Firstly,  may I wish you a very happy New Year!

Secondly, and continuing with my theme of looking back from last week, my current Chandler's Ford Today post looks at how personal reviews (so common at this time of year) can be really useful to writers for character and story generation.  Reviews like this can also be used in non-fiction writing.

Thirdly, my monthly blog for the Association of Christian Writers' page,  More than Writers, looks at Christmas favourites and how Christmas starts for me.  It isn't with Black Friday!

So what are your writing/reading/both plans for 2018?  I hope to enter more flash fiction competitions and read more.  I would like my characters to develop more in the next year too.  How?  By perhaps resonating more with readers.  By my bringing in a depth to them that perhaps I haven't done before.  This isn't necessarily done with more words.  Flash fiction is the ultimate in the less is more syndrome for writing.  It is picking stronger words that convey more meaning which will help me develop depth of character more.

Looking back/reviews is my theme for tonight as I cover this in my This World and Others post where I talk about the usefulness of reviews and for my Chandler's Ford Today post this week where I look back at my writing year.  (I also share some recently published stories of mine from Cafelit, all on a Christmas theme.  Hope you like them).

Do your characters look back at their lives at all?  (You should as their creator!  Have they developed?  If so, positively or negatively?  How does this impact on the story?).  If the characters do look back at their own lives, why are they doing it?  Are they trying to learn from past mistakes and do they actually do so?  How does that "look back" change their behaviour (for better or worse) and how does that change the direction in which they go?

Sometimes Character B can look back at Character A's life and this can be because:-

1.  They don't like the changes in A's life now (and they may be right to take that view!).  By drawing A's attention to this, B is hoping to get A back to where they used to be.

2.  Character B is comparing themselves with A, especially if A has gone on to be really successful.  (We all do this for real so why shouldn't our characters do so?!  What is interesting here is how does B respond?  Are they jealous?  Do they seek to improve themselves or try to "do A down"?).

3.  Character B is delighted Character A has changed (and again they may well be right.  Equally they may be pleased because A has worsened and it makes B look better!  B does not have to have noble motives here!).

All three of these points could generate some fascinating stories.  Happy writing - and I hope you receive plenty of books, in whichever format, over Christmas.  Stories are wonderful and Christmas is a great time to celebrate them.  As a Christian, I celebrate what, for me, is the greatest story - that of Christ's birth in Bethlehem, but whether you share my beliefs or not, I hope you have a lovely Christmas season and New Year.

Just to finish:  something from my From Light to Dark and Back Again book page on Facebook.  A little Christmas scene and story...

In the middle of the Christmas rush
There was an old man carving a brush
He was clearly an expert in wood
He could make any timber look good
Right by the old High Street church he was
He so wanted to be there because
The God he loved was a carpenter
A worker should be at the centre
Of the scene, as the shepherds had been
There long before the wise men were seen.
The man liked a God who worked with His hands
In the tableau He was in swaddling bands.
Allison Symes - 22nd December 2017

My Chandler's Ford Today post this week is part 2 of my interview with paranormal historical fiction writer, Jennifer C Wilson, author of the Kindred Spirits series.  She talks about the joys and woes of writing ghost stories/crossing genres.  If you are looking for ghost stories that are a bit different, do check out her series.  There are two books so far:  Kindred Spirits: Tower of London and Kindred Spirits:  Royal Mile.  The former "stars" Richard III and the latter Mary, Queen of Scots.  The common link here?  Fotheringay Castle - one for happy reasons, the other the complete opposite!

Whatever genre you write in, there will be challenges to overcome and joys to relish!  The important point, regardless of whatever genre you write in, is to ask yourself honestly would your story grip someone who doesn't know you and who has discovered your stories by accident?  This is where having trusted beta readers can be really useful as they will point out what works and what doesn't.  Another good way is to make yourself put your work away for a while before you come back to it and look at it with fresh eyes.  It is much easier to read  your book as a reader would if you do this.

One thing I did with From Light to Dark and Back Again was use Scrivener to export the book as a .mobi file so I could actually see what it would look like as an ebook.  By putting it into this format, I found it easier to pretend I was new to the book and so I could read and edit it far more effectively. (The ability to change formats in Scrivener is one of the things I love about it).

The real challenge to genre writing is to win over readers who are NOT already fans of it.  But it is a good challenge and keeps you on your toes as a writer! 

It's funny how things often don't work out quite the way you think they will.  My initial plan this year had been to have the follow-up to From Light to Dark and Back Again with my publisher, Chapeltown Books, by, say, the end of October.  Hmm...  I am glad to report I am now editing my second book and, if I can, I hope to have it off to Chapeltown by the year end/very early into the New Year.

I can confirm there's a nice mixture of fairytales with bite in the second volume and, as ever, some of my characters even I wouldn't want to meet in any kind of alley, yet alone a dark one.  However, they are huge fun to write for!!

Why the hold up?  Well, I'm glad to say it has been for the best of reasons.  I've been involved in Book Fairs, signings, extravaganzas and library events ever since From Light to Dark and Back Again came out and these have eaten into my time more than I thought.  I know I haven't quite got the balance between writing new material and marketing the current book right but also know I will get there eventually.  It is a great comfort to know other writers have this same struggle to get this balance right!

I thought I'd leave this post with an extract from the second book, which has also recently appeared on Cafelit.

Can I also recommend checking out Cafelit's Advent Calendar of stories?  There is a lovely mix of styles and lengths of story here.  Am glad to say some more of my Christmassy ones will appear in the next couple of weeks.

Oh and if you want to know what to give the writer in your life?  If they have a book out, reviews on Amazon and Goodreads are always welcome!