Tag: Wishes

Review – The Chameleons – Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor

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Image Credits:-
All images from Pixabay/Pexels unless otherwise stated with many created in Book Brush. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books and Bridge House Publishing. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. A huge thank you to those lovely people at The Chameleons (especially Daisy Wilkins) for their kind permission to use their wonderful photos in my CFT post this week. Also thanks to various Swanwick friends for taking various photos of me book signing etc at that wonderful place!
Hope you have had a good week. Has been a good one here weather and writing wise. New issue of Writers’ Narrative is out, I have writing news, and am relieved my first author newsletter went out okay on the new service provider. Always a bit of a nerve wracking moment this! Think it looks good too as I took the opportunity to freshen up the newsletter look. See screenshot below.

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Am delighted to share my review of Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor, which was recently performed by my local excellent amateur theatre company, The Chameleons. Hope you enjoy the post. It was a joy to see the show and to write about it.

The Chameleons are also celebrating their 60th anniversary this year so will be having an open evening later in the year for locals to find out more. I hope to get along to that in due course.

Review – The Chameleons – Sudden Death at Thornbury Manor

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Delighted to share the May 2025 issue of Writers’ Narrative which has the theme of Worldbuilding. My article in here is on Worldbuilding and the Shorter Fiction Forms. Do check out the excellent range of articles and interviews here. Have a great read (and remember it is free to subscribe as well. What’s not to like there?).

 

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Another glorious day and Lady got to play with her Rhodesian Ridgeback and Hungarian Vizler pals so it was just perfect for her. I also enjoyed a fantastic swim today – perfect conditions for it. I can’t always say that!

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group later this evening. It was a good session!

Author newsletter out again tomorrow (how can it be almost May already?).

Have a story I want to get out for a competition at the weekend and am working on edits for another one. Managed to get the edits done and sent the story back to the publisher.

Last but definitely not least, look out for the next issue of Writers’ Narrative, It is due out very soon. I wasn’t wrong, was I?  See above! I will share the link when I have it. 

Meantime do check out the back issues which you can find via the publisher’s link. Plenty of great and useful reading here.
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Pleased to be back on Friday Flash Fiction with my The Camera Never Lies. This is a good example of my writing to a well known phrase and seeing what I can do with it. Hope you like this one.

Lady had a lovely time in the park with her Hungarian Vizler pal. I had another fantastic swim today too.

Had a good session at the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group last night on Zoom.

Writing News: In other news, I’m pleased to announce I am now the ACW Flash Fiction Adviser. Paid up ACW members (and those who buy the quarterly magazine, Christian Writer) will see details of all of the advisers, including me in there. Looking forward to sitting down with Christian Writer which came through my letter box today. (1st May 2025).

Lovely day today. I don’t always use the weather and the mood it can generate to help me with my stories though occasionally I have. More often, I’ve written darker pieces on beautiful spring days and lighter hearted tales on dark wintry ones. That of course may just be me being quirky and writing “against” the prevailing mood from the weather!

I focus much more on the mood of my characters and why they are in that state in the first place. There is always something! Great stories can result from exploring that, especially if the cause turns out to be other characters, as it so often is!

Fairytales with Bite – Wishes

I suspect Cinderella might have one specific wish when her fairy godmother deigned to turn up. She would have wished said godmother had turned up a lot earlier than she did. A lot of upset would have been avoided to put it mildly! I’ve wondered if good old Cinders, prior to her wedding, could look at her rats, lizards etc in quite the same way again when they were returned to their normal forms. (You could also wonder if the animals saw her in the same light too!).

If you have characters doling out the wishes are they able/allowed to grant their own? If not (and I would hope not as you can see the corruption possibilities immediately!), when they do need a wish granted, who would they turn to and why? Is this official or does your character have to go the “back streets” route here and are they found out?

Are there rules about what characters can wish for? Is anything banned outright?

If your world setting is able to survey what other worlds do, can they copy the other worlds’ “sciences” and adapt them to their own magical world? It could look like magic there and be ordinary “run of the mill” stuff on the world they’ve copied it from. Could anything go wrong with this? Or does the magical world get new material they can genuinely use? Is there anyone who wishes they’d found this sooner?!

Also ask what would be the downside to wishes being granted or withheld? There could be some interesting story thoughts here. Would be bound to generate reactions and therefore actions in your characters.

This World and Others – Work and Recreation for the Magically Inclined

What would work look like for your magical characters? For example, do they create the spells they use or are they reliant on the work of others long before them to give them the material they need here? If they develop spells themselves, how do they do this? Are they reliant on natural materials in their world to create these things (think witches and eye of newt! Have always felt sorry for the newts here)?

Or do they use things like metalwork, woodwork etc to create their implements and other things they need to work with and use them to make anything else needed?

When it comes to time off, what do your magical characters do? After a long day working, granting wishes, what would your average fairy godmother like to do when she can hang up the old wand for the evening?

Are there “clubs” for the magically inclined to relax and recuperate or would your characters just prefer to be at home? Would they use magic to help them with domestic chores ore are they only too glad to leave the magic behind after a hard working day?

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Behind The Scenes

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Image Credit:   As ever, unless stated, most of the images were from Pixabay or Pexels. A big thank you to The Chameleon Theatre Group for their images. Also thanks to Richard Hardie for supplying images related to his and Francesca Tyer’s events for World Book Day.  (And yes it has been a busy few days!).

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Yes, count them, not one but two CFT posts this week.

First up, the start of a new mini-series.

I’m delighted to share a new mini-series on Chandler’s Ford Today. The #ChameleonTheatreGroupChandlerFord share interviews showing what life is like behind the stage. They share some fabulous insights into directing amongst other things in Part 1 (see link).

This series will run at intervals over the next few weeks. Many thanks to The Chameleons for wonderful material and the photos, as ever.

I’m looking forward to their next production, Spring Quartet, in April.

 

I’m always interested in behind the scenes looks at life, whether it is to do with creative writing or amateur theatre. So it is a joy to share a new mini-series on Chandler’s Ford Today where The Chameleon Theatre share their insights into life behind the stage.

Why the interest on my part? Well, partly it IS because I’m nosey (!) but that’s a good thing. Why? Writers have to be interested in what makes people tick. Knowing that helps us to develop convincing motivations for our characters and make their portrayal that much more believeable.

I’m also interested in behind the scenes looks because it opens up worlds that are new to me. That’s a good thing for increasing knowledge and understanding, I think. Understanding is also crucial in creative writing. You also get to understand yourself better I think.

Again, well?! Pixabay
Contrasting can be a useful technique when trying to solve problems with your fiction. Pixabay
Good questions for writers to ask themselves.

And now for my second CFT post this week!

Am pleased to share a bonus CFT post this week. Every so often CFT has Local Author News slots. The last one was for me when I appeared on #WendyHJones‘s excellent podcast, The Writing and Marketing Show talking about all things related to flash fiction.

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-writing-and-marketing-show/e/67280384

It was lovely being able to write a bonus CFT post for this. Image by Pixabay
Allison Symes and some of her published works. Image by Adrian Symes
Wendy H. Jones. Image kindly supplied by her.
I’ve always loved radio so I guess podcasts are a natural progression. Pixabay
Podcasting. Pixabay

Up tonight is a piece with news from local YA author, #RichardHardie, and debut Authors Reach novelist #FrancescaTyer. They share news of their World Book Day eventsrecently. Francesca’s debut novel The Firestone was recently published.

Hope you enjoy. (Oh and remember the best things you can do to support local authors you know are to go to their events where possible and review their books in the usual places).

(My normal CFT post link will be up tomorrow where I start the first of a mini series from #ChameleonTheatreCompany-Chandler’s Ford. They share insights from life behind the stage. More tomorrow).

Francesca Tyer
Richard’s first book in his Temporal Detective Agency series.
Francesca’s debut novel
Richard’s second novel.
Richard Hardie

 

My CFT post this week is Part 1 of a mini series which will be spread out over a few weeks. As you know, I often review plays put on by our excellent local amateur theatre company, Chameleon Theatre Company.

They have recently been putting together some mini interviews which give a fascinating insight into life behind the stage. With their blessing (obviously!), I have compiled some of these interviews and Part 1 will be up on Friday.

Many thanks to the Chameleons for their wonderful material and photos and I look forward to sharing this post and the others to come.

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What fascinates you most about a character?

For me, it has to be their motivation. I’ve got to know why my character thinks it is okay to act the way they are, especially when they’re the villain! It doesn’t mean I have to agree with them though…

The LEAST important thing for me is knowing what they look like, funnily enough. I find once I can hear their voice and know their motivations, physical appearance comes to me then. Mind, I’m not motivated by physical appearance myself. After all the best con men often wear a suit!

Recharging… Pixabay
Well… again! Pixabay

I love stories and books that “just” entertain. Yes, sure, I like those that give good messages too but there is a lot to be said for sheer escapism value, especially when life is more challenging than usual.

Let’s just say I probably won’t be reading much in the way of dystopian stories for a while. (It is definitely not a good sign when you can get your requirements there by tuning into the news…).😕

So how to go about being “just” entertaining? As ever, for me, it is all in the characters. I do enjoy setting up a character knowing I’m going to be throwing all manner of things at them to knock them right back down again (and ideally to make me and potential readers laugh). Okay, okay, nobody said a writer had to be nice to their characters. Indeed, it is better when we’re not as any crime or horror writer would also tell you!

I love those characters who deserve being knocked back a bit too. You know the kind of pompous character who needs bringing down a peg or several. The ultimate fall guy in many ways! (Well, they are for me).

For humorous prose especially I do need to get a sense that the writer enjoyed creating their characters. I believe something of that fun does come through in the writing.

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How difficult do you find coming up with a suitable title for your story?

I know I need a “peg” from which to hang my story so I always have a working title. Most of them don’t change and suit my purposes just fine. Sometimes though a better title idea will occur as I draft my tale and that’s fine too. I just swap to the better idea.

I’ve mentioned using phrases and proverbs before and I often use them as themes, but don’t overlook them for use as potential titles. I’ve used a few that way.

You can also see them as a way to get started on a story if, like me, you need some kind of peg to help you get on your way with a draft. I think I have a bit of a mental block over any story that doesn’t have a title to it! There’s some unconscious thought at play here which associates no title with no story. I can’t be having with that so I put in a title to get me started. Nothing is set in stone after all but that is a great thing about a draft. You know it’s not going to be the final version. I’ve found it helpful to take that attitude with titles too.

Tools of the trade. Pixabay
Nothing like getting down to some writing… Pixabay
I know I have lots of stories and books in my head but I didn’t mean it literally! Pixabay

Fairytales With Bite – Wishes

One of my favourite things about fairytales is when wishes are granted. The greedy never get away with theirs precisely because they always ask for the wrong things for the wrong reasons.

I love that aspect of things. I was very conscious even as a kid there was so much unfairness and cruelty in the world. The idea of a fairy godmother turning up to put things right for their ill-treated goddaughter always appealed (though I still wonder why Cinderella’s one turned up so late in the day. Come on, she could’ve helped Cinders a lot sooner. There is only so much domestic drudgery that could be claimed to be good for the soul and Cinders had gone well past that point when her fairy godmother deigned to make an appearance).

So in the grand scheme of things, what would your characters wish for and why? You are their fairy godmother as you bring them to life on the page. So what attributes would you grace them with and why? What would your characters strive for and why?

Do you think your characters are worthy of achieving their objectives? They don’t have to be. Villains are never worthy but should have understandable reasons for being what they are. What do you want your characters to be and why?

If your characters are allowed wishes, how will these turn the story and in what direction? Wishes being granted but proving to not be all that the character wanted could make a good story too.

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This World and Others – World Essentials

For me, what I want to see in a created fictional world would be:-

1. A system of government (even if it is not the point of the story. There should be some sort of reference. For one thing, a reader would want to know if the main character was one of the governing or one of the governed).

2. What characters eat and drink and how those things are produced. A line or two is usually enough to convey that. When a character is on a journey, what food do they take with them? Where did they get it?

3. A sense of where the world is going. In The Lord of the Rings there is no doubt the world there is in turmoil and every part of that world is affected by it.

4. What your characters make of the world they’re in. They don’t have to like it!

5. How is transport organised? Does everyone have access to the same kind of transport? Is there a “them and us” situation here?

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