Judging a book by its cover is a well known saying. We do judge by looks, even when we know we shouldn’t.There is one realm where the saying is 100% accurate and 100% justified and that is for book covers.
For writers, a book cover is crucial to get right. We all want the best cover possible to showcase our stories.
A good book cover draws people in to read the book.
A bad book cover – people are unlikely to pick the book up to even see if the blurb might be of interest.
What kind of stories do you like? I hope the sky is the limit here!
I read a wide range of stories and owe a huge debt to my late mother for encouraging my love of reading at an early age. I wasn’t to know how much that gift of the love of reading (and I do see it as a gift) was going to stand me in good stead for my writing.
Image Credit: Images used from The Chameleon Theatre Group were kindly supplied by them for previous CFT reviews.
Reviews. Do you love them or loathe them?
I find them useful. I use them regularly too in checking things out on Amazon, my online food shop delivery service, and so on. I don’t necessarily take them at face value either but if 50% or more of a review of a new product is good, then I am likely to give that product a chance. That goes for everything from a new CD to a new book to a foodstuff new to me. That policy has served me well. I’ve rarely been disappointed.
From Churches Together In Chandler’s Ford
For Christians, Easter is a time to celebrate New Life and God’s love and hope for the world. This feels especially timely this year. As churches around Chandler’s Ford are cautiously returning to worshiping in their buildings, Churches Together locally have also combined to create an opportunity for the community to celebrate these with us in the open air by taking part in our Easter Trail. You will be guided around 10 locations in Chandler’s Ford, finding clues and discovering the unfolding Easter Story.
All are welcome to join in any time from the 31 March 2021. There will be simple activities to take part in and small gifts to pick up along the way. Simply join the start of the trail at St Martin in the Wood, Randal Roadd, or look out for the egg signs. The route is about 3 miles so families with younger children may want to spread it out over more than one walk. We hope people of all ages can enjoy this and celebrate with us.
Happy Easter!
2nd Chandler’s Ford Scout Group needs your help.
The Scouts are raising £8,000 to help complete their new building on Ramalley Lane, to make it an amazing new venue for Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers and the resident pre-school.
The 2nd Chandlers Ford (Ramalley) Scout headquarters celebrated its 80th birthday in 2018. Over 83 years, it has enabled local children and young people to have fantastic opportunities, have fun, and develop new skills. They have learnt team work, problem-solving, resilience, independence, to name but a few. [Read more…] about Fundraising for the 2nd Chandler’s Ford (Ramalley) Scout Headquarters
The pandemic has made us so much more neighbourly …
… or has it? Perhaps it depends who we think of as neighbours! A famous question rings down the ages – ‘Who is my neighbour?’
We live on a pretty small planet. Far-off countries come nightly into our living rooms – no longer do we know nothing about them. We know that in Yemen, a civil war has decimated health systems, provoked widespread hunger, and killed almost 250,000 people. It’s a conflict that requires immediate aid. In Syria over 11 million people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Both war-torn countries are on the brink of severe famine. So is the Sahel region of Africa, and Southern Sudan. Two of the world’s most fragile regions. No wonder the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) is appealing urgently. [Read more…] about The Pandemic Has Made Us So Much More Neighbourly …
As you know, the last couple of weeks have been pretty busy for me but all good fun and a great learning experience.
It soon became apparent to me, when I was new to the writing business, how much of it I didn’t know, it was much bigger than I anticipated, and it would be only too easy to be overwhelmed.
Due to direct experience, I soon came to realise there were sharks around. Every industry has its charlatans and publishing, sadly, isn’t exempt.
I was almost caught out by both a vanity agent and publisher (and what gave them both away was appalling grammar and spelling, funnily enough. I knew I didn’t want my works represented by anyone who could be that careless in a world where standards matter, particularly standards of spelling and grammar!).
Yesterday (Saturday 13th March) was the 52nd notparkrunday. That’s a whole year without parkrun. When Covid-19 caused parkrun to be suspended back in March 2020, Mrs Chippy and I decided we would carry on with our regular 5 km runs at 9 am on a Saturday morning. Originally, we called them Socially Distanced Runs, until the notparkrunday word was created. I don’t think anyone expected parkrun to be suspended for more than a few weeks – there was astonishment when we reached 13.
I mentioned in my post last week, Musical Connections, I used Danse Macabre by Camille Saint Saens as the theme to my book trailer for From Light to Dark and Back Again.
For that particular trailer, Chapeltown Books, my publisher, produced it but for Tripping the Flash Fantastic, I made the trailer myself.
Image Credit: The images for the summit were supplied by the summit organisers, Creative U.
Introduction
I was thrilled to be invited to take part in my first writing summit, Share Your Story Writing Summit, which runs from 18th to 23rd March.
This is a big step for me and I was told about it by Wendy H Jones.
[Read more…] about Local Author News – Allison Symes – Share Your Story Writing Summit Update
Music, especially classical, is one of life’s great joys as far as I’m concerned and I count myself lucky to be able to enjoy listening to this while writing my stories and blog posts. Two fabulous things enjoyed together – lovely.
But how did I get into classical music at all and what connections had I already formed with it before getting into it “properly”?
The u3a nationally has been going through a re-branding of late and the new Chandlers Ford u3a website launched only last week.
The Chandlers Ford u3a group was formed in March 1998 and now has more than 400 members. The Chandlers Ford u3a would normally meet on the 3rd Monday at 2pm of each month at the Dovetail Centre of the Methodist Church in Winchester Road, but they have had to resort to Zoom of late.
Members of the u3a have a wealth of knowledge, skills and experience which as a self-help group can be shared with others. We have around 50 special interest groups which meet in members homes covering topics such as languages at varying levels, the arts, literature, history and science. We also have outings to theatres and gardens, local places of interest, and countryside walks.
A u3a is a learning co-operative of older people, which enables members to share many educational, creative and leisure activities. Activities are organised mainly in small groups that meet regularly, often in each other’s homes. Members, through sharing their knowledge, skills and experience, learn from each other.
Although all local u3as remain operationally independent, they are members of The Third Age Trust. As such they must abide by both the original Objects and Principles written by Peter Laslett in 1981 and the Principles of the u3a Movement (2014).
The Trust is a national, umbrella body (a registered charity and limited company) which represents all u3as in the UK at national and international level. It is run by a National Executive Committee democratically elected from the membership and offers a range of services, to support and advise local u3as.
The image of Compton Lock was taken on a walk from Shawford, Compton and St. Cross.
The aircraft image is from a visit the u3a members paid to the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection at Old Sarum, just outside Salisbury.
You can contact Chandlers Ford u3a with email: admin@cfordu3a.org.uk.
This year’s Great Daffodil Appeal will be one like no other. Thousands of Marie Curie volunteers will not be able to collect donations in exchange for a daffodil at local supermarkets, trains stations or town centres like they usually do each spring. However, you can still be a part of this year’s Great Daffodil Appeal by donating online
You couldn’t pick a better year to support Marie Curie Nurses. Like everyone, Marie Curie has been hit hard by coronavirus. Their Nurses and hospices have been on the frontline throughout the pandemic, caring for dying people and their families.
Marie Curie have also seen more people than ever calling their Support Line, looking for help because they are feeling isolated or have had to grieve for a loved one alone during lockdown. [Read more…] about Great Daffodil Appeal – Supporting Marie Curie
In my head, and probably in yours too, there is a jumble of memories of ancient Greeks — old men, bald and with beards, who did stupid but essential things. There is one who overflowed his bath and ran naked down the street. One drank hemlock, and another lived in a barrel; one married his mother. They fought a lot, invented gods and wrote unreadable books. And they were good at geometry.
I resurrected one of these weirdos from my memory; they all look the same, dressed in chitons or togas and sandals. I first made the acquaintance of this one when I was 12 years old, Pythagoras by name. He died about 500 years BCE, but he was clever with triangles.
‘Pythagoras, please help me. I need a length of rope to hang from a high branch on a tree to make a swing. How long should it be? I can’t get up there to measure the height.’
[Read more…] about It’s All Greek to Me
For once I’ve summed up my news in my title! January and February have been incredibly busy but fun.
One thing all writers want is to build on what has gone before so we move forward. Those moves forward can be in big steps, little ones, or anything in between. Often one thing leads to another. It is the way of the writing life a lot happens over a comparatively short period and then nothing for a while. A bit like London buses – three turn up near enough at once! But you get used to that.
[Read more…] about Local Author News – Allison Symes – Summits, Talks, and Interviews
This week, I chat to Amanda Jones, Gail Aldwin, and, aptly, finish the series by talking with my publisher, Gill James.
Gill, like Richard Hardie, sees the writing life from both sides of the fence as an author and publisher. She is the creative force behind Bridge House Publishing, CafeLit, and Chapeltown Books.
As ever, Gran is gripped by the Summer’s tennis at Wimbledon, and this year, 1978, she makes her usual observations, such as, on July 3rd: “… the best match, between Roscoe Tanner and Ilie Nastase, was, unfortunately, ended on a conflicting point”, caused by a poor line call at match point; and she is pleased that Chris Evert beats Billie-Jean King; sorry to see Evonne Cawley lose to Martina Navratilova in the Ladies’ semi-final, which, she says, began as a, “…very good match but ended in the third set sadly as Evonne uttered a sharp scream as her suspect ankle gave out. She gallantly played on but could not run and inevitably lost…” The Ladies’ final she does not think a particularly good match, “neither player being at her best”, but Navratilova, having beaten Chris Evert, Gran is pleased to write: “Nice to have a European Champion for a change, if we could not have Virginia Wade again. Martina is a Czech”.
And of the Borg – Connors Men’s final, she writes, “Borg demolished Connors by 6-2 6-2 6-3 to become Singles Champion for the third year in succession, the only one to achieve this since Fred Perry did so forty-two years ago”.
July 9th provides Gran with a small ambition accomplished:
I went to Church at Compton this morning… Mr Ovenden came to shake hands with me and welcomed me, and, as I left, Daphne Meller was standing at the gate of “Cherrycroft”, her delightful old cottage, and asked me in to have coffee before she brought me home in her car. The cottage was once two, and later was the Village Post Office and I have long wanted to see inside it. I was not disappointed! Low ceilings, black beams and panelled walls, huge fireplaces and furnished in keeping, a lovely garden and the outside of the cottage clothed in Honeysuckle, Clematis, Wisteria and Vine.
[Read more…] about Forty Years in Chandler’s Ford – a Journal (Part 157)
You are invited to join the first online Chinese New Year event on Sunday 14/2/2021 at 5pm, organised by Southampton Chinese Association.
If you are unable to join Zoom, you can join using the YouTube Live link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_OkT9EdD6k
Programmes include: Lion dance, Martial Art display, Chinese dance and music, Chinese opera, and Dragon dance.
It is the Year of the Ox.
[Read more…] about Online Chinese New Year Celebration from Southampton: Sunday 14.02.2021 at 5pm
This week I chat to friends from Bridge House Publishing, CafeLit, and Chapeltown Books, who didn’t launch one book in lockdown. They launched several! Now there’s a challenge!
