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Allison Symes

At The Scottish Association of Writers Conference

March 25, 2022 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credits:-
Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books/Bridge House Publishing. Photos from the Scottish Association of Writers Conference taken by me, Allison Symes.

I’ve recently returned from the Scottish Association of Writers (SAW) conference, which was held at the Westerwood Hotel, Cumbernauld from 18th to 20th March 2022.

How come a Hampshire based lass ended up here? Two reasons really:-

1. I am a member of History Writers, an online group only meeting once a month on Zoom. This group is affiliated to SAW. I gave a talk to them this month on historical flash fiction. I have written some historically based pieces, hope to do more, and have a general interest in history anyway.

2. Wendy H Jones! I know Wendy thanks to the Association of Christian Writers and she is president of SAW. She also set up the History Writers group. Now I’ve mentioned the importance of networking as you make wonderful writing friends and opportunities can arise too. Let nobody say I don’t take my own advice!

Wendy H Jones. Image kindly supplied by her.

Wendy invited me to judge one of SAW’S competitions – the Margaret McConnell Woman’s Short Story – and to run a flash fiction workshop. I was only too pleased to accept.

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[Read more…] about At The Scottish Association of Writers Conference

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Tags: Allison Symes, am writing, competition judging, flash fiction, flash fiction workshop, networking, Scottish Association of Writers, writing conference

Animals in Fiction

January 14, 2022 By Allison Symes 4 Comments

Image Credits: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images. Book cover images from Chapeltown Books.

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.

[Read more…] about Animals in Fiction

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Tags: Allison Symes, am reading, am writing, animals in fiction, Black Beauty, books, childhood stories, fairytales, flash fiction, Jaws, Puss in Boots, The Famous Five, The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, Tripping the Flash Fantastic, Winnie the Pooh, writing from an animal viewpoint

Celebrating with Bridge House Publishing

December 10, 2021 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credits:-
Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images.
Photos taken by me, Allison Symes, with one exception. A big thank you to Lynn Clement for kind permission to use the photo of her with Gill James and myself at the Bridge House Publishing event.
Also thanks to Gill James for the YouTube link showing what BHP have been up to this year – it is easier to see what BHP have been up to than to list it!

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.

[Read more…] about Celebrating with Bridge House Publishing

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Tags: Allison Symes, books, Bridge House Publishing, celebration event, creative writing, in-person event, indie publishers, Lynn Clement, reading, The City of Stories, writing event, Zoom

Back From Brechin

December 3, 2021 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credits:-
Some pictures are from Pixabay. Others are created in Book Brush using Pixabay images. Many thanks to Sarah Archibald for the Festival related photos.
Many thanks to my guests from the Association of Christian Writers for supplying their fab author photos and book cover pictures. Naturally I took my own pictures (though will credit Adrian Symes for my author photo. It is tricky doing that one yourself!).

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.

[Read more…] about Back From Brechin

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Tags: Allison Symes, am reading, am writing, Association of Christian Writers, book event, books, Brechin/Angus Book Festival, fiction, flash fiction, genre fiction, memoir, narrative non-fiction, non-fiction, talk, the writing journey, workshop

Introducing Lynn Clement – Part 2 – The Editing

November 26, 2021 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

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

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Tags: Allison Symes, Bridge House Publishing, Cafelit, Chapeltown Books, creative writing, editing, Lynn Clement, The City of Stories

Introducing Lynn Clement – The City of Stories

November 19, 2021 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credit:-
My speaking at Swanwick 2019 was taken by Penny Blackburn.
Many thanks to Lynn Clement for supplying her author photo and book cover pic.
Other images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images or were direct from Pixabay.
Book cover pics from Chapeltown Books.

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

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Tags: Allison Symes, Bridge House Publishing, Cafelit, creative writing, flash fiction, Gill James, Hampshire Writers' Society, Lynn Clement, The City of Stories

Making the Most of an Author Event

November 5, 2021 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credit:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes. (Many thanks to Sarah Archibald who is behind the Brechin/Angus Book Festival for the originals of these). Book cover images created by Chapeltown Books/Bridge House Publishing.

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!).

[Read more…] about Making the Most of an Author Event

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Tags: Allison Symes, am writing, author event, Author talk, Brechin and Angus Book Festival, creative writing, flash fiction, in-person author event, preparation, workshops

Pinch, Punch, The First of the Month

October 1, 2021 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credit:-  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.
Images of Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing kindly supplied by Wendy H. Jones.
Images from the Share Your Story Writing Summit kindly supplied by the organiser, Larissa Russell.
Screenshot from the Brechin/Angus Book Festival taken by me, Allison Symes. My author pic taken by Adrian Symes. (Bit tricky to do those myself!).

And with that welcome to October!

Pinch, punch, the first of the month is one of those peculiar sayings most of us picked up on during childhood. And yes it was followed up with the pinch and the punch. (I suspect the rougher the school, the harder the pinch and the punch too).

The idea behind this phrase, and the one that often follows it (”white rabbits”), is that by saying it, we are meant to have good luck for the month in question. Naturally you wouldn’t want to miss out on said good luck so the moment the calendar shows it is the first again, out comes the saying again.

[Read more…] about Pinch, Punch, The First of the Month

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Tags: Allison Symes, author newsletter, old sayings, superstitions, the first of the month

Creativity Matters – Wendy H. Jones – A New Direction

September 3, 2021 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credit:-

Book cover image and author picture kindly supplied by Wendy H. Jones.

Some images created in Book Brush by both Wendy H Jones and Allison Symes. Other images from Pixabay.

I am pleased and proud to be taking part in Wendy H Jones’ new book – Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing. This came out earlier this week (1st September 2021).

Naturally I’m talking about flash fiction and short story writing. It will be my first venture in non-fiction in print and I hope to do more of this in the future.

Feature Image – Creativity Matters – A New Direction

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Tags: Allison Symes, co-operative writing, Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing, new venture, non-fiction, publishing, publishing other writers, Wendy H Jones, Why Write Flash Fiction and Short Stories

Swanwick 2021

August 27, 2021 By Allison Symes 4 Comments

Image Credit:  All but one of the Swanwick photos were taken by me, Allison Symes, though I have used Book Brush for captioning purposes. It is a useful tool. Many thanks to Fiona Park for using my phone to take the photo of me signing books. It is tricky to do that kind of photo yourself! Other images from Pixabay as usual.

It was wonderful to be back at the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School recently. For the first time in its 70+ year history, it was cancelled last year due to You Know What. So getting back together again at The Hayes Conference Centre in Derbyshire was especially nice given I met friends I haven’t seen in person for two years.

There is something special about getting together with fellow creatives in person. Many of my Swanwick friends I keep in touch with via Facebook/Twitter and/or Zoom, which is something positive about social media. It has been a lifeline like that but when you get together in person, you do bounce ideas off each other, share useful tips and so on. There is something in the atmosphere which encourages this.

And it was my first train trip since before March 2020. Annoyingly Cross Country had taken off the direct service from Southampton Airport Parkway to Derby (the service runs on to Newcastle) so I had to go in to London Waterloo, across to St. Pancras, and then go up to Derby.

To be fair it only added another 40 minutes to my journey, which is not bad, but I do still feel it was odd to say the least to send people into the capital when it wasn’t necessary. I am hoping the direct service will be back next year.

My first trip on the train since December 2019 was to Swanwick Writers’ Summer School.

Swanwick – What happens?

The Swanwick Writers’ Summer School runs from a Saturday to the following Friday and comprises workshops, talks, guest speakers, specialist courses, and shorter ones over the space of those few days. The range of topics is incredible.

This year’s school covered flash fiction, poetry, historical fiction, social media, non-fiction submissions, world building (fantasy and science fiction), crowdfunding, book trailer production, creating suspense, writing compelling crime, competitions, writing for children, and the list goes on! I haven’t named half of what was on offer this year.

All meals (which are generous!) and accommodation is included and I pay a little extra to be on the coach that takes me to and from Swanwick from Derby Railway Station. Many of us meet up at Derby to enjoy coffee and a sandwich before heading off to the school. For us, Swanwick week starts there!

It always feels a little like coming home as you sweep into the front of The Hayes
The Hayes is a big country house with plenty of rooms now used for conferences and workshops
The view from my window
Yes, there is a sports field here and The Hayes provide equipment free of charge, Also nice view up to the main house

After a full day of workshops and courses, the evening entertainment consists of guest speakers who are experts in their field. One talk was from Tony Faber of Faber and Faber who talked about the history of the publishing firm. (Yes, he does have a book out on that topic. How did you guess?!). But it was fascinating to hear the history and especially about the links with T.S. Eliot.

On other nights, there are quizzes. One is a literary one and the other is a general knowledge quiz. I am part of a team known as the Prosecco Queens (no prizes for guessing why) and we ended up in medal position for both (one silver, the other bronze before you ask) so we can hold our heads up reasonably high.

Before Swanwick, there is a competition called Page to Stage where writers are encouraged to send in a script for a five minute play. These are judged anonymously by a professional theatre company and the best scripts go through for performance at Swanwick.

This year seven out of eighteen entries went through. At Swanwick itself, these plays are staged and volunteers are sought for acting, to direct, and of course the writers get to see their plays being performed. During the week the plays are then performed in the main hall in front of the other delegates and we the audience vote on the ones we like best. The winners are awarded a “Swannie”, which is literally a small trophy made to look like an Oscar but clearly isn’t! Trust me, these things are coveted….

Love the flower beds here

Side Benefits

Swanwick has a Book Room where authors can put out their wares. Writers fill out a form listing the books we’re taking in for this ahead of the conference and at the end of the week, when we pick up any unsold books, we sign our unsold books out on that list. Payment is made via BACS after Swanwick.

I was thrilled to sell out on Tripping the Flash Fantastic and I only took three copies of From Light to Dark and Back Again back home with me. This was my best year at Swanwick for sales and my first live event since before lockdown.

On sale in the Swanwick Book Room

Networking is the other big benefit. It was a joy to meet up with Linda W Payne, a fellow Bridge House Publishing/CafeLit and Chapeltown Books author especially. We usually meet at the annual Bridge House event in December and that too was cancelled last year. We have high hopes it won’t be this year.

But you also get to meet new authors, publishers, all kinds of people at Swanwick, and they tell you what they do and you tell them what you do. Nobody thinks it odd here that we sit at our desks and make things up all the time! Of course a lot of the networking takes place at another side benefit to Swanwick – the bar!

The grounds at The Hayes are wonderful to walk around (and the main time for this is after lunch and/or if you decide to not go to a workshop etc). The nice thing about Swanwick is you can pick and choose what you go to. Nobody worries if you decide you don’t like a course and then try the others out instead.

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And, after Swanwick, you can download the notes from all of the courses, whether you went to them or not. I don’t know of any other writing event that does this. Most tend to let you download notes only from the ones you went to. And you do feel connected to the overall writing community in a way you simply can’t do when you’re sitting at home drafting a story or a blog post on your own.

The biggest problem most delegates have is when there is a clash of courses you’d like to go to on the same day. I don’t envy the Swanwick Committee for putting this together. There is no way of pleasing everybody but being able to download the notes later from the ones you couldn’t get to helps enormously here.

The Hayes is an old country house and it has its own Chapel. A daily service is held during Swanwick week (only for about 20 minutes) and I led a Lift Up Your Hearts session, as these services are known, on the Monday I was away. I shared my favourite parable, The Good Samaritan, and talked a little about how stories can be told in hymns. (Possibly another form of flash fiction going on here as all hymns are well under the 1000 word count limit for flash!). One lovely thing is here is that the names of Swanwickers who have passed on are specifically remembered at the services here. And Swanwick has its own war memorial too.

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So there is a lot going on and a huge creative buzz but everything stops for afternoon tea which is fabulous but fattening!

Of course, you get a chance to try out workshops here on subjects that may interest but which you are not perhaps yet writing in and that is useful. I never started out as a flash fiction writer. Would I have gone to a course on it when I was starting out? Probably. Out of sheer curiosity to find out more.

The one thing I don’t join in with at Swanwick is the Fancy Dress Evening/disco. (I have two left feet when it comes to dancing. Trust me, I am being kind on everyone in sitting that out). On the Thursday afternoon, there is a Dregs Party out on the main lawn and, later in the evening, a formal Swanwick Farewell in the main conference hall.

Delighted to sign copies of these during Swanwick week

There are a couple of mini competitions during the week so prizes are awarded for the winners at the Farewell. It is also when the Swannies are given out for Page to Stage and I was delighted a friend, Penny Blackburn, won Best Drama for her five minute short play. I didn’t win the flash fiction competition but another friend, Fiona Park, did. Fiona also took this fabulous picture of me happily signing copies of Tripping the Flash Fantastic – I have the feeling I will be using this picture again in marketing efforts!

Many thanks to Fiona Park for taking this author pic of me on my phone – always tricky to do this yourself

Conclusion

I had a fabulous time at Swanwick as you will have gathered from the above. The Hayes, for the first time, created packed lunches for people to take outside when the weather improved and that was a great idea which went down very well. Prior to that, you could have had three cooked meals a day there!

There were plenty of sanitisers all over the place and people were pretty sensible about distancing when possible, masking in enclosed spaces and so on. There was plenty of ventilation in our rooms and in the conference rooms. (We all carried out lateral flow tests before going and I carried out another on my arrival home on the Friday. Both negative I am glad to say).

What is wonderful is there was a sense of normality coming back, something everyone picked up on and appreciated, I feel. Now for more author events, please, live and on Zoom. I hope to share more news later on in the year as I have a couple of things coming up.

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Oh and you may well know The Hayes for something else. It is the setting for the book and film, based on true events, of The One Who Got Away. Yes, The Hayes did see the only German prisoner of war escape Britain. Oberleutnant Franz von Werra escaped from their marvellous grounds during World War Two. On previous visits to Swanwick, you could go and see the remains of the tunnel he escaped from (and it is tiny, even by my standards and I don’t even make it to 5’ tall!).

Will I be back at Swanwick next year? Let’s just say I can’t wait for the booking slots to re-open!

Related Posts:-

Swanwick Writers’ Summer School

Continuing Professional Development

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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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Tags: Allison Symes, conferences, creative writing, flash fiction, From Light to Dark and Back Again, meeting friends in person, Swanwick Writers' Summer School, talks, Tripping the Flash Fantastic, workshops, writers, writing

Local Author News – Allison Symes – Crossing Fiction and Non-Fiction

July 23, 2021 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Image Credits:–

Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.

Many thanks to Wendy H Jones for supplying the book cover credits for Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing.

Many thanks to Gill James at Chapeltown Books for the cover pictures for The Best of CafeLit 10.

Screenshots of Mom’s Favorite Reads, Friday Flash Fiction, and new ACW Flash Fiction Group details were taken by me, Allison Symes.

This summer, I have been kept busy with more Zoom talks. I spoke again to the Dundee City Writers on 19th July and am due to speak to another Scottish group, Byre Writers, right at the end of the month.

This is made possible thanks to the wonders of Zoom and a huge thank you to both writing groups (as I know here and now Byre Writers will make me very welcome!).

I had a lovely time talking about short story writing to Dundee City Writers. I am looking forward to talking about flash fiction writing with the Byre Writers. And there has been plenty else going on too.

[Read more…] about Local Author News – Allison Symes – Crossing Fiction and Non-Fiction

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Tags: Allison Symes, author talks, Byre Writers, creative writing, Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion for Writing, Dundee City Writers, fiction, Mom's Favorite Reads magazine, non-fiction, publication news, The Best of CafeLit 10, Wendy H Jones, Zoom

Local Author News – Allison Symes – Share Your Story Writing Summit Update

March 10, 2021 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

SHARE YOUR STORY WRITING SUMMIT

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.

Feature Image – Share Your Story Writing Summit Update, Image created in Book Brush using image supplied by Creative U, the organisers of the writing summit.

[Read more…] about Local Author News – Allison Symes – Share Your Story Writing Summit Update

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Tags: Allison Symes, creative writing, flash fiction, international writing summit, presentation, Share Your Story writing summit, workshops

Local Author News – Allison Symes – Summits, Talks, and Interviews

February 26, 2021 By Allison Symes 4 Comments

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.

Feature Image – Summits, Talks and Interviews, Image created in Book Brush by Allison Symes using Pixabay image.

[Read more…] about Local Author News – Allison Symes – Summits, Talks, and Interviews

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Tags: Allison Symes, author newsletter, Chandler's Ford Today, Continuing Professional Development, email list, international writing summit, lots going on!, podcast, The Writing and Marketing Show, website changes, Wendy H Jones, WI talk, writing a regular column, Zoom

LOCAL AUTHOR CYBERLAUNCH NEWS – ALLISON SYMES – TRIPPING THE FLASH FANTASTIC

October 9, 2020 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Just a quick post from me this week to flag up my cyberlaunch for my second book from Chapeltown Books, Tripping the Flash Fantastic, on Saturday, 10th October 2020.

Tripping the Flash Fantastic – cover from Chapeltown Books

I’m holding this event on Facebook from 7 pm to about 9.30 pm. Would love it if you could join me. (And if you can only pop by for just two minutes, you’ll still be most welcome!).

The lovely thing about online launches? No worries about social distancing etc! And they give an author a chance to celebrate the fact their “baby” is seeing the light of day!

See https://www.facebook.com/events/1246876649024453 for more details. Meanwhile I am delighted to share a link to my book trailer. I share one of my stories from the new book here – Time For Some Peace.

[Read more…] about LOCAL AUTHOR CYBERLAUNCH NEWS – ALLISON SYMES – TRIPPING THE FLASH FANTASTIC

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Preparing An (Online) Party

September 25, 2020 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

I am happily preparing for a party at the moment – an online one to celebrate the publication of my new book, Tripping The Flash Fantastic.

Date For Your Diary: Saturday, 10th October 2020
Time: 7.00 pm to 9.30 pm
Venue: Your computer, laptop, I-Pad etc at your home!
Link for Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1246876649024453

(Can’t beat the convenience here! No traffic hold-ups. Just a good internet connection needed which you hopefully should have anyway!).

My latest flash fiction collection. Image from Chapeltown Books.

[Read more…] about Preparing An (Online) Party

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Local Author News – Allison Symes – New Book, New Anthology, New Zoom Event!

September 18, 2020 By Allison Symes 3 Comments

Murphy’s Law has struck again for this writer! No news (publication or otherwise) for a while and then lots all at the same time!

Feature Image - Allison Symes - New Book, New Anthology, and Zoom-1
Feature Image – Allison Symes – New Book, New Anthology, and Zoom-1. Book cover image from Chapeltown Books.

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Tags: Allison Symes, author readings, Author talk, Bridge House Publishing, Dawn Kentish Knox, flash fiction, Gill James, new anthology, new book, publication news, The Best of Cafelit 9, Tripping the Flash Fantastic, Zoom Event

How Has Your Summer Been?

August 28, 2020 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

I know, I know! With a title like that, this could be a very short post indeed!

It has been an odd year, has it not? Even the weather has reflected it. I noticed my first ripe blackberries out at the end of July, a good month early. And I’m seeing the leaves on the trees changing colour and some shedding of leaves occurring now, in August, significantly earlier than normal, and almost certainly due to the lack of rainfall over the last few weeks.

A beautiful summer image here. I suspect most of us will hope Summer 2021 will be happier than this year’s. Pixabay image.

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Tags: Allison Symes, book news, lockdown, social distancing, summer 2020, writing, writing events

Part 2 – The Writing Game – and What to Watch For

July 31, 2020 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Welcome to Part 2 of my new series. You can find the link to Part 1 here. Writing colleagues and I share tips we hope will be useful ranging from contracts to marketing to even handling professional jealousy. There is much to learn from here!

Any industry attracts charlatans. Writing isn’t exempt. From copyright infringements to piracy, it pays to be aware of what can happen and where to go for advice. It is also useful to know what to avoid.

 

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Tags: advice, Allison Symes, Amanda Baber, Bridge House Publishing, Cafelit, Chapeltown Books, creative writing, Dawn Kentish Knox, fantasy, flash fiction, Gill James, hints, humour, Paula C Readman, publishing, scams, short stories, tips

Waterloo Arts Festival 2020 Goes Digital – Online Writing Event

June 19, 2020 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

The Waterloo Arts Festival is an annual celebration across several art disciplines all based on a theme. This year’s one was Transforming Communities. Previous topics have been Transforming Being and To Be…To Become.

bhp31l
The Bridge House Publishing logo. Image from Bridge House Publishing.

For the last three years, there has been a writing competition as part of the Festival and Bridge House Publishing have been the sponsors behind this. I’ve been privileged to have had winning stories in all three ebooks produced. Each ebook is a compilation of the fifteen winning entries in each year.

The Waterloo Arts Festival goes online for 2020. Pixabay.

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Books On The Radio – Local Author News – Richard Hardie/Allison Symes

May 29, 2020 By Allison Symes 4 Comments

Books have been on the radio for a long time. Often they are read through with music played to indicate scene breaks. My favourite novel, The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey, was broadcast like this. (It is repeated every so often on Radio 4 Extra so so listen out for it. It’s a cracking story and the music is wonderful).

And of course books make for good adaptations – the right sound effects and music and no expensive sets or location costs! Radio has many advantages over TV here.

A lovely selection of old radio “sets”. Pixabay. And yes I recall them being called that.

Authors of course welcome the chance to discuss their books. The problem though is it is the big name authors who get on to Radio 4 etc so other writers need to focus on alternatives. With the ready availability of podcasting as well now, there’s another avenue for writers to explore whether they set up their own or are guests on them. Oh and don’t underestimate the hard work that goes into running a podcast or preparing well to be a guest on one!

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[Read more…] about Books On The Radio – Local Author News – Richard Hardie/Allison Symes

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