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Allison Symes

Creativity is Good for You

January 26, 2018 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Feature Image - Creativity Is Good For You

It doesn’t matter what your “artistic bent” is but creativity is good for physical and mental health. There is, of course, the joy of creating something that has not existed before (whether it is a story, a new garden plot, a piece of music, a cake or a painting or what have you), and there is the enjoyment of getting to that finishing point.

Better still is the joy of going on to create another piece of work and going through the whole process again. Then comes the satisfaction of watching your work improve as you gain more experience. [Read more…] about Creativity is Good for You

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Tags: creative writing, music

Facts and Fiction

January 18, 2018 By Allison Symes 5 Comments

Feature Image - Facts and Fiction

Fiction is a strange beast. Fiction writers make up new worlds (see science fiction and fantasy) or write alternative histories to those produced by our own. (Many a thriller, including Robert Harris’s Fatherland is based on the “what if we’d lost WW2?” theme).

We make up characters and those of us who write fantasy, as I do, bring in magical elements but what do all of these things have in common? There is at least a grain of truth behind each and every one of them. Readers pick up on that. [Read more…] about Facts and Fiction

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Tags: creative writing, fiction, inspiration

Music and Moods

January 12, 2018 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Feature Image - Music and Moods

I never used to write with music on in the background as I found it was influencing what I wrote! Trust me, it is difficult to write a death scene with some lovey-dovey ballad coming out of the radio. Talk about killing the mood… (Likewise, you try writing a love scene to, say, Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell. Just doesn’t seem right somehow). [Read more…] about Music and Moods

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Tags: creative writing, music

Hidden Hampshire – Woodland Walks: Jermyns Lane

January 5, 2018 By Allison Symes 7 Comments

Feature Image - Jermyns Lane

One of the nice aspects to living in Chandler’s Ford is it is easy to leave it! There’s the motorway network, being close enough to the local airport, the various main roads, the rail network, buses etc but the reason you might want to go is the fact we have on our doorstep a variety of local walks, which are ideal for anyone keen on walking, whether they have a dog or not.

One walk I take regularly with my better half and Lady, our new collie cross, is up at Jermyns Lane, Ampfield. (Pococks Roses and Hillier’s Arboretum are both on this road, which is just off the Straight Mile). It’s a 10 to 15 minutes run in the car but you do get right out into the countryside. [Read more…] about Hidden Hampshire – Woodland Walks: Jermyns Lane

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Tags: walking

End of Year Reviews – Are They Useful?

December 29, 2017 By Allison Symes 5 Comments

Feature Image - Year End Reviews - Are They Useful? Image via Pixabay

Another year has almost gone and it is the time when many of us review how we spent our 12 months. As mentioned last week, I reassess my writing aims and set down what I think I would like to achieve in the next year. [Read more…] about End of Year Reviews – Are They Useful?

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Tags: creative writing, fiction, non-fiction, writing advice

My 2017 Writing Journey

December 22, 2017 By Allison Symes 4 Comments

Feature Image - My 2017 Writing Journey

Image Credits:  All images, unless otherwise stated, were taken by Allison Symes

Towards the end of each year, I make a note in my new writing diary as to what I’d like to achieve in the next twelve months. I also review what I’d written for the current year and tick off achievements. Many things are long-term goals so carry over. I’m always going to want to have short stories and flash fiction “out there” no matter what the year is! [Read more…] about My 2017 Writing Journey

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Tags: book promoting, creative writing, flash fiction

Stepping Back in Time: Part 2 of Jennifer C Wilson Interview

December 15, 2017 By Allison Symes 8 Comments

Feature Image Part 2 Jennifer C Wilson Stepping Back in Time

Last week’s post was part 1 of my interview with Jennifer C Wilson, author of the Kindred Spirits series and also of The Last Plantagenet? She writes paranormal historical fiction. It’s not often the heroes of a story are the ghosts but Jennifer specialises in this and the books make for a great read. I met Jennifer at Swanwick in 2016. [Read more…] about Stepping Back in Time: Part 2 of Jennifer C Wilson Interview

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Tags: book promoting, books, fiction, Jennifer C Wilson, reading, writing advice

Ghosts, History and What Might Have Been: Introducing Jennifer C Wilson

December 8, 2017 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Feature Image Part 1 Jennifer C Wilson

I first met Jennifer C. Wilson in 2016 at the first Swanwick Writers’ Summer School for us both. We became friends and this year we had the great joy of “racing” each other to Swanwick’s Book Room to put our books out for sale! [Read more…] about Ghosts, History and What Might Have Been: Introducing Jennifer C Wilson

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Tags: advice, book promoting, books, creative writing, fiction, history, Jennifer C Wilson, writing advice

Winchester Discovery Centre – 10th Anniversary Celebrations

December 1, 2017 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Feature Image - Discovery Centre

Image Credit: Unless otherwise stated, all images were taken by Allison Symes.

A group of regional writers took part in the Winchester Discovery Centre’s 10th anniversary celebrations on Saturday 25th November. [Read more…] about Winchester Discovery Centre – 10th Anniversary Celebrations

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Tags: book promoting, books, celebrations, flash fiction, reading, Winchester, writers' co-operatives

Pivotal History Moments – Bosworth 1485

November 24, 2017 By Allison Symes 3 Comments

Feature Image - Pivotal History Moments - Bosworth

I don’t know how much the arts contribute in terms of income but it must be billions. The same can be said for history. Our tourism industry depends on it and we have a significant historical heritage in our part of the world.

The Bargate in Southampton (think Sir Bevis of Hampton as well as the Roman walls), the remains of Henry V’s ship The Grace Dieu in the River Hamble, Portsmouth Naval Dockyard, Winchester Cathedral (and Salisbury Cathedral with one of the few original copies of the Magna Carta, a quick train ride away from our railway station too. I highly recommend the run if you haven’t done it. The Chandler’s Ford to Salisbury line goes through some lovely country. Seeing the Magna Carta for yourself is something special too I think.). [Read more…] about Pivotal History Moments – Bosworth 1485

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Tags: Hampshire, history

Keeping it Local – Community and Writers

November 17, 2017 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Feature Image - Local Communities and Writers

On the face of it, times have not been good recently at Fryern. Grovers the Butchers has closed as has our branch of the Nat West. I’m always sorry to see an independent firm go, some history goes with them I feel, but, to my mind, the bank branch closure is a stupid decision. It’s not as if the bank wasn’t busy! [Read more…] about Keeping it Local – Community and Writers

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Tags: Age Concern Centre, Book Fair, books, Chandler's Ford Library, Chandler's Ford Railway Station, children's poetry competition, community, Fryern Arcade, writers

Murdered To Death – The Chameleon Theatre Company – Review Part 2

November 10, 2017 By Allison Symes 6 Comments

Feature Image - Murdered to Death Review

I had the great joy of going to see Murdered to Death by Peter Gordon as performed by The Chameleon Theatre Group on Saturday 28th October. What with the Book Fair in the morning, it was a busy day but a hugely enjoyable one and the show rounded things off beautifully.

How can you tell if something is a spoof? I always look for tautology in the title! It is done for exaggeration (a great comic technique). I can’t think of any other genre where the “To Death” bit would be added. It certainly wouldn’t be in crime fiction, where murder generally is taken very seriously! [Read more…] about Murdered To Death – The Chameleon Theatre Company – Review Part 2

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Tags: arts and crafts, Chameleon Theatre, Chandler’s Ford community, community, entertainment, event, Hursley Road, local interest, review, Ritchie Memorial Hall, theatre, writing

How was the Book Fair for You?

November 3, 2017 By Allison Symes 11 Comments

Feature Image - How Was the Book Fair For You

The first Chandler’s Ford Book Fair was on Saturday, 28th October 2017 between 10 am and 12 noon at the Age Concern Centre in Brownhill Road. I hope it will be the beginning of many Book Fairs here.

Many of us miss The Arcade Bookshop which had been our lovely independent book store for decades.  Those behind the Fair hoped it would provide a place for local people to browse and buy books with the bonus they were written by regional writers (and many of them local to Chandler’s Ford specifically). [Read more…] about How was the Book Fair for You?

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Tags: Book Fair, book promoting, book signing, Chandler's Ford, Chandler's Ford Library, fiction, flash fiction, non-fiction, writers, writers' co-operatives

Book Signing Report: Richard Hardie and Eastleigh Library

October 20, 2017 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Eastleigh Library - Feature Image - Richard Hardie October 2017

Image Credit: Unless otherwise stated, all images were taken by Allison Symes

Book events can be like buses. None for ages, then two at once! This week’s post is about Richard Hardie’s book signing and reading event at Eastleigh Library last Saturday, 14th October. I was able to get to this event and was promptly enrolled into Richard’s Temporal Detective Agency as a result but more on that later. [Read more…] about Book Signing Report: Richard Hardie and Eastleigh Library

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Tags: Book Fair, book promoting, book signing, reading, Richard Hardie

Book Launch Report: Anne Wan at Waterstones, West Quay

October 13, 2017 By Allison Symes 3 Comments

Shooting Star - Feature Image - Anne Wan Book Launch at Waterstones 2017

Image Credit:  All images kindly supplied by Anne Wan.

This is a slightly strange post from me as  I’d hoped to go to Anne Wan’s recent book launch in Southampton but was, unfortunately, able to do so in the end.

However, I share my thoughts below on what a book launch means to an author and the work involved behind the scenes.  I then hand over to Anne for her report on her special night.
[Read more…] about Book Launch Report: Anne Wan at Waterstones, West Quay

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Tags: Anne Wan, arts and crafts, Barbara Large, Book Fair, book launch, book promoting, book signing, creative writing

Changing Seasons

October 6, 2017 By Allison Symes 6 Comments

Feature Image - Changing Seasons

I love the autumn and its changing colours but this is not a family trait. My maternal grandmother hated the season, seeing it as the time when everything died. Ironically perhaps, she died in a September. [Read more…] about Changing Seasons

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Tags: books, reading, weather

Writers Getting Out and About: Book Fair 2017

September 29, 2017 By Allison Symes 9 Comments

Feature Image Book Fair 2017

It is one of those oddities where writers, so often renowned for leading a solitary life chained to their desks scribbling away for all their worth, also know they have to “put themselves out there” and spread the word about their writing. Well they do if they want any sales!

Some writers take to the spreading the word idea readily and get right into the spirit of things by taking along props. I know a crime writer who takes a noose to her events – and you should see what is on her tablecloth. Let’s just say it wouldn’t pass the old Daz advert for being “whiter than white”! [Read more…] about Writers Getting Out and About: Book Fair 2017

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Tags: Age Concern Centre, Book Fair, book promoting, book signing, books, creative writing, event, fiction, reading, writers' co-operatives

Anne Wan: Book Launch – Friday 29th September 2017

September 27, 2017 By Allison Symes 1 Comment

ShootingStar-BookLaunch-A5Leaflet-FINAL-page-001

I interviewed Anne Wan, local children’s author, earlier in the year and discussed with her the joys and woes of writing children’s fiction.

As I mentioned in my piece on Why Children’s Fiction Matters, all writers of adult fiction, including me, owe children’s writers a huge debt.

Nobody just “comes into” reading. There is nearly always a lifelong love of reading which has been encouraged and nurtured, but to have that, there must be the great children’s books that have rightly gone down as classics in their own right. [Read more…] about Anne Wan: Book Launch – Friday 29th September 2017

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Tags: book launch, event, reading, Southampton, writing

Overview of Hiltingbury Extravaganza 2017

September 22, 2017 By Allison Symes 4 Comments

FeatureImageHE2017

Image Credit:  Unless otherwise stated, all images were taken by Allison Symes

This year’s Extravaganza was on Sunday 17th September and, despite a cloudy start, the sun finally emerged during the afternoon, which in itself seemed to bring out more visitors.

I was at the writers’ stand with Brenda Sedgwick, Karen Stephen, Catherine Griffin, Maggie Farran and Sally Howard. Many thanks to all who popped by to see us to buy books, talk about creative writing and so on. It was good to see you and share information about writing classes, the Hampshire Writers’ Society and so on. [Read more…] about Overview of Hiltingbury Extravaganza 2017

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Tags: books, Chameleon Theatre, event, Hiltingbury, Hiltingbury Extravaganza, local interest, Thornden Hall

The Joys and Woes of Writing Historical Fiction – Part 2 of Gill James Interview

September 15, 2017 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Feature Image Gill James Part 2 Historical Fiction - image via Pixabay

Last week Gill James shared her thoughts on historical fiction based on her experience of writing The House on Schellberg Street, which is set in Germany during the rise of Hitler and throughout WW2.

Gill talked about why she wrote this book (it is based on her late mother-in-law’s life) and shared the difficulties in bringing it to publication. In Part 2, Gill shares what she feels are the joys and woes of writing historical fiction, gives useful advice to those new to this genre, and reveals what happened as a result of the book. This includes the development of material for use in schools. Now over to Gill…
[Read more…] about The Joys and Woes of Writing Historical Fiction – Part 2 of Gill James Interview

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Tags: advice, creative writing, fiction, World War Two, writing advice
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