{"id":18180,"date":"2026-09-13T00:01:06","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T04:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180"},"modified":"2026-08-25T07:04:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T11:04:56","slug":"seeing-the-other-side-by-allison-symes-seeingtheotherside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180","title":{"rendered":"Seeing the Other Side by Allison Symes #SEEINGTHEOTHERSIDE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today I’m hosting Allison Symes and her book, Seeing the Other Side.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Blurb<\/h2>\n

Perspective can be wonderful, but will you still feel the same if your view from the fence changes?<\/span><\/p>\n

Allison Symes has long loved what can be done with flash fiction in terms of genre and even how it is presented. Here, you will find flash tales covering a wide range of genres. Some are written in acrostic format, some are linked flashes where a character will turn up in two or more tales revealing more about themselves as the stories go on, and many will make you laugh. Others will make you shudder. Justice is served in some of the tales too, though whether it is to the characters\u2019 liking is another matter. Flash fiction is perfect for any mood or genre. Oh, and a Canada Goose comes into the book too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Allison Symes, author of Seeing The Other Side, Tripping The Flash Fantastic and From Light to Dark and Back Again, is passionate about flash fiction and hopes her latest collection introduces more to the joy and fun of the form.<\/span><\/p>\n

Exerpt<\/h2>\n

Getting Lost<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0Where the hell was he now?<\/p>\n

Goodness knew his sat nav had sent him in some strange directions in her time. He still hadn’t forgiven her for trying to send him the wrong way up a slip road. She’d told him the way so nicely too.<\/p>\n

Well, she wasn’t catching him out with her tricks again. No way! He’d been checking the route before setting off. If her route didn’t match hers, tough. Like Sinatra, he would do it his way.<\/p>\n

He thought back. Yes, he’d been looking for\u00a0The Oak<\/i>\u00a0as he used pubs as landmarks. What he had found was a horse chestnut. He grimaced. He could’ve sworn he’d only winged it but that dent in his Audi would take some shifting. Still, that could be sorted out later.<\/p>\n

Gloomy place this,<\/i>\u00a0he thought.\u00a0Won’t get many visitors until they tart the place up a bit.<\/i><\/p>\n

He sniffed. There was a distinct smell of rotten eggs. Oh yes, that would probably be the sulphur.<\/p>\n

Now if he could only figure out where the hell he was, he would move on.<\/p>\n

Buy Links<\/h2>\n

KINDLE –<\/strong>\u00a0https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Seeing-Other-Side-Allison-Symes-ebook\/dp\/B0H6MQFN8K<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

PAPERBACK –<\/strong> https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Seeing-Other-Side-Allison-Symes\/dp\/1915762456<\/span><\/p>\n

About the Author<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Allison writes flash fiction and short stories; she has been published online and in print by Bridge House Publishing, Cafelit, Iron Press and Chapeltown Books, who published her first flash fiction collection, From Light to Dark and Back Again in 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her second flash fiction collection, Tripping The Flash Fantastic, has now been published by Chapeltown Books.<\/span><\/p>\n

She was one of the winners of the 2020 Waterloo Arts Festival Writing Competition with my story, Books and the Barbarians. She was one of the winners of this competition three years in a row. Please see Transforming Communities, To Be…To Become and Transforming Being as these are the compilations of the winning entries. Later in 2020 there should be a paperback of these three ebooks.<\/span><\/p>\n

She also blogs for Chandler’s Ford Today, an online community magazine, and usually on topics of interest to other writers.She also writes for online writing magazine, Writers’ Narrative, and is one of their team of editors and also a freelance editor and runs workshops on that and on flash fiction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Follow Allison at these links:<\/h2>\n

Website:<\/strong>\u00a0https:\/\/allisonsymescollectedworks.com\/<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Amazon Author Page:<\/strong> https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/stores\/Allison-Symes\/author\/B07T3HT18L<\/span><\/p>\n

Books:\u00a0<\/strong>http:\/\/author.to\/AllisonSymesAuthorCent<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

YouTube:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCPCiePD4p_vWp4bz2d80SJA\/<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Facebook – Author Page –<\/strong>\u00a0https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Allison.Symes.FairytaleLady<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Facebook – Book Page\u00a0 (called From Light to Dark and Back Again – I focus on flash fiction here) –<\/strong>\u00a0https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/fairytaleladyallisonsymes\/<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Substack –\u00a0<\/strong>https:\/\/substack.com\/@allisonsymeswriter1<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Chandler’s Ford Today Author Page – Allison’s Weekly Column –<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/chandlersfordtoday.co.uk\/author\/allison-symes\/<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today I’m hosting Allison Symes and her book, Seeing the Other Side. Blurb Perspective can be wonderful, but will you still feel the same if your view from the fence changes? Allison Symes has long loved what can be done with flash fiction in terms of genre and even how it is presented. Here, you … Continue reading Seeing the Other Side by Allison Symes #SEEINGTHEOTHERSIDE<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2045,359,730,69,2046],"tags":[2047,1060,106],"class_list":["post-18180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allison-symes","category-anthology","category-book-promo","category-books","category-flash-fiction","tag-allison-symes","tag-anthology","tag-authors-2"],"yoast_head":"\nSeeing the Other Side by Allison Symes #SEEINGTHEOTHERSIDE - Celtic Connexions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today on Celtic Connexions, I'm sharing an excerpt from Allison Symes' book Seeing the other Side.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seeing the Other Side by Allison Symes #SEEINGTHEOTHERSIDE - Celtic Connexions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today on Celtic Connexions, I'm sharing an excerpt from Allison Symes' book Seeing the other Side.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Celtic Connexions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-13T04:01:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image0.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1414\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Melanie\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Melanie\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18180#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18180\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Melanie\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc1dc45dd87a15ec9c0044a4fe9cd612\"},\"headline\":\"Seeing the Other Side by Allison Symes #SEEINGTHEOTHERSIDE\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-13T04:01:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18180\"},\"wordCount\":677,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18180#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/image0.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Allison Symes\",\"anthology\",\"authors\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Allison Symes\",\"anthology\",\"Book Promo\",\"Books\",\"Flash Fiction\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18180#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18180\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18180\",\"name\":\"Seeing the Other Side by Allison Symes #SEEINGTHEOTHERSIDE - Celtic Connexions\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18180#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18180#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/image0.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-13T04:01:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc1dc45dd87a15ec9c0044a4fe9cd612\"},\"description\":\"Today on Celtic Connexions, I'm sharing an excerpt from Allison Symes' book Seeing the other Side.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18180#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18180\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18180#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/image0.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/image0.jpeg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1414},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?p=18180#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Seeing the Other Side by Allison Symes #SEEINGTHEOTHERSIDE\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/\",\"name\":\"Celtic Connexions\",\"description\":\"My Scottish roots and writing by Melanie Robertson-King\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc1dc45dd87a15ec9c0044a4fe9cd612\",\"name\":\"Melanie\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ac3ad22152d09e4a7bd2cb3bae125e6661ce011f61dfc62b8aaa5f8f911edff9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ac3ad22152d09e4a7bd2cb3bae125e6661ce011f61dfc62b8aaa5f8f911edff9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ac3ad22152d09e4a7bd2cb3bae125e6661ce011f61dfc62b8aaa5f8f911edff9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Melanie\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.melanierobertson-king.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/melanierobertson-king.com\\\/wp02\\\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Seeing the Other Side by Allison Symes #SEEINGTHEOTHERSIDE - Celtic Connexions","description":"Today on Celtic Connexions, I'm sharing an excerpt from Allison Symes' book Seeing the other Side.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Seeing the Other Side by Allison Symes #SEEINGTHEOTHERSIDE - Celtic Connexions","og_description":"Today on Celtic Connexions, I'm sharing an excerpt from Allison Symes' book Seeing the other Side.","og_url":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180","og_site_name":"Celtic Connexions","article_published_time":"2026-09-13T04:01:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1414,"url":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image0.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Melanie","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Melanie","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180"},"author":{"name":"Melanie","@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/#\/schema\/person\/fc1dc45dd87a15ec9c0044a4fe9cd612"},"headline":"Seeing the Other Side by Allison Symes #SEEINGTHEOTHERSIDE","datePublished":"2026-09-13T04:01:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180"},"wordCount":677,"commentCount":1,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image0.jpeg","keywords":["Allison Symes","anthology","authors"],"articleSection":["Allison Symes","anthology","Book Promo","Books","Flash Fiction"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180","url":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180","name":"Seeing the Other Side by Allison Symes #SEEINGTHEOTHERSIDE - Celtic Connexions","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image0.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-09-13T04:01:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/#\/schema\/person\/fc1dc45dd87a15ec9c0044a4fe9cd612"},"description":"Today on Celtic Connexions, I'm sharing an excerpt from Allison Symes' book Seeing the other Side.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image0.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image0.jpeg","width":2000,"height":1414},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=18180#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Seeing the Other Side by Allison Symes #SEEINGTHEOTHERSIDE"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/#website","url":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/","name":"Celtic Connexions","description":"My Scottish roots and writing by Melanie Robertson-King","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/#\/schema\/person\/fc1dc45dd87a15ec9c0044a4fe9cd612","name":"Melanie","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ac3ad22152d09e4a7bd2cb3bae125e6661ce011f61dfc62b8aaa5f8f911edff9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ac3ad22152d09e4a7bd2cb3bae125e6661ce011f61dfc62b8aaa5f8f911edff9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ac3ad22152d09e4a7bd2cb3bae125e6661ce011f61dfc62b8aaa5f8f911edff9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Melanie"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.melanierobertson-king.com"],"url":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?author=2"}]}},"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2NmRa-4Je","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18180"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18206,"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18180\/revisions\/18206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}