Blogs

Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point

It’s getting ever closer to winter and our Poem of the Week is a beautiful reminder of the season to come - Thoughts of an Oak Tree’s Spirit by skinner_jennifer. You can read it here: https://www.abctales.com/story/skinnerjennifer/thoughts-oak-trees-spirit Story of the Week is the very powerful and brilliantly written story, Wednesday Club, by celticman. You can read it here: https://www.abctales.com/story/celticman/wednesday-club This week’s...

ABCtales Critiquing Service - good reports!

Over the years many of you have asked for a critiquing service and it has taken a long time to find (a) someone good enough to do it well and (b) someone who will charge what we regard as a reasonable fee. Finally, we've done it! Lorraine Mace is a freelance writer, columnist and tutor for the Writers Bureau. Winner of the Petra Kenney International Poetry Competition (comic verse category), Lorraine's fiction, features and humour have appeared...

Story and Poem of the Month

Our Story and Poem of the Month for April, very kindly chosen by Drew Gummerson An honour, as always, and a pleasure, to be the one doing the Picks of the Month. I’ll be brief. So here we go. Story. I like it when people place their continuing stories here on ABCTales and we are blessed this month to have two by two of our outstanding talents. Jane Hyphen’s Parcel for You continues to impress. https://www.abctales.com/story/jane-hyphen/parcel-...

Dopesick (2021), BBC 2, BBC iPlayer, produced by Danny Strong based on the book by Beth Macy, Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m001ys7b/dopesick?seriesId=m001ys7c I already knew the story of the Sackler family, having read and reviewed Patrick Reeden Keefe (2021) Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Family. https://odonnellgrunting.wordpress.com/2021/12/31/patrick-radden-keefe-2021-empire-of-pain-the-secret-history-of-the-sackler-dynasty/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sackler_family Greed has consequences. This eight-...

Poem and Story of the Week

Chosen by Di_Hard Thankyou so much to everyone who has posted their writing this week, it has been a huge pleasure reading so many great Stories and Poems. Pick of the Week for Poems goes to Ed Crane's erudite and thought provoking Still Life: https://www.abctales.com/story/ed-crane/still-life On a related theme I would also like to recommmend Turlough's wonderful Turn and Face The Strange: https://www.abctales.com/story/turlough/turn-and-face-...

The Power of the Dog (2021) Screenplay written and Directed by Jane Campion, based on the novel of the same name (which I haven’t read) by Thomas Savage.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001pvtv/the-power-of-the-dog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_the_Dog_(film) Jane Campion is a Hollywood name. She might not have the leverage of say Brad Pitt or George Clooney, but mostly, when she wants to make a movie, producers find the finance and it gets made. The Power of the Dog won many plaudits on its release. I found it watchable. The sets were fabulous and everything looked and...

Please, Lock Me Away!

Can you aspire to 'coolness' at nearly 70?

Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point

Posted by airyfairy on Fri, 26 Apr 2024 As always, some amazing writing on the site this week, and it's been a hard but very pleasurable task choosing the Picks. Story of the Week is from the wonderful celticman. Characters so vivid you can (quite often) smell them, and dialogue most of us would kill to be able to write. 'Sean Happens 3' is another slice of Glasgow life, and if you haven't read any of celtic's stuff before, this is a great place...

Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point

As always, some amazing writing on the site this week, and it's been a hard but very pleasurable task choosing the Picks. Story of the Week is from the wonderful celticman. Characters so vivid you can (quite often) smell them, and dialogue most of us would kill to be able to write. 'Sean Happens 3' is another slice of Glasgow life, and if you haven't read any of celtic's stuff before, this is a great place to start: Sean Happens 3 | ABCtales...

Angela Carter (1984 [2006] Nights at the Circus.

Angel Carter’s Nights at the Circus explodes on the page in the form of six-foot-two, eyes of blue, fourteen stone Fevvers, a feminist icon, who has wings and really can fly. Or so it seems, she’s an aerialiste that needs no high wire. The high-flying star of Colonel Kearney’s circus—a fool and his money are easily parted; never give a mug a break—courted by Royalty, The Prince of Wales, painted by Toulouse Lautrec. She’s the toast of Paris, of...

Pages