Charles Dickens

Discovering Classic Authors

June 12, 2026 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credits:-

Photos from The Dorset Museum, Dorchester were taken by me, Allison Symes, as were pictures from my garden and any screenshots. Other images were created in Book Brush using either my photos or those from Pixabay. AI images avoided.

I recently revisited The Dorset Museum in lovely Dorchester with editing colleagues from The Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading. We were visiting a Thomas Hardy exhibition and it was fascinating.

Tags: am writing, author exhibitions, Charles Dickens, discovering authors new to you, discovering classic authors, Discworld, fantasy, Jane Austen, libraries, liking different kinds of books, National Theatre Live, Oliver Twist, plays, Pride and Prejudice, radio dramas, science fiction, set books at school, stories, Terry Pratchett, The Chameleon Theatre Company, The Day of the Triffids, The Dorset Museum, Thomas Hardy, TV and film adaptations, William Shakespeare

The Chameleon Theatre Group – Bleak Expectations – Review

August 2, 2024 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Image Credits:-

Many thanks to The Chameleons for kind permission to use their fabulous photos, which were taken by Stuart Wineberg. Other images were created in Book Brush using one image from The Chameleons. Screenshots were taken by me, Allison Symes.

I was intrigued to discover The Chameleon Theatre Group were staging Bleak Expectations and was only too glad to go to this show. I remember this as a hilarious Radio Four comedy show which I enjoyed listening to many years ago. Both the play and the radio show were written by Mark Evans.

The title comes from Dickens’s Bleak House and Great Expectations, but there were plenty of other gags connected with the great author.

Tags: amateur theatre, Bleak Expectations, Charles Dickens, comedy, drama, humorous plays, Ritchie Hall, spoofs, The Chameleon Theatre Group

Getting Lines Right

September 15, 2023 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

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

Writers are often advised, rightly so, to study renowned books with famous opening lines. The idea is to demonstrate an excellent opening line which will hook the reader with an intriguing premise, an interesting character and/or setting, and so the reader will read on to find out what happens.