Blogs

One Night At Kedasi by Ashton Macaulay: Review!

Posted by insertponceyfrenchnamehere on Fri, 15 Aug 2025

I'm very pleased to announce that One Night At Kedasi by Ashton Macaulay will be out on September 23rd. Ashton writes for ABCTales as mac_ashton and the story was originally posted on our site. If you'd like to pre-order a copy, you'll find the link included in this review by Ewan: One Night At Kedasi by Ashton Macaulay Shadow Dragon Press ISBN 1963832345 Sci-Fi, Space Mercenaries, humour and bugs. Or for some of us, creepy-crawlies. Massive...

Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point

Posted by insertponceyfrenchnamehere on Fri, 15 Aug 2025

Thanks to everyone who's posted their wonderful stories and poems on ABCTales this week and for your kindness in leaving comments on other people's work. My choices for our Story and Poem of the Week are as follows: Story of the Week goes to G M Backland for Worst Case Scenario - Being Peter to Save Paul (Part Two). This is, as hudsonmoon says in his comment 'insanely funny' and If it isn't picked up by a publisher once finished I'll eat my hat...

Soft waves of a forgotten Dawn

Posted by memphis on Thu, 14 Aug 2025

Soft waves of a forgotten dawn Finding magic by the sea, some place far off; Just below the Great Wall of Beijing. This adventure. finds one in the shadows of the Samurai between Twelve Swords: Known as the Deviant Blades Shikizaki, Kiki, a brilliant master swordsmith and Soothsayer, anime piqued our curiosity. During the Sengoku period, 1467-2615. Of the civil war. Brings us to Tsukiji, a famous place in Tokyo Japan is a primary large fish...

John Sutherland (2025) The Castle

Posted by celticman on Wed, 13 Aug 2025

Write what you know. Former Met Police commander and bestselling author John Sutherland offered a bonus as a marketing gizmo. The book’s release (at the end of April 2025) was paired with a limited edition Speyside Single Malt whisky named after the novel. Fuck. Wish I’d thought of that for my novel Beastie . I could have released a limited-edition child molester fresh from the police cells. Set in the Scottish Highlands, The Castle follows...

Jen Stout (2024) Night Train to Odesa.

Posted by celticman on Mon, 11 Aug 2025

It’s over three years since Putin’s tanks sat on Ukraine’s borders. The world watched and wondered what he would do next. Jen Stout, Night Train to Odesa Covering the Human Cost of Russia’s War is an antidote to the moron’s moron, Trump's blather. The American President after brow-beating President Volodymr Zelensky and promising to end the Ukrainian war in a day has scheduled a meeting with Putin in Siberia. His press conference is cringe...

Anthony McGowan (2025 [2011]) The Fall.

Posted by celticman on Sat, 09 Aug 2025

Winner of the Booktrust Teenage Prize, The Fall was reissued in 2025. I got this book for my favourite girl in the world. But her dad read a bit. And that was that. Said there was a death on the first few pages. It would remain unread. That was my failing. My fall. ‘Is that Mog?’ he said. Nobody had called me Mog since I was at school. ‘Have you heard?’ ‘Heard what?’ I said. ‘Rush.’ ‘Chris Rush?’ ‘Yeah…’ ‘He’s dead.’ Chapter 1 begin with a...

Lynne Tillman (2023) Mothercare On Ambivalence and Obligation

Posted by celticman on Fri, 08 Aug 2025

Lynne Tillman (2023) Mothercare On Ambivalence and Obligation. Mothercare is an autobiographical essay by writer Lynne Tillman. I haven’t read any other of her works. My mum had Alzheimer’s. Most conversations with others end with me reminding them, ‘Just shoot me’. The issues Tillman discuss aren’t foreign to me. She’s American with a healthcare system that is both near the best and the worst as it bankrupts many and excludes others in the way...

Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point

Posted by insertponceyfrenchnamehere on Fri, 08 Aug 2025

Posted by airyfairy. Really difficult to make the Picks this week. I've read and re-read, and in the end it just came down to the finest of margins. Story of the Week is the second chapter of mac_ashton's 'MARKeting'. Welcome to the world of office drones in the not too distant future! It made me laugh, and also gave me nightmare flashbacks to my own time having to be Appraised and listen to Office Speak. You have been warned... MARKeting (2) |...

Adam Kucharski (2020) The Rules of Contagion. Why Things Spread—and Why They Stop. 

Posted by celticman on Wed, 06 Aug 2025

According to William Kemarck’s 1924 model contagion follows an S-shaped curve. The assumption was that those susceptible would become infected. Infect others, recover or die and go to heaven or hell, as in Christianity. In epidemiology, the reproduction number, or R , indicates how many new cases a single infected individual causes. If R is greater than 1, an outbreak grows. If it falls below 1, stops. Nobody goes to heaven or hell. R > 1: It...

Coral (Seashore)

Posted by insertponceyfrenchnamehere on Wed, 06 Aug 2025

It is with very great sadness that I have to announce the death of our very own Coral who wrote for ABCTales as Seashore Coral was a Trustee of ABCTales, as well as a hugely supportive and generous friend to the site. She was a very talented artist and writer and a great advocate for her late daughter Julia who also wrote for ABCTales under the name Overthetop1. You can read their work here: https://www.abctales.com/user/seashore https://www...

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