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flash fiction

The Phone Conversation

October 16, 2020 By Allison Symes 6 Comments

Do you recall the old cop show dramas and series where a suspect is allowed one call to their lawyer? I’m sure that is nothing more than a plot device but I thought I would take that idea for this post and run with it, so to speak.

If there was one phone call you could make to anyone, who would it be and why? What would you say? You can go backwards or forwards in time.

What would you say if you had ONE chance to call anyone? Pixabay

[Read more…] about The Phone Conversation

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Tags: conversation, flash fiction, Phone, writing challenge

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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Tags: Allison Symes, book promotion, creative writing, cyberlaunch, flash fiction, locall author news, Tripping the Flash Fantastic

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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Tags: Allison Symes, cyberlaunch, flash fiction, online writing event, Tripping the Flash Fantastic

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.

[Read more…] about Local Author News – Allison Symes – New Book, New Anthology, New Zoom Event!

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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

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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[Read more…] about Part 2 – The Writing Game – and What to Watch For

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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

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

July 24, 2020 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

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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[Read more…] about The Writing Game – and What to Watch For – Part 1

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Tags: advice, Alliance of Independent Authors, Authors Reach, books, Brenda Sedgwick, creative writing, flash fiction, Francesca Tyer, local authors, Maggie Farran, Richard Hardie, scams, short stories, Society of Authors, Teresa Bassett, writing advice, writing tips, YA novels

Changing Direction

June 5, 2020 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

One of the things I love most about writing is it keeps you on your toes. There is always something to learn. For my flash fiction, I am always inventing new characters to write about. So the chances of (a) being bored or (b) running out of things to write about are zilch. I like that!

And for non-fiction work, such as my posts here, there are always topics of interest to look into, research, and write about. It is also a joy to share local author news (and a nice bonus when I can include myself!).

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Being stretched mentally, whether you’re writing or what have you, is good for you. It makes you think. You develop much more as a person and I am sure that is one of the unspoken roles of any of the creative arts.

Taking part in any of the creative arts will make you assess where you are, where you might like to head with your chosen form, and so on.

[Read more…] about Changing Direction

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Tags: blogging, changing direction, creative writing, flash fiction, non-fiction

Local Author News – Allison Symes – Podcast Interview by Wendy H. Jones

February 12, 2020 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Feature Image - Local Author News - Allison Symes - Podcast by Wendy H Jones

Further to my CFT post about Interviews on Friday, I am delighted to share the link with a podcast interview of yours truly by Scottish crime writer, Wendy H Jones.

WendyHJones2018
WendyHJones2018 – image kindly supplied by her.

Wendy has started a new podcast called The Writing and Marketing Show and it does exactly what it says on the tin, so to speak. (Her podcast host is Buzzsprout – love that name!).

Naturally I am talking about my great love, flash fiction. I also share some thoughts on competitions and other tips I hope will prove useful to people.  I’m Episode 4 – How to Write Flash Fiction – but do check the other episodes out. If you want insights into the writing world, this show is a great place for that. The link at the end of this post will take you straight into the Flash Fiction episode but there is an All Episodes link on the top left hand corner of that page to take you to the others.

Episodes come out on Wednesdays. I use Stitcher for listening to podcasts, which is something new to me, but, given I’ve always loved radio, is a natural progression.  I’m mainly using a phone app for this but have used it on my PC too. I always like flexibility of form!

Allison Symes and published works
Allison Symes and published works. Image by Adrian Symes

A big thank you to Wendy for inviting me on to her show. It was my first experience of being interviewed for a podcast and it was great fun to take part, though both of us were afflicted by the dreaded lurgy. Still as the old saying goes, the show must go on!

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Episode 4 – How to Write Flash Fiction

Related Post:-

Interviews

 

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, broadcasting, flash fiction, podcast, Wendy H Jones

What Makes A Good Story

December 20, 2019 By Allison Symes 1 Comment

Feature Image - What Makes a Good Story

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

[Read more…] about What Makes A Good Story

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Tags: books, favourite stories, fiction, flash fiction, non-fiction, reading, stories, the Christmas story

Controlling the Weather

July 5, 2019 By Allison Symes 5 Comments

Feature Image - Controlling the Weather -Pixabay

It is just as well we can’t control the weather. For one thing, we’d never agree with what it should be. Even if we all agreed we needed some rain, we’d never agree on the timing, yet alone how much should be “allowed” to fall. It would always inconvenience someone no matter when we selected it! For others the amount selected would be too little or too much. [Read more…] about Controlling the Weather

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Tags: controlling the weather, flash fiction, weather in fiction

Story Analysis – Why Bother?

April 19, 2019 By Allison Symes 2 Comments

Feature Image - Story Analysis Why Bother

Does it seem like an odd thing to do for a writer to regularly analyze stories? Does it take the joy out of reading? I suspect many an English Literature student, at whatever level, may well say yes to that, but I feel that would be a shame. It certainly isn’t the point of analysis. [Read more…] about Story Analysis – Why Bother?

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Tags: creative writing, development, fiction, flash fiction, how a story works, story analysis

Experimenting with Words and Form

April 5, 2019 By Allison Symes 9 Comments

Feature Image - Experimenting with Words and Form

One great thing about playing Scrabble is it does increase your vocabulary. It’s amazing just how many three and two letter words there are. I play on a mobile app so there are no worries about losing any of the tiles either!

Mind, there have been times many years ago when I’ve played the traditional board game when I would happily have stuffed the Q, X, V, and Z somewhere I could guarantee they’d not be seen again but that’s another story! I’m less hostile to the Q now I know you don’t always need the U to go with it. [Read more…] about Experimenting with Words and Form

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Tags: fiction, flash fiction, having fun with writing, stories, word games, words

Celebrations, Crackers, Chapeltown, and Cafelit – London 2018

December 14, 2018 By Allison Symes 3 Comments

Feature Image -Celebrations, Crackers, Chapeltown and Cafelit

On 1st December, it was my great joy to travel to London once again to meet up with fellow Bridge House Publishing/Cafelit/Chapeltown Books authors at the annual celebration event. On the way up by train, I enjoyed my usual routine of writing stories on my phone app and getting quite a bit of work done by the time I got into Waterloo. [Read more…] about Celebrations, Crackers, Chapeltown, and Cafelit – London 2018

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Tags: Allison Symes, anthologies, author event, book celebration, Bridge House Publishing, Cafelit, Chapeltown Books, creative writing, flash fiction, independent press, short stories

Networking Tips – Allison Symes (with Mandy Huggins)

April 13, 2018 By Allison Symes 1 Comment

Feature Image - Networking Tips - image via Pixabay

Networking is vital for all writers. You make connections, those may lead to taking part in events like book fairs, but, most importantly, you make friends. There is nobody like another writer who will understand the drive to write and its frustrations. [Read more…] about Networking Tips – Allison Symes (with Mandy Huggins)

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Tags: books, Chapeltown Books, creative writing, flash fiction, From Light to Dark and Back Again, writing advice

Writing Tips and Character Creation: Interview with Gail Aldwin Part 2

March 23, 2018 By Allison Symes 6 Comments

Feature Image - Interview with Gail Aldwin Part 2. Image supplied by Gail Aldwin

Part 1 of Gail Aldwin’s interview last week shared Gail’s memories from her round the world bus trip and how it influenced her Paisley Shirt flash fiction collection (published by Chapeltown Books).  Here she shares her writing tips, the joys of creating characters and her thoughts on ebooks and “real” books. Comments on the latter would be welcome! [Read more…] about Writing Tips and Character Creation: Interview with Gail Aldwin Part 2

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Tags: books, Chapeltown Books, creative writing, fiction, flash fiction, interview, writing advice

Travelling by Bus around the World and Inspirational Flash Fiction – Introducing Gail Aldwin

March 16, 2018 By Allison Symes 9 Comments

Feature Image - Gail Aldwin Part 1

Further to last week where I discussed the frustrations of publishing, it is my pleasure to share my interview with another writer taking the independent press route. Please “meet” fellow Chapeltown Books author, Gail Aldwin. Also many thanks to her for supplying the images for this interview. [Read more…] about Travelling by Bus around the World and Inspirational Flash Fiction – Introducing Gail Aldwin

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Tags: Chapeltown Books, creative writing, flash fiction, inspiration

My 2017 Writing Journey

December 22, 2017 By Allison Symes 4 Comments

Feature Image - My 2017 Writing Journey

Image Credits:  All images, unless otherwise stated, were taken by Allison Symes

Towards the end of each year, I make a note in my new writing diary as to what I’d like to achieve in the next twelve months. I also review what I’d written for the current year and tick off achievements. Many things are long-term goals so carry over. I’m always going to want to have short stories and flash fiction “out there” no matter what the year is! [Read more…] about My 2017 Writing Journey

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Tags: book promoting, creative writing, flash fiction

Winchester Discovery Centre – 10th Anniversary Celebrations

December 1, 2017 By Allison Symes Leave a Comment

Feature Image - Discovery Centre

Image Credit: Unless otherwise stated, all images were taken by Allison Symes.

A group of regional writers took part in the Winchester Discovery Centre’s 10th anniversary celebrations on Saturday 25th November. [Read more…] about Winchester Discovery Centre – 10th Anniversary Celebrations

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Tags: book promoting, books, celebrations, flash fiction, reading, Winchester, writers' co-operatives

How was the Book Fair for You?

November 3, 2017 By Allison Symes 11 Comments

Feature Image - How Was the Book Fair For You

The first Chandler’s Ford Book Fair was on Saturday, 28th October 2017 between 10 am and 12 noon at the Age Concern Centre in Brownhill Road. I hope it will be the beginning of many Book Fairs here.

Many of us miss The Arcade Bookshop which had been our lovely independent book store for decades.  Those behind the Fair hoped it would provide a place for local people to browse and buy books with the bonus they were written by regional writers (and many of them local to Chandler’s Ford specifically). [Read more…] about How was the Book Fair for You?

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Tags: Book Fair, book promoting, book signing, Chandler's Ford, Chandler's Ford Library, fiction, flash fiction, non-fiction, writers, writers' co-operatives

REMINDER: Book Fair – 28th October 2017

October 27, 2017 By Allison Symes 5 Comments

This is just a quick reminder about the Chandler’s Ford Book Fair happening this coming Saturday, 28th October at the Age Concern Centre in Brownhill Road. The Fair will be open from 10 am to 12 noon and there will be a wide range of authors and genres represented.  [Read more…] about REMINDER: Book Fair – 28th October 2017

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Tags: Age Concern Centre, Book Fair, creative writing, fiction, flash fiction, non-fiction, writers
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