Image Credits:-
Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images. Some images from Bridge House Publishing/Chapeltown Books. Other photos were taken by me, Allison Symes. A huge thanks to Janet Williams for taking what I now use as my author shot from one of the Hiltingbury Book Fairs and for the other image where I am signing books at the same event.
Now this is a post I’ve wanted to write for some time but am delighted I can now do so. I am thrilled to announce I have signed and returned the contract to Bridge House Publishing for my third flash fiction book called Seeing The Other Side. Chapeltown Books are one of BHP’s imprints and both of my other flash collections came out via Chapeltown).
A First – Partial Serialisation
My new book will be out in May 2026 (possibly sooner if the editing work etc can be done sooner and it dovetails in with other work Chapeltown are doing. To be honest I am happy with May because it means the book will be out in time for me to take it to the lovely Book Room at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick in August 2026).
In a first for me, some of the stories from Seeing The Other Side will be serialised on CafeLit from this coming July. They will be serialised once a week (on a Sunday as part of CafeLit’s Sunday Serial spot) until the end of September.
What to Expect From Seeing The Other Side
Seeing The Other Side will be my biggest flash fiction collection to date with well over 150 stories, of varying length in there, so the serialisation can only be a taster. I am looking forward to sharing the links to these tasters on my website, newsletter, and social media in due course.
I already have some ideas for what I’d like to see on the cover. The lovely thing with working with Bridge House is I have been able to have some input to the cover design for both of my other collections, From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping the Flash Fantastic, so hope I can do so again.
My third book will contain humorous flashes, crime tales, historical flash fiction and much more besides. There will also be some linked flash tales in there where I use a character in more than one story with each tale standing alone. It’s a fun way to write flash and I hope to do more of it in the future too.
The book title comes from one of the stories in there. For Tripping the Flash Fantastic, I changed one word from a story in the book to give me the overall title. From Light to Dark and Back Again was chosen as it reflects the moods of the stories in there.
For the new publication, there will also be acrostic flash pieces (good fun to do). Some stories are brand new for this collection, some have been on my YouTube channel, and others have appeared on Friday Flash Fiction as well as CafeLit. The book will be a lovely way to bring together a lot of my recent work and I am naturally thrilled about that aspect too. There will also be plenty of my trademark “fairytales with bite” – that is humorous fantasy often with twists. Such good fun to write. If you want a story or two about irate fairy godmothers, I’m the woman to turn to for them!
There are more historical flashes in this book and I have had fun writing across the word count spectrum with several tiny pieces and plenty of longer ones, all up to the maximum 1000 words each, naturally.
Thinking About Book Launches
Of course the other joy is knowing I can, before too long, start thinking about book launches again – online and in person. I’d like to do both. Each have their merits. Online means more people can come to your event. In person means you can engage with readers without having to worry about time limit allocations on Zoom etc!
Tripping the Flash Fantastic came out in 2020 so there was no choice but to do everything online. From Light to Dark and Back Again came out in 2017 and I had an online launch, as well as doing events in person. The latter included having, with permission, a table at our railway station thanks to the Three Rivers Partnership, who do a great deal of good work encouraging local involvement with people’s local stations. That was a good book event and I sold quite a few books there.
I haven’t yet decided the format of events for Seeing The Other Side. All I know at this stage is I will do something online (probably via Zoom) and I would like in person events too. I will share more details of what I’ll do nearer the time but it is lovely to be able to think of this kind of thing again. It also means I’ll need to update my business card, my website etc in due course so details of the new book go on them. But that will be fun and Vistaprint are incredibly useful!
Putting A Collection Together
Putting a collection together (flash, short stories or poetry) takes time. Once I had the first draft down, it was a question of not only editing the stories but also ensuring there was a good running order which helps the overall “flow” for readers. So no splitting the linked stories then. (Easily done).
Yes, it has taken me a while to get the stories together. I am currently working on a fourth collection though that needs a lot of work before I even think of submitting it but this is the writing life.
It is so special knowing another book of mine will be coming out though. Yes, it does make the hard work worth it.
Spreading The News
In the meantime I have shared the news on social media and have deeply appreciated the support and congratulations that have come in. Every writer gets to have their fair share of ups and downs of the writing life but it is a joy to share a definite “up”! Also since Tripping the Flash Fantastic came out, I now have an author newsletter which helps spread the word about news like this.
Conclusion
As well as the joy of knowing my book will be coming out, I am so looking forward to sharing the serialised stories from Seeing The Other Side when these appear on CafeLit. This is a nice circular event too. How come? Well, it was thanks to CafeLit I discovered flash fiction at all. Now two books later and another one due next year, I think it peculiarly apt my flash fiction will be on CafeLit again.
I will share more news as and when I have it but one thing I have learned on my writing journey to date is to ensure I do celebrate the successes. It is far too easy to focus on all of the rejections, the not getting anywhere in competitions, the other setbacks which occur, and that happens to most writers.
So when there is good news, do share it. I’ve always found myself encouraged when I hear of those I know being published partly because I can have a shrewd guess at the hard work they’ve put in to getting to this point and I love to see hard work rewarded. It’s even nicer, of course, when it’s mine.
And just to finish, I will add in a thank you to those who work so hard to make the wildflower meadow at Hiltingbury Recreation Ground so special. See the slideshow for a few pictures. It looks spectacular once again.
Related Posts:-
Local Author News – Allison Symes – New Book, New Anthology, New Zoom Event!
LOCAL AUTHOR CYBERLAUNCH NEWS – ALLISON SYMES – TRIPPING THE FLASH FANTASTIC
Local Author News – Allison Symes – Crossing Fiction and Non-Fiction
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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