Some irritating repeated mistakes

 

I’ve done this so often I can’t believe it. I work on a text and make it pretty perfect.  I’m talking here about something quite short – maybe an article for the online magazine I work for or even some technical document about a course I’m building. So, I write the email to the person I’m writing for and attach the document  - except I attach it in this form rather  than the perfected one I have on screen because I’ve forgotten to save it first. So it looks like the above, rather than what you’re reading now.

Similar to this and even more irritating is that occasionally when I go to save a document “as” my computer changes the name of the document to something that I’ve already got in my folder. Well, it’ not just my computes; I have this habit of hovering my mouse over the file list. If I’m not careful I give it the okay to replace the file. I did that twice this morning and have now had to create new files from scratch. Fortunately they were relatively short.   And thank goodness that as well as saving everything in two different places we back our work up to a remote server at least once a week .In this case it was quicker to rewrite, though,  than go through the rigmarole of downloading.

And then there’s my mouse. It mainly works very well, but one of the buttons is sticking so I keep doing things twice – opening emails, opening web pages, inserting lines into spread sheets. And it often immediately undoes what I’ve just done, for example changing the layout on my Blogger site, confirming that I meant to upload, or even closing a document.

Oh the joys of being a writer! Still, I guess these are trivial really compared what might be happening in an office, a classroom or on the shop floor.          

Michael Higgins talks to me today about his contributions to the latest LAA Anthology

 

 

'The Morris Dancers' Farewell' is about the Royton Morris Dancers, led by Jimmy Cheetham, dancing out of Royton on a Saturday Morning in 1900. The little boy centre dancer is Mark Irwin and his sisters await his return in the lamplight. It was a man's dance but a woman's artistic touch.story was told by Mark's sister Alice many years later. Alice was a grand old lady in her eighties when she told it . All the Irwin sisters helped to boil shirts, sashes, ribbons and stockings for the dancers and dressed them in the street before they danced off.  

 

'The Hour Ahead' echoes a visit to my friends James and Jill in Toronto and remarks on time and distance a comforting hour. 

 

I have a third piece in dialect prose which makes fun of the minefield of dialect spelling and pronunciation.

I write history - I edit the Royton Local Society Newsletter and write articles on local history and grander historical themes for other outlets. I write on literature from Old English to modern. I review books from time to time. 

I decided to enter the LAA  competition because I like writing and had not entered the competition before as I have not been a member long. The other side of the coin is that I have to size myself up to entering them. 

I have entered few other competitions before, though I have won a couple of awards in various categories for dialect societies.

I had heard of the LAA through general reading and already knew the LAA president through dialect and folk events.

I am currently writing a history of the Royton Morris Dancers. I am compiling a collection of poetry.

 

Find your copy here  

 

Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to the Lancashire Authors Association    

David Lythgoe talks to me today about his work in the antholgy: Lancashire Writers of Today 2023

 

I entered five poems for the 2023 competitions, of which two, Asteroid and Anonymous, were placed first and second for the Pomfret Cup, and three, Elegy For a Hermit, Lockdown Safety Glass and Torbreck were placed first, second and third  for the Batty Cup. I usually write poetry and my preferred typeface is Calibri. I like to enter poetry competitions to test my competence which I think (and hope) is still developing after 30 years of writing. My urge to concentrate on poetry rather than prose was very much influenced when I won a nationwide competition in 2003 to write a poem on the theme of 'Discovery' associated with the renaming of the Swan Hellenic Ship 'Minerva'. The competition was adjudicated by the then Poet Laureate Andrew Motion and my wife and I were invited to attend the re-naming ceremony in the Pool of London where my winning poem was read by Dame Judi Dench. I joined the LAA in 2016 having previously been unaware of its existence, even though I was born a true Lancastrian in Wigan 86 years ago. 

 

My current writing project is to publish a fourth collection of poems. I've already written about ninety, but I know that some need to be revised. There's no going back once your words have appeared in print. 

 

The photo was taken on the summit of Suilven, a Scottish mountain. which I climbed at the age of 83, and the book, A Distillation of Hills  was published last year by Chapeltown Books. Although fundamentally an autobiography based on some of my selected walks and climbs, it also contains some of my poetry. 

News 2 October 2023

 

Autumn approaches 

 

Did you also think that the days got shorter very suddenly this year?  Perhaps it was because we felt that we had no real summer this year in the UK.  And what a contrast to the wild fires in the Mediterranean countries and some severe weather in many more parts of the globe.  

Yet we’re approaching a time of the year when we are surrounded by stories. Halloween is now not far away, then we have Guy Fawkes and of course Christmas follows on soon. Our choir has started practising some of our Christmas repertoire.

I’m indulging in a lot of theatre visits now. That also seems a part of the season somehow.

So, keep those stories coming and I’ll also do my best to keep writing.                    

 

Writing news

I’ve written an article for Talking About My Generation about how my garden grows: https://talkingaboutmygeneration.co.uk/how-does-gills-garden-grow. There is a whole  series of articles like this one by various of our reporters so if you like gardening you may find these interesting. 

 

I’m adding more and more material to my Kofi account. This is another place where you can buy books I’ve written or edited and here I give you  the choice of how much to pay. I’ve added Citizens of Nowhere to my shop: https://ko-fi.com/s/5e915c72e0     

Meanwhile, I continue with Peace Child 6. I’m now on the second draft which has meant adding a few more chapters. This is nearly always the most demanding of the rewrites. I’m also sharpening up a couple of the characters and I’m looking at some inconsistent spellings.

I’m continuing with my set of Tip Sheets for creative writing teachers to use with new writers. New writers will also be able to use them on their own. I’ve created forty-two so far and I’m aiming for fifty.  I’ve covered amongst other topics, character, story structure, poetic forms, turning your work into gifts, a submission strategy and some notes about formatting scripts.   

And I’m soon going to be having a go at writing a little poetry, inspired by Alison Chisolm’s The Poet’s A-Z, a glossary with writing exercises.  I attended the workshop she ran for the Lancashire Authors’ Association.  It was brilliant.   

I also have a review of one of the palsy I’ve seen recently on Talking About My Generation: https://talkingaboutmygeneration.co.uk/a-view-from-the-bridge-at-the-octagon-bolton/        

 

On My Blog

Just one article on the blog this time: that thorny old questions – should we only write what we know? Have a look at what I suggest here: https://www.gilljameswriter.com/2023/09/write-what-you-know.html   

 

 

The Young Person’s Library

I’ve listed two books this month: The House of Serendipity, Sequins and Secrets:  This is suitable for mature fluent readers in the upper two classes of junior school. It has an Upstairs / Downstairs vibe ad there are some lovely fashion and pattern drawings.

Then there is Full Metal Alchemist: The Valley of the White Petals by Makoto Inque and Hiromu Arakawa This has a manga influence and indeed there are some manga illustrations inside. It’s suitable for lower secondary and mature upper primary.  

 

 

Recommended read

This month I’m recommending  The House of Serendipity, Sequins and Secrets:

Class barriers are dropped as two young girls plot to help an older sibling and her friend wow the rest of the world.  

Myrtle and Sylvie become a team. First of all they design and make a superb dress for Sylvie’s sister Delphine.  Then they become involved with Agapantha Portland-Prince who wants to wear trousers for her coming-out ball and also wants to disguise herself as a man so that she can go on an exotic adventure.

It almost all works but a misunderstanding almost spells disaster.

Lucy Ivison tells a good story and Catharine Collingridge charms us with her exqusitie fashion drawings in The House of Serendipity, Sequins and Secrets

 

   

Giveaway

Note: these are usually mobi-files to be downloaded to a Kindle.  Occasionally there are PDFs.

This month I’m offering Spooking, a gentle YA supernatural romance.

 

Tom crashes his car and he wakes up in an unfamiliar place. He is unable to reach Amanda. They argued just before the crash. He meets cheeky but friendly Marcus, who, though younger than Tom, has more experience in the areas that now matter. But Marcus has his own concerns and eventually has to leave Tom to deal with his problems on his own. How can Tom let Amanda know how much he loves her? Does she feel the same way? Will they ever be able to move forward?

Spooking may make you cry.

Grab your free stuff here:  You may have to copy and paste the link.   http://eepurl.com/hhGHX5

And please, please, please leave a review, perhaps on Amazon, Good Reads and / or Story Graph, when you’ve finished.    

Note: Normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I manage sell for anything from £0.99 to £10.99.  Most on Kindle are about £2.99 and the average price for paperback is £8.00. Writers have to make a living. But I’m offering these free samples so that you can try before you buy.

 

The Schellberg Project

The posts may be helpful for teachers who are familiar with the Schellberg stories or who are teaching about the Holocaust.  They may also be interesting for other readers of historical fiction.

Sometimes I also write about what might be useful to other writers.

This month I’ve written about Asylum Seekers, Illegal Immigrants and the Value of Migrants We are dealing with the same problems now that were rife then.   

 

Some notes about my newsletters and blogs

They do overlap a little but here is a summary of what they all do.

 

Bridge House Authors For all those published by Bridge House, CaféLit, Chapeltown or The Red Telephone or interested in being published by us. General news about the imprints. News for writers. Links to book performance. Sign up here.

 

The Bridgetown  Café Bookshop where you can buy my books and books published by Bridge House Publishing, CafeLit, Chapeltown Books and The Red Telephone.  Visit us here.     

 

Chapeltown Books News about our books. Sign up here.

 

The Creative Café Project News about the project and CaféLit – for the consumer rather than for the producer.  Sign up here.   

 

Gill’s News: News about my writing, The Schellberg Project, School Visits and Events. Book recommendations and giveaways. Find it here.   

 

Pushing Boundaries, Flying Higher News about conferences and workshops to do with the young adult novel. (infrequent postings) Sign up here.  

 

Red Telephone Books News about our books and our authors. Sign up here.

 

A Publisher’s Perspective Here I and some other editors blog as a publisher. Access this here.   

 

The Creative Café Project Listings and reviews of creative cafés. See them here.   

 

CaféLit Stories Find these here

 

Gill James Writer All about writing and about my books. View this here.

 

Gill’s Recommended Reads Find information here about books that have taken me out of my editor’s head and a reminder of the ones I’ve highlighted in this newsletter.    

 

Gill’s Sample Fiction Read some of my fiction here.

 

The House on Schellberg Street All about my Schellberg project. Read it here.

 

Writing Teacher All about teaching creative writing.  Some creative writing exercises. Access this here.  I also invite other writers to provide prompts and work for critique.     

 

Books Books Books Weekly offers on our books and news of new books. Find them here. 

 

The Young Person’s Library The children’s book catalogue. Access it here.

 

Fair Submissions  Find it here.   

Opportunities for writers are added several times a day. Roughly once a month I send it out to a list. If you would like to be on that list, sign up here.  

Happy reading and writing.

 

 

Write what you know?

That is the advice that is frequently given to writers yet we often rebel against it. Writing what we don’t know often seems more exciting.

Writing what you know can be more authentic

Classic writer Louisa May Alcott wrote a lot of other material before she wrote her famous Little Women and much of that earlier material remains obscure. Whether she actually wrote as much melodrama as her character Jo we can’t be sure, but we do know that in this book and the others that followed about the same characters she was tapping into something with which she was familiar. That authenticity shone through.

But what about historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction?

Naturally these explore the unknown. We can find out facts for our historical fiction but we aren’t personally familiar with the circumstances in which our ancestors lived. For fantasy and science fiction we have to create new worlds. How do we do that? And are they in the end all that new to us? Surely all of this is actually based on what we know?

What would I or even they do in these circumstances?

So, we create our world and our characters. We put our characters into those worlds and predict how they’ll act. Don’t we base that prediction on how we would act in those circumstances? So we are still coming from a position of knowledge. A type of method acting takes place.

When fantasy and science fiction aren’t

Have you noticed that in fact most fantasy worlds relate to our own? They become symbols for our life and society. They act as glove puppets and anthropomorphic animals do for younger readers. They give us some objectivity about our own world. Science fiction often fails to predict and much of it is an extension of what is happening now. Dystopias too are frequently a reflection of our own society and explore what happens when some aspects of it go unchecked.

Using what you know as a tool to find out about you don’t know

We have several tools at our disposal when we do research for our writing. We can look at memorabilia and the physical world around us. We can repeat experience. But when that fails we can project forward and work out how things will pan out. We do that from the point of what we know.

However, what of the “unhiemlich”?

This the German word for “uncanny”.  The “heimlich” is that what belongs to home, the familiar, that with which we are comfortable.  But the “unheimlich” is the unknown, what doesn’t belong to our familiar circle. According to our story gurus most stories start with a call to adventure.  The hero is invited to step outside of their comfort zone and cross a first threshold. They are forced into the unknown.

Can it be that even here we are writing what we know? We know story shape and we know that even in our daily lives we have to challenge ourselves. We also know the fear that accompanies that. So again we are back to writing what we know.       

Allison Symes talks to us about being invovled with The Best of CafeLit 12

  

 

Many thanks, Gill, for the invite to take part in your blog about The Best of CafeLit 12. I was delighted to have my story, Jubilee, included in the latest CafeLit anthology.

 

What inspired you to write your story 'Jubilee' ?

Invitations were issued to write a story based around the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and it was a joy to write my tale. I wanted the celebrations to be a positive turning point in the life of my character, Dorothy. I also wanted her to show her family she was still capable of producing surprises. She gets to do both here.

But it was the Jubilee celebrations which turned things around for Dorothy. Without them, she would not have moved on. It was also lovely to write a story with a specific time marker acting as a frame for my story. I don’t often get to do that and it means this story is also historical fiction due to that.

 

How did you get to find out about CafeLit?

Initially online. I’ve been writing for CafeLit for some time and it is always a joy to have work on site with them. It is even more special when a story of mine is selected for their print anthologies. I also enjoy seeing familiar names and new names in the books. It’s a great balance.

 

Do you enjoy reading short stories? What’s special / important about them?

Yes. I love short stories and flash fiction and am published in both. There is something about the short form which captures the moment. I love that. You have these moments which could never be expanded out for a novella or novel but would make a charming short story or piece of flash fiction. You have stories working here which could not work in any other format. A moment in time can be lost in the sheer scale of a novel. I also think short stories and flash fiction can be great ways of encouraging the reluctant reader. They may be more tempted to read something short as opposed to something long, at least to begin with. The idea is to get them hooked on to reading.

 

Tell us a little more about your writing. 

As well as writing flash fiction/short stories, I blog regularly. I write a weekly column for online magazine, Chandler’s Ford Today, often on topics of interest to writers (which can be found at http://chandlersfordtoday.co.uk/author/allison-symes/).

 I also blog for Authors Electric and More than Writers, the blog spot for the Association of Christian Writers.

I write for and am part of the editorial team for Writers’ Narrative, which is written by writers for writers.

 I also run flash fiction and editing workshops.  I sometimes judge story competitions too.

I was one of the winners of the Waterloo Arts Festival Writing Competition three years in a row. I was impressed with how the fifteen winners each year came up with such different stories when we were all writing to the same theme and word count.

I have had flash stories broadcast on North Manchester FM on the Three Minutes Santa show hosted by Hannah Kate.

I have also appeared on Wendy H Jones’s The Writing and Marketing Show podcast. One appearance there was specifically on flash fiction and it was a joy to be able to talk about that in more depth.

The buzz of being published is a great joy, an ongoing one too!

 

Author Bio

Allison Symes, who loves reading and writing quirky fiction, is published by Chapeltown Books, CafeLit, and Bridge House Publishing. Her flash fiction collections, Tripping The Flash Fantastic and From Light to Dark and Back Again are out in Kindle and paperback.

 

Website:   https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com/

 

Books:       http://author.to/AllisonSymesAuthorCent

 

 

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@allisonsymes