07.03.14 Story, Poem and Inspiration Point of the Week

A weekend of unseasonably warm weather is upon us lucky few down in the England's southern portion, and not a moment too soon. I hope you all get a chance to enjoy some of it, to take in a little nature and maybe follow in the footsteps of the romantics (that’s what this week’s IP is about: http://www.abctales.com/inspiration-point-ip), but even if you’re stuck somewhere that's still obeying traditional seasonal rules, take a moment to breathe in the last of the snowdrops and the first of the daffodils.

We’ve already had some excellent seasonal poetry springing up on the site, and one of my favourites is this week’s Poem of the week – Rhiannonw’s ‘Slowly emerging, January to March’. There’s something about this sparse, sharply observed lyric of the regeneration of nature that instantly put me out amidst the hedgerows and budding branches of the countryside. Nature poetry at its best:

http://www.abctales.com/story/rhiannonw/slowly-emerging-january-march

And our story of the week is something of a new beginning as well – Sooz has shared with us the prologue to her novel ‘A Question of Sanity,’ which she’s decided to re-write and edit. We’re very lucky to be witnesses - and editors - to this, as the writing of just this first little excerpt shows. Sooz has an incredible wealth of talent and imagination at her disposal – it’s 2051, and a bereaved woman decides to get her thoughts down on paper – but not before we're introduced to a spirited butler-computer named George and the very original narrative voice of the dog Jake. An incredibly amusing piece and a presage of great things to come:

http://www.abctales.com/story/sooz006/question-sanity-prologue

Finally, I’d like to invite all of you to come out to the next ABCtales Reading, which will be taking place at the Wheatsheaf in London on March 26th. We’ve got some very talented writers already lined up to perform – including Stan, Bee, Akanbi and (provisionally) TFH and BarelyBlackFrancis – and if you’re interested just send me an email on the contact form below as we still have space for a few more readers. For more information, have a look at the forum topic here:

http://www.abctales.com/forum/fri-2014-03-07-1711/abctales-reading-london-260314