Author Interview: Miriam Drori – Loyalty and the Learner

October 11, 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 big thank you to Miriam Drori and Lynsey Adams (Reading Between the Lines Book Vlog) for photos supplied for my interview with Miriam on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Miriam also sent pictures of her setting with captions so do check those out. Settings add so much to a story.

Hope you have had a good week. Lady has seen her friends most of the time so she’s happy. Am off to Rugby on 12th October to go to the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering event. Looking forward to catching up with friends, making new ones, and enjoying the workshops. Also looking forward to Flash NANO which starts soon too. Hope I can get another 30 draft stories out of it this year! (Have also been playing with Book Brush for my flash fiction collections – see below!).

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to welcome Miriam Drori to Chandler’s Ford Today this week to discuss her new novel, Loyalty and the Learner. She also shares her views on titles (especially as she has used alliterative titles for her other book in the Jerusalem Murder Mystery series, Style and the Solitary) and what led her into creative writing at all, given her career was in a very different direction. Even her other writing has been in a different direction as Miriam has also written on social anxiety.

Miriam also discusses writing blurbs and writing guides with me. Plenty to enjoy here and lots of useful thoughts. Do enjoy!

Many thanks for joining me on CFT, Miriam, and good luck with the book.

Meeting Miriam Drori: Loyalty and the Learner

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Don’t forget to check out a superb interview with Miriam Drori on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Miriam discusses her new book, Loyalty and the Learner. The interview is part of a blog tour organised by Lynsey Adams of Reading Between the Lines Book Vlog. See above.

It was lovely to meet Miriam in person at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick back in August and both of us took part in the Open Prose Mic Night there.

Miriam shares wonderful tips on book launches and her approach to marketing. She shares what led her into writing crime at all and her favourite aspect of storytelling. She also discusses how she handles the inevitable ups and downs of the writing life and there is much more besides. Do look out for it. Looking forward to sharing this tomorrow. Do look out for the link.

Hope you have had a good day. Lady did. She got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals – all three so pleased to see each other. Off to have my flu jab later.

More author interviews coming up on Chandler’s Ford Today in the run up to that famous event in December (it is too early to mention it by name yet, though I note that thought clearly hasn’t occurred to the supermarkets). Am looking forward to sharing those.

Am a fair way through a first draft of a fourth flash fiction collection and am preparing a submission for something else which I hope to get out in the next few weeks. I’m at that stage where I’m resting it as I want to judge it again before I send it off. Time away from any piece of work is the only way I know to be able to judge a piece objectively enough.

Am also happily judging a flash fiction competition at the moment too. Love doing this kind of thing and I always critique. I’ve been on the receiving end of critiques myself and have always found them useful. They do have to be constructive though.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Put That Light Out. Fans of Dad’s Army should recognise that phrase and who said it in the series. It directly inspires this story. Hope you enjoy it.

Have another train trip over the weekend so hope to use some of that travelling time in drafting blog posts, flash fiction etc. Am delighted the notes app on my relatively new phone replaces Evernote for me. I didn’t need a paid for subscription with them given I use this kind of note program only when travelling like this and Evernote have been pushing towards subscriptions, which I think is a shame. Never used to do that but I understand they were taken over by someone else a while back so that probably explains the change of viewpoint!

Paid for subscriptions are not for everyone. I only ever pay for something I know I will use. I use graphics a lot so having a paid for plan with Book Brush makes a great deal of sense for me. Likewise I have a paid subscription for my website and I am always keen to renew my subs with the Society of Authors as I have long found their advice useful. There is a huge business in services fur authors. Just know what you’re getting into and always check things out before committing to anything.

I am looking forward to getting on with some drafts on the train on Saturday though. It’s amazing how much I can get done and I like making good use of time like that.

So looking forward to taking part in Flash NANO again. Not long to go now. Have enjoyed taking part over the last couple of years and some of those pieces have gone on to be published. If you want to take a look at what it is all about, do follow the link below.

A huge thanks to those members of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction group who put me on to this. I just love the whole idea of having something for the short form writers while the novelists crack on with NaNoWriMo (and if you are taking part in that, good luck!).

Fairytales With Bite – How Do You Know When Your Wand Needs Servicing?

Time for some lighthearted nonsense I think.

You know it’s time to get your wand serviced when fur slippers become glass ones.

You know it’s time to get your wand serviced when the three bears have to call in carpenters to sort out the ruined furniture because your wand decides it doesn’t “do wood”. The one comfort you have here is in knowing a certain time travelling alien with two hearts has s sonic screwdriver which also doesn’t “do wood”. On the plus side again, you are unlikely to upset the Ents from The Lord of the Rings precisely because your wand doesn’t “do wood”.

You know it’s time to get your wand serviced when it misfires and what would normally emerge as sweet little tweeting birds turn out to be huge vultures who don’t look that pleased to see you. They’re even less pleased when you aim your wand again and they become those sweet little tweeting birds with feathers missing. Somewhere in their brains they will recall they had been much bigger and more threatening and they liked that role. They also begrudge the missing feathers.

You know it’s time to get your wand serviced when, despite all magical attempts to get spinning wheels out of the magical kingdom, one still manages to turn up.

You know it’s time to get your wand serviced when despite using it for help with your baking, your cake still has a soggy bottom and despite using fabulous ingredients it still tastes like fairy dust (which is dry and bitter).

This World and Others – Equipment – Servicing and Manufacturing

Hope you enjoyed Fairytales with Bite. Now for story ideas.

Fairy godmothers and the like will need to have somewhere to go to get their wands etc serviced, replaced (if damaged in the call of duty or because they simply fancy the latest model). The Harry Potter series famously had Diagon Alley for this.

What would your world have or does your setting import this kind of service and manufacturing from other places? If so, why? What set the tradition for importing skills and services? Does that have a downside? There is one obvious one – they better not be at war ever with the world which supplies them!

Story ideas could also come from following the tale of a craftsman here. What do they produce? How did they get into the trade? Is their reputation a good one? What would they do if made to make equipment for someone they really don’t want having it? Good tension raising drama there!

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the November 2023 edition of the magazine which was on the theme of novels. Timely too given November each year sees both NaNoWriMo and Flash NANO. My piece in here looked at writing novels and shares what I learned from writing my, as yet, unpublished one.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Meeting Miriam Drori: Loyalty and the Learner https://t.co/wZDMSV6YPQ Delighted to welcome Miriam Drori to CFT to discuss her novel, Loyalty and the Learner. She discusses titles, what led her into creative writing, blurbs and writing guides amongst other topics. Do enjoy!
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 11, 2024

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Put That Light Out, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/k32DYbeaGK Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my new tale, Put That Light Out. Fans of Dad’s Army should recognise that phrase and who said it! It directly inspires this tale. Hope you like it. pic.twitter.com/AJqJ5nhXMa
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 11, 2024

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Story Inspiring TV and Its Music

October 4, 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 my lovely CFT editor, Janet Williams, for the shot of me at the 2023 Book Fair. Looking forward to the 2024 one coming up soon! Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

Hope you have had a good few days. The autumn evenings are drawing in rapidly and, yes, the heating has come on. Lady had a great start to her week, getting to play with her two best doggie girlfriends. After recovering from a cold, I was pleased to be back in the swimming pool on Thursday and Friday. Just felt so good to be back in there again.

Writing wise, do look out for a super interview with crime author Miriam Drori next week on Chander’s Ford Today. Later in the month I’m off to see the latest production from The Chameleon Theatre Group so a review will follow in due course. And I’ll also be interviewing Debz Hobbs-Wyatt about her new novel so October is going to be busy but fun, just how I like things to be.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share Story Inspiring TV and Its Music on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I look at how books have led to many fabulous TV series with equally wonderful themes for them. So if you enjoy books, TV series, and TV themes, this post is for you!

I look at classic detective series (think about a certain crime Dame’s greatest characters), take a trip to Oxford, and look at how a certain renowned time traveling alien (clue: has two hearts) has inspired so many novels to be written. I also take a peek at sagas and famous children’s TV series based on books.

Much to enjoy here and I hope you enjoy the post. I loved writing it.

Story Inspiring TV and Its Music

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My recent post on Books, Movies, and Music on Chandler’s Ford Today was a joy to write and inspired me to write another in a similar vein. Tomorrow, I’ll be sharing Story Inspiring TV and Its Music. It is amazing how many books have led to super television series. There has also been some wonderful themes to go with them. I’ll be discussing and sharing some of these. If you fancy a trip down Memory Lane, tomorrow’s CFT post is especially for you. See above.

My only regret here was not being able to include one of my all time favourite TV tunes, The Thunderbirds March, given it isn’t based on a book! Lady Penelope was an early heroine of mine and I was sorry to hear recently of the death of David Graham who voiced her sidekick, Parker, amongst many other characters.

However, I have found the following gem on YouTube. Do enjoy. I thought it was wonderful.

Hope you have had a good day. Lady has had a smashing one. She got to play with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. All three dogs went home tired but happy. They do enjoy seeing each other. It is lovely to see.

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Story Inspiring TV and Its Music for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. More writer interviews to come later in the month too.

Many thanks for the congratulations on my competition news yesterday (re my third place award). Much appreciated.

Character Creation Tip: I often start with major traits and then work out what could come from those for my creations. For example, courage could lead to recklessness. I could have two different characters from that thought alone and two different stories.

I find traits useful as they are a powerful source of motivation for a character too and readers understand this. My underlying belief is for any story to work readers must get where a character is coming from. Doesn’t mean the reader has to like the character necessarily.

Confession time: I don’t like all of mine. Indeed, I can think of some I wouldn’t want to meet on a dark night! But that’s fine. For the purpose of the stories they’re in, all I needed was to understand why they are the way they are and then I took things from there.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s Friday. It’s the end of the working week for many. Its getting darker earlier on in the evenings. It’s time for a story and I hope this one puts a smile on your face.

See what happens in my latest on Friday Flash Fiction, The Birthday Cake, when a mum, finally decides she is going to fix her lack of food presentational skills, no matter what she has to do to achieve this.

I occasionally write what I call “two-handers” for my flash fiction. This is where I get my narrator specifically addressing another unseen character who is “off stage”.

One of these is my You Never Know (From Light to Dark and Back Again) where I have an irate magical tour guide pointing out the downside of her job to someone who clearly thinks she has an easy, cushy life. Not so! Great fun to write.

The secret with these stories, I think, is to have a strong central character who has a strong premise or idea to share with the unseen character which should lead to a change of attitude on the part of the latter. So even in this kind of story there has to be a point of change or something where it is likely there would be one after the story ends. Readers should be able to see that coming, so to speak.

Here I outlined what my main character would have cause to whinge about at the other character but I wanted them to do it with humour so it didn’t just come across as a rant. My favourite lines from this read, “One further tip to the wise – never eat anything glowing red as it’s unlikely to be healthy. I must thank Snow White for telling me that.”.

Well, in a magical world, that’s wise advice, yes?

But for this story working out my characters first helped me to write the tale. I saw it as laying my foundations here but sometimes it does work best for me when I know the characters first, then I figure out the storyline. Sometimes when I know the storyline, that will give me the characters best placed so suit it. But it helps being open to both approaches here.

From Light to Dark and Back Again - by night

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Flash fiction has a powerful impact because the form is so short. Knowing this, I can decide what impact I want my stories to have, whether it is to make readers laugh, cry, scream, or what have you.

Depending on what I choose here (and sometimes that choice is confirmed quickly if a competition I’m entering has a set theme which is likely to lead to certain types of character being needed), I can then work out what my character needs to be to be able to produce that impact.

This is where knowing the major traits helps. If I know my character is judgemental, say, I can set them up in situations where that attribute will backfire on them. I could write that as a tragedy or as a humorous story. I like having the choice!

I’ve found with flash it has paid to play to its strengths and having a more powerful impact due to its precision is one of them.

Fairytales with Bite – The Tooth Fairy’s Lament

Hope you enjoy the following. Time and changing attitudes can lead to redundancies in the most unexpected places!

The Tooth Fairy’s Lament
That poet lady who said “I wish I’d looked after me teeth”,
Should see life from the other side of the white enamelled fence.
I’ve no problem with her but I want you all to know my beef.
I’ve no training for other work and it’s not as if I’m dense.

I want pity for a Tooth Fairy with a P45.
In the old days, her well honoured role was a job for her life.
Not now so it seems, I now need to work out how to survive.
I don’t need my life’s work being dumped; I so don’t need the strife.

So why has my respected job gone? Why have I got the sack?
I could say it was due to belief but I wouldn’t be right.
Belief isn’t the problem far from it but it is the lack
Of it which has made my work vanish, my finances so tight.

And don’t get me wrong either, I am all for healthy eating.
Better dental health, not before time, is a great idea too.
But when these things come together, my work takes such a beating.
Now where do I find myself? I’m in the magical dole queue.

Ends
Allison Symes – written 2nd October 2024

This World and Others – The Magical Jobs Nobody Wants to Do

It doesn’t matter which universe you’re in (as a resident or a visitor or someone who does a bit of both), but there will be magical jobs nobody wants to do.

Clearing up after a trainee wizard for instance – goodness knows what you’ll find from what they’ve been experimenting with in their bid to create the best spell ever. All you know is you’re the cleaner and you’re not paid enough but hey there was nothing else and it is a secure post. Oh and you’ve been warned time and again not to use magic to help with the cleaning. Some apprentice did it years ago and there was no end of trouble and you don’t want to happen to you, do you?

Likewise, would you want to be the one who sources ingredients for a witch? You wouldn’t dare get it wrong, would you? It might not be kids in the oven next time.

How about being a proofreader for a new spell book? You know these things have been tested in the field but they are not yet established in your lore. What if you make a mistake here? What if you don’t pick up on mistakes on the manuscript? What would the consequences be?

Scope for humorous stories I think here.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Back to the first issue of Writers’ Narrative this time – the August 2023 edition. In this one I write about Boost Your Writing with Flash Fiction. Talk about write what you know!

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Story Inspiring TV and Its Music https://t.co/AEnihTZycV Delighted to share this on CFT this week. I look at how books have led to great TV series with wonderful themes. I look at classic detective and children's shows and more. Hope you enjoy the post. I loved writing it.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 4, 2024

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The Birthday Cake, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/FvzP5IGYf1 It’s Friday. Tale time. See what happens in my latest on Friday Flash Fiction, The Birthday Cake, when a mum decides to fix her lack of food presentational skills, no matter what she has to do. pic.twitter.com/TVNeYeFLAE
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) October 4, 2024

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Author Interview: Behind The Curtain with Anita D Hunt

September 27, 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 Anita D Hunt and Lynsey Adams for pictures supplied for the Chandler’s Ford Today post this week.

Hope you have had a good few days. Torrential rain and brief spells of sunshine here. Hoping it brightens up for the weekend as have a family event. Writing wise, have more superb author interviews coming up on Chandler’s Ford Today in October. Will say more nearer the time though I find it hard to believe we’re almost at the tenth month of the year already! Where has the time gone?

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

As part of her blog tour, I am delighted to welcome fellow Swanwicker, Anita D Hunt, to Chandler’s Ford Today to discuss her new domestic noir novel, Behind The Curtain.

Anita shares many useful tips and plenty of great advice in this in depth interview, in which she also discusses how it can be painful getting inside your characters’ heads at times and what to look for in a writing group.

She looks at what she likes about creating characters and how Cornwall, her home county, plays a major part in her work. She discusses themes and shares an invaluable tip about writing blurbs. Do check out the interview and settle down for a riveting read.

Behind The Curtain with Anita D Hunt

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Glad to say the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting on Zoom last night went well. The theme was marketing (many thanks to Rosemary Johnson for suggesting it) and I shared a few ways flash fiction can help with this.

If nothing else, sharing flash fiction stories every now and again can act as a marvellous advert for the rest of what you do. It doesn’t take long to read, it entertains potential/actual readers, and it showcases you/your work. Nothing to dislike there, I think.

And talking of marketing, it’s time for me to put in my usual end of month reminder about my author newsletter. The next one goes out on 1st October and I share stories, tips, advice (based on what I’ve found useful myself), news etc. If interested do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com where you can sign up. A huge thank you too to all of my subscribers here and on my YouTube channel.

Thought for Today: Every writer has their fair share of rejections, not doing well in competitions etc, but there’s nothing to stop you revisiting your old work, seeing if you can polish it up and get it out somewhere else. I’ve had work published that way.

Sometimes I will review a piece and with the benefit of time and that useless aid, hindsight (I would far rather have the ability to spot something wrong at the time I’m working on a piece and see my mistakes before I send anything out!), I can see why a piece failed but even that can be useful because I’ve learned from it.

So maybe hindsight isn’t so useless after all. I would still prefer foresight or at the time sight though! Suspect most of us would.

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Hope you have had a good day. Lady has had a smashing one given she got to play with her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today. I’ve managed to avoid most of the rain today too so will take that as a win.

Don’t forget I’ll be talking to Anita D Hunt about her domestic noir novel, Behind The Curtain, on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. The interview is packed full of useful tips and advice too so do look out for it. See above. Glad to say there will be more author interviews to come on CFT in October too.

Writing Tip: I know some writers dread marketing and would far rather focus on writing. I understand that but there are creative aspects to marketing your stories too. After all the challenge here is to make what you have to say here about your work interesting and appealing to readers and not switch them off. (Saying buy my book all the time does do precisely that).

I’ve found if I can make the marketing fun for me to do it is more likely to be appealing to a reader. Sharing something of interest and/or value to readers/writers as I discuss what I’m up to writing wise is also marketing. I think it is more likely I can keep this kind of marketing going too.

My aim with posts like this one then is to have a chatty informative style, while sharing useful tips and something like oh by the way my newsletter is out soon, if you want to sign up head over to etc etc. I take the view if it is something I wouldn’t mind reading if I were on the receiving end, other readers (or at least some) will take the same view.

So work out then what you like to see in marketing you receive. Figuring out what works for you as a reader will help you come up with material based on your work you won’t mind sharing with your readers (and they won’t mind it either). The focus has to be on engagement, I think. Stories about your writing life work well too.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s Friday, end of the week time, weather iffy so definitely time for a story then. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – The Old Bat and The Cookie Tin. Think I’ve found a contender for one of my all time favourite titles!

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady didn’t get to see any of her pals today though she hopefully will tomorrow. Have a family event at the weekend. Lady loves these because (a) she loves people, (b) she loves getting extra food and getting to be an outside Hoover, and (c) she loves playing with the visiting dog, with whom she gets on brilliantly. Am expecting Lady to be shattered on Saturday night. She was last time but happily so!

Looking forward to the local Book Fair in October and literally the week before the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering event. I shall be off to Rugby for that one and will be back to London in December for the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event. Lots going on all connected with writing and I plan to enjoy every minute! I also get to spread the word about flash fiction of course.

Prompt Idea: Events mean different things to different people so why not invent one for a character of yours and show what they make of it? Do they organise it? Do they love it? Do they dread it? What happens at this event which changes things for them?

I’ve mentioned before the importance of using the right telling details to help your readers picture your world/setting/character/any combination of those. In my The Terrified Dragon (Tripping The Flash Fantastic), I start with the line The dragon was surrounded by angry humans with weapons and realised to his dismay he was supposed to blast them all away.

Note I haven’t told you what those weapons were as that isn’t the important thing. What you need to know is the main character is a dragon who has got into trouble (which is odd in itself given dragons are usually the cause of fire-related trouble!). You need to know about the angry humans (and you don’t need telling why they’re angry given a dragon turning up is seldom good news).

But you also see something of the dragon’s attitude. He knows what he is meant to do but is strangely reluctant to do it. There is something strange about this creature. Only way to find out what is to read on. Job done.

I’ve always found it useful to figure out what a reader has to know and then decide how I am going to plant those things in the story. When I’ve outlined my character well enough, I can see how the story will develop and where those things should go. It will arise naturally, which is what you want.

Fairytales with Bite – Flying Around

Now I know I moan about traffic in my area – I suspect most of us do – but what would this traffic look like in a magical world? How is the Eye in the Sky supposed to work when all around them are flying on broomsticks and other magical craft?

Would there be speed limits? Would there be corridors magical flying beings are supposed to stick to (if only to give the wildlife a half decent chance of being able to fly anywhere in safety? I feel sorry for birds in magical worlds. In any other kind of world the skies would be theirs. Not in this kind of environment it isn’t!).

Now we all know there are certain kinds of car driver (usually with specific brands of vehicle too) who are notorious for tailgating, jumping traffic lights, being awful at junctions etc. What would the magical equivalent of these things be in your setting? How is flying traffic controlled or is it a free for all and it is assumed the fittest/fastest/strongest survive and it’s tough luck on the others? What are the accident rates?

Are the state of the skies in your setting better than they used to be or worse? Can any magical being fly? Are the “vehicles” restricted to certain speeds?

You could have some funny stories here about the magical traffic cop and how they rein in anyone who breaks the rules here. I once wrote a festive flash piece where such a character tried to pull Santa over for speeding! Great fun to write.

This World and Others – Policing the Skies

Linking in with Fairytales with Bite, who does police the skies? How seriously or otherwise is this role taken? Does it get the support of the general public or it is looked down on? Are there any perceptions that certain flyers (e.g. witches and wizards) get away with traffic faults and other more lowly kinds (such as the trainee fairies etc) do not?

Who does control the skies in your setting and how do they do it? We consider keeping control of our own air space as vital to our defences (as proven by the Battle of Britain in World War Two) so I would assume your setting’s government would take the same view.

Who would they need to defend their skies against? What is the history behind that? What is the history behind how your government does police the skies? What have they found works well and what less so?

I quite like the idea of a traffic cop on a broomstick with a flashing blue light pulling over other magical beings for speeding etc. What punishments can be given? How are other magical beings stopped from avoiding these and/or giving the cop a hard time?

Story ideas here (and possibly funny ones too).

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Since marketing has come into this round up tonight, I thought I’d share the link to the September 2023 edition of the magazine given it has marketing as its theme. I have two pieces in here – Marketing Your Books and Writing For Online Magazines.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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It’s Friday, end of the week time, weather iffy so definitely time for a story then. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – The Old Bat and The Cookie Tin. Think I’ve found a contender for one of my all time favourite titles!https://t.co/SoNEdSo8GF pic.twitter.com/nDyb07y3CB
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) September 27, 2024

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Behind The Curtain with Anita D Hunt https://t.co/kiOYshPN53 As part of her blog tour, I'm delighted to welcome fellow Swanwicker, Anita D Hunt, to CFT to discuss her domestic noir novel, Behind The Curtain. She shares useful tips and great advice in this in depth interview.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) September 27, 2024

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Author Interview: Catching Up With Ruth Leigh – The Further Adventures of Ruth Leigh

September 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. Many thanks to Ruth Leigh and Social Shapes for some of the images in my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week.

Hope you have had a good few days. Continuing to enjoy lovely autumn weather here. Lady continuing to have a riot with her pals in the park. All is well! On the writing front, I’m delighted to say my story, Spade Work, will be broadcast by Hannah Kate on North Manchester FM on 21st September (between 2 and 4 pm). Hope to share the link later.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

I’m so pleased to welcome back Ruth Leigh to Chandler’s Ford Today to discuss her new book, The Further Adventures of Isabella M Smugge. Isabella is one of those unforgettable, touching, and funny characters, it was clear from the outset she would need more than one book!

In this in depth interview, Ruth and I discuss what she loves about Isabella and who Ruth would pick to play the role should Isabella ever come to the screen. Ruth also shares some wonderful tips about book launches. If you’re thinking of having a launch, do check these out.

Ruth also discusses what inspired her to write A Great Deal of Ingenuity and The Little Unexpected Book of Poetry which came out since the last CFT interview and we both celebrate being Jane Austen nerds.

Ruth also shares how her writing life has taken off in other directions with Resolute Books and the British Christian Writing Conference. There are also valuable tips on websites and the challenge of managing both writing and marketing time.

Plenty to enjoy then and lots of useful advice and tips for other writers. Do enjoy. And congratulations, Ruth, on the fourth installment centred on your wonderful heroine.

Catching Up with Ruth Leigh – The Further Adventures of Isabella M Smugge

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Lovely start to my day as I found out my story, Spade Work, will be broadcast on Hannah Kate’s Autumn Equinox show on North Manchester FM on Saturday, 21st September. I hope to share a link later. Many thanks to Jenny Sanders for flagging this one up.

Am looking forward to listening in as there is always a lovely mix of stories on these shows. Will be interesting to find out how the autumn theme has been taken by the other contributors.

Flash works well on radio and/or Open Prose Mic Nights precisely because you have a contained story which doesn’t take too much time to read out/listen to.

Am also looking forward to taking part in Flash NANO again in November. Hope to get thirty more draft stories out of that!

Another lovely autumn day here and Lady had a fabulous puppy party with her chums, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, and Coco, the Labradoodle. Tired but oh so happy dogs went home. Lovely to watch them at play.

Am pleased to be back on Authors Electric with my post Directions. I look at how my writing life has been an upside down one and why I’ve learned not to worry about my writing life changing direction. I hadn’t started out writing the short form at all but when I did get around to that, it twisted again when I discovered flash fiction and from that the joys of learning to write tight and to never fear editing or being edited again. The latter alone has proved useful to me.

Wherever you are on your writing journey, I hope the “ride” is a good one and the turns you take prove to be useful to you. Hope you enjoy the post.

WORD OF WARNING: Annoyingly there are two useless comments on my Authors Electric post, one of which is potentially dodgy. I have flagged them up to the admins of Authors Electric. These comments weren’t there when I published the post.

One is advertising how to hire a hacker. PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THAT COMMENT OR CLICK ON THE PERSON’S ICON. I dread to think where that would take you.

The other is about recipes, irrelevant to a writing post. It is the bane of all website owners to have to deal with this kind of thing. Please DO enjoy my post though. I hope you find it useful.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s Friday, the end of the working week for many. Time for a story then. Hope you enjoy The Case. If there is a moral to this one, it is to take a hint seriously when you are given one. Find out what happens given my character David didn’t do that.

Hope you have had a good day. Lovely autumn weather continuing here. Delighted to say I’ll be on Hannah Kate’s show on Saturday afternoon on North Manchester FM. The theme for the show in the Autumn Equinox. Will share a link when I get one. Next seasonal theme I will write something for will be, dare I say it so early, a festive one. Festive flash is so enjoyable to write. I do think the aim there is to make the stories fun. At least that’s the take I try to use for it!

A lovely review for From Light to Dark and Back Again describes the book as From Light to Dark and Back Again is indeed, as the subtitle states, ‘a collection very short stories to suit every mood’ – be it mournful, pithy or murderous.

Many thanks to Book Reader for that one. Please note though Amazon say the book isn’t available in paperback that isn’t the case. All Chapeltown Books are print on demand so it isn’t a question of unavailability. Print on demand doesn’t have a use by date!

Also you can order directly from me. Just contact me via my website (https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com/contact/) or you can go to my publisher’s bookshop, The Bridgetown Cafe Bookshop. See link.

Fairytales with Bite – Professional Practices

Think about the professions in your magical setting. Think about the obvious ones like witch, wizard, fairy godmother etc. Behind any profession there is usually a service industry. Within the profession there is usually a set of professional practices or some sort of Code of Practice.

So what would make up the service industries here? Someone has to supply the magical equipment and test it so it is good to be used on a wider scale. Someone else would write the spell books (and those would have been tested and proved to work at some point, else why include them?).

Then there would be whoever supplied the ingredients or someone who brought out the latest model of wand etc. Also who taught those who work in the professions? What rigorous standards do they have to teach to? Do you have the magical equivalent of Ofsted here?

So all sorts of things then go on behind any job in our world and the same would apply in a magical one.

Fairies may be born but they would have to be trained. They will need to know how to use their equipment and so on, They will be expected to stick to what most accept as a reasonable code of conduct (noting there would always be some who defy these things).

As for the professional practices/Code, who wrote these? Who approved them? What led to there being a need for them in the first place? What would happen to anyone who went against these things?

Story ideas there for sure!

This World and Others – Unions/Guilds

Given the need for professions in any world, who cares for the workers in those professions? Would there be the magical equivalent of trade unions? Are there guilds ensuring professional practices, as referred to in Fairytales with Bite, are adhered to? Who runs these things and how did they get into those roles?

Who would they answer to and do the workers have the right to hold their union officials, as well as their bosses, to account where necessary? How does the employment world work in your setting? Story ideas there too!

On a lighter note, as for possible magical trade unions how about the following:-

The FGTU – The Fairy Godmother Trade Union. Motto: Clocking off is always at midnight, not a moment sooner or later.

NRG – Nursery Rhyme Guild. Motto: There for the talking bears to ensure they always get their furniture and porridge replaced.

MCWU – Mouse Clock Winders’ Union. Motto: Ensuring the clocks always read 1 am or 1 pm – nothing else. Members here cannot be a member of the FGTU as well due to an obvious conflict of interests.

COBBLERS Guild – Collective of Brave Blue-collar Leather-working Elves Restoring Shoes Guild – Motto: Always proud to help the small businessman who is kind but has fallen on hard times.

Hope you enjoyed those. For story purposes though the world of employment (on both sides of the fence) could be a good source for ideas.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the April 2024 edition of the magazine which is on a theme close to my heart, editing. I ask the big question – Editing: Do You Love It or Loathe It?

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Authors Electric: Directions by Allison Symes https://t.co/Ti371hxuSl Pleased to be on AE. I look at why my writing life has been upside down and how I’ve learned not to worry about my writing changing direction. I hope your writing journey is good and its turns prove useful. pic.twitter.com/jdlxwXL7ZN
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) September 18, 2024

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🍂 Coming up on Sat at 2pm, it's the Hannah's Bookshelf Autumn Equinox Special on @normanfm1066, featuring flash fiction from Jess Richards, Carmen Walton, @mariascohut, @noodleBubble, Peter Barnes, Julian Edge, @R_J_Ren, @AllisonSymes1 & @bridiebreen1! 🍂 https://t.co/oN9uwm68Pr
— Hannah Kate (@HannahKateish) September 18, 2024

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The Case, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/DReqQMgA3w It’s Friday, end of the working week. Time for a tale. Hope you enjoy The Case. If there is a moral here, it is to take a hint seriously when given one. Find out what happens when my character David didn’t. pic.twitter.com/vndhmoqc3d
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) September 20, 2024

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Catching Up with Ruth Leigh – The Further Adventures of Isabella M Smugge https://t.co/RI6O8lFyHI In this in-depth interview, Ruth discusses Isabella, Resolute Books, and the British Christian Writing Conference amongst other topics. Lots of tips on launches and websites too.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) September 20, 2024

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Books, Movies, and Music

September 13, 2024September 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. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

Hope you have had a good few days. Nice to see some autumn sunshine emerge. Lady has continued to have riotous times with her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal so she is is having a cracking week. Writing wise, am happily busy editing and preparing author interviews to share. Also looking forward to judging flash fiction again soon and the Association of of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later in the month. Plenty going on and with more to come. On a sadder note, another link with my childhood passed away this week.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to share Books, Movies, and Music for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. This post was inspired by the recent Classic FM Movie Music Hall of Fame. I look at the links between movie music and books/plays (there were SO many on the chart). Where there wasn’t a link with a book or play, there sometimes was with an author (e.g. Wilde by Debbie Wiseman).

I also look at earworms and suggest a couple of them. You may or may not thank me for that! I also ask if strong stories automatically means strong films.

Hope you enjoy the post and do share your favourite movie themes based on books in the comments box on CFT. There are fewer pictures in the slideshow below because I did share a few YouTube clips in the CFT post itself. Go on. Check out the Pink Panther YouTube clip in the post. The orchestra is having a fabulous time playing this. And it remains the only film series I know of which inspired an equally wonderful cartoon series.

Books, Movies, and Music

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I was sorry to hear of the death of Kenneth Cope today. Had a good innings (he was 93) but I remember him well from that fabulous show, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). Entertaining show with a wonderful theme tune. Have shared the link to the latter. See below.

There are certain shows where the theme tune so matches the characters and stories. This was one. Doctor Who is another. (I recall Kenneth Cope from Carry On At Your Convenience too).

My Books, Movies, and Music will be on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. See above. This was a joy to write given it combines several of my favourite things. If I could’ve found a way to mention chocolate in this, I would have had a set of favourite things but alas the chocolate will have to wait for another more suitable post.

11th September
To all who mourn today, I send my deepest condolences.

Lady saw her Rhodesian Ridgeback pal again today and the pair of them had a lovely time. Dogs, unlike humans, keep it simple.

Will be discussing Books, Movies, and Music for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Looking forward to sharing that. See above. After that will come the first of two super author interviews. Those will be a great way to wrap up the month.

I love putting questions together for my guests on CFT. It’s a good challenge for me and I hope proves to be so for them! What I aim to do is to ask questions which encourage the author to “open up” with the result being seen as a written, in depth conversation. I think it makes for a good read. More to come on both author interviews nearer the time.

Coming soon - more author interviews in my CFT column

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s Friday. It’s time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Appearances. This will ring a bell for fans of certain cartoons. See the story for more.

There are many advantages to writing flash fiction but two of the major ones, at least for me, are the way it shows up your wasted words and it encourages you to write tighter, leaner prose. It has led to me asking myself whether I do need a certain phrase or, even if so, can I express it better? Most of the time the answer to that question is yes and so I rewrite.

It also encourages you to think of the right detail to include so your readers can get a good picture of your character and situation in a few words. The right image can add depth to a story.

I ask myself what detail would help do that. What is it a reader would find helpful here? Answering that helps me with focus. Sometimes I use colours, one of the senses, an item of clothing etc. Using those details flags up they matter to the character in some way but it also helps “fix” a picture of the character in a reader’s mind better, I think.

11th September
To all who find today difficult, I send my deepest sympathies.

Flash by its nature has to capture a moment in time but it has to be a significant one for your character. What is it about them and their situation we have to know? What is the point of change by the end of the flash piece?

Less is more could be said to be the flash fiction writer’s anthem but the right telling detail can add depth to even the shortest of stories. So think about what would make your character stand out. Would it be something they wear? Is it their attitude as shown in their thoughts and dialogue?

Why is it this character who is facing Situation X? What do they seek to gain or lose by dealing with that situation? Answer those questions and you’ve got a good outline and be well on the way to a first draft.

Fairytales with Bite – Time

When time crops up in fairytales, it usually is midnight. No other time. Just that one. See Cinderella for more on that.

I’m also very fond of the quote from Terry Pratchett’s magnificent Reaper Man (which I must re-read soon given it does have a harvest theme and it is September as I write this) – The kind of Death who poses against the skyline and gets lit up by lightning flashes doesn’t turn up at five-and-twenty past eleven if he can possibly turn up at midnight.

That wonderful quote shows a great deal about the character of the “real” Discworld Death and the one who was meant to replace him all in just one line. Brilliantly done.

Midnight then has a great deal of resonance but for your own characters why not pick a time which has meaning to them? If your character has a reason for loathing or loving a particular time, show that in your story. You can then get them to face having to do something at your chosen time and their attitude towards the time in question will have a bearing on how well or otherwise they do handle that situation. It should increase tension nicely!

There is also the possibility of using Time as a character. Would you show Time as cruel or kind? (Bear in mind the answer to that could depend on the attitude of your other characters. Time might be kind but the characters may have good reason not to see it that way).

What would you get Time to do? Can magic challenge Time or is there always a payback for trying to chat Time? (Someone usually does try as they try to cheat Death in Discworld. Never works but there can be fun stories as we, as readers, watch the characters try and fail!).

Also give some thought as to how time works in your setting. Would it be the same as here or does your setting have a 48 hour day or, come to that, a 4.8 hour day? How would this work? How would your characters manage it (given for them it would be normal)?

This World and Others – Sense of Place

In your setting is there a sense of place? Can people conjure up what your setting looks like? Can they visualise your characters living in that setting? Do you focus on one place or a whole world?

What can be useful here is deciding on your focus. If you are having stories set in one place, think about whether that place is a city, a village, or what have you. You can then research cities and villages here (and ideally visit some) to get a feel for what would be in these places and then have the fun of inventing the equivalent for your world.

Give some thought as to what your characters would hear, smell, see etc (and what they would consider as “normal” noises, smells etc so they barely notice them but an outsider would do).

If you are using a whole world setting, focus on what a reader needs to know and experience. If your story is mainly set in and around a desert, the reader won’t need to know about riverside villages etc. They will need to know how your characters manage in that desert setting.

But there is plenty of research you can do here which will help to bring a sense of place to your fantastical settings. We do have to base the latter on what we know here and then change things but you know what you are changing and why. You will write from a position of strength/background knowledge then.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the September 2023 edition of the magazine which focuses on the topic of marketing. Always useful that one! I have two articles in here – Marketing Your Books and Writing for Online Magazines. And remember the magazine will be back soon!

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Looking forward to going to the ACW Autumn Gathering next month. What I love about writing events is meeting other writers who understand the wish to write. I’m encouraged by this and wonder if we need that more often than we might think. Zoom is a lifeline here too. pic.twitter.com/HBrSjz1VO4
— ACW (@ACW1971) September 11, 2024

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I find the good old notebook and pen is the most useful aid at any writing event. It pleases me “old school” technology still has a part to play in the writing world and also like to think of this as writers doing their best to support the stationery industry! Good for us! pic.twitter.com/PklczOl1vL
— ACW (@ACW1971) September 12, 2024

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Appearances, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/y43VXQuy0M It’s Friday. It’s time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Appearances. This will ring a bell for fans of certain cartoons. See the story for more. pic.twitter.com/ML5i7QIICp
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) September 13, 2024

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Books, Movies, and Music https://t.co/U8j9Vd98WR
This CFT post was inspired by the recent Classic FM Movie Music Hall of Fame. I look at the links between movie music and books/plays (there were SO many on the chart). Still others had links with authors. Hope you enjoy the post.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) September 13, 2024

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Story Judging

September 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.

Hope you have had a good few days. Autumn coming in rapidly here and Lady and I have had our first soakings of the month! Looking forward to sharing two fabulous author interviews on Chandler’s Ford Today towards the end of the month plus I hope to have news of another writing event in October before long. Meantime, keeping busy writing and editing here. Huge advantage to this is I keep dry!

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Lady and I had another soaking this morning. We may have been marginally less wet than yesterday but there wasn’t much in it!

On a much happier note, I’m pleased to share Story Judging for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. I look at where competition judges can tell how much (or little) editing has been done on the pieces they get to read and I share what I think story judges are looking for. I also share handy tips.

Hope you find the post useful and good luck if you are entering competitions. I find they’re a great discipline for helping you to get used to writing to deadlines.

Story Judging

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Lady and I had a real soaking this morning! Hope it wasn’t too bad where you are. Only time I was pleased to get wet today was when I went swimming!

Don’t forget Story Judging is up on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link up tomorrow. See above. Will be back to see The Chameleon Theatre Group’s latest production in October so will review that in due course for CFT too.

I’ve mentioned before I often use Zoom to record stories and play them back. Well, I was glad I did last night. A story I’ve got in mind for submission has to come in at under the three minutes mark. Discovered mine was over four! Have already edited the piece so hope it will now be to the right time length but I will re-record later and make sure. I’ve found it is the only sure way to make sure my timings are right.

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Hope you have had a good day. Lady had a cracking time in the park with her pal, Coco, and then got to see two other rescue dog pals she sees every now and then. Grand time had by all. Rain held off too so will count that as a win.

I’ve been thinking of music and books a lot recently, partly inspired by the recent Classic FM Movie Music Hall of Fame chart which they played on Bank Holiday Monday. Wonderful music and many of the pieces relate to books or plays. Shakespeare turned up a few times for that chart. Would like to think he would be pleased about that. (Jane Austen and Charles Dickens were represented in there too).

Character Tip: Why not see what your character’s musical tastes are and why they have them? This could reveal something about their background and/or personality. Also think about a piece of music which would suit your character and think about why it would be that one. (If you pick Jaws, you are either writing about a shark or your character is of the kind I am likely to avoid!).

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s Friday. It’s the end of the working week for many of us. Weather here has been frightful too. So definitely time for a story then and I hope you like my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – The Clock.

Names can reveal a lot about characters such as age and social status. Sometimes I know the character’s job before I know the name but sometimes that occupation inspires my name choice. In Being Yourself (Tripping the Flash Fantastic), I knew my character was a librarian and then worked out a name to suit (I came up with Jane Stephens for this one).

Sometimes I don’t need to worry about names at all as I know the story will work best in the first person but even there I can show a character referring to or talking to someone else by name. What they call someone can be enlightening too. Do they use the full name? Do they use a contraction? When they speak the name is it with affection or contempt?

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I’ve mentioned before you can have a lot of fun writing flash because, despite the limited word count, there is much you can do with it.

For example, I write across the whole spectrum from 50 words to the full 1000 and pretty much everything in between. I also mix up the genres I write in here and also the moods of the stories. I mix up writing in first and third person. I’ve occasionally used second person too.

But I also mix up the formats I use so sometimes I use acrostics (especially on Facebook and my blog round up). I have also written flash pieces in diary format, as letters, and in poetic form too. At some point I may have a go at flash in tweets because that is do-able.

The important thing in all of this? Having fun with it! You have to enjoy what you write/the process of writing and accept you are in for the long haul.

But the joy of creating something you hope others will enjoy I think is a great thing and feedback from sites like Friday Flash Fiction is enormously encouraging too. You can’t assume anything in the writing life but you can give it your best shot and have fun as you do that.

Being open to improving your craft matters too but that is fun in itself when you have the support of fellow writers. It is my experience the writing community is a tremendously supportive one and it is lovely being part of that.

Fairytales with Bite – Rough Justice

Justice can be very rough indeed in the fairytale world. The prince didn’t expect to be turned into a beast in Beauty and the Beast, did he?

But for a wider fantasy setting, what would count as rough justice? Would it be the misuse of magic for aggressive purposes or would it be the withholding of magic when it could be used to help a character?

Who determines the usage of magic and when that usage spills over into abuse of power? Someone has to set the rules. There would have to be some rules given the lack of them would lead to anarchy, though you could give some thought to who would want to stir that up in your setting.

If someone is after power, which is what characters so often want (just so like us, eh?), how would they stir up that anarchy and then bring it under control again so they could rule?

Often when there is a power struggle, justice and truth are trampled on. Who would bring these things back and how would they do it? Who would ensure justice was just that only without any rough bits?

Story ideas there I think!

This World and Others – Good -v- Evil

One of the things I love about fairytales is they call out evil for what it is. There is a clear divide between good and evil.

It doesn’t mean good characters are flawless – they’re not, any more than we are. It does mean they know what is right and wrong at least at the basic levels and the heroes here, to my mind, are those who are prepared to stand up for what is right, regardless. (See The Lord of the Rings, the Narnia series and so much more for more on that).

In your setting, is the divide clear? Would your readers know who they should be rooting for to succeed? Yes, sometimes you can have a “good villain”. The Sheriff of Nottingham, as played by the much missed Alan Rickman, in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves is one such but it was still right he did not succeed in the end.

The problem with evil winning is it is so depressing. The brute forces win, characters are oppressed, where is the hope in that kind of story? Indeed, where is the story? Frankly, we also see enough of all of that in the news!

So we need characters then who are prepared to stand up against evil. They’re not always going to get it right. Many of them will die. (To paraphrase Lord Farquaad in Shrek, that is a sacrifice the bad guys are prepared to make!).

But the interesting story is when those on the side of good do take up a stand against evil. We want to see what they do and whether it succeeds or not. If they face setbacks, which I would expect, do they overcome those? How do they overcome them? Is the cause of good upheld successfully?

One of the joys of fantasy and fairytales is when good is upheld. It gives hope. Yes, it may be escapism but I’ve never seen the problem with that. I want characters in conflict with each other and the right ones succeeding in the end. I guess I have wanted that ever since I first read the classic fairytales. I’ve seen no reason to change that view!

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I’m sharing the November 2023 edition of the magazine which focused on novels. My article is on Writing Novels and I shared what I learned from writing my (as yet) unpublished novel.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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The Clock, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/X4oqRkh6Xr It’s Friday. It’s the end of the working week for many of us. Weather here has been frightful too. So definitely time for a story then and I hope you like my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – The Clock. pic.twitter.com/FSWmYPUyV9
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) September 6, 2024

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Story Judging https://t.co/vpIwNFOxMp Pleased to share Story Judging on CFT this week. I ask if competition judges can tell how much (or little) editing has been done on what they read. I share what I think judges are looking for and handy tips. Hope you find the post useful.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) September 6, 2024

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Random Generators

August 30, 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 week. Lady had a wonderful puppy party with not one, not two, but three of her best buddies earlier this week. All of the dogs went home shattered but happy! Writing wise, I have two blogs to share this week with one on competitions (More than Writers) and the other on Random Generators (Chandler’s Ford Today). Hope you find both useful.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Delighted to share Random Generators as my post on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. This is a topic close to my writing heart given I use a wide range of these and find them so useful for triggering story ideas. I share reasons why these things are so useful to writers and tips for making the best of them. Hope you find the post useful.

Random Generators

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Pleased to be back on More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers. This time I talk about Competitions and share hints and tips I’ve found useful. Hope you find them useful too.

I also look at what I think judges are looking for in competition entries. Am looking forward to putting my judge’s hat back on in September for a writing group, which is why this topic sprung to mind.

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Lady had a fabulous puppy party this morning with her best pals, the Hungarian Vizler, the Rhodesian Ridgeback, and Coco the Labradoodle. Very tired but happy dogs went home (and before it became so humid this afternoon too so win-win there).

Will be discussing Random Generators on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. See above. I use a wide variety of these and find them all useful. Many of my tales created this way end up on Friday Flash Fiction or on my YouTube channel.

Writing Tip: If you have brainstorming sessions every so often (and I do for titles and opening/closing lines), do put them away for a while afterwards. As with resting a story before being able to edit it effectively, I find I have to rest the ideas I’ve come up with here and it is only with time away from them, I can then work out whether they are “goers” or not. Pleased to say most are and I get on with drafts but inevitably I do have to discard some ideas – this is the way of it.

Sometimes an idea which seemed good at the time was only good enough for that time. The cool light of day, and switching my brain from creative to objective judging mode can be illuminating to say the least. I used to worry when I discarded ideas but have learned over time other, better ideas do occur to you so I no longer worry about this aspect.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Glad to say my story Fifteen is now up on Friday Flash Fiction. The idea for this one came from my Lift Up Your Pens session at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick recently.

I was discussing using numbers in fiction and one of the ideas I shared was that of writing a story based around a character having a fear of a certain number. Find out why my character Shelley chose this one rather than the more usual thirteen.

I use names in my flash pieces for various purposes. Sometimes I use them to indicate likely age. Sometimes I use them to indicate likely social class. Sometimes a name can combine those two factors. I don’t always use surnames because I often find just the first name gives the detail I want readers to pick up on. But I do ensure the name suits the character.

Occasionally I do use the random name generators (especially those where I can select fantasy names. Many of these generators have different settings and it is worth having a look at them to find which would suit you best). Funnily enough I often don’t use the name generated but what it does do is trigger off an idea of my own from it and I then go with that. As ever with me, it is the getting started which matters!

With the exception of Friday Flash Fiction who want up to 100 words, most of the flash competitions I try have a word count of 250 or 300 words. If you wanted to practice writing to specific word counts, I would recommend the 100, the 250 and the 300. I’d also check out the competition guide Writing Magazine issue as these detail flash competitions as well as standard short story ones.

Don’t forget to check out their website as well for other competitions. Some are subscriber only. Others are open to all. And I will flag up now they are running the Grand Flash Prize again, deadline is the end of the year for that one.

Fairytales with Bite – Favourite Books

Do your fantasy characters have favourite books? Are there tales which are considered classics and which everyone is supposed to read/have read? Would any of these be the same or similar to our fairytales? Indeed, what would they have as fairytales and are ours a poor imitation?

What is the attitude towards reading in your world? Is it encouraged or looked down on? Can anyone access books? What would be the equivalent of libraries/book shops in your setting? Would information found out from books (or something of interest in stories) be of crucial importance to your characters as they deal with their situations?

If your setting has multi species, which would be the favourite books of each and is there any crossover happening here? Is there something with unites the different species? It is one of the things I love about books – they can be a great way to bring people together. So could this happen in your story and what would the outcome be?

This World and Others – Access to Books

Linking in with Fairytales with Bite, access to books is governed by whether there are such things as libraries in your settings. If not, how else would people access books? Do your characters ever earn enough to buy their own? Are certain books reserved for select species and why is this, if so?

What would those in authority worry about people finding out from books? Are they right to worry? Has there been any historical precedent for trouble being caused by folk accessing books they should not have done?

Or have books been suppressed in the past, they’re not now, but someone is looking to suppress them again? Who would this be? What are they trying to cover up? Do they succeed? Story ideas there I think!
Meantime I’ll continue to appreciate my own access to books! They are wonderful things.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I’m sharing the April 2024 edition on editing. My article here asks the always pertinent question – Editing: Do You Love It or Loathe It?

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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More than Writers: Competitions by Allison Symes https://t.co/6gZdbzmFIh Pleased to be back on MTW, ACW's blog spot. I share tips about competitions I’ve found useful and look at what I think judges look for. Am looking forward to putting my judge’s hat back on in September too. pic.twitter.com/mFi8RA0WM6
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) August 29, 2024

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Fifteen, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/SAkaZ48yyl The idea for Fifteen came from my Lift Up Your Pens at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. I discussed using numbers in fiction. One idea I shared was writing a tale based on a fear of a certain number. pic.twitter.com/zBQVX3QNZT
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) August 30, 2024

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Random Generators https://t.co/NU11gdsocS Pleased to share Random Generators on CFT this week. This topic is close to my writing heart as I use a wide range of these. I share reasons why these are so useful to writers and tips for making the best of them.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) August 30, 2024

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Swanwick 2024

August 23, 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 thanks to all who contributed to the pictures for my Chandler’s Ford Today post about Swanwick this week. I especially appreciate those of me taking part in events. Always tricky to do those shots yourself!

Hope you have had a good few days. Weather all over the place once again. My Chandler’s Ford Today post this week was a particular joy to write – well, it was on Swanwick 2024 a subject close to my heart. I hope the post gives you a good flavour of what makes Swanwick special for so many writers, including this one.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Hope you have had a good day. For those of us having a bank holiday this weekend, hope it proves to be a good one.

I’m delighted to share Swanwick 2024 as my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week. This one was a labour of love! I review my week there, share something about what makes The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick so special, and celebrate its 75th anniversary.

I also got to have an almost red carpet moment with fellow Swanwicker, Dave Bromley, but find out more about that in the post. Link below.

Swanwick 2024

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Not great weather today though it didn’t stop Lady having a lovely time with her Hungarian Vizler chum this morning. Mind you, I got to reprise my excellent impersonation of a bedraggled rat! Wasn’t quite enough rain to be a fully fledged drowned rat!

My Swanwick 2024 post is up on Chandler’s Ford Today tomorrow. If you want to know something about why The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick is so special, do check my post out. See above.

My next events will be the Association of Christian Writers’ Autumn Gathering In October and the Bridge House Publishing event in December, both of which I’m looking forward to already.

Don’t forget my author newsletter will be out again soon. I know. It’s hard to believe we’re so close to September, one of my favourite months, (and only one more Bank Holiday to go in the UK before…. Best left there I think).

Oh and a sneak peak at a lovely moment from Swanwick. I was delighted to get to present a Swannie to Dave Bromley this year. To find out more about Swannies and what this was all about see my CFT post tomorrow.

I was delighted to present a Swannie to Dave Bromley for his comedy Husbands R Us

Hope your Wednesday has gone well. Looking forward to the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group meeting later this evening. Also looking forward to sharing Swanwick 2024, my post for Chandler’s Ford Today this week. Link for that up on Friday. See above. The next best thing to being at Swanwick is to write about it!

Character Tips: Especially for my flash fiction, I need to know the character well. They are my way into the story. It doesn’t mean I have to know every last detail though. I just need to know enough to help me picture them and envisage the sorts of situations they would end up in and how they would react to these.

So often working out answers to a couple of pertinent questions such as what would you never do and why will reveal a great deal about my character’s attitudes and assumptions and I can make good use of those. I can, of course, make them have to face the thing they don’t want to do but I will know their reasons for this and I think that helps me create a more believable character.

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Friday Flash Fiction is currently closed for submissions, understandably taking a break after their recent competition. I look forward to sending pieces in again to them soon but what I am especially grateful to them for is helping me rediscover the joys of the drabble, the 100 words flash fiction type.

I started in flash fiction writing 100 worders (for CafeLit) but then branched out into writing the longer forms of flash and short stories (which I still write). The discovery of Friday Flash Fiction led me back into writing the 100 worders regularly and I am loving doing this.

I like the discipline of creating a brand new 100 word story for them most weeks of the year. I also appreciate the feedback and support from other writers on the site plus I get to enjoy a thoroughly good read every week. What’s not to like about that? If you would like to check out my stories here do follow the link.

One of my favourite comments about flash fiction comes from the good people at The Bridport Prize who refer to it as “the art of just enough”. I think that’s a great summary of it.

I have it in mind when I’m drafting my stories. I think about what the reader needs to know and give them that and nothing else. They do get the “just enough” so they can make inferences needed, where appropriate.

I know when I’m reading I don’t want the author to spell out everything. I want them to give me enough, regardless of the length of story, so I can figure some things out too. It is always fun going on to find out whether I’m right or not.

Hope you have had a good day – has been trying here. But knowing how I feel when days are trying is something I can transfer to my characters when I put them in trying situations. (I make sure I do of course!).

Drawing on what you know in terms of how you feel when things go wrong or disappointment hits is something you can transfer to your characterisation. It makes for believable characters readers will identify with because they know where the character is coming from and why they are feeling the way they do. We’ve all been there. Our characters can go there too!

One of the great comforts about reading, I think, is when we read characters going through hell and high water and think well at least it isn’t us or we know how the characters feel. Stories are fabulous for encouraging empathy like that.

Do I find it relaxing when I put my characters through the mill? It can be amazingly therapeutic at times but my goal is to ensure it all works out and becomes a good story a reader will enjoy. That’s the challenge and I love rising to it.

Fairytales With Bite – Accountability

With my writing, I find having deadlines makes me accountable. I have to get columns done by a certain date, stories off to competitions and/or markets by a certain date and so on.

Leading on from that thought, in your world, when a task (magical or otherwise) has to be done, who makes sure it gets done and in the right way? Who follows through? Who reports back X has been done in the right way? Who reports back when it hasn’t been?

What you are looking for here are story possibilities from the chain of command which must exist. Even in the most democratic of fantasy settings, someone does have to give the orders, there will be others below them and so on.

There would be room for humorous stories here too. It doesn’t have to be deadly serious. As ever, I will flag up Discworld here where there is no doubt about who is in charge of Ankh-Morpork but so much humour does come from those wonderful novels. I’m especially fond of the Sam Vimes books here. He knows he’s accountable to Lord Vetinari. Doesn’t mean he has to like it though! When Moist von Lipwig comes into the stories, he finds himself accountable to His Lordship and to an extent Vimes as well (see Raising Steam).

So who would you have accountable to whom? How does this work?

This World and Others – Record Keepers

Every society has its history and archives. Some treasure these more than others. Every society has its good and bad history. Some acknowledge this. Others definitely don’t.

In your setting, which records are kept and why? Who can access them? Are there any secret records only a privileged few can ever access? Have any records been destroyed and, if so, which ones and on whose orders?

Are the record keepers treated well or are they kept under the thumb by dictatorial bosses? How did the record keepers get to hold that position in the first place? I would envisage connections working here – the old boys’ network perhaps – especially if there is anything which has to be kept secret from the general public. You would want someone you could trust in positions like that.

Also give some thought as to how far the records go back and in which manner they’re kept? Is technology used or is it all kept on scrolls? When you have a character needing to look something up, how easy or otherwise would they find doing this? Do they find the information they’re after?

Records matter. They’re used for all sorts of things including family history research. Would your characters need to look up some of their ancestors and, if so, why? Would they be pleased or horrified at what they find out?

Story ideas there!

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

Well, given my editing course at Swanwick recently, I thought the April 2024 edition of Writers’ Narrative on that theme was the best one to share this time! In the magazine my article asks Editing: Do You Love It or Loathe It? Always a timely question!

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Friday Flash Fiction helped me rediscover the joys of the drabble, the 100 words tales. I started in flash writing drabbles for CafeLit but branched out into writing longer flash/short stories. FFF led me back into writing drabbles, which I love. https://t.co/NI4JfRPb77 pic.twitter.com/ZX9X2YEFEn
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) August 23, 2024

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Swanwick 2024 https://t.co/R7lKl8D2rC I’m delighted to share Swanwick 2024 as my CFT post this week. I review my week there, share something about what makes The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick so special, and celebrate its 75th anniversary.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) August 23, 2024

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Never Fear The Editing

August 16, 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 and some Swanwick photos were taken by me, Allison Symes. Many thanks to Val Penny for arranging for one photo to be taken and to then send it on, more below.

Had a fabulous time at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. I will write about it in more depth for Chandler’s Ford Today soon. Am home again inspired, encouraged, and shattered! Am listening to Classic FM for the first time for a few days and am finding it especially soothing.

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Am on way home from the fabulous The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick as I draft this. So good to catch up with so many writing friends. I keep in contact with many via social media and some via Zoom but you cannot beat getting together in person.

Many thanks to all who came to or gave feedback on my two part editing course and/or the Lift Up Your Pens session I led on Sunday morning. I looked at different ways of using numbers in fiction for that. If, however, you would like more on editing, do check out my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week aptly called Never Fear The Editing.

Never Fear The Editing

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The week at Swanwick passes so quickly. Many thanks to all who came to my Editing as an Author, Editing as a Competition Judge two part course today.

I’ll be discussing more on editing for my Chandler’s Ford Today post tomorrow too. Glad to get together for fellow Association of Christian Writers for a group photo today which was taken on Val Penny’s phone by a staff member of The Hayes.

The ACW contingent at Swanwick 2024

Another wonderful day at Swanwick though I am glad the temperature has cooled somewhat. My Chandler’s Ford Today post will be up again on Friday where I’m talking about Never Fear The Editing. See above.

In something that is no coincidence whatsoever, my editing course at Swanwick is tomorrow and will be on Editing as an Author, Editing as a Competition Judge.

Had a fabulous time at the third part of Vivien Brown’s Short Story course. I had great fun killing off one of the characters we had to create on Monday as part of the homework exercise that was set. I do believe in killing my fictional darlings!

Then I was off to SpellBound Books and their talk in Pitch to a Publisher. I will be back for Part 2 of this later today. I’ll be finishing the afternoon with a Show Don’t Tell workshop, the topic is always useful.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

As well as discussing editing at Swanwick this week, it was lovely to answer questions about flash fiction too. I loved advertising flash through the Open Prose Mic Night too. A huge thanks to Penny Blackburn for the photo.

Meantime if you would like to read some flash, why not check out my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Stuck?

Reading at Open Prose Mic Night – Swanwick 2024 – many thanks to Penny Blackburn for the pic

Pleased to share how flash fiction writing has helped my editing skills as part of the two section Editing course I ran at Swanwick today. Hope I have persuaded some of the joys of editing too!

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Had a wonderful time at the Open Prose Mic Night here at Swanwick last night. I read a selection of pieces from my two books, CafeLit 13, and printed some of my tales out from Friday Flash Fiction to read too. It made for a nice selection and I came in at under the five minutes mark, as is required. (This means it is more likely everyone who would like to read gets a go!).

I was also pleased to be asked for some advice on flash fiction this morning, as well as, later, being complimented on my stories. Thank you to those concerned. Feedback like this is invaluable because most of the time writers are working away on their own of course.

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Fairytales with Bite – Where Magic Can Be Found

In your fantasy setting, can magic be found anywhere or is it limited to specific locations? If the latter, is there a geographical reason for that? Does your fantasy setting ever have interaction with non-magical species or worlds? If so, do “your people” hide their skills or use them to dominate others?

Are there those who have seen and experienced the awful side to magic (all forms of power can be abused so that applies here too)? Do they do all they can to fight it? What can they right back with?
If there is “raw” magic in the geography itself, can that be “mined” by anyone? Are there rules governing its use?

Where magic can be found as a theme can be taken in positive or negative directions. So what do your characters make of magic and why? Story ideas there!

This World and Others – Creativity and Collaboration

I’ve not long returned from The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick which is a fabulous week where delegates find themselves immersed in the world of writing, There is a lot of creativity and collaboration! Many of the workshops and courses, including the one I ran on editing, are interactive in that exercises are set, feedback is given there and then and so on.

So what would be your world’s equivalent of this? Would this kind of creativity and co-operation be confined to what we know as the humanities/creative arts?

Of course here you often see these wonderful attributes in things like engineering, science etc where the great discoveries, engineering achievements and so on can’t possibly be achieved by one person but where a special someone (like Isambard Kingdom Brunel) is needed to kick start the process off. By this I mean they achieve great things but also enable others to do so building on what they have done.

So who would your special characters be here? What have they contributed to your world? What obstacles did they have to overcome? Plenty of story ideas there.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the September 2023 issue of the magazine with its focus on marketing, always a timely and useful topic. I talk about Marketing Your Books and Writing for Online Magazines for this one.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Stuck, by Allison Symes – Friday Flash Fiction https://t.co/krhD1zR7iJ As well as discussing editing at Swanwick this week, I answered questions about flash fiction too. If you would like to read some flash, why not check out my latest on FFF – Stuck?https://t.co/dOhBBzfYfc pic.twitter.com/7jSmpKfNXt
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) August 16, 2024

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Never Fear The Editing https://t.co/iBXBtXAK6l Am on way home from the fabulous The Writers' Summer School, Swanwick. Thanks to all who came to or gave feedback on my editing course. If you'd like more on editing, check out my CFT post this week called Never Fear The Editing.
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) August 16, 2024

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Book Title Games

August 9, 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 Julia Pattison for the photo of me at my one hour workshop at Swanwick in 2023 and to Adrian Symes for the CafeLit 14 and my book signing pictures.

About to head off to Derbyshire. So looking forward to seeing everyone again. Will be posting but at different times. Expect to come back refreshed, reinvigorated, and shattered! In my experience that’s a great sign of a fabulous writing event as here will be a lot of creativity going on. Lady will be spoiled rotten while I’m away – she usually is.

Facebook – General and Chandler’s Ford Today

Pleased to share a post which was good fun to write – Book Title Games – on Chandler’s Ford Today this week. It’s amazing what changing a letter or a word in a book title can do to it and its mood! Find out more in the post and why not give it a try?

I also pay tribute to that wonderful BBC Radio Four comedy, I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, which often has books in their games, changing the titles just being one of them. Hope you enjoy the post.

Book Title Games

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Hope you have had a good day. Soggy one here. Lady not worried – she got to see her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback chums today. Good time had by all. On the way home, there is a certain spot where Lady always looks up at me with what I call her happy, shining eyes, as if to say thanks Mum, that was great. Today she did that three times (rather than just once) and kept nudging me to make sure I saw. Now that is what I call demonstrating your pleasure at seeing your friends again. Dogs can be so sweet.

My Book Title Games is on Chandler’s Ford Today this week – link up tomorrow. See above. Hope you’ll have some fun with this one too. The post shares different ways to have fun with words via book titles.

Will be posting as usual from Swanwick from Saturday for a few days but posts will be out at different times. So looking forward to seeing everyone.

Writing Tip: You will often have heard don’t give up and this is true. Writing takes time to develop (and any success in it even longer to achieve). But it is fine to change direction if one way isn’t working out for you.

I did so by switching from the longer form of writing to the shorter. Will I resume my long form writing? Yes. Am working on something now. But I am so glad I have discovered the joys of writing short stories and flash fiction.

Good day today, Lady got to see her Hungarian Vizler pal, and I’ve done most of my packing for Swanwick. (Why is it packing always takes longer than you think?).

Will be looking at Book Title Games as a fun post for Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Am looking forward to sharing the link. See above. Hope it inspires some silly but fun alternative book titles with you!

Writing Tip: When do you know a character has “got to” you? For me, it is when I can envisage asking them practically any question and knowing how they would respond and why.

I sometimes outline a character by interviewing them with a few pertinent questions. I don’t believe in Yes/No questions for characters for my guests on Chandler’s Ford Today either! Do give this exercise a try. It can be great fun to do and it’s often amazing what you come up with here.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

It’s Friday and time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on Friday Flash Fiction – Demanded. Just so you know, for the next two weeks while the competition linked to the Edinburgh Festival is on here, there won’t be any comments on any of the stories. Good luck to all entering the competiton too.

Later in the year I hope to take part in Flash NANO again. A flash prompt is given daily for the 30 days of November. I’ve taken part in this for the last couple of years and have found it to be great fun and a good challenge. There are always prompt types I’ve not tried before and I love the way these push me to try new formats. One such was to write a flash story in the form of a police report. Loved doing that.

Meantime I continue with my regular flash fiction writing. I have found it to be true the more you write of anything, the more useful material you produce. That in turn I have found means it is more likely some of this at least will find a publisher somewhere. Rejections are a fact of life for any writer but the more you write, the more you can polish and submit and that has to increase your chances.

One of the things I love most about flash fiction is it has to be character led due to its restricted word count. I haven’t the word count room for lots of description so I have to focus only on what readers need to know (and leave them to infer other things from what I have revealed). This is a great writing discipline for other forms of writing and not just for fiction. I’ve found it has paid off for my blogs and articles elsewhere.

It does mean I can mix and match my character moods though and I do just that when it comes to reading out at things like Open Prose Mic Nights. I want a story/character to produce a smile, another to give pause for thought and so on. It makes a great advert for what flash fiction can be and do. I like that too.

Fairytales with Bite – Conferences

I’m writing this post as I prepare for one of the highlights of my writing year – The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. And that led me to wonder about the kind of conferences you might find in a fairytale setting.

Do fairy godmothers go on retreat to recharge the old batteries when they’ve had enough (for a while) of helping unfortunate clients? Do they go to conferences where they can improve their wand/magical techniques? Do they have to go to these things to help with their Continuing Professional Development? What would be taught at such conferences?

Do fairy godmothers and the like relish the chance to get together with others in their profession, seeing it as a chance to share tales of woe and success, or do they dread it? Does having to go to these things mean they have to face up to fighting the magical equivalent of Imposter Syndrome? (Practically every writer I know goes through this at some point, and often more than once, but I think it is linked to the creative arts in general – you always wonder if you’re good enough).

Do the delegates appreciate good accommodation, wonderful food, and a great time? (You will gather from this a little of what Swanwick is lIke!). Or are they relieved the conference is over for another year? They’ve done what they’ve had to by requirement of higher powers and that’s it.

Story ideas here including from the viewpoint of those who run the conferences. Do they dread the latest intake? Could be some funny tales here.

This World and Others – Thoroughfares

I like the word thoroughfare. It has a nice sound to it and conjures up to me images of old roads and streets in cities like York and Winchester. Here in the UK we still have Roman roads in existence (Watling Street is probably the best known). As well as creating new roads, the Romans also built over those already in existence so thoroughfares go back a long way.

I have a soft spot for old maps (including old editions of the A to Z) because these too can show how things have changed over time.

Now in a magical setting, what would count as a thoroughfare? Is it like we know here? (There is one obvious one – the yellow brick road from The Wizard of Oz). But how about thoroughfares for those who can fly? Would they have the equivalent of motorway lanes but just set in the sky? Who worked out “lanes” here and are they policed?

Just as we have traffic regulations, how would that kind of system work for your characters as they move around your setting’s roads and streets (even if they are set in the sky)? Are there some thoroughfares no respecting magical being would ever go down and why would that be? (Potential for a horror story there especially if even magical beings are scared by it!).

Who set out the street system in the first place and what obstacles did they have to overcome to do it? Has it proved to be a blessing or a curse?

Which would be your main character’s favourite thoroughfares and why do they love them? That could reveal aspects to your character’s personality and something of their background too.

WRITERS NARRATIVE SUBSCRIBER LINK

This time I share the November 2023 issue of the magazine which focuses on novels. My article in here is Writing Novels and based on my experience of writing my first book (still unpublished though I would like to get back to it at some point). Fabulous magazine as ever packed with useful advice regardless of where you are at on your writing journey.

AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL – ALLISON SYMES

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Do you find writing during the summer months easier or harder to do? Whatever the answer, why not try flash fiction? Short stories (up to 1000 words maximum) also make for a great warm up writing exercise ahead of longer projects. pic.twitter.com/WyQhG8M86W
— ACW (@ACW1971) August 7, 2024

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For my flash pieces, I usually start by knowing my character. Discovering their major trait flags up the situations in which those traits would show up well. That gives me a rough outline for my first draft and away I go, filling in the gaps. pic.twitter.com/IrwOaHbEX4
— ACW (@ACW1971) August 8, 2024

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It’s Friday. Time for a tale. Hope you enjoy my latest on FFF – Demanded. For the next two weeks while the competition linked to the Edinburgh Festival is on, there won’t be comments on the stories. Good luck to all entering the competition. https://t.co/ElPVy8ni6L pic.twitter.com/vp57D79NNy
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) August 9, 2024

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Book Title Games https://t.co/jQJRhK7XVT Pleased to share a post which was fun to write – Book Title Games – on CFT. It’s amazing what changing a letter or a word in a book title can do to its mood! Find out more in the post and why not give it a try? https://t.co/jQJRhK7XVT
— Allison Symes (@AllisonSymes1) August 9, 2024

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