Insertponceyfrenchnamehere's blog

Well, first of all I have to tell you that the editors had a virtual reading event last night over Zoom. Very kindly suggested, and organised by Mark Burrow, it was a wild success with readers from all over the world. In fact, it was so good that we are definitely going to go ahead with a Main Event for everyone, so keep your eyes peeled for the announcement! It should be sometime next month and will be especially good for all the lovely...

Our Story and Poem for the Month of June have very kindly been chosen by Philip Sidney: I thought I knew exactly which two pieces I would pick for this month – but thought I’d better have a proper read through of the month’s offering - and dug up a treasure trove. Thank you so much to all of our contributors for a wonderful few hours of reading! I have remained with my original choices but I have so many additional recommendations too! Poem of...

Posted by airyfairy on Fri, 03 Jul 2020 No apologies for the fact that Story of the Week is actually a series. Stephen Thom's marvellous 'Pins' goes from strength to strength. The first beautifully written part will draw you in to the story - follow the links to the subsequent parts and you'll find yourself somewhere you never expected to be: https://www.abctales.com/story/stephen-thom/pins-1-0 Poem of the Week is Ralph's 'Nineteen and the...

Posted by Philip Sidney on Sat, 20 Jun 2020 One thing about this glitch in our history is that it's given us tme to reflect. The two picks for this week are excellent aids to our own mullings. Story of the week goes to Error_404's deeply poignant, Memory Lake: https://www.abctales.com/story/error404/memory-lake Poem of the week goes to littleditty's inventive prose poem, This Year's Walk: https://www.abctales.com/story/littleditty/years-walk08...

Big congratulations to our two winners today: Poem of the Week - Iriecat by Lavadis Story of the Week - Tales from the Psych Ward - Part 1 Do read both - they're wonderful! https://www.abctales.com/story/lavadis/iriecat https://www.abctales.com/story/lem/tales-psych-ward-part-1 Here's the Inspiration Point: inspiration-point-ip I hope you all have a great weekend

Annest Gwilym (2020) What the Owl Taught Me. I'm very pleased to put Annest's new book on our front page. Writing as Rosa Cruz, many of these poems were published on ABCTales. Below is a wonderful review by our own celticman, followed by a link to her page where you can order. If you pay with Paypal, your address will be added automatically. 'I don’t usually review poetry. I’ll tackle pretty much anything else—fiction, factual biography, drama,...

Story and Poem of the Month for May very kindly chosen by Mark Say: Story of the month Top choice this month is After Gyles’ Quay by Sean McNulty, vivid portrayal of how a group of boys react to the death of an old friend. It comes with humour and sadness, and provides a strong portrayal of how children begin to grope their way towards adulthood. https://www.abctales.com/ story/sean-mcnulty/after- gyles-quay Two others I greatly enjoyed: the two...

Thank you again for so much wonderful writing this week. There's been some intensely personal pieces, some commentary on the world, some beautiful pieces of nature writing, some marvellous escapism. Welcome to all those who have just joined us, and to old friends who have returned.

I am very pleased to announce the publication of 'The Trouble With Magical Beings' by JoAnne Stefanizzi who writes on ABCTales as Penny4athought: 'Nine year old Daniel is flying his kite along the beach late at night when something begins to spark in the tail of his kite. He's afraid his precious kite is on fire and he doesn’t want anything to happen to his kite. His dad built it with him two year ago and they can never build another one because...

Posted by Philip Sidney on Fri, 22 May 2020 Have you been zooming/Teaming and all of those other virtual methods of communicating? Remember those luxurious days of careless touch and wandering? Although our day to day lives are curtailed, there's time to travel to the past and capture moments from memories and share them here. Our two picks of the week are fabulous examples of this. Poem of the week goes to Socialeaf with a blending of love -...