In conversation with June Webber, a "The Best of CafeLit 13" contributor

 

 

How did you first get to know CafeLit? 

Allison Symes, a friend I met at Swanwick, had already contributed stories to CafeLit.

 
What do you like about it?

The flexibility of genre and word count, and the fact that stories are usually accepted or rejected quickly.
 

Tell us a little about the story you have in the volume.

I live near Abbotsbury Swannery and had heard there were a pair of gay swans, so I added some dialogue and description and called it Swan Lake.

 
Why did you pick that particular drink? I chose sweet white wine, because it is the colour of swans, and a romantic story. 
 

Do you have a favourite “Creative Cafe”?  

I am pictured outside the Jazz Café next to the beach at Sandbanks, Poole.

What are you working on now?  

I am editing some letters from my father’s service in World War Two. I have started a novel.

 
Do you have any writing news? 

 My short play will be performed at Swanwick Writers Summer School in August.

Maxine Flam talks to us about her invovlement with The Best of CafeLit 13

 

How did you first get to know CafeLit? 

I found CafeLit on Duotrope and decided to try my luck at pitching my stories. 

What do you like about it? 

I like CafeLit because it gives an honest read of the stories you send and doesn't make you wait months before you hear if it was accepted or rejected. 

Tell us a little about the story you have in the volume 

I have one story in the volume. It is entitled, "Our Day at the Ocean." It is a story about a little girl who spends the day at the ocean with her father, the only parent in her life.

 
Why did you pick that particular drink?   

I picked the drink, Warm Milk, because it seemed to fit the story. When I think of drinking warm milk, it gives me a sense of peace and that's what I wanted to convey in the story. That the father and daughter were out to have a day of fun and be at peace. 

What are you working on now? 

I am working on pitching some short stories, editing a book of short stories, looking for an agent, and if I fail, trying to pitch the stories as a book to a publisher, and writing my fourth book.
 

Do you have any writing news?  

I am marketing my first book. It is entitled, Unglorious War, Revised Edition, found on Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, and Apple. It's a romance that takes place during the Vietnam War between a wounded Special Forces Officer and a Navy Nurse. I found an independent publisher in England for my second book,entitled, The Professional 16, Meeting the Men of CI5 and he marketed it on the Internet. He did a small print run and it sold out so he's waiting to see if there is interest to do a second run. 

Find your copy of The Best of CafeLit 13 here.

Allison Symes tell us about her involvement with The Best of CafeLit 13

 

How did you first get to know CafeLit?

I found CafeLit online. I started submitting stories, went on to have tales accepted, and have ended up in several of their Best Of anthologies. I like the way this has worked out!

 

I am delighted to have three stories in The Best of CafeLit 13. Am also pleased to see new and familiar names in the book with me.

 

What do you like about it?

I like the range of stories CafeLit take. I like to read a mixture of stories in terms of word count, genre, quirkiness etc so it is fabulous CafeLit reflects that on the website and in their books. I also love how it gives new writers a voice and can help build them up. I know. I am one of them.

 

Tell us a little about the story or stories you have in the volume.

I am delighted to have three stories in CafeLit 13. My tales are Cinnamon Comforts, Untaken, and Sweet Dreams. All three come within the flash fiction category as all are under 1000 words.

 

Cinnamon Comforts is a story about an old fairy godmother who is worried about what happens to those like her because her government see sending old fairies like her out to face dragons as a great way to cut the pension bill. So my story explores how Clara deals with this issue and where cinnamon comes into it all.

 

Untaken is about a legend attached to a well and what happened to a man who thought he could challenge that legend. Has a distinctive light horror element.

 

Sweet Dreams has my character discussing her love affair which involves a dentist, a disapproving mother, and chocolate!

 

All three stories were great fun to write. I love mixing up the moods of my own stories and to have three different tales in terms of mood selected for the anthology is a great privilege.

 

Why did you pick that particular or those particular drinks? 

For Cinnamon Comforts, the drink almost picked itself. What else could it be but cinnamon tea (which is lovely)?

 

For Untaken, I chose sour wine as the drink as there is a darker side to this tale. It definitely isn’t sweet so I was looking for the opposite of sweet when it came to selecting a drink.

 

For Sweet Dreams, I chose a chocolate milk shake since chocolate comes into the story and I wanted a sweet, fun drink here.

 

Do you have a favourite “Creative Cafe”?

Not at the moment though I am fond of using train station cafes to write in when I’m out and about if I’ve got a long wait for my train. Mind you, on a long train journey, the train itself can act like a cafe.

 

I went to Scotland for a writing event a couple of years ago, where I was a judge for a competition and was running a workshop, and found the long journey, aided by refreshments along the way, made for a great trip and plenty of writing was done. I would like to be able to have a mobile writing cafe like that again.

 

Do you write in cafes? Every so often, yes. Usually when I’ve got a long wait before I have to be somewhere else or waiting for a train.

 

What are you working on now? 

Am currently working on a long term non-fiction project. I’m also drafting a potential fourth flash fiction collection. I usually have flash and short stories “on the go” for competitions, online sites etc.

 

I write a weekly column on topics of interest to writers for online magazine Chandler’s Ford Today so I am always preparing something for that. I also edit and am working on that too.

 

Later in the summer and autumn I will be judging flash fiction competitions again, which is fun and interesting to do. It can be enlightening as well!

 

Do you have any writing news? Forthcoming or recent publications? Events?

I’m pleased to be running a two part course at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick this August called Editing as an Author, Editing as a Competition Judge. This is an extended version of a one hour workshop I ran at Swanwick in 2023 and feedback on that was very good.

 

For the longer course, I have set editing exercises for people to try. Having a longer time slot makes that possible.

 

I hope to be at a local book fair later in the autumn too. The book fair had its debut in 2023 and was a huge success. Over 100 people came to it and there were good brisk book sales, including mine I’m glad to say. Every author who took part last year is hoping that will happen again this year! Just as importantly, as there is no local bookshop anymore, this fair is a great way of bringing books to my area.

 

Allison Symes – Links

 

Website – https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com

Facebook Author Page - https://www.facebook.com/Allison.Symes.FairytaleLady

Chandler’s Ford Today – Allison Symes Column - https://chandlersfordtoday.co.uk/author/allison-symes/

Some companies I engage with

 

Lightning Source

This produces some very good print-on-demand books.  They distribute world-wide.  It’s worth taking a look: https.lightningsource.com/

 

Amazon KDP

https://kdp.amazon.com/              

They make creating paperbacks and e-books easy. They even pay you for the number of pages that are read. Returns aren’t high but you get a bigger percentage than with traditional publisher. However, you need to ask yourself a percentage of what?

 

The Society of Authors

https://www.societyofauthors.org/about-us/ 

I feel very strongly that one should be a member, even of you personally are not benefitting form them directly.       

·         They offer lots of general advice

·         They will help  you with contracts

·         They fight our corner with government and commercial bodies.  ,

·         They offer cheap public liability insurance

Canva

They help you to develop good marketing materials: https://www.canva.com/

 

Vista Print

https://www.vistaprint.co.uk/

They provide good quality print items at a very reasonable price.   

 

NAWE

National Association of Writers in Education: https://www.nawe.co.uk/

A lot of advice for writers, an annual conference, free public liability insurance if you register as a professional member and lots of other benefits for members.

 

Give them all a  try!   

 

Tony Domaille talks to us about his involvement with The Best of CafeLit 13

 

The

How did you first get to know CafeLit?
I first read about Café Lit in Writing Magazine and when I had a look I was hooked.
  

What do you like about it?
There may be other examples, but I don’t know of an outlet with such an eclectic mix of stories. I love the variety

Tell us a little about the story or stories you have in the volume.
I have two stories in Best of Café Lit 13. 'A Gradual Release' is a comic tale of a serial killer coming up for parole, and really not wanting to be released. And 'Wildlife' sees a couple finding danger they never wanted on a safari holiday.

Why did you pick those  particular drinks?  
Bloody Mary for 'A Gradual Release' seemed appropriate for as serial killer story.
Dakari for 'Wildlife' seemed exotic and reminded me of the old TV programme Daktari set in Africa.

Do you have a favourite “Creative Cafe”?
Yes. CaféLit !

Do you write in cafes? 
I don’t write in cafes or public places because I’m far too easily distracted by people watching. And if I see someone writing in a café I can’t stop watching them, so how would I write anything myself?  

What are you working on now?
I’m halfway through writing my fourth full-length play. It’s a time travel story with a man having the opportunity to change his past. But if he does, what might he gain and what might he lose? It’s called The Thing About Time and should be finished later this year.

Do you have any writing news?
I have a collection of short stories recently published on Amazon. I Know a Place has a couple of dozen stories previously featured in a number of anthologies from a range of publishers. I thought it was time they appeared in one volume instead of so many!
I KNOW A PLACE: The Anthologies Collection: Amazon.co.uk: Domaille, Tony: 9798879407044: Books
 

Lazy Bee Scripts are about to publish my forty-first script, Early Grave. It’s a short comedy and all my award-winning and best-selling scripts can be found here –
Tony Domaille (lazybeescripts.co.uk)
 

My Derek Jacobi Award winning play Even Numbers is the Northern Ireland representation at the British One Act Finals in Perth, Scotland, this July. 

Fantastic, thank you.  

Eamon O'Leary talks to us about his involvement with The Best of CafeLit

 

How did you first get to know CafeLit? 

To be honest, I can’t remember who told me about CafeLit, but probably from one of my writing groups.

 
What do you like about it? 

I like the way CafeLit promptly lets the writer know if they’ve been accepted for publication.
 

 
Tell us a little about the stories you have in the volume.

My two stories or vignettes in this edition are personal memories and I became emotional seeing them in print. Family is everything to me. 
 

Why did you pick those particular drinks? 

I’m a tea drinker and like it strong although I enjoy an occasional cappuccino. 

Do you have a favourite “Creative Cafe”? 

My favourite cafe is the Farmgate in the famous English Market in Cork city
 

Do you write in cafes?  

I don’t write in cafes but the seeds of many of my stories have germinated whilst sitting and letting my thoughts run wild.

 
What are you working on now? 

At present, I’m looking for ideas for my slot on RTE Radio1 ( Ireland’s National Broadcaster) and working on promoting my first book, I’m a Big Boy Now, which will be released shortly by Bridge House Publishing.

 
Do you have any writing news?

I can’t wait to actually hold a copy of my book. At 72 yrs of age, I’m sure readers will understand and appreciate what a momentous occasion it will be for me and my family to have a book in the shops.

 

Talking to Penny Rogers about her involvement with The Best of CafeLit 13

 

 How did you first get to know CafeLit? 

1.      I first heard of CaféLit about twelve years ago when I was in a writing group with Gail Aldwin and she told me about it. It took ages for me to pluck up the courage to send anything; my first story was published almost ten years ago in December 2014.

 What do you like about it? 

1.      CaféLit is a great way to read all sorts of stories and encounter a wide variety of authors. For me it is also a place to try out different genres and styles, it’s always good to have comments and know that as a writer I am connecting with readers.

 Tell us a little about the story or stories you have in the volume

1.      I have four stories in CaféLit 13. I feel a bit greedy, but above all very pleased to be in the company of so many excellent writers.

a.       Susan and the Stag Beetles is an attempt to use the ‘Once upon a time…’ technique to get across a serious point about an endangered species that a lot of people find frightening. I chose ice cold ginger beer as the drink because it is redolent of warm summer days and evening when the beetles are most likely to be flying.

b.      Hypnagogia was written for the Mani Literary Festival in 2021, the theme was ‘Memory’. It was inspired by holidays in Corfu and a fascination with the narrow channel that separates the island from Albania. As for the drink, rosemary is for remembrance and it grows prolifically on the island.

c.       The Last Night was a response to a writing challenge, but I’ve forgotten the exact topic! The single malt was because I’d just bought a bottle for my husband’s birthday.

d.      Looking Over the Edge I live about four miles from Knowlton church and earthworks. Its history is fascinating and the story is about the Christian and pre-Christian uses of the site. It’s a bit spooky, so I though tea and crumpets were a good antidote.

 

Do you have a favourite “Creative Cafe”? 

1.      I have never written in a café before, but I went to Café Aroma in Verwood to pose for this photo.

 
Do you have any writing news?

1.      I’m really trying to get my collection of stories about a small town in France early in the twentieth century published. I spent ages writing the stories, editing them, etc etc and then being afraid to actually send them to a publisher. I hope to see the collection published by Bridge House. As well as this:

a.       For the first time I heard one of my stories on the radio. I entered a competition run by Victory Radio in Portsmouth, and my story ‘No More Heroes’ was in their Top 40 entries and was read on air. I then sent to story to CaféLit and it has just been published there. Thank You.

b.      I’ve been looking at old stories that have never been published, asking myself why not? What’s wrong with it and how can I improve it?

c.       Writing flash fiction, I really enjoy doing this and every so often a piece of flash fiction turns into a longer story.

d.      Sadly saying goodbye to SOUTH poetry magazine. I’ve been on the management team for six years, but now due to rising costs and falling numbers of subscribers the magazine is having to close after 35 years.

e.       Looking out of the window.