Tag: Wendy H Jones

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

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Image Credits:- All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Many thanks to Janet Williams for the shots of me signing books at The Hilt Book Fair.
Hope you have had a good few days. Had lovely trip out with other half to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Lady had a fabulous time too. Pleased to say I have broadcast news and I know others who will be on the same show so am pleased for them all too. More details below with a link to come later.

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

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

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

 

 

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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Am pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale Printing Error. This is an entry for their Christmas competition and in this one the word I had to use was peace. Hope you enjoy the story.
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As mentioned over on my author page, I’m delighted to say my festive flash fiction story, Perspective, will be broadcast on Hannah Kate’s Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM on Saturday 14th December 2024. The show is on from 2pm to 4pm. Link to come later.

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

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

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

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

 

Fairytales with Bite – Timing

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

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

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

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

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

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This World and Others – Decisions

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

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

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

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

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

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Welcome to Writers’ Narrative Magazine

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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 Wendy H Jones for supplying the Writers’ Narrative magazine publicity shots for the Chandler’s Ford Today interview. Many thanks to Janet Williams and Richard Hardie for the photos of me at the recent Book Fair.
It has been a busy week what with the launch of Writers’ Narrative and the recent release of The Best of CafeLit 12. Am also looking forward to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick which is coming up soon. It was also a delight to watch The Chameleon Theatre Group’s latrest production, Lilies on the Land. Review to follow in due course. In dog news, Lady has had a ball with many of her friends this week so all is well there too.

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Am thrilled to welcome back Wendy H Jones to Chandler’s Ford Today for an in-depth interview called Welcome to Writers’ Narrative Magazine.

Wendy is the Editor in Chief and I am part of the editorial team. The magazine is written by writers for writers and covers all aspects of the writing world. Definitely not one to miss. Do check out the CFT post for more information (and handily there is a subscribe link in the post. Even better news, it is free to subscribe).

Welcome to Writers’ Narrative Magazine – Interview with Wendy H Jones

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Posting early today as am off out later to see The Chameleon Theatre Group stage their latest production, Lilies on the Land, which is a play about the Women’s Land Army. Should be interesting and it covers a side of history which is often overlooked. I’ll be reviewing this for Chandler’s Ford Today next week.
Meantime, I’ll be sharing my post tomorrow where I interview Wendy H Jones about new online magazine, Writers’ Narrative. Looking forward to sharing that. See above.

Not long now either before I am off to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick. Can’t wait to catch up with friends and meet new ones. I’m running a one hour workshop on editing here plus carrying out a couple of volunteer short sessions (pre-breakfast – people have to be keen!).

Great to see everyone at last night’s Flash Fiction Group meeting (Association of Christian Writers). Fab time had by all and there was plenty of creativity going on – well done, all and I hope you have fun with the writing exercise I set you.

Back to changeable weather today but Lady got to show off in front of her Hungarian Vizler friend so she’s had a good day and her chum never minds this.

Many thanks for the huge and great response to yesterday’s post about Writers’ Narrative magazine. I’ll be interviewing Wendy H Jones, the Editor in Chief, for Chandlers Ford Today on Friday. See above. Do look out for that. There will be plenty of insights shared and useful information about how to submit for the magazine as well. Looking forward to sharing that.

I’ll be getting my author newsletter out next week. If you would like to sign up for tips, hints, advice, news etc do head over to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my latest tale, Having a Ball. Dog sympathisers will especially like this one I think. Hope you enjoy it. I had so much sympathy with my lead character (and I’m not sorry for the pun there either!).

Screenshot 2023-07-28 at 10-11-21 Having a Ball by Allison Symes

Do you like writing exercises? I love them and usually set at least one at the flash group meetings I lead for the Association of Christian Writers once a month. I find writing exercises encourage creativity, they make me think outside of my usual box(es), and I produce work I would not have otherwise have produced.

Most writing exercises suit flash fiction – such as writing to an opening or closing line. They’re also good practice for writing stories for competitions. Many of them issue a set theme, sometimes a title, and if you are used to producing things to a prompt, it is handy here.

You’re not going to be fazed by the challenge. You see it as just another prompt. Still need to produce your best work though – and I must admit I love the ongoing challenge of that.

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I was amused to receive an email today from someone I know who chose to write their missive as a flash fiction story – the writer did a great job! But I have used letters in flash fiction for more serious purposes. My Punish the Innocent from From Light to Dark and Back Again tells a story of criminality/vengeance/justice in the shape of a short letter. Letters can be a useful format in flash – you have to keep them short to make them work!

Why not give it a try? What is so important your character has to write to someone (especially if your story is set in an age where they could phone, email etc)? What would they reveal? The nice thing with this format is you can get clues as to what the receiver must be like from the way the character writes to them. That can be so telling.

What is the tone of your character’s letter? Forthright, judging, humorous? Plenty of story ideas here and I find it makes a pleasant change from writing direct prose. There is something intimate about a letter and you can get your characters to show this kind of thing too. Best not done too often – anything can look gimmicky if done too often after all , but if you want to mix up your writing, this is a good exercise to try.

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Fairytales with Bite – Food and Drink

Even the most powerful fairy godmother must take time out to recharge the batteries via food and drink. So what would she consume? Presumably not a suspiciously shiny red apple but other than that what would you feed her with? Would you base requirements on what we have here? Or would magical beings have to eat some sort of magical food and what would this be?

Would your characters prepare their own consumables or would others do this for them?

Food and drink are major parts of our lives naturally, but would your magical beings consider them to be necessary evils? What is their attitude towards having to eat/having to drink? Do they see it as tiresome, for example? Your average evil being would consider these things as a waste of time when they’ve got evil to be getting on with (while recognising they could use food and drink against their enemies).

Is there an industry devoted to producing these things and who would run this? Is government control exerted over it to make sure only what is approved can be consumed? Are there banned substances here? Why was any ban brought in?

Is there such a thing as food allergies here? What form would those take on a magical being? Which of your characters loves their food ? Which are the fussy eaters? Could envisage funny stories here – someone who is fussy has to learn not to be.

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This World and Others – The Hospitality Industry

Most of us experience various parts of the hospitality industry. I love visiting a local pub/restaurant, for example. What establishments would exist in your world? Whom would your world be hospitable to? Whom would they never offer any kind of hospitality towards? Are characters of lower standing expected to visit certain kinds of establishment, saving the best ones for the higher up? Does the hospitality industry encourage tourism in your world and who would take advantage of this?

Are the ones working in this sector respected or looked down on? How much regulation from central or local government (or both) goes on? Is food easily sourced? Does the industry have inspectors to ensure standards are maintained/improved as necessary? Who would work in the industry? Is magic allowed to be used as part of the job?

If you have personal experience of working in this sector, what could you bring into your fiction for a hospitality industry set on another planet? What problems would be the same? Which would differ?

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Publication News – Writers’ Narrative – and Writing to Unwind

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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. Images for Writers’ Narrative magazine used in the Chandler’s Ford Today post and on my Facebook posts were kindly supplied by Wendy H Jones, Editor in Chief. The Feature Image is based on an image supplied by Wendy too. Many thanks also to Richard Hardie for taking the picture of me at the recent Book Fair.
Hope you had a lovely weekend. Had a family to to celebrate my other half’s significant birthday – good time had by all, despite the weather. Lady loved it all. And it was lovely to be able to share more publication news just before the weekend too.

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Am thrilled to say the first issue of Writers’ Narrative magazine is now out there. It’s a fabulous read for any writer (and written by writers who understand what people are seeking in this kind of magazine). I talk about Boosting Your Writing with Flash Fiction but there is an astounding range of articles in here. And the magazine has already hit the No. 1 spot in the US on Amazon. It was a real pleasure to receive the magazine in my inbox this morning – and you can receive it this way too. Just see the link.

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Hope you have had a good start to the week. Mondays are always hectic but it is nice to get to that point of the day where I can write for a while. Bliss and I find it invigorating and a great way to unwind at the same time, strange as that may sound. Writing satisfies a need to be creative. This is especially great after a day of doing more mundane things.

Looking forward to catching up with everyone at the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction group meeting on Wednesday. I am glad to say several have had pieces on Friday Flash Fiction which is fabulous. Flash fiction writing, I find, comes into its own when I don’t have as much time as I would like to write. I still can get something down!

May be an image of text that says "Learning to go with the flow takes time but you will be happier for doing so."As well as sharing the wonderful news The Best of CafeLit 12 is now out (with my story Jubilee on page 110 – guess who looked!), I get to do some authorial housekeeping. I’ve updated my Amazon Author Central Page – I will give Amazon their due here. I put the request in and literally minutes later the book was up on my page. Can’t fault that.

Updating books on Goodreads is more tricky though – I’ve sent a request in but don’t know when I’ll hear on that. Am less impressed. I’ve never found updating anything on that site easy.

I’ve updated the books page on my website (see link – I’ve got the books page as my home page – I think there is something apt about that. Books always make me think of home and the lovely volumes I have here!).

Oh and I’ve got the book listed with ALCS (Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society). As a member of the Society of Authors, I get to be part of ALCS for free but it doesn’t cost much to join and your membership fee is taken from your first payment. Just the once too. You pay once and that’s it.

Adding my books on to my ALCS list means I will get something from my contribution to this book in due course from them. It is worth adding on your books (but they can’t do ebooks). Well worth investigating if you’ve got books out (or contributions to print anthologies etc).

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Had a family do today. Great time had by all. Lady loves it when we have guests around. They all make a huge fuss of her and treats are involved too so what’s not to like?

Am so looking forward to sharing next week’s Chandler’s Ford Today post – Welcome to Writers’ Narrative Magazine. I’m talking with Editor in Chief, Wendy H Jones, for this one. Amongst other topics will be how you can subscribe to this free magazine and how to submit articles for consideration.

The first (August) edition is out during next week (25th July, just ahead of my post). See above. Trust me, there is plenty of good reading here. I am privileged to be part of the editorial team here. Naturally I am also contributing articles! If you would like to sign up now, to ensure you don’t miss a single thing, you can do so at the link here.

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Delighted to be talking about how writing flash fiction can boost your writing overall for the first issue of Writers’ Narrative, which came out today.

I will also be focusing on flash fiction for tomorrow’s meeting of the Association of Christian Writers’ Flash Fiction group on Zoom.

This is a good example of why it is important to love what you write. All writers need to market their work (else how else will people know about it?) so it is vital you enjoy what you do to (a) help you keep going with this and (b) talk about your writing love with conviction. It does show.

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The good old notebook is still useful for Zoom workshop attendees

It’s Monday. It’s been wet, dark at times, more like an autumn day than a summer one, wet, and it is still Monday. Time for another YouTube story from me then. Hope you enjoy my latest called Celebrating though my character Sheila is celebrating alone. Find out why here.

 

Sunday afternoon is flash fiction writing time for me and is something I look forward to immensely. I’m also looking forward to the next meeting of the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group on Wednesday evening.

My story, Jubilee, in the recently released The Best of CafeLit 12 is a piece of flash work. Yes, it is about the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. So much seems to have happened since then, yes?

Events like this can act as time markers for fiction – most people remember where they were/what they were doing at these things so that can save you a lot of description and gives a setting immediately. (And nobody, who saw it, is going to forget the marvellous sketch with Paddington either!).

CafeLit12 MediumHad a lovely time at the family do held earlier today. We don’t let the weather get in our way! Just as well too given it poured down all day….

The first edition of Writers’ Narrative magazine is out online next week and I’ll be taking about flash fiction in that. See above. Am excited about this as the magazine really is fabulous.

Talking of which, I am thrilled to have a flash fiction piece of mine, Jubilee, out in the recently released The Best of CafeLit 12. Many congratulations to all of the other writers in this lovely collection. Great mix of stories and authors here. Do check it out. Good read guaranteed!

 

Goodreads Author Blog – Publication News and Being Read

Am thrilled to have another story out, Jubilee, in the recently released The Best of CafeLit 12. The buzz of being published never dies! It’s a continuing joy to know your work is being read.

I regularly mix up what I read. I will read novels, non-fiction, fiction across most genres, but I also make sure I include the short form (short stories and flash fiction). Okay, I’m biased because I write short stories and flash fiction, but they are just as every bit a valid an art form as the novel. You cherish all of these things, I think.

The advantage of the short forms of fiction is they are perfect for those without much time to read or who do not have the confidence to read bigger works.

The shorter forms are ways of showing there is something out there for all reading needs. Not everyone wants to read a huge novel, at least to begin with, Maybe they’ll get to that later once they‘ve had confidence in reading built up (and the short forms can help a lot there). Sometimes a story is best told in fewer words and it genuinely works better at 10,000 words, say, rather than standard novel length of about 100,000.

What I love is there is plenty of choice out there and I will always wave the flag for the shorter forms of reading. They can be a great way into reading altogether.

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As well as selling my books, I was selling books I've contributed to - those went well too

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Must admit I do not like the new X symbol for Twitter. I liked the bird! Is staying here for the time being at least.

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Deadly Traditions with Wendy H Jones

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Image Credits-:
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots and post box photos were taken by me. Allison Symes, as were photos of Evergreen – An Anthology. Well, what writer doesn’t want to take picture of their books when they arrive?!
A huge thanks to Wendy H Jones for supplying author and book pictures for my interview with her on Chandler’s Ford Today.
Temperatures have dropped significantly in my part of the world – brrr…. Still it’s time to get out the hot chocolate once again (and I love the mint and orange flavours from Options). Meantime, someone has been busy with our local post box…

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It’s with great pleasure I welcome back Wendy H Jones to Chandler’s Ford Today. We discuss Deadly Traditions, a cozy crime at Christmas anthology, in which Wendy has a short story. Given Wendy is well known for her full length work (fiction and non-fiction) one of my question was about how she found writing in the shorter form. It is a different “beast” after all.

I also asked how she found combining a crime story (normally serious) with a lighter touch expected from a Christmas story (true most of the time. I know there are exceptions). Check out the post to see what she said and do pick up her excellent tips for contributing to anthologies.

Deadly Traditions – Interview with Wendy H Jones

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Brrr…glad to see Lady running around earlier with her gentleman friend, Bear, a lovely tri-coloured Aussie Shepherd. At least both of them have good coats. They’ll appreciate them right now. (As I prepare this in the evening, it’s already -2 out there. I know – that’s nothing compared to many places but it is on the early side for my part of the world. We usually get this kind of temperature towards the end of the month/early January onwards). As I prepare this round up on Friday evening, it is still saying -2 out there!

Looking forward to sharing my Chandler’s Ford Today post tomorrow where I’ll be talking to Wendy H Jones about Deadly Traditions, a cozy crime at Christmas anthology. See above.

One thing I do regularly (and where Flash NANO has helped a lot too) is to build up a stock of flash pieces and short stories on themes which are open to interpretation. It is then a question of finding the right market/competition come up for these but there will be something. I often draft potential blog pieces too which I can then place as needed throughout the year. Again when I have odd pockets of time, I can draft something here which I know I’ll get to use later. Helps my productivity no end!

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Glad to say my copies of Evergreen – An Anthology arrived today. Always nice to open a parcel with your books (or books you’ve contributed to) inside!

Talking of anthologies, I’m pleased to be welcoming back to Chandler’s Ford Today Scottish crime writer, Wendy H Jones, who will be talking about Deadly Traditions, where she has a short story. Link up on Friday. See above.

Once nice thing I will have to do in next few days is ensure I notify the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society about my contribution to Evergreen – an Anthology. I also need to get things set up on my Amazon Author Central page, Goodreads, my book page on my website etc. Those will be pleasant tasks though – it is always nice to update with another publication credit. You can’t know these things are coming (you can only put in your best effort and hope) but it is always a joy when they do.

 

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Delighted my story Numbers is up on Friday Flash Fiction. I used the random number generator and came up with the number 14. See what I did with it via the link!

Screenshot 2022-12-09 at 16-48-49 Numbers by Allison Symes


If you’ve not yet had chance to do so, why not check out the recently released special fiftieth edition of Mom’s Favorite Reads? Link here. I talk about Fifty as my theme for the December 2022 double issue. I also set a double challenge here and people responded excellently to both.

Hope you have had a good day. Temperatures are set to plummet even further here. One lovely thing about writing is it generally is something you can do in the warm!

When I read at events, I like to mix up the moods of what I read. It makes for a great advert for what flash fiction is and can be. I also mix up my use of first and third person stories. I occasionally use second person but find this works best as a short (even by flash standards) tale and not often. It can come across as a bit gimmicky but the odd use of a “you” story can be effective. So much depends on your character’s (the narrator’s) voice here being strong enough to carry a story like that.

I also practice what I’m reading by going over it a few times. I’ve mentioned using Zoom here and I always do for new material which I’ve not read before. Only way to be sure of my timings and to ensure the story flows. What looks good written down doesn’t always read out well and if I stumble over my words, a reader will too. But that’s what the edit is for – to iron all that out. I enjoy that kind of ironing at least!

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Allison Symes - Flash Fiction Collections

Fairytales With Bite – Tips for Surviving in a Magical World

You know how it is – you go through some portal or down a rabbit hole and before you realise it, you are in a magical world. Now what? The following tips will be useful.

  • Don’t eat or drink anything until you are 100% certain it is real food and drink and doesn’t have unfortunate side effects. It is not practical or helpful to suddenly discover you’ve grown several feet (in height or in literal feet – think of the shoe bills!).
  • Don’t annoy any little old men or women. They’re nearly always powerful magical beings in disguise. You don’t want to get the wrong side of them.
  • Be humble and not arrogant. It will help you with 2 above.
  • Expect talking animals. Try not to be annoyed when they prove to be better conversationalists than you are.
  • Take nothing at face value. If you come across a rather hairy old woman in a night gown, it might be worth checking out if they really are human or not.
  • Get out of said magical world as soon as you can. Nobody will blame you for running away.

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This World and Others – Getting By

Now there are a variety of ways we all get by so this should be reflected in your fictional world. What kind of jobs do people do? If they’re not earning money to pay bills, how do they manage? Is there a barter system and skills are traded?

What kind of employment does your fiction world offer its characters? Are certain occupations reserved for certain species/classes and how did that come about? Are there skills your world has to import and where would they get these from? What can they offer in exchange?

Another thing to think about is what happens to those characters left behind by the leads going off on quests etc? How do they manage?

One interesting thing about The Lord of the Rings which the book shows well is when Frodo and the hobbits return to The Shire. It is quickly made apparent that all have been changed by what has happened. The Shire and its inhabitants are not the same as when Frodo and company left them (albeit in something of a hurry!).

Could you show something of this kind of thing in your story, especially if you want y our hero(es) to return home? Getting by includes making adjustments to resume normal life again too.

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Allison Symes – Book Brush Reader Hub

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Festive Flash News and Author and Book Events

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots were taken by me, Allison Symes, as was the photo of my two flash collections at the BHP event. Many thanks to Lynn Clement for taking the photo of me reading at the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event. Always tricky doing that kind of thing yourself! 
Weather becoming significantly colder in my part of the world. Lady’s not bothered but is probably wondering why Mum is keen to keep moving rather than let her stop and sniff everything every five seconds or so!

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Facebook – General

Glad to report one of my festive flash fiction pieces will be broadcast on Hannah Kate’s Three Minute Santas show on North Manchester FM on 17th December. Looking forward to sharing the link to the show later. Glad to hear other friends will also be having their stories on here – well done, all!

Now I will record myself on Zoom every so often to check if a story flows as well as I thought and for things like Hannah’s show, I want to make sure I’ve got my timings rights. (Maximum allowed is three minutes). The lovely thing with Zoom is if you set up a meeting with yourself, record yourself speaking, and then end that meeting, Zoom will convert the file to an mp4 for you. You also get an exact timing.

And in playing back your recording, you can literally hear the ebbs and flows of your story. Worth doing and it is also great practice to read aloud for Open Prose Mic Nights as well.

Last but not least, a big thank you for the anniversary congratulations yesterday. Much appreciated! (See below).

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5th December
Hope you have had a good day. Today is my 35th wedding anniversary. Better half and I can’t believe where the time has gone either.

Writing wise, I’m pleased to share the link to the super duper double issue of Mom’s Favorite Reads. Why such a large edition? Simply it is because this is the 50th edition and naturally that had to be celebrated with something special.

I use the theme of Fifty for my article in this issue and I set not one but two flash fiction challenges. One was to write on the subject of fifty up to a word count of 300 words. The second challenge was to write a fifty word story all in, including the title. Do check out the stories that came in – it was, as ever, a joy to be the editor on these.

 

Brrr…it’s cold out there. Nice to have a quieter day today after my trip yesterday. I hope my next trip will be in January when I’ll be giving a flash fiction workshop. (It will be in person ideally but may need to switch to Zoom. Am happy with both kinds of workshop).

Am looking forward to welcoming back Wendy H Jones to Chandler’s Ford Today on Friday. She’ll be discussing Deadly Traditions, a cozy mystery at Christmas anthology, with me. I’ll be chatting about how she found writing shorter fiction given she is best known for her own crime series and marketing books in particular. Long and short fiction writing have their own challenges and joys.

Have not yet started work on my editing for my Flash NANO stories. I suspect I’ll get to this after Christmas. I won’t be that sorry about it as I do give myself time away from something recently written so I can come back and judge it objectively later.

 

Am writing this on way up to London for the annual Bridge House Publishing Celebration event. This is being held at the wonderfully named Theodore Bullfrog pub.

Am looking forward to seeing friends and listening to author readings. I’m taking part in that too but it is such a joy to relax and be read to – how often do you get to do that? Audio books are fab but listening to the author telling their tale live as they want it to come across is special and a treat.

Do support author reading events. They’re great fun and give you a chance to escape the world for a bit as well as being another way to support writers.

Update: Did indeed have a fabulous time at the BHP event. Loved the readings from the different authors and it was fun to take part myself. Hope to write more about this for a further Chandler’s Ford Today post. A big thanks to Lynn Clement for taking the picture of me on my phone as I read a story from each of my two flash collections.

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Delighted to say a festive piece of mine will be on Three Minute Santas on Hannah Kate’s show on North Manchester FM on 17th December. Always a fun show to listen to – and I plan to share the link later. Flash works so well in an audio format.

Flash is also great to share as a reading because you can’t go on for too long yet it makes for a great introduction to you and your writing style. Win-win there!

I am planning to use my Flash NANO stories for a mixture of competitions and for a future collection. Nice to be off to a cracking start there!

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It’s Monday. It’s cold. There is still far too much to do before Christmas but it is time to take a break and enjoy a new flash fiction video. You know it makes sense, to quote Del Boy from Only Fools and Horses. Hope you enjoy Fourteen Days, my latest on YouTube.

 

Loved my trip out yesterday and it is always good to wave the flag for flash fiction. I hope to do so again in January when I’m due to run a workshop.

I took the opportunity yesterday to show how flash can mix up the moods so read a humorous tale and a serious one. Both tales have good emotional impact which is what you want from a story. Even as a kid, I wanted to get to the “happy ever after” in the fairytales but I was also intrigued as to how that would happen.

That should’ve been an early flag to me that writing would be what I’d end up doing!

From Light to Dark and Back Again - by nightTripping The Flash Fantastic - by night

Looking forward to reading some flash tales at the Bridge House Publishing Celebration event in London today. Nice to be back on the train again too. Always good for people watching and I have had inspiration for stories from things seen/overheard.

These things are always a starting point only as by the time I’ve written and edited my tale, my “unintentional inspirers” would never recognize they had inspired a story.

One key skill for any writer is to be observant and from that to think yes, I could use that. For example, I spotted someone hastily writing out a couple of Christmas cards. So my mind is thinking along the lines of who are these cards for and why it is vital my character gets these written now.

It’s a situation most of us can identify with and has the potential to be a funny tale and/or a heartwarming one. But I needed to spot someone doing this to get my ideas sparking.

(Again thanks to Lynn Clement for taking the picture of me reading).

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Goodreads Author Blog – Book Events

Book events are great fun and if you can get to go to any, please do.

As well as showing support for the authors (which is always appreciated), you may well get to hear readings. Also there will be the chance to get signed copies. These make for fab Christmas presents!

A lot of work goes on behind the scenes setting these up but book events are wonderful for bringing writers and readers together.

Any reader interacts with the author simply by reading their works of course but at events, you may be able to ask questions as you get your books signed.

That can give the writer useful feedback. I’ve had readers say something about my stories revealing hidden depths I hadn’t considered when writing the tale.

Was I pleased? Oh yes! Why? Because the readers had engaged with my stories and showed me they had.

We all love books for various reasons but engaging with stories like that is so special. And it is really nice for an author to find that out a book event.

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Book Brush – Reader Hub – Allison Symes

 

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Remembering

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. It has been a busy week starting with a podcast appearance and ending with a solemn day of remembrance. Hope your week has been a good one. Weather has ranged from stormy to sunshine and sudden rain and back to sunshine again! It is very mild for the time of year too. Writing wise, Flash NANO continues to go well and I will have lots of lovely interviews to share on Chandler’s Ford Today over the next few weeks.

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Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

11th November 2022 – Armistice Day

There could only be one topic for this week’s post on Chandler’s Ford Today and I have called my post Remembering. This is a tribute to the fallen and those who gave up loved ones so we don’t have to and I also look at why remembering is an act of will. It’s a phenomenally important one at that too.

Remembering

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Hope you have had a good day. It’s been a busy week so far but fun. Am looking forward to sharing interviews with some wonderful authors on Chandler’s Ford Today over the next few weeks.

But there could only be one topic for tomorrow’s post – I’ll share the link for Remembering tomorrow. See above.

On the fiction front, you could use the thought of what your characters think important enough to remember as a basis for stories. Why have they chosen to remember what they have and how does that bring them into conflict with others? (And there will be bound to be conflict given people can often remember the same event differently. Characters can do likewise). Also do your characters act on those memories and what are the consequences?

Will be working on the latest Flash NANO prompt shortly. Am so loving these. Got that prompt written up. Am already thinking of future homes for some of these.

9th November 2022 – two posts

FIRST POST

You know you get one of those days where lots is going on – well, today is one of mine. This is the first of two posts from me tonight.

First up, a huge thank you to the lovely #ValPenny for sharing my post about Looking Back at Swanwick 2022 on her website today.

Looking back is an apt topic for me because, not only is my Chandler’s Ford Today post this week about Remembering (linking in with Armistice Day on Friday), today is the seventh anniversary of my mother’s passing. Mum read widely and passed on her love of the written word to me. She did get to see my first short story in print (and my late Dad got to see my first book, From Light to Dark and Back Again, in print – there is a kind of symmetry here).

For the lifelong love of books and stories I’ve inherited from you, thanks Mum!

Screenshot 2022-11-09 at 09-04-41 Looking Back at The Writers’ Summer School at Swanwick 2022 by Allison Symes


9th November 2022

SECOND POST

SECOND post from me tonight and I’d like to say a huge thank you to #WendyHJones for hosting me on her podcast, The Writing and Marketing Show. We discuss Flash NANO, which I’m happily taking part in at the moment. And I always welcome a chance to celebrate the joys of flash fiction writing.

Hope you enjoy the podcast. I loved taking part in this and to my fellow Flash NANO writers, more power to your pens and laptops! I’ll be working on the latest challenge a little later on this evening. Hope all is going well for you.

https://wendyhjones.buzzsprout.com/807761/11656217-flash-nanowrimo

Screenshot 2022-11-10 at 20-07-38 Flash NaNoWriMo - The Writing and Marketing ShowScreenshot 2022-11-10 at 20-07-27 The Writing and Marketing Show

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

My latest tale on Friday Flash Fiction is called In The Blink of an Eye. Hope you enjoy it. Find out if my character’s story about an accident rings true for you as she thinks about what she is going to tell the police officer who has come to see her as a result of said “accident”.

Screenshot 2022-11-11 at 08-57-23 In The Blink Of An Eye by Allison Symes

Am starting work on some festive flash fiction (Flash NANO has helped here too!) and have an idea as to where it will go in due course. Festive flash is about the only seasonal writing I do and it is great fun. This kind of quirky humorous fiction, I think, works best when kept short so flash is the ideal form for it.

I hope to so some more for Chandler’s Ford Today in due course too. I usually have a pre-Christmas post on this. It’s a nice way to sign off for a Christmas break too. The nice thing here is you can create these at any time and just save them up for the apt time of year. I have done that in the past. Not had the chance this year. Making up for it now though!

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It was a joy to talk to #WendyHJones about Flash NANO for her podcast, The Writing and Marketing Show. I share what Flash NANO is about, look at the joys and challenges of it, and where it differs from the main NaNoWriMo event. Not least of which is hopefully by the end of November I’ll have 30 more flash fiction stories to polish and work on further – more than I would’ve done. I don’t usually write a flash fiction piece a day – I do write a few over the course of a week. And “hon mentions” go to members of the ACW Flash Fiction Group too for telling me about Flash NANO in the first place.

 

Fairytales with Bite – Memories

This is an apt topic given Friday, 11th November will be Armistice Day/Veterans Day. We cherish memories we rightly dare not forget.

In your fictional setting, what would be your community’s collective memories, the things everyone shares? How are these things remembered? Are there rituals people must follow? (I use the word people loosely here!). On an individual level, what memories does your character cherish or go out of their way to try and forget? What does that say about them? And can memories come back to haunt them?

Perspective is important too. People can be at an event and have differing views of what happened when despite being in the same place and the same time.

I once took part in an interesting writing exercise to prove this point. Fellow writers and I had to recall something that had happened after having just been shown the event in question. This was interesting, We recalled a lot of things in common but by no means everything. There were differences too. Yet all of us could’ve sworn we’d remembered “correctly”.

How could that play out for your characters and how would it affect the actions they then take?

Remembering helps us to be grateful for sacrifices made

This World and Others – Remembrance Ceremonies

The Armistice Day ceremonies are always deeply moving. For those of us in the UK this year’s ceremonies will have an added poignancy given one very familiar figure will not be laying the wreath at The Centoaph in London, as Her Late Majesty the Queen had done for so many years.

In your fictional setting, what is “officially” remembered and why? What ceremonies are used to commemorate these events/people? Does everyone join in with these things and, if so, is that by choice? Where it is, what would happen to those who disagree and refuse to take part?

Are there events in your world’s history which nobody remembers because they don’t want to do so? Where this reflects badly on them, what happens when someone uncovers this and exposes it?

Who leads any ceremonies and are these kept simple or is there a lot of pomp and circumstance? What are the traditions leading to the ceremonies being carried out the way they are? Do other countries (or equivalent) in your setting share the same ceremonies?

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Flash NANO, Book Wish Lists, and Podcast News

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. Hope you have had a good start to the week. Wild weather here but progressing well with Flash NANO and I’m about to be on a podcast talking about that very thing. Hope to share the link to the podcast in the next issue on Friday.

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Thrilled to say I was interviewed by #WendyHJones for her podcast, The Writing and Marketing Show, today. Show will go out tomorrow and I’m looking forward to sharing the link.

Our topic? Flash NANO! Flash NANO is an offshoot of NaNoWriMO and is where flash fiction writers get to write 30 flash pieces over 30 days. I’ll be working on my prompt for today later on this evening! Tomorrow’s episode follows on beautifully from her show last week which talked about NaNoWriMo – the A to Z – see link for that. It was great fun taking part in this and I am always keen to spread the word about flash fiction – win-win here then!

Screenshot 2022-11-08 at 20-40-00 NaNoWriMo A to Z - The Writing and Marketing Show

Hope you have had a lovely start to your working week. Blustery and wet again here but I did have a lovely surprise this morning. Ruth Leigh, whom I recently interviewed for Chandler’s Ford Today, gave me a lovely shout-out on More Than Writers (the Association of Christian Writers blog spot). See link and screenshot.

Talking of CFT, my post this week will be called Remembering, especially apt at this post goes out on Armistice Day.

And in other news, I will be interviewed myself very soon. See above! Will give more details when I can but looking forward to this a lot.

All in all, it’s not been a bad Monday!

Screenshot 2022-11-07 at 09-21-45 It's All in the Questions

More rain last night, fewer fireworks, Lady dozing off to the second part of Classic FM’s Pet Classics – win-win all around here!
I use a good old-fashioned paper diary bought from my local Post Office to help me plan out my writing. I find this especially useful for the different blogs I write pieces for. There is still much to be said for pen and paper technology!

Having said that, I take my turn every month on the Association of Christian Writers Twitter feed. I draft those tweets in advance and schedule them so I use that kind of technology too.

Am definitely one of life’s planners. I find it invaluable for keeping track of my writing. And today being a Sunday, as well as continuing with Flash NANO later on, I will get some flash pieces ready for submission and scheduling respectively. It’s a nice way to round off the writing week.

May be an image of text that says "Planning out your writing does not have to kill spontaneity, far from it. don't plan to the "nth" degree. I plan enough to get me started and to ensure I get done in a week what I'd like to get done. TOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER YEARLYPLANNER PLANNER 2019 LNE MON ON"

Hope you have had a good Saturday. There were some fireworks last night but the combination of Classic FM’s Pet Classics, the TV being on, and shut curtains etc meant Lady was okay (and she nodded off during the evening, which is always a good sign). The only positive thing about the wild and wet weather today is it should mean fewer fireworks (I hope). I see some of the supermarkets are now stocking the silent variety. Now that is the way to go with these things. It is the noise which causes the most distress and I do feel deeply sorry for the wild animals. At least I can keep my pet indoors.

A big thanks for the wonderful comments coming in on Old Notebooks, my latest story on Friday Flash Fiction. Feedback always appreciated.

My theme for next week’s Chandler’s Ford Today will be Remembering given it will be Armistice Day.

Memories can make great themes for stories too. You can have characters who struggle with theirs for various reasons from illness to the memories themselves being something they don’t really want to have to face up to and don’t forget false memories. Who has them? What has triggered this? How can they be shown these memories are false?

Progressing well with Flash NANO too. Looking forward to having a go at today’s prompt later on.

Screenshot 2022-11-04 at 09-26-35 Old Notebooks by Allison Symes

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Earlier today I was spreading the word about flash fiction and Flash NANO in particular as guest interviewee on Wendy H Jones’s podcast, The Writing and Marketing Show. Show goes out tomorrow and I will be sharing the link then.

But I’m always pleased to share the virtues of flash fiction and one perhaps overlooked aspect is the possibilities of getting into print with it. I hope by the end of Flash NANO to have 30 new stories. Once I’ve polished those up, I hope to send some in for competitions. Others I hope to put towards a future collection. And with the rise in the indie press, there are opportunities out there to have flash collections published. I know, I’ve done it!

I also remain convinced that flash is an excellent form of writing exercise for any writer because you have to think about what the story is about and what the reader needs to know and cut out everything that doesn’t serve a useful purpose.

Flash Fiction focuses on THE important aspect of a character's life

It’s a dark Monday. It’s a wet and windy one. Time for my latest story on YouTube. Hope you enjoy All In The Game, which is based on fact too.

 

How to tell when a flash piece is finished? My take on this is when I know I cannot take another word out without losing something invaluable to the characters/story. As for adding words, again the same criteria applies because you can, to use the English phrase, “over-egg” the pudding and ruin it.

As I mentioned yesterday, I have to justify to myself why I’ve included anything in my story. If I’m not convinced if something is necessary, then a reader is likely to feel the same way. I don’t want them switching off as a result.

When looking back at my earlier stories, I can see now how I could improve these but that is the point. That was the stage of writing I was at then. I have moved on since and rightly so too. I want to try and keep on improving on what I do. That attitude helps fuel my imagination and creativity and I am all for that. I don’t think any writer can feel they’ve “made it”. There are always ways to develop your characters further and to come up with other interesting situations to dump them in. That is the fun bit!

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Flash fiction is the definition of Less is More being true but it is nice being able to exploit that to maximum effect. This is another reason why knowing the last line first is such an effective device for writing flash. If I’m given a prompt which could be an opening or a closing line, I nearly always make it the last one for this reason. I’ve got the impact in that line so where best to place it? Often it is at the end.

Sometimes a story simply does work better at 300 words, say, rather than 100. Usually there are factors such as more in depth characterisation adding to the story which you would not want to lose. My basis for editing any piece of my work is if it adds something to useful to the story and moves it on in some way it stays in. If not, out it comes. So part of my editing process is to go through my story line by line and query its worthiness to be included. I have to be able to justify its inclusion.

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Goodreads Author Blog – Book Wish Lists

It is the right time of year to start thinking about book wish lists (assuming you don’t have an all year round one. The advantage of the latter is it covers birthdays, anniversaries, feel like a new book days etc). I don’t have a wish list for my Kindle. If there’s a book I’m after for that, I just get it.

But I will be compiling my annual list for the family to pick books from for me for Christmas. That’s always fun to put together. I go for a mixture of hardbacks and paperbacks. Some will be books I’ve been after for a while. Others are recent releases I like the look of – and often detective novels at that. I also make a point in checking out non-fiction releases as I’ve found some gems there.

So what it is that makes you put a book on your own wish list? For me the story is the lure. If I like the sound of it, on to the wish list it goes, whether it is by a big name author or not. Some are the latest in a series I’ve become fond of and others are stand alones. As long as I like the sound of the tale and the characters, I’m putting it on my list.

The nice thing about lists is it is a win-win for my loved ones too. I am easy to buy for! Mind you, I think most writers are. There are always books or stationery items we want. No good asking for an agent or a publishing deal though – you’re on your own for those!

 

 

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Creative Matters: A New Direction and Mom’s Favorite Reads

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Image Credit:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated.

Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing.

Images for Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing kindly supplied by Wendy H Jones (as was her own author pic). Some images for Creativity Matters created in Book Brush by Wendy H Jones and Allison Symes. Image of yours truly proudly holding up one of her copies of Creativity Matters taken by Adrian Symes.

Other images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos as usual. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

A busy week with Creativity Matters now being out and my latest article is also out in Mom’s Favorite Reads. 

Moms Favorite Reads - September 2021

Creativity Matters

Facebook – General – and Chandler’s Ford Today

Am thrilled to welcome back #WendyHJones to Chandler’s Ford Today to talk about Creative Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing.

Wendy shares with me what made her decide to go into publishing other authors and how she has found this aspect of her own writing journey. She also shares fabulous tips for writers on working with editors and publishers, as well as marketing tips.

All great information regardless of what stage you’re at in your own writing journey. I’ve found from experience that what might not be directly relevant to me now becomes so later on and I have been so grateful to have that information to fall back on when I needed it.

We also discuss the technical side of bringing books out and Wendy shares what skills she has had to learn to take on something that is brand new for her. She has written from the cradle to the grave, in terms of audience, but publishing others is a first. There are always learning curves but these are what keep us on our toes as writers and help us develop and achieve more than we might once have thought possible.

Wonderful information here and a big thanks to Wendy for sharing this.

Creativity Matters – Wendy H. Jones – A New Direction

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Pleased to say the September 2021 edition of Mom’s Favorite Reads is now out. My topic this time is Frames in Fiction and I look at how I use a frame format for some of my flash fiction writing. See my article for more on why this is a useful thing to do and do check out the excellent stories that follow which are on the topic of framed. Loved reading those. Hopefully you will too! My story on the theme is part of my article.

What with Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing, it has been a busy week for celebrating and talking about flash fiction!


A huge thanks for all of the wonderful responses to my post about Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing yesterday. It is always a joy to share author pics, proudly holding book etc! Especially since in the early years, I received outright rejections or simply didn’t hear back from publishers. (The latter is even more common now given time constraints for most publishers and agents).

Persistence and willingness to learn from mistakes are crucial attributes for any writer. You do get better the more you write. You learn what works and, just as importantly, what doesn’t.

I recently judged a flash fiction competition for The Byre Writers. Great fun to do and many congratulations to the worthy winner, #SuzanneMilne with her Why Can’t You Hear Me? I often talk about impact in stories, especially flash fiction. You are looking for the “wow” factor. This one had that in spades.

When I enter competitions I try to come up with unforgettable characters who will move me. If they move me, make me laugh, cry, scream, or what have you, they’ll do that for someone else, including hopefully the competition judge!

Lady helps out! Image by Adrian Symes.
Allison Symes and some early works.

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Confession time: forgot to submit anything to Friday Flash Fiction this week but I was pleased to see more stories by more people I know on there. (Particular shout out to #HannahRuthRetallick, #VeronicaBright, and #ElaineLangford here).

Browsing the stories on here every week is a great joy and is a fabulous way to discover the wonderful world of flash fiction. Submission rules are easy to follow too so why not give it a go? (And yes I plan to get another story on there again soon).

Screenshot 2021-09-03 at 20-22-56 Friday Flash Fiction

Just a quick reminder that I’ll be talking with #WendyHJones about Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing tomorrow in Chandler’s Ford Today. Link further up. My chapter is on Why Write Flash Fiction and Short Stories and it was a joy to write. I’m always up for celebrating flash fiction and spreading the word about what a wonderful format it is… not that I’m biased… much!

I am also in the September issue of Mom’s Favorite Reads and discuss using frames in flash fiction writing. See link for more. And don’t forget Friday Flash Fiction if you are looking for somewhere to send your 100-word stories. The feedback I have had here has been incredible and so encouraging. This is nice because this doesn’t always happen online. Happy to share the link for MFR twice – it is a fab magazine with a wide range of articles and stories. It is a joy and pleasure to write for it.

 

One of the things with flash fiction is working out exactly where to end the story. I know, I know, that’s true for any story, I hear you cry. True but given you have less room in flash, it is even more important to get it right.

This is one reason why I will often “start” with a closing line (which is often a twist or a punchline) and then work backwards to get to a logical start. Let’s call it writing from B to A rather than A to B. (Mixing up how you approach is a story is good fun and keeps you on your toes. It also encourages you to think in different ways which encourages lateral thinking and greater creativity as a result).

I aim to leave a story where the tale is concluded but the reader senses the characters could go on to “live” in other stories not told by me at this time. That’s a good sign of characters coming to life for the reader and helps maximise character impact. I know when I read works by other writers, one of the things I love most is, having got to the end, I can still envisage those characters living lives outside of the novel or short story concerned.

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Fairytales with Bite – Magical History Lessons

In your fantasy setting, what role does history play? How much of your created world’s history is known by your characters? And do mistakes from the past come back to haunt your characters now?

When it comes to education, whose version of history is the “accepted” version taught in schools etc? Is there an alternative history that is suppressed because it is a threat to those in power?

When it comes to fairytale history, do stories such as Cinderella and Snow White form the basis of what is taught as in a magical setting, those could be “real life” tales and be treated as such? Are there fairytales that are considered unacceptable and so are not taught? Why are these “banned”? What would happen if word about them got out? Would it make your people re-examine what they’d always taken to be the truth?

Whatever your setting is, whoever your characters are, there has to be something “behind” them in terms of history. Characters have a past. The setting also does (and you could examine what changes have happened over time here too. Are they better? Is the environment damaged by the changes? Has it affected people’s magical abilities in the same way pollution here on Earth would and does choke our planet? All interesting story ideas to explore).

What matters is getting across to a reader what they need to know but to do it in an interesting way. You almost slip the information in so readers pick it up, almost without noticing. What you don’t want is “info dump” and characters should never tell each other what they ought to know. Readers will see right through that, correctly too, as a way for an author to get information across without “telling” you but it doesn’t really work. Dialogue has to be what you would reasonably expect characters to say and I know I don’t tell people I know what I know they already know! So our characters mustn’t either.

What you could do is get a character to ask another what they opinion is on a historical event in their world which is having impact on their world today. We say history goes around in cycles. There’s nothing to stop that being true in your fictional creations.

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This World and Others – Compare and Contrast

A good way to get started with creating a new setting is to compare what you think you want to write about with what we know exists here. For example:-

Planet Earth has 71% of its surface covered in water. That in turn means we have all sorts of creatures living in water or around it or who are dependent on food from it. So what if your fictional world didn’t have water? What would it have it instead? What creatures would live in that substance? Equally if there is a reason for your world not to have water, as we know it, what is that reason? Is it because your world is a gas giant say and what your characters depend on is being able to breathe using that gas?

Politically, you can take what we know here about democracies and dictatorships and apply them directly to your creation or come up with direct opposites. Equally you can have your world have something that is far superior or inferior to what we have here, depending on your preferences.

For characters, you can take what we know about human behaviour and apply that directly to your alien being. Or your alien being has a totally different nature to ours – e.g. it is not motivated by a desire to survive, it is motivated by a desire to befriend other species so all survive.

But comparing and contrasting is a great place to start. It can help you find a way in to your world and character building.

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Thought it would be useful to share my latest newsletter here too. If you want to sign up please head up over to my landing page.

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Publication News, Alternative Worlds, and Dialogue

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Image Credit:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated.

Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing.

Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing book covers from #WendyHJones.

Author publicity photos taken by Adrian Symes. Other images (including screenshots) taken by me, Allison Symes. Thrilled with my publication news this week, more below, especially as this is my first non-fiction work in print.

Creativity Matters - and my two flash collections

Facebook – General

Delighted to say my copies of Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing arrived this evening. And naturally that means photo opportunity time! (Thanks to my better half for taking the following).

I can confirm you never do lose the thrill of opening a box of books which you know you have written or contributed to. It’s just a pity you can’t bottle that feeling for drawing on later as and when needed!

Oh and given my chapter in Creativity Matters is Why Write Flash Fiction and Short Stories, I thought my two flash collections should get a look in too.

AND I’ll be chatting to Wendy H. Jones, who compiled and edited Creativity Matters, on Friday for Chandler’s Ford Today about what made her decide to publish other authors. Looking forward to sharing the link.

Hope you have had a good Bank Holiday Monday. Hope you had a great Monday if it wasn’t a Bank Holiday for you. Glad to hear the Inspector Morse theme came top in the Classic FM TV themes countdown. Also glad to hear Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens was in the top 30 as my first introduction to that wonderful music came thanks to it being used as the theme for quirky detective series Jonathan Creek. I suspect most people’s introduction to classical probably does come from TV and film themes and/or adverts.

It has been an odd day weather wise here in Hampshire. Murky and overcast all day. (I can think of some of my characters who could be described like that!). Am busy putting the finishing touches to my September newsletter and will be working on a super two-part interview for Chandler’s Ford Today to go out in the next couple of weeks or so. More details nearer the time but it has been encouraging I have had no shortage of material for CFT for many, many months now. Long may that continue! Am also working on presentations and workshop materials for use later in the year so plenty going on. And for the other reason I love Danse Macabre, see below!

Bonus Post – 29th August – More than Writers

Sorry, meant to share this earlier as it is my turn again on More than Writers, the Association of Christian Writers blog spot. This time I talk about Being Back. I refer to my recent visit to Swanwick but also look at being back at live events again and how, whether we can get to these or not, we should definitely “be back” to encouraging other writers.

Screenshot 2021-08-31 at 20-52-12 Being Back by Allison Symes

Wow! The responses are really coming in for The Turn Around, my latest story on #FridayFlashFiction. Many thanks, everyone. The general feel is my characters deserved each other. If you want to check the story out and decide if you agree or not, please see the link below.

Am so looking forward to sharing my Chandler’s Ford Today post on Friday. This week, I welcome back #WendyHJones and I will be talking with her about her latest venture, Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing. This is the first time Wendy has published other authors, including yours truly (my chapter is on Why Write Flash Fiction and Short Stories), and I wanted to ask her what made her decide to follow this path.

I also talk with her about what she has had to learn to do this. Wendy also shares with me how she balances her fiction and non-fiction work and balancing getting her own writing done, as well as publishing others. Link up later in the week (and I am on tenterhooks as my copies of the book are due with me any time. Cue the usual author holding up new book photo later this week I hope!). See above!

Screenshot 2021-08-27 at 17-10-59 The Turn Around by Allison Symes


Great to see the response to my blog round-up post Swanwick 2021 yesterday. Not at all surprised most of these are from fellow Swanwickers!

Just a quick reminder I will be sending my author newsletter out next week (1st September) so if you’d like to sign up for tips, news, prompts etc, please head over to my website (the landing page) at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

I tend to compile the newsletter as the month goes on as (a) it means I don’t forget anything important and (b) it is easy to just finish off and send at the right time. Mind you, I schedule as many of my blog posts as possible whether it is for Chandler’s Ford Today, Authors Electric, or More Than Writers, the Association of Christian Writers blog spot.

Scheduling has been a boon for me but I still wish I had more time to write!

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Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Am so thrilled to receive my copies of Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writingtoday. (Link is for Hive.co.uk – an alternative to Amazon). The book is edited and compiled by #WendyHJones. My chapter is on Why Write Flash Fiction and Short Stories. I’ve mentioned before that I did not know flash fiction as a format existed when I first started writing seriously for publication. I am so glad I discovered it! (Pictures from my better half).

Am pleased to share my latest Youtube video. Hope you enjoy Wondering. Miranda cannot understand her neighbours’ fears about a local inhabitant. There is someone else they should be frightened of – as the video makes clear.


I sometimes have fun with flash stories set in alternative worlds. In A Day Out in Tripping the Flash Fantastic, for example, I have my character on his way to feed the ducks but these are no ordinary ducks and my character is not looking forward to the trip. So you can take elements from what we know right here, such as feeding ducks, and turn it into something comedic, tragic, horrific etc.

And in Job Satisfaction from From Light to Dark and Back Again, I show what a disgruntled fairy is prepared to do as part of her “dentistry work” as she carries out her rounds as the Tooth Fairy. Here I am taking the element of someone being fed up with a client she doesn’t like (with good reason) but setting that with a magical background so my operative has more options open to her than us mere mortals would.

So mix elements up and have fun. See what you can do with them. Taking the ordinary and turning them into extraordinary parts of a story is a great way to come up with some interesting and quirky fiction. And for another example of that, see below.

 


Looking forward to receiving my copies of Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing which I now know are on their way. My chapter is on Why Write Flash Fiction and Short Stories. Looking forward to doing the “author opening the box of books” pose again! Great fun (and we all need validation. It’s a funny thing but every writer needs it. It is just a question of degree).

It was also great to see a very familiar name (thanks to Bridge House Publishing) on Friday Flash Fiction recently (well done #HannahRuthRetallick). I am also thrilled to see a very dear friend of mine and fellow Swanwicker on CafeLit today with a fabulous story called Marmalade. Go visit and check it out. (Always worth scrolling through CafeLit. Lovely mixture of stories in terms of style and word count. Marmalade was out on 28th August 2021). My sympathy is entirely with her lead character, Annie. More power to your pens, Hannah and #JuneWebber.

 

Goodreads Author Blog – Dialogue in Books

I love dialogue in books as long as that conversation is moving the story on in some way. I need the characters to show me something either about themselves or the unfolding plot (and it is often both at the same time) for their conversation to grip me and keep me reading. It is something I have to watch with my own writing as I love setting up my characters for a good “chin wag” but it must always be relevant to the story. So if it isn’t, out it comes.

What I don’t like is where characters can sometimes tell each other stuff they clearly must know. I don’t buy the “character needs reminding” business here. It is usually done because the writer needs to get information across to a reader, they know they mustn’t “tell” the reader and are conscious they need to “show” the information.

I totally sympathise and it was something I did when I was starting out but with time and practice, you learn to be more confident in allowing your readers to work things out for themselves. Flash fiction writing with its limited word count really encourages that. So it is a question of putting in the right clues in the right way so readers do something to work with so they can figure things out for themselves.

I’ve learned over time to put in an odd line or two where I reveal something to a reader rather than have a pointless conversation between characters telling each other what they must already know. It takes less time and word count and you don’t switch your readers off with a conversation they will quickly sense is more to help the author out rather than to help the story along.

But when dialogue does what it is meant to do – move the story along, keep up pace etc., – then it is amongst my favourite parts of a book. I want to eavesdrop what the characters are saying because I know I am going to find out useful, interesting things. And often in dialogue the tension rachets up as well, which I also like.

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Exciting News: Creativity Matters

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Image Credits:-

All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated.

Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing.

Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing book covers supplied by #WendyHJones.

Some images created in Book Brush by me, Allison Symes, for the Creativity Matters book and with Pixabay images for other posts.

It has been a fabulous start to the week with very exciting publication news. More details below. (Image below, which I LOVE as you can imagine, provided by #WendyHJones, as is the one further down showing all of the authors taking part in the Creativity Matters book).

Allison Symes and Creativity Matters

Facebook – General

Nice to take Lady out on a big walk this afternoon after I resumed swimming again. Nice to get back to that too.

Swanwick feels like an age away now! I’m pleased to say I’ll be taking part in another writing event later in the year. More details nearer the time but am looking forward to it as I will be running a workshop and giving an author talk.

Just a quick reminder I send out my author newsletter on the first of the month. I share writing tips, stories, news etc in this and sometimes share an exclusive YouTube video of a mini flash tale. When I thought about what I should put in a newsletter, I put my reader’s hat on and went for features I knew I would enjoy if I was receiving the newsletter myself. To me, that seemed a sensible starting point.

If you would like to sign up for (and a big hello to those who already have), please head to my landing page at https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

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Hope you have had a good start to the working week. Delighted to say that, despite only being on pre-order at the moment (until 1st September so not long to wait for actual availability) Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing is doing extremely well on Amazon. Lovely start to the week for all of us involved with this book and well done to #WendyHJones, the mastermind behind this book.

Am also thrilled to say the book has reached No.1 in the Hot New Releases category (see screenshot) and the paperback is now available on pre-order. So lots going on! It was a joy to write a chapter on Why Write Flash Fiction and Short Stories.

Creativity Matters - Number 1 Hot New Releases


Hope you have had a good Sunday. Many thanks for the wonderful response to the pre-order news about Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing yesterday. See below. I now have the Amazon link for this – see below for that.

This week on Chandler’s Ford Today, I will be talking about how special the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School is and looking at the benefits of going to it. I can say those of us who went are suffering withdrawal symptoms but it was so good to meet up in person again with friends I’ve not seen for such a long time. I am grateful for Facebook and Zoom keeping communications going in the meantime. Both of these things have been a lifeline for me this last year or so.

Am working on non-fiction in another capacity too at the moment as I am preparing presentations for future use. I used to use PowerPoint years ago but then it fell out of fashion. Zoom has effectively brought it back as it is an excellent tool to use when screen sharing. Again not something I was doing a year ago but prove again, if needed, the writing journey is not static and you do keep learning. That in turn is good for the old brain and your creativity overall I find.

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PUBLICATION NEWS

Am thrilled to announce Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing is now available for pre-order. It comes out on 1st September. Currently in ebook only but it will be available in paperback as well soon. Will share details on that as and when I can but watch this space as they say.

My chapter in this book is Why Write Flash Fiction and Short Stories and it was a joy to write. This will be my first non-fiction work in print and I hope there will be more to come in this area for me over time.

Later, on 3rd September, I will be posting on Chandler’s Ford Today my interview with #WendyHJones as publishing other authors is a new venture for her. I look forward to sharing a great in depth talk with her about why she went this route on her own writing journey, the new skills she had to learn to do this, and she shares three fabulous tips for writers for getting the best out of working with their editor and publisher. All very useful material and I can’t wait to share that soon.

Creativity Matters-2

 

Facebook – From Light to Dark and Back Again

Despite technology, it still pays to keep a notebook and pen to hand. Why?

If I’m feeling ground down and uninspired (and it happens to us all, usually a case of life getting in the way), I turn to said notebook and flick through it looking for ideas that give me a “spark”. I usually find something and once I’m drafting the story, I feel much happier.

I jot down in said notebook ideas for stories but also things like interesting titles. For those, I work out what I could do (often using a spider diagram to work out different lines of approach). It is also reassuring to have that notebook to hand so I know I’ve got something to refer to – and while I still like pen and paper, I do also use Evernote for this kind of thing. Who ever said you had to only have one notebook?

It is perhaps appropriate for a flash fiction writer to have brief notes for later use. I’m well under the 1000 words limit when I’m jotting ideas down.

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It’s not every day I hit No.1 in the Amazon Hot New Releases category but Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing has done that today. (23rd August 2021). Well done to all of the other authors involved and to #WendyHJones. (You can now pre-order ebook and paperback – hooray!). So a great start to the week.

In other news, as they say, I am delighted to share my latest YouTube video. Hope you enjoy Decisions.

 

I now have an Amazon link for Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing. See below for that. It was a great pleasure to write a chapter praising the merits of flash fiction and short story writing.

Talking of flash pieces, may I say a huge thanks to all who have already given feedback on my latest #FridayFlashFiction story, Discretion. The feedback is much appreciated. And congratulations to all of the writers who were listed in their recent competition, which was designed to blend in with the Edinburgh Festival competition.

Am also looking forward to taking part in an online flash group meeting (Association of Christian Writers) next week. Flash fiction is great to share on Zoom as well as in Open Prose Mic Nights.

Screenshot 2021-08-20 at 19-19-31 Discretion by Allison Symes

The big news is the release in ebook of Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing. I contributed a chapter called Why Write Flash Fiction and Short Stories and it was a delight to answer that question in said chapter! The book is compiled and edited by #WendyHJones and will be out in paperback as well soon. I am delighted to be “between the covers” with excellent writers for company and thrilled this is my first non-fiction work out in print (as opposed to online).

I am always happy to write and talk about flash fiction and short stories!

Always a joy to talk or write about flash fiction

Goodreads Author Blogs – “Real” Books

What do I mean by “real” books? I have no time for the “proper” book -v- ebook debate. Both have their merits and disadvantages. I also hope ebooks have encouraged more reading by bringing books to a screen very near you – that is one in your own pocket! I also want people to discover the joy of paperbacks from reading ebooks if books in general have been a closed chapter to them prior to reading on screen.

For me a “real” book is a novel that has characters who gripped me all the way through and wouldn’t let go until I did find out what had happened to them.

For short story and flash collections, I want to be gripped by the characters, but also by wanting to find out what the next story is about, the one after that and so on.

For non-fiction, I want to be gripped by the way the author is putting the information across so I have to find out what the conclusions were or, in the case of say a Ben Macintyre book, what happened to the real life character he is writing about.

The ultimate test for a “real” book is whether you can bear to put it down to do other things such as go to sleep. If you do so reluctantly, it is a great and “real” book all right!

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