Every photograph we take, every show we present, or every song and hymn that we sing, we bring inspiration, creativity and joy to the community. Our artists have taken risks. They have brought us wonder and beauty of nature.
The definition of framework is an essential supporting structure of a building, vehicle, or object. Well, that can be extended out to include stories. They need a structure to make them work.
A story of whatever length has to have an opening which hooks the reader in but the closing line must deliver on the promise of the set-up at the start of the tale. Weak endings leave a reader feeling cheated (aka the “why did I bother reading that” scenario and no writer wants that).
Dialogue is something I love writing though I use it more in short stories (1500 words plus) than in my flash fiction (1000 words maximum).
I’m sure this topic could go on for several weeks but I thought a whistlestop tour of some of the major character types you’re likely to come across would be fun.
As the Lunar New Year (Tuesday, 1 February 2022) is just around the corner, I thought I would share little stories about tiger as it’s going to the the Year of the Tiger.
In the west, the tigers I’m most familiar with are Tigger from Winnie the Pooh, and Hobbes, Calvin’s stuffed tiger and best friend. These are friendly tigers.
The tigers in the Chinese context seem to be mighty and ferocious. They are not there to ‘be kind’ or friendly.
Here is a widely known story between a fox and a tiger in the idiom 狐假虎威（hú jiǎ hǔ wēi): [Read more…] about A Story about Tiger
The 2022 Chinese New Year Celebration in Southampton will be on Sunday 30/1/2022 at Westquay Shopping Centre, from 11am to 3pm.
The Chinese Association of Southampton and the University of Southampton Confucius Institute once again bring the traditional Chinese New Year celebration to Southampton to welcome the Year of the Tiger 2022.
Chinese New Year 2022 falls on Tuesday, the 1st of February 2022. The celebrations culminate with the Lantern Festival on the 15th of February.
Best friends, often otherwise known as sidekicks, have an invaluable role to play in fiction. They shore up, sometimes literally, the lead character who is struggling with their task. The most famous example of this is Sam Gamgee from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings who did carry both Frodo Baggins and the Ring of Power for a while as the story progressed.
Best friends are there for moral support too and to be a sounding ground for the lead character. Well, we all need someone to sound off with at times, right? And characters in stories reflect us and our behaviour and attitudes (for good and ill), so this aspect is important.
Some of my favourite childhood books involved animals. Think about Timmy from The Famous Five by Enid Blyton. I suspect he was the most intelligent of the lot of them.
I am an asthmatic, it was worse when I was a child and there was no question then of being able to have a dog of my own. But I could read about them and loved doing so. Ironically now I have no problems with having a dog as a companion and I still love reading. Neither do I mind animal characters as long as they are realistically portrayed.
Have a lovely Christmas, everyone. I thought I’d share some festive flash fiction for this post.
Imagine you’re a bystander, just happening to be there, watching the nativity story unfold. Not a convenient passer-by but … an animal. The Christmas story is full of animals, from donkeys and oxen to sheep and camels, so – why not?
Sarah the spider, resident of Mary’s home in Nazareth (note: Mary doesn’t sweep away Sarah’s web because it catches the flies) observes Gabriel and the Annunciation. Daniel the donkey carries Mary and Joseph to the stable in Bethlehem where he also finds rest. Obadiah the ox, who lives in this stable, grudgingly makes room for the interloper and then is present at Jesus’ birth. Lilah the lamb comes with the shepherds, having seen the angel with the amazing news, and Khalid the camel, along with his mates Kanika and Keb, are the transport for the wise men as they follow the star.
There’s plenty of prep work going on I suspect by the time this post goes out. I hope your Christmas preparations are going well. (I’m in the middle of mine with my food shop due next week and baking still to be done but I’ll get there).
It was great to be able to celebrate with Bridge House Publishing twice in one week this year.
On Thursday, 2nd December, there was a Zoom meeting for those who couldn’t get to the in-person event in London on Saturday, 4th December. There was a quiz, a look at the books published by BHP and its imprints this year (including The City of Stories by Lynn Clement, which I edited), and there were readings.
I read Breaking Out, one of my two stories in The Best of CafeLit 10, which is just one of the many books produced this year.
It was lovely to see so many on screen and I loved hearing the stories.
Chandler’s Ford Christmas Market day is tomorrow – Saturday the 4th of December, at the Age Concern Hall, next to Fryern Arcade, (behind Co-Op), from 10am to 1pm. Well done for Steve Allen for organising the local market in the past few years.
All the stallholders are ready and hand gel will be on the door. Face masks need to be worn.
Come and meet the local crafters of Chandler’s Ford and the local areas.
In the market in November, 135 people visited supporting our friendly stallholders.
In the market on Saturday, you’ll find many high quality items produced by the local people.
Chloe, a jewellery maker from Southamptom, makes gorgeous items. She will be at the market tomorrow as well.
It was a pleasure to be a part of the Brechin/Angus Book Festival from 19th to 21st November 2021. The event also formed part of Book Week Scotland.
Last year, I went to the Festival thanks to Zoom but it was lovely to be there in person this time, my first “big” writing event since before lockdown.
It is my pleasure to welcome back Lynn Clement. Her flash fiction collection, The City of Stories, is out with Chapeltown Books and I had the privilege and pleasure of editing this collection.
Prior to that, I had met Lynn when I was guest speaker at the Hampshire Writers’ Society where I talked about flash fiction, CafeLit, Chapeltown Books, and this, I’m glad to say, inspired Lynn to start submitting work to CafeLit and then a single author collection to Chapeltown Books.
This week, Lynn and I talk about the editing process and why it is never a good idea to use song lyrics in your work.
[Read more…] about Introducing Lynn Clement – Part 2 – The Editing
This is a lovely post to write as it is a Local Author News one for debut flash fiction author, Lynn Clement, and me. Why? Because I’ve recently had the joy of editing Lynn’s first flash fiction collection, The City of Stories, which is published through Chapeltown Books. And Lynn is from Hampshire. Definitely local enough!
How did Lynn find out about Chapeltown Books and CafeLit? Quite right – through yours truly.
[Read more…] about Introducing Lynn Clement – The City of Stories
Just a quick shout-out to any dressmakers who may be interested in a new hobby.
The Chameleon Theatre Group tell Chandler’s Ford Today they are looking for a new wardrobe mistress/master as their current lady will be stepping down. This would be a great role for a keen, experienced dressmaker. The Chameleons say it can be a very busy role at pantomime time but rewarding.
If this sounds of interest to you, please contact The Chameleons directly. See their website link below and scroll down where you will find an email link. See the screenshot for what you should find on the page.
Many thanks to The Chameleons for sharing the following photos from previous pantomimes as these will give you a good idea of the kinds of costumes you would be working on.
And good luck!
It is always a pleasure to see the latest Chameleon Theatre Group production. This one was particularly nice as it was the first time our esteemed CFT editor, Janet Williams, and I have had what is effectively a Chandler’s Ford Today “works outing” since before the lockdowns. And I adore a spoof. So win-win here.
Murder with Ghosts is written by Simon Brett (a big tick in the box) and the plot has more than a nod to an Agatha Christie whodunnit (a HUGE tick in the box here. The first series of books I collected, which I still have, were the Odhams red leather hardbacks of almost all of the Agatha Christie series and novels).
So a spoof written by a renowned crime writer and based on the structure so often used by the Queen of Crime has got to be a winner, yes?
Yes indeed!
[Read more…] about Review: Chameleon Theatre Group – Murder with Ghosts
Now this is a timely topic for me as I will be taking part in the Brechin/Angus Book Festival from 19th to 21st November and something rather special is coming up next March which I hope to write about nearer the time.
For the Festival, I’m running a writing workshop on flash fiction. I’m also giving an author talk on the ups and downs of the writing life. I’m looking forward to doing this and hope to share a report on how things went later. There are also events over the weekend I will be taking part in alongside the other authors such as the afternoon tea on the Sunday when people can come and chat to us over tea and cake. (Now there’s a civilised event for you!).
