Tag: Time Management

New Year, New Books, New Authors

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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 your weekend went well. Some snow here though not too deep. Am wrapping up with multiple layers so I am waddling with Lady rather than walking with her right now! Hope the first full week back to “normal life” goes well. Pleased to be back writing and editing again. Needed and enjoyed the break but it is good to be back.

Facebook – General

Hope you’ve had a good day. Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler friend and, later, was escorted home by her Aussie Shepherd “boyfriend”. Lady is keeping her socials together, well enough!

Writing wise, I’ll be sharing Story Inspiration on Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. Always a timely topic, this one. Writing and editing works are going well – and I’m staying out of the cold as much as possible, all wins here!

Writing Tip: Think about what inspires you to write – favourite stories, favourite types of characters etc – and then look at why you love these things. You will learn something useful from doing this and it will help you as you create your own tales. More in my post on CFT on this on Friday – what I can say now though is this works.

You know I said yesterday (4th January 2025) we hadn’t had snow in Hampshire as yet? Well, it is a clear case of me and my big mouth. We did get snow over night (probably 1 to 2 cm, no more than that). You’ll be pleased to know I won’t apply for any job in weather forecasting! Think that would be best for everyone…

Lady saw her Hungarian Vizler and Rhodesian Ridgeback pals today, both of whom were wearing coats. Lady doesn’t really need one (and I am sure she and her predecessors would consider them sissy for a collie/collie-cross anyway). All three dogs had a lovely time despite the cold and yes we owners did keep them moving.

Writing wise, am having a quiet evening getting on with various small writing pieces. Nice way to unwind after what is always a hectic day for me. And I get to stay well out of the cold too. Win-win there, I’d say.

Character Tip: What does your character make of their usual weather patterns? If cold is a regular feature of these, how does your character cope with it? (If they’re a northerner of any sort, they’ll put on their big coat. If they’re a southerner like me, they’ll put on a big coat with a body warmer under it – mind you, it did live up to its name today). How could cold weather help or hinder them? There will be story ideas there. Happy writing!

Hope Sunday has gone well. Bitterly cold and heavy frosts here in Hampshire but no snow (as yet anyway). Hope you are all okay. Lady has had a lovely day in that she saw her “boyfriend”, a lovely Aussie Shepherd, in the park earlier. He has a wonderful thick coat and I shouldn’t imagine felt the cold at all!

Writing wise, I’m making good progress with my editing work. I’ve also got ideas I’d like to develop this year and I hope to share some 100 word stories on Facebook every so often. I’ve enjoyed sharing my Friday Flash Fiction links most weeks and want to keep up writing the good old drabbles regularly.

One enjoyable task this coming week is to start reading the latest Writing Magazine. It came with its annual competition guide and I hope to work my way through at least some of that this year. There are more flash fiction competitions out there than you might think and I do find this guide immensely helpful.

Hope the weekend has got off to a good start for you. As I write this I am enjoying a trip down memory lane thanks to Classic FM playing the theme from Animal Magic. Older readers will remember that show!

Writing wise, I’ll be looking at Story Inspiration for Chandler’s Ford Today next week. It’s a timeless topic and I’ll be sharing some ways I use regularly to keep triggering ideas. I hope you will find it useful and look forward to sharing that on Friday.

Have resumed my editing work and making good strides with it, including on my own edits for Seeing The Other Side.

Writing Tip: I use an old school diary to note down deadlines for competitions, my own deadlines for when I want to get work finished by, and so on. It pays. I see it as making an appointment with myself and my writing and it has helped me to get more done. For longer work, I can break my task down into “manageable chunks” and put those in the diary. It all helps.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Tonight, 6th January, is of course Twelfth Night, traditionally the time the Three Wise Men visited Jesus in Bethlehem. My story, The Family Legend, in the recently published Magi (Bridge House Publishing) takes a thought from this story – that at least one of the men were still alive thirty three years later and found out what had gone on in Jerusalem – and I ran with it.

But you too can run with the idea of an unexpected and/or unlikely journey and the characters that do this. There could be some interesting flash fiction pieces here too though I suspect you would probably need the 500 words plus range to do this justice in the very short form.

Hope you try the idea out though. Good luck!

It’s a bitterly cold Monday, the kind where Good King Wenceslas would feel at home. For me it’s definitely time for a story. Hope you enjoy my latest on YouTube – Looking on The Bright Side.

A fairytale witch finally has to tell the facts of the magical life to her child, who is shocked to find out where their instructions come from. Find out more here.

 

F = Flash fiction – fun to write, easy to read, lots of impact due to its brevity.

L = Language and editing skills develop a lot when you write in this form as you do look for the right word which carries the right amount of weight for what you want to convey. No wasted words here. Where one word will have the impact I want, I’m using that not three or four.

A = Assessing the impact you want your story to have on readers and then working out the best way of doing it before writing anything is, I find, sensible for this format. I want to hit the ground running so to speak here.

S = Settings can be anywhere in time or space or in any kind of world you care to invent. What matters are the characters. People follow what they’re up to even if they’re a three headed purple dragon from the planet Zog. If people care about the dragon, they will read on.

H = Humour is fabulous for flash. It’s fun to end a story with a punchline.

Flash fiction is not new. It has been around for centuries. To name one example, all of Jesus’s parables in the Bible come in at well under the 1000 words mark limit for flash.

The form has had several names including postcard fiction (which I like – you can picture it); short short fiction (which I don’t like – it’s a mouthful); and sudden fiction (this is okay but doesn’t, to my mind, seem an apt term for thoughtful flash pieces).

But whatever you do call it, flash fiction is a fun challenge and I love writing to the various word count brackets within it. The most popular for competitions I’ve come across are the 100, 250, 300, and 500 word ones but the first three of those are the most common.

All of them are great fun so why not give them a go?

Goodreads Author Blog – New Year, New Books, New Authors

Happy New Year and I hope 2026 brings you plenty of books to enjoy. I hope amongst those books will be books and authors who are new to you. One of the great joys of reading is in discovering new stories to enjoy by writers you either already thought you knew well or by authors you’ve not read before. Everyone wins from that one.

I’ve not yet made any plans for my new reading year. I’m currently engrossed with the books I received for Christmas and loving them all. Then I may catch up on my poor neglected To Be Read pile or at least make some inroads into it. I suspect you may well be in the same reading boat, yes? I’ve not yet come across a reader and/or writer who hasn’t got lots of books “on the go”.

I used to feel sad at the thought I know I won’t get around to reading all of the books I would like to read. Funnily enough, I now feel comforted by the thought. Why?

Well, it confirms to me the world will never run out of stories to enjoy and that is a great thing.

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Managing My Writing

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Facebook – General

I’ve found getting into a regular time for writing has helped me get more work done but I sneak in writing as and when I can during the day. (Generally easier to do at weekends). I’ve learned over time that pockets of time mount up and of course flash fiction can be written as complete works in those pockets.

I tend to break longer projects into time slots – say 20 minutes on a longer short story, 30 on writing my CFT post for the week and so on. Inevitably I will find I overrun on a piece as it “grips” me and I carry on writing but that’s fine. I will “mine” that for all I can and then carry on with whatever else I was working on afterwards or the next night. I look at my writing over the course of a week and work out what I’d like to achieve over that time span.

So don’t give up just because you haven’t much time. It’s a question, I think, of working out what you time you have got and deciding how best to “spend” that time.

Getting the balance right in adapting work is never easy. Pixabay image.
Put work aside for a time and come back to it so you can look at it as a reader would. Pixabay image.
Stepping into another world.. Pixbay
Good question! Pixabay image.
The one time of year when Time itself is the news. Pixabay image.
Making time to read as well as write is vital. Pixabay image.
The darkness can have its own beauty. Pixabay image.
The moon rising. Pixabay image.

Looking forward to going to the ACW Writers’ Day in Bath on Saturday. What are the benefits of going to days like this/writing conferences in general?

1. You get to meet other writers and make friends.

2. You learn from the talks/courses.

3. Given most of the time you’re behind on the desk on your own writing, it is fantastic to meet up with others who know what the joys and problems of writing are and can sympathise!

4. Some writing conferences run competitions. Always worth a go.

5. My CFT post from last year talks about the benefits of a good writing conference. Many thanks to Geoff Parkes for the pictures of me reading at the Open Prose night.

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Reading and writing are great joys at any time but I think they come into their own the most when your own mood isn’t so great.

Books and stories can (and indeed should) take you out of yourself and into a new world where you can lose yourself for a while. The challenge for the writer, of course, is to create a world the reader will want to spend time in. How best to do that? By creating characters the reader will either love or love to hate and where they/you have got to find out what happens to them.

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Favourite characters beginning with the letter A:-

Aslan (Narnia)
Aragorn (LOTR)
Angua (Discworld – her bark really is worse than her bite!)
Adora (Belle Deerheart – Discworld. Feisty doesn’t begin to cover it for this character!).

All of these characters are memorable and stand out, not least because one of them is a lion! All overcome perils (and in Aslan’s case death as well. See The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe for more on that! I refuse to believe this is a plot spoiler after all this time. Having said that, much as I love the book, I think Prince Caspian is even better).

It is the characters that draw me into any story, regardless of its genre. Yes, an odd set-up can provoke my curiosity but unless the characters appeal in some way, I won’t stay with that story.

PS Am having difficulty posting images with this one. Don’t know why. Sorry!  This is true for my Facebook post but I can and will post images here!

A good read means you ARE in a world of your own. Pixabay image
No room for gobbledygook here. Image via Pixabay.
Thoughts are free but check images used are either free to use or your own! Image via Pixabay.
Fake news and roundabouts that are too small make it into my CFT post. Image via Pixabay.
CAN you manage time? Pixabay image.
Just how fantastic is your setting? Pixabay image.
Beware! Writer at work. Other beverages are available. Pixabay image.
Is this light the way into a new world? Pixabay image.
No matter how strange your characters or setting, there must still be identifiable elements for a reader. Pixabay image
There is something almost mystical here. Pixabay image.
Books should show you other worlds. Image via Pixabay.
Just what is your story then? Image via Pixabay

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

When does a character come alive to you, their creator?

I think it is when you can put that character in any situation (outside of those in the story) and you would know immediately how they would react/deal with it. I sometimes know what my character’s favourite songs would be. I don’t always work thing out to that level of detail but I can hear a piece and think X would like that.

And yes it is perfectly possible to be irritated/annoyed with your characters as you get to know more about them. You need to look at why that is happening and ask yourself if this is an effect you want your readers to experience. If not, it’s time for amendments!

What kind of defeats and downfalls do your characters experience? Pixabay image.
Hope your Christmas books take you to all sorts of wonderful places! Pixabay image
The realm of the fairytale has always fascinated me. Pixabay image.
Write first, edit later. Pixabay.
Is your reading journey a straight run or does it twist and turn? Pixabay image.
Set goals for the short, medium and long terms. Pixabay image
Stories can take you to fantastic places. Pixabay image.
Making the most of the writing time. Pixabay image
Where will inspiration strike? Pixabay image.
Let one creative idea spark another. Pixabay image.
Indeed! Pixabay image.
Clarity = communicating your ideas well through your characters. Pixabay image.
Great characters escape from great books! Pixabay image.

Flash fiction shines a spotlight on writing faults due to its word count limitation but that can be useful as you can then do something about said faults! It is so easy to repeat phrases or to use words that don’t add anything to your story so when I’m editing, these are the first things I look for and remove when I (inevitably) find them.

Often that edit in itself can be enough to get a story down to a required word count. Even when it isn’t, getting rid of the dross can then help you assess what you really need from what you’ve got left. And at that point, I’m looking for “does this move the story on?” or “if I cut this out, would it be missed?” I’ve found those two questions so useful for helping with edits and of course they work with longer fiction too.

So true. Pixabay image.
There was always something magical about having a blank page to write to. Image via Pixabay.
Being lost in the world of your story. Pixabay image
A truly beautiful diary. Image via Pixabay
What every author would like to achieve or set, yes? Image via Pixabay
Playing with words. Pixabay image.
Reaching out for writing ideas. Image via Pixabay.
What do your characters face? Pixabay image
Social media has made the world a smaller place. Image via Pixabay.
There be dragons. Pixabay
A storyteller on their travels perhaps? Pixabay image.

I use the first person for a lot of my flash fiction as that immediacy of viewpoint suits the story form very well. It makes it easier for me to hit the ground running with my stories by showing you their viewpoint from the outset.

I often outline a character by just working out what their chief characteristic is and then deciding how far they will take that. You can have a lot of fun here if your character’s chief trait is stubbornness! Just what trouble can they land themselves/others in… and that of course can lead to a tragic tale or a funny one.

And which is the right way?! Pixabay image.
Very true.. Pixabay image.
Plugging in for new ideas? Pixabay image
Beautiful pens. Pexels image.
I don’t always write directly to screen. Image via Pixabay
Ebooks and print – both have their own frustrations when it comes to publishing. Image via Pixabay
Books are the keys to knowledge. Image via Pixabay
The old method of printing. Image via Pixabay
Research material, notebook and pen to hand. Image via Pixabay
Let the ideas flow and let journeys encourage that! Image via Pixabay

Flash fiction can be useful for generating story ideas for fleshing out into much longer pieces later on. I’ve sometimes taken a flash piece of mine and created a separate standard short story from it (circa 1500 to 2000 words).

Sometimes I think an idea will work better at a longer length but it isn’t always the case! For example, a quirky character can work well in a short piece. In a longer one they may irritate a reader. Just not worth going there! So when I’m pondering whether or not to expand a flash fiction story, I look at whether the lead character is really up to a longer word count. And they have to have plenty going for them for the answer to that one to be “yes”! (Beware the one trick pony – they really are best off in flash fiction and staying there).

PS Sorry for lack of images. Just not loading on this or my author page today. Don’t know why. All that happens is my text vanishes and no picture appears eitther! This has occasionally happened before. Hopefully normal service with pics tomorrow…  Again, this is true for Facebook today but not here!

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Goodreads Author Programme Blog –

Saturday Night is Alright for Reading

As is every other day of the week, of course! I thought of this title (and by default Elton John’s hit Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting) because I recall Saturday night being THE night for TV viewing.

There would be something good on everyone would want to watch and, especially in the days before VCR, you’d have to catch the programme live or hope for a repeat.

I was reminded of that this week with the news of the sad passing of Andre Previn aka Andrew Preview on the Morecambe and Wise Show.

So given I think that kind of Saturday night viewing is a thing of the past, perhaps making it the Big Read Night is not such a bad thought.

It does surprise me a bit, given how many great novels and short stories there are out there, that more are not adapted for TV. I would love to see the Discworld novels brought to the small screen. The Vimes/Watch novels would work particularly well. And it would be very original material too!

So back to the books for entertainment then. That’s not a bad thing!

How TV used to be! Pixabay image.
Put work aside for a time and come back to it so you can look at it as a reader would. Pixabay image.
Write to screen but edit on paper. Pixabay image.
Planning your writing can save you lots of time later. Pixabay image.
It would be a joy to research here! Pixabay image
Reading can make it seem as if you are in your own bubble! Pixabay image
Getting books into bookshops is never easy. Image via Pixabay.
Lovely and treasured book collection here. Image via Pexels
Books should keep you gripped and that is down to the characters. Image via Pixabay
Books invite you into their world. Go! Image via Pixabay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All About Time

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Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

My latest CFT post looks at time management (and oh I would love to be better at that!) and at time travel. Naturally a certain Doctor makes an appearance in the post and I also look at if time travel were to become possible, where would you go and why? What would you do while there? Comments as ever welcome on the CFT page.

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I discuss the art of time management and time travel in this week’s CFT post. (I suppose thinking about it further, you could say one of the earliest forms of time management in the UK was when the railways standardised time for us all).

On the assumption time travel ever becomes possible (and I’m not counting the gags that say something like travelling on XXX railway makes you feel as if you’ve gone back to the 1860s!), where would go and why?

Thinking heads on. Link goes up tomorrow. Comments welcome in the CFT comments box when post goes live. (If you’re really keen it goes live at just after midnight but you may have to wait to get a reply from me! Unlike Cinderella, I know where I’m going to be at midnight and it won’t be at my keyboard… ah the joys of middle age!).

Love this clock. Pixabay image.
My writing desk is nowhere near as elegant as this one. Pixabay image.
It always is! Reflecting first helps a lot! Pixabay image
Have never understood the point of the clock changes twice a year. Can’t we just stick to one? Image via Pixabay.
Memories are fragile especially over time. Pixabay image.
Great characters = great books. Image via Pixabay.
Books and a cup of tea = lovely! Pexels image.
Love that clock. Pexels image.
Great characters will engross you. You will lose time reading their stories. Image via Pixabay.
We dare not forget. Pixabay image.
Stories can take you to fantastic places. Pixabay image.
Beautiful pens. Pexels image.
Be open to change. Pixabay image.

One good thing about the dark nights coming in earlier is it does encourage reading and writing!

I don’t need much of an excuse to curl up with a good book or get on with various writing projects as it is but the lighter evenings during the summer months can make me feel a bit guilty about not getting more gardening done etc. Note the “a bit”. Easy enough to squash so I can get on with reading and writing! I just wish I could stop feeling the slightly guilty feeling at all!

I often prefer lighter reading and writing during the darker months too. Contrast in mood perhaps? Whatever, it’s definitely time to get on with some writing once again!

Signing books for a friend. Image by Adrian Symes
Let the creativity spill out. PIxabay image.
Lovely and treasured book collection here. Image via Pexels
A good read means you ARE in a world of your own. Pixabay image
Back cover of FLTDBA. Image by Allison Symes
Great characters = great books. Image via Pixabay.
Chapeltown Books have a distinctive central image in a frame such as with mine. Image by Allison Symes
Great way to relax. Now where are those biscuits? Image via Pixabay
Lost in a world of books. Pixabay image.
My reading at the local railway station. Image by Janet Williams
The love of writing must equal the love of reading. Pixabay image.
Gorgeous covers. Image via Pexels.
Books are a fantastic form of escapism. Image via Pixabay
A good writing group will help you discover this. Pixabay image.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

I often use lightning flashes in my photos for posts like this, given I think they reflect accurately how a flash fiction story illuminates and impacts on the reader. Very briefly and then over, but you don’t forget the impact.

A short story (say 1500 words+) to me is like shining a torch around – more light for a greater period of time but the impact can be diluted.

Sometimes you want that – you want the story as a whole to impact on your reader and you can only know if it‘s done that by reading and re-reading the whole thing.

The novel is like having a great big light on constantly. When you switch it off (stop reading it), that’s when you think about the impact it has made on you. Or that is how it has always seemed to be to me. I didn’t really appreciate the greatness of The Lord of the Rings until I’d finished reading it. You then take a mental step back and realise the huge scale of the trilogy.

Flash fiction makes you focus on the little details but the great thing with that is you can take this and use it to sharpen your longer works of fiction. No dull bits ever, thank you! The sections that are necessary to link the action should still carry the reader with them. The reader should be as keen to read those sections as they are the main scenes. Flash makes you tighten up your writing and this is enormously useful for ensuring your longer stories flow as they should.

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Time is the theme of my CFT post this week (time management and time travel. If the latter ever becomes possible, you will have to be really good at the former to make said travelling work well for you!). I’ve used time as a theme for a few of my flash fiction pieces – Telling the Time (there’s a clue somewhere here!) and Time Waits for No Man (likewise!).

My main use of time though for flash fiction is deciding on when I’m setting the story. Am I going to tell it as it “happens” to the character or will I get the character to look back on an event? I use both regularly and usually it is clear which would work better. So much depends on the character A reflective type would be best suited to looking back at something that had happened (which I do in They Don’t Understand). An active “go get them” kind would probably be better off telling the story AS it happens, implying the passing of time as we go through the events with them.

Love writing, love reading, love books. Pixabay image.
This, for me, would be a magical place to be. Image via Pixabay
This statue reminds me of myself when I was a lot younger. Okay I wasn’t made of stone (I’m still not!) but I did always have my head in a book. (And do so as often as I can now!). Image via Pixabay.
Flash fiction, by its nature, has to take one look at a situation to be a story but you can get quite a bit into that “one look”. Image via Pixabay.
I write fairytales with bite as flash fiction and short stories in particular. Image via Pixabay.
Whenever and whatever you read, enjoy. Image via Pixabay.
Says it all really but reading your work to yourself will show up where dialogue is weak. Image via Pixabay.
The first draft, the second, the tenth? Pixabay image
From Light to Dark and Back Again. Image taken by Allison Symes
Books are fabulous, whatever the format. Image via Pixabay.
The delights of the open page. Pexels image.
So true. Pixabay image.

What do I look for in an opening line for flash fiction? I don’t necessarily need to know who the lead character is funnily enough, but I DO need to know the setting, the attitude of the narrator (especially if this is a first person piece), and some indication of what the problem is. That problem and how it is overcome IS the story of course.

Something about the narrator/lead character has got to intrigue me enough to make me want to read on. A great piece of flash fiction will make you ponder whether YOU would have acted in the same way as the character you’ve just read about!

Big screen, little screen, LOTS of stories on either! Image via Pixabay
I don’t understand those who dislike books, in whatever format. Image via Pixabay.
Love this library. Mine is somewhat smaller than this! Image via Pixabay.
It can take a lot of self-belief to be able to call yourself this at times. Image via Pixabay
Fiction or not, books are the gateways to other worlds. Image via Pixabay.
I could spend many a happy hour here – the library at Prague. Image via Pixabay.
Poets stand and stare and then write down. Image via Pixabay.
The magic of stories. Image via Pixabay
What ever writer needs. Image via Pixabay
Good advice. Image via Pixabay.
Let your stories have impact. Image via Pixabay

Fairytales with Bite – Favourite Times

What are your characters’ favourite times? Curling up with a good book? Lazing in the bath? Going for a good walk with the dog?

Use questions like this to help you establish your character. The answers may not appear in your story but knowing something about the character before you start writing about them will be enormously helpful. You don’t need to know each and every little detail. What you want is enough information that you can write clearly for them, knowing how they would react to a situation and why. The reader will pick up on the fact you really do know your character (even if they do this subconciously, in many ways it is better if they do pick up on this that way) and the writing will flow better as a result.

Of course, working out what your characters’ favourite times will tell you so much about them. Do they curl up with a good book because they can’t face what is their real life? Why can’t they face it? Dig deep. Maybe you will surprise yourself with what your characters show you about themselves. Use that.

Assemble your characters, assemble your world. Image via Pixabay
There was always something magical about having a blank page to write to. Image via Pixabay.
Plugging in for new ideas? Pixabay image
Outline the characters and away you go! Image via Pixabay
Words have power, whether funny or tragic. Pixabay image.
The perfect place to reflect and take stock. Pixabay image.
Words are the power source of so much creativity. Pixabay iamge.
Very old school writing. Pixabay image.
All writers feel this way sometimes. Pixabay image.
Characters no matter what their world should resonate with readers. Image via Pixabay
Write first, edit later. Pixabay.
How is your fantastic world governed? Pixabay image
Walking into the words maybe. Pixabay image

This World and Others – Time

My Chandler’s Ford Today post this week talks about time management and time travel.  Guess which one I want to get better at!  Joking aside, this led me to think about how we use time in stories.

A lot of my flash fiction stories are set within a very short time period (appropriately) and are written in the first person, precisely because I want to achieve a sense of “immediacy”.  For other pieces I have the lead character looking back at their lives and being reflective so the time within stories like that is longer, “stretched” if you like, and the pace of the story is slower.  What grabs you with those kinds of tale is the character – something about them intrigues you enough to make you want to find out more.

Time in itself can make a useful theme for stories (too little of it, too much of it etc) but I’ve found it helpful to think about the kind of story I want to tell and then work out what the best time frame for that tale would be.  In my Pressing the Flesh the opening line is “It was 3 am”.  The impact of that is to make you wonder (a) why the time is important and (b) to assume the character concerned is unlikely to be up to any good at that time of night.  (Quite right too – see my From Light to Dark and Back Again for the whole story!).

Enjoying writing the follow up to FLTDBA. Image by Allison Symes
Creative writing takes many forms, including blogging. Image via Pixabay.
The magical world of the imagination. Image via Pixabay
Where many a first draft starts life. Old technology still has its uses! Image via Pixabay.
What wonderful worlds we can creat! Image via Pixabay.
Magical lands. Image via Pixabay.
The way to the magical realm perhaps? Image via Pixabay.
Notebooks old and new – image via Pixabay. Ideas have to be jotted down somewhere!
Preparing a talk or a flash fiction story perhaps. Image via Pixabay.
The perfect way to unwind. Image via Pixabay.
Reach for those ideas. Pixabay image.
The Writing Life. Pixabay image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I write fairytales with bite as flash fiction and short stories in particular. Image via Pixabay.

Curses and Blessings

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FAIRYTALES WITH BITE

I look at curses and blessings in tonight’s post.  Who has the authority/power to carry these out in your world?  Does it have to be the most powerful witch/wizard?  Equally are curses and blessings the preserve of the religious community in your world and how do they handle this responsbility?  I share some pictures taken by me of the Roman Baths showing some ancient curses. Let’s just say they hadn’t heard of the concept of forgiveness!

THIS WORLD AND OTHERS

In Time Management, I ask if your characters can manage time well enough or if they  need constant supervision by characters who can manage it.  I also look at how time itself is organized in your world and how this affects what your characters can and cannot do.

ASSOCIATION OF CHRISTIAN WRITERS – MORE THAN WRITERS

Once a month, on the 29th, I blog for ACW’s More than Writers blog spot.  This month’s topic from me is all about gratitude, something some of my characters know very little about!

FACEBOOK – GENERAL

I talk about the advantages of writing flash fiction tonight.  Well they do say you should write about what you know…

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FACEBOOK – FROM LIGHT TO DARK AND BACK AGAIN

I talk about my love of writing fairytales with bite and the fact that the scariest things are often the everyday items/situations you run into.

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A way into the magical realm, perhaps? Image via Pixabay.

The way to the magical realm, maybe?  Image via Pixabay.