Insertponceyfrenchnamehere's blog

ABCTales writer, HarryC has a short story - Conservatory, by Kevin Marman - included this new anthology! "A striking and eclectic collection." Elvin James Mensah, author of Small Joys "Chills of recognition mean I wish I’d had this book while coming of age." Kate Fox, writer, poet & broadcaster "In this anthology are some beautifully quirky neurodivergent stories; gems exploring the nuances of love and the human need for recognition,...

Two absolute crackers for you today - and they really are crackers given the many many outstanding pieces we've had posted this week. Story of the Week goes to Mark Say for his wonderful 'My Father is Younger Than Me' which is very touching and raises so many questions Poem of the Week is Caldwell's 'Burial' which I think is the best thing he's written so far Big congratulations to both! https://www.abctales.com/story/mark-say/my-father-younger-...

Story and Poem of the Week, and Inspiration Point chosen by di_hard Huge Thanks for all the wonderful writing this week, particularly prose, which has made this very difficult task so enjoyable. After much deliberation, Story of the Week is this invigorating diary entry from Purplehaze : https://www.abctales.com/story/purplehaze/who-needs-orkney-anyway Poem of the Week is from Ralph, a very different kind of power : https://www.abctales.com/...

Posted by airyfairy. Amongst some thoroughly absorbing reads this week, two stood out for me from the moment I read them. Story of the Week is the latest part of Harry C's memoir 'Gift: A Son's Story'. Harry is clear that this is still a work in progress, as he looks back on his time as carer for his mother. This particular extract achieves the difficult feat of bringing a special day to life with meticulous detail, at the same time never losing...

Our Story and Poem of the Month for September - very kindly chosen by onemorething: Picks of the Month for September: Happy to be doing this as it approaches my favourite time of the year. Am wishing all a cosy and writing-filled Autumn. If you take an overview of the writing on this site over the course of a month, you can’t help but be struck by the sheer range of talent, story-telling and poeming, it’s a wonderful thing. So, thank you all for...

What a week it's been for prose! We have so many brilliant works in progress at the moment - thanks so much for sharing them here with us. My choices for this week's pick are as follows: Story of the Week goes to Jane Hyphen for On the Wind which is a wonderful quirky short, and Poem of the Week goes to Jennifer Skinner who has inspired us all with her brilliant depiction of fireflies. Do please read both if you haven't already - they come...

As you know, our very own celticman - Jack O'Donnell - was star of the show at Bloody Scotland which is Scotland's International Crime Writing Festival. Here's what happened in his own words: Bloody Scotland, 14th September 2024 I don’t go out much. When I usually do it involves watching Celtic and getting drunk. That’s Bloody Scotland for you. But this was a different kind of outing. Bloody Scotland inspired by William McIlvanney’s Laidlaw...

chosen by Di_Hard Another wonderful week of writing, such a wide range of brilliant pieces! Thank You! It is impossible to say one is better than another, so I chose a story and poem which illustrate the huge difference in where we were, and where we are now. Poem of the Week is : https://www.abctales.com/story/angusfolklore/maps-were-made Story of the Week is : https://www.abctales.com/story/harryc/where-are-we-now-ted-kaczynski-and... Highly...

Posted by airyfairy. Thank you again for all the wonderful reads this week!

Our Story and Poem of the Month for August, very kindly chosen by Mark Burrow, and apologies for the lateness of this which you can blame on good old Greater Anglia Railway: It’s been another excellent month of stories and poems on ABCtales. The Pick of the Month for poetry is A Martian Sends a Postcard Home 2024 by harryc. It’s a timely reflection on ‘smartphones’. Good for convenience, yes, but maybe not so great for attention spans and...