airyfairy's blog

SITE MAINTENANCE 29 MARCH Just to let you know, our server will be carrying out maintenance on the site on 29 March. This is across all the sites they serve, so unfortunately we can’t give you the precise time it will start, or how long the site will be down for. Many apologies for the inconvenience. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!

Thank you again for all the lovely reads this week. Story of the Week is mitzi44's 'A Friend Indeed'. This series has been splendid from the beginning, and this evocation of childhood friendship, and the mishaps that can befall a big sister trying to be kind, are a joy to read: A Friend Indeed | ABCtales Poem of the Week goes to 'Don't Name Them' by Mentalelf. I found this quite extraordinary. It's spare, terse even, but its story of love, pain...

Thank you for all the wonderful pieces on the site this week. There has been some stunning work, and it's been very hard to make the Picks of the Week. Poem of the Week goes to Di Hard's beautiful 'Getting Ready'. Beautiful, sensuous language, and a real feeling of strength and renewal. There are many layers to this poem, and it rewards any number of readings: Getting Ready | ABCtales Story of the Week is 'My New Nemesis', the latest fascinating...

There's been a great variety of things posted on ABC Tales this week, and my two Picks couldn't be more different from each other. Story of the Week goes to Simon Barget's 'A Day In The Life'. It's very difficult to get it right with a story 'told' by an animal, but this one captures Essence of Cat and is also very, very funny. You don't need to be a cat lover to appreciate it. In fact, if you don't like cats, this will confirm all your...

Happy New Year! It feels a bit like tempting fate, but I'm determined to be optimistic.

It's so great, as we celebrate our twentieth birthday, to see that the quality of work on ABC is as brilliant and varied as ever. Story of the Week goes to Peter Bennett's 'A Hauf an a Hauf'. It takes skill and courage to use dialect as your narrative voice, and Peter manages it brilliantly with characters that leap off the page with warmth, humour and pathos: A Hauf an a Hauf | ABCtales No doubt at all in my mind about the Poem of the Week -...

Thank you so much to all the ABC Talers (and friends!) who participated in our Zoom Reading Event last Saturday. It was an absolutely brilliant evening. Special thanks to Mark Burrow for all the organisation and the compering. It will be on our YouTube channel in the New Year, so keep an eye out for it there! Also lots and lots of thanks to those who have sent donations to ABC. If your donation had a name on it you should have had a reply by now...

First of all, of course, a reminder of our Virtual Reading Night on November 28th! Many thanks to Mark Burrow for organising it once again. Whether you fancy reading, or just watching and listening to other ABC Talers doing their stuff, do please join us if you can. It's friendly, it's unpredictable, it's thoroughly good fun, and it's free! All the details are here: https://www.abctales.com/blog/insertponceyfrenchnamehere/our-next-virtua... Our...

Lots of wonderful things to read on the site this week, and our Picks are two absolute gems. Story of the Week is Rosalie Kempthorne's beguiling 'Boys and Girls', a response to last week's Inspiration Point. It's a fairy tale and, like all the best fairy tales, it has an unsettling edge and hints of darkness amongst the beautiful magic: https://www.abctales.com/story/rosaliekempthorne/boys-and-girls Poem of the Week is Noo's searing 'Oath'. It's...

Really enjoyed reading the many wonderful and interesting pieces on ABC Tales this week! Story of the Week is the first chapter of Kilb50's brillaint four-parter 'Brewster's Way', the tale of an only child who decides to take on God. Immensely readable and witty, the story as a whole has been one of the highlights of my week. Do follow the links to all the parts! https://www.abctales.com/story/kilb50/brewsters-way-1 Poem of the Week is Jupiter...