Put yourself in your character’s shoes. You don’t have to like your characters (I can think of a few of mine where if we could meet in life we would not get on at all) but you do have to understand where they’re coming from and why. I think it is the only way to write for them with any conviction. I’m convinced when an author does get behind their characters like that, this comes through in the story and makes it more believable.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale Printing Error. This is an entry for their Christmas competition and in this one the word I had to use was peace. Hope you enjoy the story.

As mentioned over on my author page, I’m delighted to say my festive flash fiction story, Perspective, will be broadcast on Hannah Kate’s Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM on Saturday 14th December 2024. The show is on from 2pm to 4pm. Link to come later.

This was one of the several flash pieces I’ve recently got out to different places. Always good to know one got through okay!

Will not hear back on the others for some time and only then if they get a placing. You do get used to this. Often it is a question of competition organisers simply not having enough time or people to email all who entered rather than anything else.

Have received the reading order list for the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event on Saturday. Have worked out what I’d like to read. Always a fun task! Am looking forward to hearing the other stories too – it is a treat to be read to and I love reading my work so win-win here It’s fun. Flash works so well for open mic type things.

Am also looking forward to catching up with Debz Hobbs-Wyatt and Hannah Retallick, whom I interviewed for Chandler’s Ford Today recently. It will be great to catch up with friends, old and new.

Fairytales with Bite – Timing

What do your magical characters make of timings? Cinderella was useless at it, of course. How good or otherwise are your characters in keeping to time and what are the consequences when they’re not? Also could someone else make use of someone’s punctuality and use it against them?

Do any of your character’s spells have a timing limit on them? Some fairy godmothers do have this feature, of course! Automatically set to midnight, naturally – it’s never three minutes past one, is it?

If your character has to get their timing spot on with something, what obstacles will you put in their way to make it as difficult as possible for them to achieve this? What will they have to do to still make their objective happen?

Can your character use split second timing to achieve something different in the world of magic? What would this be? What other powers could it unleash?

Timing can be everything in a story (as it so often is in film). How can you make best use of this thought for your characters and their situations?

This World and Others – Decisions

How easy or otherwise do your characters find making decisions? A lot will depend on what the decision is and how it is going to challenge them personally, of course, but as a general rule, do they have problems making up their mind about something or do they always know what they want?

The latter trait could be useful in showing something else about their personality. The go-getters don’t tend to be the shy, retiring type!

How do your characters react when having to make decisions they wouldn’t normally face? Many a quest tale has started with this. The way they respond so often makes the adventure memorable (The Lord of the Rings is the obvious example here).

I outline my characters with enough information so I know how they are likely to respond in most situations. There is still the room for them to surprise me and they do sometimes but the surprise comes out of what I already know about them so isn’t “out of kilter” for the way I’ve portrayed the character to date.

Funnily enough, I don’t usually need to know much about how they look – what I’m after finding out is their personality and then ideas for their appearance come from that. My major decision is in working out just how much I need to know about my characters before writing them up.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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I am delighted to be interviewed in Chandler’s Ford Today by @AllisonSymes1 What a great interview highlighting the A Right Cozy Christmas Crime anthology. https://t.co/K6VqOscfBD #cozymystery
— Wendy H. Jones (@WendyHJones) December 6, 2024

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Am pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale Printing Error. This is an entry for their Christmas competition and in this one the word I had to use was peace. Hope you enjoy the story.https://t.co/ECiVowfivK pic.twitter.com/gxjX601TNJ
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 6, 2024

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A Right Cozy Christmas Crime with Wendy H Jones – Author Interview https://t.co/dLCWRAVR4Q Delighted to share this great interview about A Right Cozy Christmas Crime, a recently released anthology. Wendy discusses the joys of anthologies, the appeal of cozy crime and much more.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) December 6, 2024

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Author Interview – Introducing Hannah Retallick

November 29, 2024Leave a comment

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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 Hannah Retallick for supplying many of the images in my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week and to Wendy H Jones for creating some fabulous images for the December 2024 edition of Writers Narrative, which I’ve incorporated into a Book Brush collage below. Do check out the magazine itself – link below.

Hope you have had a good week to date. Storm Connell early in the week followed by bitterly cold days – it has been a mixed bag of a week here, weather wise. Lady has been running around so the cold doesn’t worry her. Writing wise, am thrilled to announce Writers’ Narrative is back – see more below on this. Written by writers for writers, it is well worth checking out. And it’s double blog day given my Chandler’s Ford Today and More than Writers posts are both out on the Friday.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

29th November 2024 – Post 1 – CFT

Quick bit of news just before I share double blog posts – lots going on today.. Am pleased to say I sent in a prompt for Flash NANO and Nancy Stohlman has chosen mine to be today’s one. I haven’t written up the prompt myself yet but do plan to do so later on and see what I can do with it!

Double blog day once more and this time I start with a stunning interview with Hannah Retallick on Chandler’s Ford Today. We celebrate her new (debut) short story collection, Something Very Human.

Hannah shares with me so many useful thoughts and tips any writer will find useful so do check the post out. Hope you find it useful and entertaining – I did!

Hannah and I are both short story and flash fiction writers. We’re also both published by Bridge House Publishing. We discuss the joys of writing in the short form, fiction wise, and look at marketing and writing routines amongst other topics.

Author Interview: Introducing Hannah Retallick

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29th November 2024 – Post 2 – More than Writers

Double blog day part 2! I’m delighted to be back on More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers with a timely piece called Light in the Darkness. Timely, of course, since we go into Advent at the weekend. Hope you find the piece encouraging and inspiring.

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Two pieces of great news to share tonight:-

1. Am sharing a fabulous interview with Hannah Retallick about her debut story collection, Something Very Human (Bridge House Publishing), on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. Hannah shares so much useful information, tips, and thoughts useful to writers so do check this out. See above.

2. Am thrilled to say Writers Narrative is back with the theme of cozy marketing and writing. My piece is about festive flash fiction which, given its nature is fun and lighthearted, is a very cozy read indeed! Check out the magazine below (and there’s a free to subscribe link within the magazine itself).

Brrr… a cold one today. Storm Connell has done some damage – most evident in the afternoon and evening walks I take with Lady. Flooding, parts of tracks swept away etc. Had to do a detour tonight. Having said that, she did get to have a good time with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal this morning. The park just gets soggy. Think I’ll be living in my boots now until next March (if early 2025 proves to be good), next May (if it doesn’t!).

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom later this evening.

Will be sharing a fabulous interview with Hannah Retallick on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Be sure not to miss it – lots of useful and interesting thoughts for all writers. See above.

Will be a double blog day on Friday given my post on More Than Writers will also be out and I will be looking at Light in the Darkness for that one. Apt as we go into Advent. Again see above. Has been a busy week!

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale here Fitting In. This one I would describe as a fairytale in reverse. Just what does happen to the Fairy Kingdom’s clumsiest fairy ever? Find out here.

Many thanks to all who came to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group meeting on Zoom last night. The theme was festive flash fiction. I talk about the same topic for Writers’ Narrative this month which I am so glad to say is back. Its focus this issue is on cozy marketing and writing. Festive flash fiction fits in perfectly here given it is the ultimate, I think, in lighthearted reads – short, often funny, and definitely light, something I think is needed at that this time of the year. Link given up above.
As well as providing an interesting varIety of prompts, taking part in Flash NANO does mean you end up drafting stories in varying moods and genres. What will I do with these later? I hope some will go into a future collection. Others I will reserve for competitions.

Word count length has varied for the month – most have come in at the 500 words or fewer count. I have had a couple at the 100 word mark or so. None of this surprises me but I do find Flash NANO invaluable for (a) getting more flash written and (b) taking me out of my comfort zone with some of the prompts. The latter is good because it makes me “up my game”. No bad thing that.

Fairytales with Bite – Mix Up by Allison Symes

Mix Up
It never pays to be in too much of a hurry.
It will only lead to trouble and worry.
As one fairy godmother, once of such great renown,
Found to her utter chagrin, it got her down.
Picking up the wrong wand by such a clumsy mistake
She turned a client into a fancy cake
Which was then scoffed by a so hungry and fast young elf
The fairy godmother was besides herself
With tremendous grief, ridicule, and later, with pain.
She became the Fairy Queen’s appointed bane.
She was then banished to Earth, speedily, just like that.
Now she can’t magic a rabbit from a hat.

Ends
Allison Symes – 27th November 2024

Hope you enjoyed that one.

This World and Others – Borrowing From Other Worlds

How advanced is your setting? Does it have technology to travel to other worlds (openly or otherwise)? If so, does it like what it sees and does it “borrow” anything? The other world may not have anything taken from it but copying is an ancient business. So is the outright theft of a good idea!

So what would your characters bring back to their home world and how would these things be put to use? Does everyone back at home welcome the new “things” or are they fearful of them? Could they have good cause to be? There is potential for a humorous story in having a character bringing back all sorts of things, which never work out properly when he/she/it gets back home again.

Also give some thought if the world they’ve pinched ideas from get to travel across universes themselves, could they ever come to your character’s home world and discover what they’ve done? Could make for interesting clashes (and even more so if both worlds are trying to improve relations. Something like this could scupper that. What would the consequences be?).

Could other worlds borrow from what your setting has to offer and how could this come about? Who discovers your character’s home world in the first place and was it something they were deliberately seeking to do or something which they stumbled on accidentally?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Am so pleased Writers’ Narrative is back. Do see the link further up the post.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Author Interview: Introducing Hannah Retallick https://t.co/EY1bWacdwa Double blog day. I start with a fab interview with Hannah Retallick on CFT. We celebrate her debut collection, Something Very Human. We discuss short form writing, marketing, and writing routines and more.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 29, 2024

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More than Writers: Light in the Darkness by Allison Symes https://t.co/KkkCPnSIE6 Double blog day part 2! I’m pleased to be back on MTW, the Association of Christian Writers blog spot, with Light in the Darkness. Hope you find the piece encouraging and inspiring. pic.twitter.com/lqydyrW77r
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 29, 2024

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Fitting In, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/gs2zQq4eat Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Fitting In. I describe this as a fairytale in reverse. Just what does happen to the Fairy Kingdom’s clumsiest fairy ever? Find out here. pic.twitter.com/kmQl823gUG
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 29, 2024

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Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and The Benefits

November 22, 2024Leave a comment

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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. Many thanks to Janet Williams for the photo of me at the Book Fair. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

Hope you have had a good few days. Weather has turned bitterly cold. Even had some snow. Not that Lady worried. Writing wise, looking forward to sharing further author interviews on Chandler’s Ford Today. Am just putting some finishing to some flash pieces I hope to send off to competitions shortly. Wish me luck!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to be back on Chandler’s Ford Today to talk about a topic very close and dear to my heart – Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and the Benefits. I look at focusing on the character, using the first person, and not worrying about the word count immediately amongst other things. Hope you find the post useful.

Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and the Benefits

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22nd November 2024 – Esther Chilton – Guest Spot
Not one but two posts from me on here tonight.

Many thanks to Esther Chilton for inviting me to be a guest writer on her blog. See link below. Great opportunity to talk about flash fiction and to share a YouTube link to one of my favourite flash pieces of mine, Calling the Doctor. I used this as the trailer for From Light to Dark and Back Again.

Hope you enjoy the post and the video.

Guest Writer Spot

Colder today than yesterday, Even had snow which lay for a while. Melted by lunchtime. Went for a swim. When the pool water feels like you’re getting into a warm bath, you know it’s perishing cold outside. It was like that today! No pals out for Lady today though she did enjoy her usual time at the park. Dogs are great believers in making the most of the simple pleasures of life.

Will be looking at Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and The Benefits for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above.

Cracking on with Flash NANO. Am putting finishing touches to some flash pieces I want to get out for competitions in the next couple of days.

Not long now until the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event. Looking forward to that and catching up with everyone. Lovely way to finish my writing event year.

Busy putting next newsletter together as well.

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Another cold one today – the gloves came out. (No – not boxing ones!). Lady didn’t care. Too busy running around and having a fabulous time with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom next week. We’ll be looking at festive flash, which is always great fun to write. I have finally drafted some and hope to do more next week.

I do usually set exercises when I run workshops. I’ve long appreciated being on the receiving end of exercises set for me by other tutors. I’ve always got something useful out of exercises. Some pieces which started life this way ended up being published.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with Wishing Well. Tony is skeptical about Hannah’s feeling it is right to make a wish at the well but is he right to be so scathing or does Hannah have a point? Find out here.

Highlight of the day today was having an Options hot chocolate when coming in from my afternoon walk with the dog. It really is all about the simple pleasures of life.

Talking of which, what would your characters count as their simple pleasures? What would they do/how would they react if these were taken away from them? Could be some interesting stories there.

Also what would they be prepared to do to ensure nobody could ever take these simple pleasures away at all? Would these simple pleasures get in the way of them having relationships with others or could a shared simple pleasure lead to a romance story?

Hope you can make use of those thoughts. Will be giving some thought to them myself!

Hope your writing day has been a good one. Looking forward to tackling Day 20 of Flash NANO shortly. Can’t believe where the time has gone on this already. Have loved all of the challenges.

Character Tip: Motivation matters, of course, but what drives your character to have the motivations they do. Are they doing what they are to defend themselves or loved ones, out of fear, out of greed or what have you?

The drivers here will be what determines whether your characters can keep going or not. The more vital the driver is (at least to the character) the more drama and tension there will be in your story, the more readers will be gripped to discover whether your character does keep going or not.

Fairytales with Bite – Fantasy Flash

F = Flash fiction can be used for many genres including fantasy.

A = As you are following the adventures of the characters and they can be set anywhere.

N = Not a lot of world building needed, you haven’t the word count room for it, but give enough details so readers know where your characters are.

T = Telling details are what are needed here – a hint of the world your character is in, a hint of any special powers your character has and so on.

A = Always know your character well enough to know what motivates them whether you write about a fairy, an alien being or a dragon (I’ve written for all three!).

S = Story is the main focus – what is your story, what is the change, what does your character do and what are the consequences? Why does it have to be on the world you’ve created?

Y = Your character needs to grip us throughout, even in a small word count story, so how will they do that? What is it about them that appeals? No matter how alien your character, readers will still need to understand where they are coming from and what motivates them.

F = Flash has to be brief and to the point so what aspects of your character could use this as a strength?

L = Lively characters, an intriguing opening, a gripping middle, and a powerful ending – no pressure then!

A = Always focus on getting the story down worry about word count later.

S = Set your story aside for a while after those drafts and then come back after a break to evaluate it properly.

H = Have fun drafting your story. Later have fun editing it and sharpening it. Have fun creating your characters and as much of your setting as you can show us but remember you do only have 1000 words for flash.

This World and Others – Food Production

I’ve not yet come across a story where the characters don’t need to eat. (I loved the hobbits and their wish for second breakfast in The Lord of the Rings). So regardless of your setting, food has to be produced somehow. What would your world use as sources of meat? (Yes, that can be especially grim and could be a source for ideas if you want to write horror).

What would your world grow as cereals and other crops? Would we recognize their farming methods? Is their equipment the same as ours, or more or less advanced than our own? Do the main characters in your story have any involvement with food production and could their role prove pivotal to the overall plot?

Whoever controls food supply wields a great deal of power, no matter what world this is on, so that could be used to good effect in a story. Naturally climate chance could also be factored into a tale involving food production. What would the impact be on the world you’ve set up?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the October 2023 of the magazine on the theme of horror. I look at Writing Horror: The Telling Details. And yes it is possible to write horror flash fiction. I’ve written some though mine is at the less dark end of the market.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Wishing Well, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/sximYa23to Delighted to be back on FFF with Wishing Well. Tony is skeptical about Hannah’s feeling it is right to make a wish at the well but is he right to be scathing or does Hannah have a point? Find out here. pic.twitter.com/x7uMk1LqBX
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 22, 2024

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Thanks to Esther Chilton for inviting me to be a guest writer on her blog. Fab opportunity to talk about flash fiction and to share a YouTube link to my Calling the Doctor. This is the trailer for From Light to Dark and Back Again. Hope you enjoy the post.https://t.co/L7e2gK6uMK
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 22, 2024

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Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and the Benefits https://t.co/t9Omtn4mvM Pleased to be on CFT with my favourite topic – Top Flash Fiction Writing Tips and the Benefits. I look at character, using first person, and not worrying about word count immediately amongst other things.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 22, 2024

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Author Update – Allison Symes November 2024 – Book Fairs, Autumn Gatherings, Flash NANO, and More

November 15, 2024Leave a comment

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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. Many thanks to Janet Williams, my lovely editor at Chandler’s Ford Today, for taking some of the photos I include in this week’s post.

Hope you have had good few days. Lady has had a fabulous time with her two best dog friends. Writing wise, I share an update on what I’ve been up to recently. Am continuing to make good progress with Flash NANO 2024 and, as ever, am enjoying the wide variety of prompts from that. It is a good challenge!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal again today and has had a good time all week with her chums, bar Tuesday when she just had to put up with me.

Pleased to share Allison Symes – Author Update November 2024 – Book Fairs, Autumn Gatherings, Flash NANO and More for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I do love a title which does, to quote the old Ronseal wood treatment advert, “what it says on the tin”!

Every now and again I like to write an author update of what I’ve been up to – easiest to do this in one summary post. Next week I’ll be sharing writing tips and after that there will be more author interviews so plenty to look forward to here. If you want to know more about Flash NANO (and it still isn’t too late to join in by the way), I do share more information and the link in this CFT post so do check it out.

I also look back at the Book Fair, the ACW Autumn Gathering (briefly as I did write a separate post about that) and look ahead to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event next month. I also celebrate local authors in my look back at the Book Fair.

Allison Symes – Author Update November 2024 – Book Fairs, Autumn Gatherings, Flash NANO and More

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Lady has had a super day. Got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal this morning and later this afternoon got to do her usual second walk with her best buddie, the Rhodesian Ridgeback. They even came off the lead for a bonus play time in the green area on that walk. The dogs loved it and it was sweet to watch them play. Dogs keep things simple. This all came as a nice surprise and was one of those cheer you up moments. And that was just for the Ridgeback’s owner and me!

Will be sharing a round up of what I’ve been up to lately, as well as looking ahead to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event next month, for my post on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. Has been a busy but enjoyable time. See above.

Character Tip: You know your character. You’ve got your set up. All great stuff. Now throw something into the mix you know will throw your character and see what they do. Have fun here. It will reveal aspects to their character you haven’t already worked out or suspected.

And it is fun finding out just what your characters will do to get themselves out of the mire. To me, it’s one of the best bits of story writing – drop my characters in it and find out what they do!

Hope you have had a lovely day. Nice cold but sunny autumn day here. Lady did get to see and play with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. All is right in her world.

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing an author update for me on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. There will be more author interviews to come at the end of the month/early December. I’ll also be making a guest appearance on another writing blog later this month – more details nearer the time.

Loving the Flash NANO prompts so far and looking forward to having a go at today’s one shortly. A huge thank you to all who have commented on the stories I’ve shared on the private Facebook page here. Much appreciated.

Author newsletter will be out again on 1st December. I share tips, news, story links and more there. If you would like to sign up do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com and thank you to all of my subscribers for your ongoing support. Again much appreciated.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale The Last Memory. Hope you enjoy it. It’s a different take on a famous fairytale.

Happy birthday to His Majesty.

Now birthdays in themselves can be a useful theme for a flash fiction story or several. Why?

Firstly, you can look at what your characters think about birthdays and theirs in particular. Do they bring back good or painful memories? Is their birthday a chance to put things right or to move on from whatever has been holding them back?

Secondly, what do other characters in your story think about your lead? Would they celebrate their birthday with them or not? There could be a lot of interesting material here, especially if they would never celebrate the lead’s special event.

If your setting is in a fantasy or sci-fi world, are birthdays commemorated at all? If not, what is celebrated instead? Would we recognise any elements of them?

Also does a birthday coincide with another event – the start of a quest (it did with The Lord of the Rings with Gandalf turning up to celebrate Bilbo’s 111th birthday) – or with a national event. If the latter, are good or bad things associated with that and what does your character make of it being their birthday too? Does it change how they celebrate?

Plenty of story ideas to come from a birthday then!

Three quick flash fiction tips I hope you find useful:-

1. Focus on the lead character and what the reader needs to know about them (including of course what the character wants).

2. Cut out anything which doesn’t help with the above point unless it does move the story on in some way. Ask yourself if it is necessary. If it is, fine, you’ll easily justify it. If not, out it comes. No word count room to waste so you do need to be ruthless with cutting things like that out. It is a good writing discipline if it is any comfort. Learning to tighten up your writing will help with the other forms of writing you do. I’ve found this to be the case.

3. Once you’ve got the draft done and have rested it, read it out loud. The good thing with flash is this doesn’t take long. In reading it out loud, you will hear the rhythm of your story, you will hear if the dialogue works or it it makes you stumble and so on.

Fairytales with Bite – Spells Acrostic

S = Spells are not all they are cracked up to be at times.
P = Princess at risk of death is sent to sleep for a century instead.
E = Even godmothers can get things wrong – glass slippers to dance in? Really!
L = Life forms are not all they seem – just ask The Beast – magic was not his favourite thing when he was transformed.
L = Luckless apprentices realise too late they need to know how to make a spell stop, what a pity he missed that bit!
S = Spells have their downside!

This World and Others – Literature and Its Role In Your Setting

Does your setting appreciate its literature? If your setting doesn’t have written records or anything like that at all, what would it have instead? How are these things valued by your characters?

If there are books, stories etc., are they similar to the format in which we have ours or is everything, say, in an audio format only? What kind of devices would your world have to store them? Technological advances can make some forms of recording information obsolete so anything stored the “old school” way might be hard to recover and/or transfer to modern ways. How would your setting overcome this issue?

Would your world have favoured authors, past and present? Would they have banned ones? Would your world import literature from other settings, including Earth? What would they make of our books and stories?

Especially in the sci-fi and fantasy sections, has anything our writers have come up with any bearing to your character’s setting? If so, does it worry your authorities Earth writers have got some things right here ore are they relieved we are far from the truth?

Do your characters appreciate books and what do they prefer to read? Is that something most would like or do they dare to be different?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the April 2024 edition of the magazine which looks at a topic I adore – editing. My article asks Editing: Do You Love It or Loathe It? Well… what answer would you give to that?

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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The Last Memory, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/mgcOH6xu8J Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale The Last Memory. Hope you enjoy it. It’s a different take on a famous fairytale. pic.twitter.com/k2dhTuM5Ib
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 15, 2024

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Allison Symes – Author Update November 2024 – Book Fairs, Autumn Gatherings, Flash NANO and More https://t.co/pudgVY2G2i Pleased to share my CFT post – an author update for yours truly. I look back at the Book Fair and ahead to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 15, 2024

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Review – The Chameleon Theatre Company – I’ll Be Back Before Midnight

November 8, 2024Leave a comment

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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. Many thanks to Janet Williams for taking the image of me at The Hilt Book Fair and to Adrian Symes for taking the image of me holding The Best of CafeLit 13. A huge thank you to the lovely folk at The Chameleon Theatre Company for kind permission to use their photos in my Chandler’s Ford Today post reviewing their recently performed I’ll Be Back Before Midnight.

Hope you have had a good week so far. Not bad here. Delighted to share my review of I’ll Be Back Before Midnight recently performed by The Chameleon Theatre Company for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Plays are another way of taking in stories and I have discovered many fantastic ones going to see the various shows The Chameleons have put on over the years. It will be panto time for them next – oh yes, it will be!

Am busy with Flash NANO and preparing separate flash pieces for competitions plus there will be further author interviews to come on CFT. Still with the weather being dark, murky and damp, I am so thankful writing is something which is generally done indoors! It is no hardship to sit at my desk in a nice warm room!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Lady had a smashing day today in she got to see her Hungarian Vizler friend and then play with Coco, her young Labradoodle pal. Damp, dull, and murky weather again today though.

Delighted to share my review of I’ll Be Back Before Midnight, recently performed by The Chameleon Theatre Company as my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. One of the joys of my involvement with CFT has been discovering my local amateur theatre company.

I review the performance and the play itself (so if you get a chance to see it elsewhere, please do. I haven’t given too much away, just enough of a flavour for you to get a good idea that this is a cracking thriller, well worth seeing).

Hope you enjoy the post and well done to the splendid Chameleons for a fantastic performance. They also build their own sets. The work they did for this one was amazing and their lighting/sound crew were brilliant, adding so much to this play.

Review – The Chameleon Theatre Company – I’ll Be Back Before Midnight

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My review of I’ll Be Be Back Before Midnight recently staged by The Chameleon Theatre Company on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. Do check it out. See above.

As well as reviewing the performance, I take a look at the play itself and this one has a fabulous storyline which kept me on the edge of my set all evening.

One of the joys of loving stories, writing, reading, or watching them (as plays), is you do get to learn how stories work. You take this in as you read, watch or listen, I find. And all of that you can apply to your own writing. It does mean when I go to see a show, especially a thriller like Midnight,

I am looking out for what I think might be red herrings, bluffs etc. It is a joy when I spot them but it is an even better one when I am wrong footed. For a book, I will then go back through and see how the author managed to do that. So much to learn here. It is a pleasure to do it too.

Hope you have had a lovely day. Lady is having a tremendous week in that she played with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals again. Sadly though her Chuckit ball thrower broke (the ball holder end sheered off!) but fortunately we have a spare. Have had the thing for years and it does get a lot of heavy duty usage so fair wear and tear here. Lady has more than tested it!

I’ll be sharing my review of I’ll Be Back Before Midnight recently staged by The Chameleon Theatre Company for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Looking forward to sharing that. The play had a fabulous storyline. More later in the week. See above.

Am cracking on with Flash NANO 2024.Will be tackling Day 6’s prompt shortly.

Writing Tip: If you outline your characters (as I do, even if you outline briefly), give some thought as to their vocabulary. What kinds of words would they use? Which would they never use? How does their educational background feed into this?

You can tell a lot about a character from what they say and think. When editing, just ensure there is consistency here and also ask yourself if readers can tell characters apart just on the grounds of how they speak. They should be able to do so.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Okay. When a friend rings you to find out how you are after a divorce, what answer would you give? Find out what Beth says to Jenny here – and that all is not as it might seem.

Looking forward to having a go at Flash NANO’s Day 7 prompt later. Again it is so different from all of the others so far. This is the joy of this challenge – not knowing what is coming and having a go at as many prompts as I can manage.

I know I’m going to be late with one over the weekend as I have a family do happening (Lady will love the company and the food!) but I will catch up and enjoy doing so. My word count so far has varied but it always does for this.

I would like to see if I could write a 50 worder (aka a dribble) at some point over November for this. Didn’t manage it last year (the lowest word count was a 30 word exactly tale).

Am also preparing separately three flash pieces for competitions which I want to have out by early December. So plenty going on with the flash fiction right now.

Now I’m sure the thought of a certain event in December is not too far from your minds and there is one simple thing you can do to cheer up any author – well two actually.

One is obviously to buy their books. The other is to leave a review. Reviews don’t have to be long but every single one helps a build the author’s profile with Amazon. I’ve had some lovely reviews for From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping the Flash Fantastic though more are always welcome – neither is there a use buy date on these things!

You can check out my works (and the anthologies I’ve been in including the recent The Best of CafeLit 13) via my Amazon Author Central Page at https://author.to/AllisonSymesAuthorCent

Aptly my reviews are on the short side but this is right for flash fiction books, yes?!

Fairytales with Bite – Getting in the Way

Who or what gets in the way of your magical creations achieving their ambitions? Are their own powers limited? Is there an overriding authority who controls what being can do what kind of magic and how is that policed, if so? There is always someone who wants to break the rules. Can your characters get in their own way where ambition is dwarfed by their lack of competence? (There would be some funny tales to be written there).

When something or someone gets in the way, how does your character react to this? What do they do to try and overcome the problem? Do they succeed or only make things worse (again potential for humour there)?

Fairy godmothers often put something in the way of a being they’re punishing, something they have to achieve. (In the case of the Beast from Beauty and the Beast he has to win love from Belle to be set free. He has to make the effort here). So having something getting in the way isn’t always a bad thing and you can capitalize on that for your characters.

This World and Others – Who Obeys Whom?

In your magical setting, who lays down the rules? Who decides who has what magical powers? If these things are a species issue given at birth, how did these originate? What are the limits? Overall, who controls the use of magic and how did that come about? (The reason why is obvious – to prevent chaos and to give more beings a chance of surviving).

Is your system of government a monarchy, a republic, or something else entirely (such as a ruling Council)? What are the consequences of not obeying the top beings here?

Can your beings make progress and develop further magical powers if they “fit in with the system”? Are they rewarded for being obedient? Or is it a case they have little choice but to obey if they wish to see the end of the day alive and in one piece?

Can reforms happen and if so, when were the last ones done and why? What struggles did the beings concerned have to overcome to get these reforms through? You can learn so much from history here and it can inspire many tales. I understand Game of Thrones by George R R Martin is inspired by the UK’s War of the Roses in the medieval period.

Has your system moved away from a “might is right” attitude, having learned its lessons from its own bloody history?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the June 2024 magazine which was based on the theme of poetry. I look at the links between flash fiction writing and poetry in this one. There are more than you might think.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Review – The Chameleon Theatre Company – I'll Be Back Before Midnight https://t.co/6dNoaq8W9M I review The Chameleons' recent fantastic performance of a cracking thriller. They build their sets. This one was amazing, as were their lighting/sound crew. It added much to the play.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 8, 2024

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Okay, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/gakXsXhcY4 Pleased to be back on FFF with my new tale, Okay. When a friend rings to ask how you are after a divorce, what answer would you give? Find out what Beth says to Jenny – and that all is not as it might seem. pic.twitter.com/bZ4vvCiTtI
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 8, 2024

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Author Interview Part 2 – Debz Hobbs-Wyatt – If Crows Could Talk and Flash NANO 2024

November 1, 2024Leave a comment

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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, as is one of the photos from the Book Fair. The image of me signing books there was taken by my lovely CFT editor, Janet Williams.

Hope you have had a good few days. Looking forward to listening to Pet Classics on Classic FM soon – it does help against the noise of the fireworks. Lady isn’t so much scared, more annoyed by fireworks especially the louder ones though the pain there is it means she finds it hard to settle. I wish people would use the silent ones and have done.

Writing wise, it is a joy to welcome back Debz Hobbs-Wyatt to Chandler’s Ford Today and I’m glad to say I will have more author interviews coming up too. Plenty to look forward to then. And Flash NANO 2024 has started too!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am so pleased to welcome back Debz Hobbs-Wyatt to Chandler’s Ford Today for the second half of a superb interview re her If Crows Could Talk. As well as discussing her novel, Debz shares so much useful advice which will be of use to all writers so do have a good read!

Tonight, Debz discusses drafts, editing, marketing, her favourite aspects of storytelling and so much more. Hope you enjoy the post (and if you missed Part 1, fear not, there is a link to it at the bottom of this interview).

Separately, Flash NANO has started – hooray – and I look forward to having a crack at the first prompt later this evening. Also author newsletter went out earlier. Busy but productive day and Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal and the lovely Coco, the Labradoodle, so Lady feels her day has been a good one too.

Author Interview – Debz Hobbs-Wyatt – If Crows Could Talk – Part 2

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Don’t forget I’ll be sharing the second half of a superb interview with Debs Hobbs-Wyatt on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. She’ll be discussing her If Crows Could Talk but shares so much useful advice, it doesn’t matter where you are on your writing journey you will find it useful. Be sure to check it out – link up tomorrow. See above.

Author newsletter also out tomorrow and Flash NANO begins, hooray! Looking forward also to the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event in December. Writers’ Narrative will be back soon too so plenty to look forward to as the year winds down. Where has the time gone?

Character Tip: I sometimes find it useful to work out a character’s negative traits. If someone is honest, my character will be so to the point of rudeness and a story idea will begin to form from that. If they tend to be pessimistic I may throw them in a situation where they have to find reasons to be more optimistic for once – that being the only way to get out of their situation. What will my character do to achieve this? I want to have fun finding that out and I would hope a reader would too.

Hope you have had a good day. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. Good time had by all. It’s their rule to always have a good time and to be fair they do stick to it!

Don’t forget Part 2 of a wonderful interview with Debz Hobbs-Wyatt about her If Crows Could Talk is on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Be sure to not miss it as Debz shares much useful advice which will benefit so many writers. See above.

The following week is when I am planning to review the recently performed I’ll Be Back Before Midnight so wonderfully staged by The Chameleon Theatre Group. One joy of going to their shows is it introduces me to a whole wealth of stories (as plays) I would not otherwise have come across.

There will be more author interviews to come before the year’s out on Chandler’s Ford Today and I am looking forward to sharing these as and when.

Writing Prompt: You can ask one of your characters one question only which they must answer truthfully (nor can they leave anything out). What would be your question? Find out what the answer reveals. I strongly suspect you’ll end up with a good story outline at the least answering this one. Happy writing!

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It’s Friday. Somehow it is November. Time for a story then. Glad to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest Random Objects. Even magical parents have issues with their offspring human parents will understand only too well. Find out one of those issues here. Hope you enjoy it.

Hope you have had a good day. No pals out for Lady to play with today so she had to put up with me!

Author newsletter out again tomorrow and, of course, Flash NANO kicks off. Good luck if you’re taking part. Unless the prompt is to a specific word count, I don’t worry about this aspect at all. Some of my stories end up at 100 words or fewer, some at 250 words or more and most somewhere in between. All will need polishing up later. But that’s fine. I will hopefully have 30 new drafts to look at in December!

What I am hoping for will be the kinds of prompts I know and love and others which are new to me but which I find to be great fun! Will keep you posted.

Two days to go until Flash NANO starts. Yes, I am keen, fancy you noticing!

What I especially like here is not knowing what prompts will come up and then just seeing what I can do with them. I know I’ll get something from them. The polishing can happen later. I am hoping to use at least two of these prompts for competitions I’ve got in mind.

Those will be the two stories I won’t share on the supportive Flash NANO Facebook page! Some places don’t allow you to send in anything which has been published elsewhere, even on your own website, so I play safe here and ensure anything I want to submit anywhere does not go elsewhere at all. Easiest thing to do. Can’t go wrong with that.

Fairytales with Bite – Magical Fireworks

I’m not keen on fireworks, being a dog owner, but have enjoyed them when they turn up in fantasy fiction. My two favourite examples are:-

The Lord of the Rings – Gandalf has a supreme talent for fireworks, does he not? The book conjured up wonderful images in my head. The films brought those images to life spectacularly.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – I always was fond of Fred and George Weasley but my favourite scene of theirs for me has to be when they unleash their fireworks and the dragon one goes after the odious Dolores Umbridge. (Played almost too well by Imelda Staunton, I thought). And I loved that bit where Professor Flitwick shows his approval of the Weasleys’s antics and then realises he shouldn’t. Very funny. Suspect Warwick Davis enjoyed that bit, it certainly come across that way.

But there can be metaphorical fireworks of course. So what kind of magical metaphorical fireworks would your characters (a) set off or (b) do their best to avoid setting off but somehow don’t manage it? What are the consequences of these things? There would be consequences! Funny ones maybe or deadly serious? The choice is yours.

This World and Others – Intelligent Beings

I suspect if we had a group discussion on what counted as intelligent beings, there would be many who would put a question mark against humans. They would point to what we’ve done to the planet, our warlike tendencies and so on. As a dog owner, I know when dogs squabble, it is over something specific and usually easily dealt with. Dogs generally don’t hold grudges either. Hmm…

But then there would be others who would point out to our amazing creative skills ranging across a huge range of disciplines. I’ve got every sympathy here. It does take intelligence to want to create something lovely such as a painting, piece of music, or a story.

Okay, let’s move that group discussion out of our own solar system. If others from worlds way beyond us were to look down on us, would they consider we were intelligent beings or not?

And if we went exploring, what kinds of being would we come across? How would we evaluate their intelligence? What would happen if we got this wrong? We could get it wrong in two different ways here. What would the consequences be and what intelligence would we use to rectify matters?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Back to the September 2023 edition of the magazine this time with its ever timely topic – marketing. I have two pieces in this one – Marketing Your Books and Writing For Online Magazines.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Random Objects, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/h5wGWeye5E It’s Friday. Somehow it's November. Time for a story. Glad to be on FFF with Random Objects. Even magical parents have issues with their offspring humans understand. Find out one such issue here. pic.twitter.com/P9nPFYzyD4
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 1, 2024

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Author Interview – Debz Hobbs-Wyatt – If Crows Could Talk – Part 2 https://t.co/c19jR3rRp3 Thrilled to welcome back Debz Hobbs-Wyatt to CFT for Part 2 of a fab interview. She discusses editing, marketing, storytelling and more. There's a link to Part 1 in this interview too.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) November 1, 2024

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Author Interview: Debz Hobbs-Wyatt – If Crows Could Talk Part 1

October 25, 2024Leave a comment

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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, as were the photos from the Book Fair at The Hilt. Many thanks go to Debz Hobbs-Wyatt for supplying book and author shots for her Chandler’s Ford Today post with me this week. Also in that is a lovely shot of Debz, myself and Paula Readman, which was taken on Paula’s phone. Lovely to see that one again.

Hope the week has been a good one. Mixed bag here between fun things such as going to see The Chameleons, feeling unwell and perking up again, and getting to do more writing than I normally would, thanks to having to be at home for a bit rather than be out and about. Lady has had a smashing week, including a proper puppy party on Wednesday. It was a sight for sore eyes!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share Part 1 of a a super interview with Debz Hobbs-Wyatt who joins me on Chandler‘s Ford Today to discuss her new novel, If Crows Could Talk (Walela Books). She also shares wonderful thoughts on writing short stories to hone your craft and about writing for joy. This makes a huge amount of sense given nobody can know for sure how things will turn out with their works. You do have to enjoy the process and what you write. You are your own first reader.

She also shares what inspired her to write If Crows Could Talk and the need to outline so you know your story arc. Do check out the interview. Link below and congratulations, Debz, on the new book!

Part 2 next week (and after that a review of The Chameleons’ I’ll Be Back Before Midnight. Lots going on at CFT at the moment with more to come too).

Author Interview: Debz Hobbs-Wyatt – If Crows Could Talk – Part 1

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Off to the theatre later to see The Chameleons perform I’ll Be Back Before Midnight, a thriller. Plan to review later. Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal again today. Has had a good week – it’ll only be tomorrow when she won’t see any chums.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again soon. If you want to sign up to receive tips, news, story links etc , do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Had a lovely session at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group yesterday. We were looking at tips on how to make the best of Flash NANO and writing prompts generally. If you’re taking part in Flash NANO or NaNoWriMo, both of which start on 1st November, good luck and I hope you get a lot done. What I love most about Flash NANO is having 30 new stories to edit and polish after the month is up. I can take my time doing that.

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady had a smashing one at the park – a real puppy party, She played with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals but the lovely Coco, the Labradoodle, came out as well. The dogs were so pleased to see each other and a good run around was had by all.

Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting this evening. Will be looking at tips on Flash NANO and writing prompts generally. Always a useful topic.

And I’ll be sharing Part 1 of a super interview with Debz Hobbs-Wyatt about her book, If Crows Could Talk, on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above.

Meantime, talking of CFT, many thanks to my lovely editor, Janet Willams, for taking the snaps of me at the Book Fair at The Hilt last weekend. Always tricky trying to get his kind of shot yourself!

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Delighted to share my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Awkward Questions. You should be able to spot the influences in this one! It was great fun to write. Hope you enjoy it.

I’m a huge fan of writing prompts and like to mix up the types I use. It means I don’t stick to my favourites all of the time. It would be easy to do that. As I write a lot of flash, I need ideas all of the time so am always looking for ways in to finding said ideas. Prompts are enormously helpful here, I use them as a way in to creating characters and situations I can put them in, and they give you practice in writing to a topic set by someone else. That’s handy if you enter competitions.

While it is still a little way of yet, I am pleased I’ve booked my train tickets for the Bridge House Publishing Celebration Event in London in December. Always good fun and it is lovely hearing people read their stories Hope to read some of mine too. Always good to have something to look forward to at the close of the year!

I also need to start drafting some festive flash but I hope to make a start on that from next week. Also looking forward to Flash NANO which starts on 1st November. Had 30 new draft pieces from it last year and hope to achieve the same again this time.

Fairytales With Bite – Nights Out

What would count as a good night out in your setting? Which of your characters would love that kind of thing? Which would dread it? What would they be prepared to do to get out of having a night out? Could be some humorous tales there.

What would your average fairy godmother or wizard do when they want a night off from the magic?

What would be the equivalent of the cinema? What would they listen to if they went to a concert? Do they visit other worlds, including ours, when they want an evening of entertainment and what do they do to ensure they’re not spotted by said inhabitants of those worlds? (You just know there’d be fallout, though it might be easier for them to blend in better around Halloween!).

Does your world have celebrations everyone is expected to take part in and, if so, what forms would these take? What similarities would they have to our national events? Where would these be alien to what we know here? And if visitors from other worlds, including ours, could see these things, what would they make of them?

Story ideas there!

This World and Others -The Entertainment Business

Our entertainment business is vast taking in film to music to writing and much more besides. What would it look like in your setting? Are there similarities with ours? Are there things which could only exist on the world you’ve set up? Is the entertainment business regulated and who does the regulating? Did anything happen to make these regulations necessary?

Who works in the business? Is it considered an honourable profession or is it only for those who couldn’t make their magical abilities work properly and they’ve had to fall back on show business?

What would your fantasy setting make or our pantomimes and things like that? Would they see them as insulting the magical world or a humorous spoof?

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the September 2023 edition, which looked at marketing. I had two articles in here – Marketing Your Books and Writing For Online Magazines.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Awkward Questions, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/TrtArRPAm4 Delighted to share my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Awkward Questions. You should be able to spot the influences in this one! It was great fun to write. Hope you enjoy it. pic.twitter.com/x4Xz853sku
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 25, 2024

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Author Interview: Debz Hobbs-Wyatt – If Crows Could Talk – Part 1 https://t.co/lPMHJ2zpor Delighted to share Part 1 of a fab interview with Debz Hobbs-Wyatt about her If Crows Could Talk (Walela Books). She discusses writing short stories to hone craft and what inspired her.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 25, 2024

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Double Blog Day: ACW Autumn Gathering and Supportive Writing Groups and Writing Prompts

October 18, 2024Leave a comment

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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, as were the photos for my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. Many thanks to Paula Readman for taking the image of me reading at another book event – the Bridge House Publishing one back in December 2023. (Looking forward to going to this year’s one too. Am hoping for much better luck with the trains this time!).

Hope the week to date has been a good one for you. Am looking forward to taking part in the Book Fair on Saturday 19th October. It made its debut last year and I am so pleased it has come back again. Will look forward to meeting the other authors taking part too. Lady has spent most of the week playing with her two closest pals so she’s had a good week too.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

18th October 2024 – Chandler’s Ford Today

Every so often I have a double blog day and today is one of them. I will shortly share the link to my Authors Electric post on Writing Prompts but first and foremost, it’s time to share my latest on Chandler’s Ford Today. This week I talk about the ACW Autumn Gathering and Supportive Writing Groups.

I share some of the experience of last Saturday’s ACW writing day but also useful tips if you’re thinking of joining a writing group. Hope you find the post useful here.

Oh and if you are in the Chandler’s Ford area tomorrow, do come along to The Hilt at the Hiltingbury Recreation Ground. The Book Fair is back and is from 1 pm to 5pm, it is free entry, and there is a wide range of authors taking part, including yours truly. Hope to see you there.

ACW Autumn Gathering and Supportive Writing Groups

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18th October 2024 – Authors Electric

Second post tonight as it is double blog today for me today! I’m back on Authors Electric today talking about Writing Prompts, a favourite topic of mine. I use a wide variety of prompts and find them invaluable. I discuss some of the prompt types I use as well as how to make the most of the random generators. Hope you find the post useful.

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One happy Lady today as she got to play with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals once again. All of us happy as it stayed dry today, unlike yesterday when it poured down. Managed to avoid a lot of it but not all – it is amazing how wet you can get in a three minutes shower!

Will be discussing the ACW Autumn Gathering and Supportive Writing Groups for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I’ll be sharing tips and thoughts on what to look for if you’re thinking of joining a writing group, as well as celebrating a marvellous ACW event last Saturday in Rugby. Link up tomorrow. See above.

It will be double blog day tomorrow incidentally as my Authors Electric post on Writing Prompts is also out on 18th October. Plenty to look forward to reading and I hope you will find both blogs useful and entertaining. Again see above.

16th October – bonus CFT post

Delighted to share a bonus post on Chandler’s Ford Today advertising the Book Fair at The Hilt on Saturday, 19th October between 1 pm and 5 pm. All welcome. Entry is free. Come and support your local authors (and get some book buying done early for You Know What coming up in December!).
Am so pleased to be taking part in this again – hope to see you there!

BOOK FAIR AT THE HILT – SATURDAY 19TH OCTOBER 2024

In separate news, I’m delighted to say I will have a super duper two part interview with Debz Hobbs-Wyatt about her new novel, If Crows Could Talk, coming up on CFT at the end of the month/early November. More details nearer the time.

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It’s good to wrap up the week with a story and I hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Getting There. See how my character coped with her unfaithful Ron, but is all as she would wish it to be now? Find out here.

Hope you have had a good day. I’ve now sent in the results to the flash fiction competition I was judging. Good fun to do. Looking forward to the Book Fair on Saturday too, It will be nice to catch up with the other authors too, some of whom I met for the first time last year. This time I’m on the list to give a short talk about who I am, what I write, and naturally I will share some flash fiction as part of that.

A busy week coming up next week too with the next Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom on Wednesday and I’m off to our wonderful local theatre on Thursday too. As the year starts to wind down, the writing life winds up! But it gives me more opportunities to spread the word about flash and I’m always happy to do that.

Looking forward to spreading the word about flash fiction at the Book Fair at The Hilt on Saturday. See link to bonus Chandler’s Ford Today post which shares more info.

I’ve often found at events like this demonstrating what flash fiction (a) entertains, (b) shows what flash is so effectively and (c) can lead to sales! Nothing to dislike there! Hope to see you there if you’re in the area. And there will be plenty of other authors represented too. Last year, there was a good selection ranging from YA fantasy, flash (of course), non-fiction, women’s fiction and much else, and that should be the case again this time.

If you’re not in my area, do support your local author events. There will be plenty coming up in the next couple of months (can’t imagine why!).We always appreciate the support, regardless of what we write.

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Fairytales with Bite – Special Books

I still have two very special books – The Reader’s Digest Collection of Fairytales, a two volume set given to me by my late father. The fairytales are the originals collected and written by Hans Christen Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, Perrault and so on. One of those books has its spine bound up by tape, I read it so much!

But recalling these led me to wondering what books would your magical creations consider special to them?

Would it be their study books? Would it be what we call fairytales but which they would see as their history, maybe? Would it be a book which was especially helpful to them in developing their craft?

Do any of your magical creations write their own books? Have they contributed to your world’s literature, magical arts etc?

Just what would be their special books and how have they helped your characters develop? There are story ideas there.

This World and Others – Ways of Researching

Often when I’m drafting a story, I may need to do a quick bit of research to check something. I once needed to find out what poisonous plants I could reasonably expect to find in a garden. Honest, guv, it was for a story and nothing else. I suspect most crime and horror writers internet search histories would not beat too much scrutiny!

Where would your characters go when they needed to research something to help with their work, quest etc? Do they find materials easy to access? Are there libraries and archives as we understand the terms or, if not, what would be the nearest equivalent to these things? Records are kept everywhere after all!

How would they research? As well as books and scrolls, could they interview people/beings? Would there be something along the lines of the web so all could easily research? Are there areas they would be stopped from researching and, if so, what and why and who does the stopping? All ideas there.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the October 2023 edition of the magazine. The focus was on horror. My article is Writing Horror: The Telling Details. Often it is specific details which will give your readers “the chill factor”. Select them well!

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Delighted to share a bonus post on Chandler’s Ford Today advertising the Book Fair at The Hilt on Saturday, 19th October between 1 pm and 5 pm. Entry is free. Come and support your local authors. Am pleased to be taking part in this again – see you there!https://t.co/OHxkf42rua
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 16, 2024

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It’s good to wrap up the week with a story and I hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Getting There. See how my character coped with her unfaithful Ron, but is all as she would wish it to be now? Find out here.https://t.co/1WkBnpJzSc pic.twitter.com/P2Wa6RomQk
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 18, 2024

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Authors Electric: Writing Prompts by Allison Symes https://t.co/rzoCxjehvL I’m back on AE discussing Writing Prompts. I use a variety of prompts and find them invaluable. I discuss some types I use and how to make the most of the random generators. Hope you find this useful. pic.twitter.com/fTfwl48PfN
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 18, 2024

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ACW Autumn Gathering and Supportive Writing Groups https://t.co/fY3FsiBe8e Pleased to share my latest on CFT – ACW Autumn Gathering and Supportive Writing Groups. I share some of the experience of the recent ACW writing day AND tips if you’re thinking of joining a writing group.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 18, 2024

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