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Animals in Fiction

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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.

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Merry Christmas!

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Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images. Screenshots taken by me, Allison Symes.

Have a lovely Christmas, everyone. I thought I’d share some festive flash fiction for this post.

 

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The Animals’ Christmas

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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.

The Animals' Christmas - by Aileen Urquhart (Author), Emma Repetti (Illustrator)
The Animals’ Christmas – by Aileen Urquhart (Author), Emma Repetti (Illustrator)
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Celebrating with Bridge House Publishing

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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.

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Back From Brechin

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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.

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Book Lists

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Image Credit:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images (and the same goes for the video. I find Book Brush to be a very useful designing tool).

I make two book lists a year – one for a certain festival coming up in December (yes, Christmas, there I’ve said it!) and another for my birthday. Always great fun to get these together. It also means I’m easy to buy for (so that helps my better half). And I mix up my choice of format for books – paperback, Kindle, and sometimes audio.

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Understanding

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Image Credit:  All images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images.

One of the great roles of reading is it can encourage empathy, especially if your first choice for a good read is fictional.

Think about your favourite books (with their excellent covers, of course – see my recent series on those!).

Think about their characters. There will be characters you love to hate, or those you want to see overcome their difficulties and so on. What was it about those characters that made you feel that way (and a well portrayed character will make you feel something)?

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Favourite Lines

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Image Credit:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.

Do you have favourite lines from books, films etc? I do and I can learn a reasonable amount from them to apply to my own writing. (They also show you what really works in prose. Lines you can recall some time after you originally came across them demonstrate the staying power of well chosen words).

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Judging a Book by its Cover – Part 2

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Whether you are traditionally published, self published, or combine the two, as many writers do now, there are two things everyone agrees about.

Everybody needs a good editor. (Nobody sees all the errors in their work. You are literally too close to it). The book cover must be well designed and draw readers in. It is the first advert for the book.

Feature Image – Part 2 – Judging a Book by its Cover. Image created in Book Brush using a Pixabay picture.

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Seasonal Books

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It is always the season to be enjoying books of all kinds but from now to the 24th December is the “big push” for the Christmas market. What with delays in publishing due to You Know What, recent news has been of 600+ books published in one day.

According to a recent article I read, that figure is up by about one-third from what usually comes out in early September. Not a good situation but the publishers are contractually obliged to produce and the inevitable delays meant there would have to be a catch-up time at some point.

This time of year is the big money earner for the publishers. And it makes sense. What is nicer than being cosy at home with a lovely new book to read? (Answer: being tucked up at home reading an old favourite…! Yes I know!).

Feature Image – Seasonal Books. Pixabay

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The Writing Game – and What to Watch For – Part 1

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So much has changed in the industry since I started writing seriously. I’ve gone from using manual typewriters to laptops. I’ve gone from sending submissions in by snail mail to sending almost everything in by email. (There is still the occasional competition which prefers post but these are as common as the Dodo).

I don't miss typewriters either - I used an Olympia one and it weighed a ton - Pixabay
I don’t miss typewriters either – I used an Olympia one and it weighed a ton – Pixabay

In the joy of creativity, and unless you have decided to write solely for your own pleasure, which is fine, it is easy to forget writing is a business. As with any industry, there are charlatans out there.

It is only when you’ve been writing for a while, when you’ve had setbacks, you realise how much you don’t know. There are things I wish I’d been aware of when I started writing.

For this three part series, I share tips and contributions from writing colleagues. A big thank you to them for taking part in this series. We all hope you find it useful. There will be a brief bio for my colleagues plus links to their Amazon Author Central page and the like. Between us, we represent a very wide range of genres and experience in the industry.

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Favourite Things

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One of the discoveries during lockdown for me has been the Zoom app. I know of people able to get to writing events via Zoom who would not have been able to attend that same event if held “physically” due to the distance involved for them.

I would also like to see “standard” events perhaps end up having Zoom sessions as a side line to what they normally do as a way of engaging those who, for whatever reason, would find getting to the main event difficult. So Zoom has been a good thing then.

Missing seeing friends and family has been the worst element over the last few months (though that is easing of course now). Zoom has helped compensate a bit here though it cannot be the same as getting together with your loved ones.

Zoom has helped bridge the gap but can’t beat actually being with friends and family. Pixabay

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Genre Fiction

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Genre fiction can be described as anything that is not literary fiction. Yes, I know – very helpful, not!

I have nothing against literary fiction though I suspect the only book I have in that category is the magnificent Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I was in a dilemma with her follow up Bring Up The Bodies. I know how the story of Anne Boleyn ends!

When you know there is nothing positive well… having said that, I may well try it at some point. (Mind you, I was like this with the film Titanic. I knew about the iceberg! Didn’t see anything in the film for me!). Okay, call me a philistine then…

Bound to be some genre fiction here. Pixabay

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Prosody

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It’s not what you say, it’s the way that you say it. The panel game, Just a Minute depends on it. My granddaughter (aged 6) wrote a performance poem about the programme. I have kept the original spelling:-

This is

Cklap, cklap, cklap

A game of

Cklap, cklap, cklap

Consontrashon

Clap, clap, clap

No repeets

Clap, clap, clap

Or hesetaison

Clap, clap, clap

I’ll go first

Clap, clap, clap

And I’ll go second

Clap, clap, clap

Subject is

Clap, clap, clap

Enithing.

By GT

Jan 2020

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

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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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Murphy’s Law For Readers

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I thought a lighthearted piece would probably be timely. Last year, I wrote a piece about Murphy’s Law for Writers so I thought I would take the topic again and look at it from a reader’s viewpoint.

So how could Murphy’s Law apply to readers then? As follows, I think, but send in your suggestions via the comments box. Some of what follows will be for when we resume normal life again but the general principles apply.

So how could Murphy’s Law affect readers? Pixabay

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Introducing Paula Readman: What Books Mean to Her

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Paula Readman and I have publishers in common. We’ve both been published by Bridge House Publishing and Cafelit. We’ve shared the great joy recently of both of us having two stories in The Best of Cafelit 8 and also a story each in Nativity, the most recent books published by Bridge House. Naturally we are both keen on the independent small presses!

Paula R C Readman
Paula R C Readman – image kindly supplied by her

Paula is going from strength to strength and is starting 2020 off in great style with a recently released novella and a short story collection to come later in the year but more on that in a moment.

I learned a long time ago if someone makes something look easy, that same someone will have worked very hard for years to get to that point. This is true for Paula and she’ll share more about this too.

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What Makes A Good Story

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How do you decide something is a good story? Do you judge that by the genre or by the quality of the characters?

For me, the latter is by far the most important criterion. Really good characters stay with you long after you’ve finished reading or listening to the story.

Like the look of this as a reading place
Like the look of this as a reading place. Pixabay

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Friends and Traditions

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This is the time of year when many traditions are upheld, of course, but I think the best involve getting together with friends to celebrate something you have in common.

For me, this winning combination works so well with the Bridge House Celebration Event held this year at St. John’s Church, Waterloo, in London on Saturday, 7th December 2019.

St John's in Waterloo was a beautiful venue
St John’s in Waterloo is a huge church. The Waterloo Arts Festival was held here in June. The Bridge House event in December was held in a downstairs room. Extremely handy place to get to from the station!

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When Authors Talk… by Allison Symes

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Author events are fun but they all have one thing in common – the writer always wonders if anyone will show up! The relief when people do is enormous.

So if you know writers and they are putting on events, do go along. Never underestimate the value of much appreciated morale boosting support here. (The other simple way of supporting writers is to review their books on the usual sites. The nice thing with this is the review doesn’t have to be a long one).

Warning - poems, blogs, stories, novels, all writing alike benefits from good editing - image via Pixabay
Writers at work! Pixabay

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