tcook's blog

The second of our books on Unbound is now available to support. Ewan's Gibbous House is described as 'Victorian Psycho'. It owes a lot to Edgar Allen Poe, Dickens and a host of other great writers - but Ewan's knowledge and skill takes the genre on to new places. It is vital to the development of ABCtales that these books get your support. If we are successful with these two, and one more yet to come, then we will be in a position to get many of...

Great to see Harry back - and on fine form with this one: http://www.abctales.com/story/harry-buschman/man-i-was-0 and from elsie katz, one of her finest ever: http://www.abctales.com/story/elsie-katz/journal-wanton-wanting I forgot the Inspiration Point last week so here's a format from way back when. Just use these two phrases in your story or poem. They can be integral to the piece or purely incidental: the black boots looked fine smiling...

Lily Poole by Jack O'Donnell (better known on here as Celticman) is now available for support on Unbound Books. Pledge away to get it properly published. This is the first of three books by ABCtales authors to go for publication in this manner. Crowd funding is the 'new way' and Unbound are at the forefront of the revolution. ABCtales has been chosen as their way of finding great new authors and Jack is the first of those to go 'live. Support...

A day early I'm afraid as I'm off to WOMAD but two absolute crackers from two of our stalwarts. The story is quirky and funny whilst the poem is heart breaking. Enjoy! http://www.abctales.com/story/terrence-oblong/mattie-johnson http://www.abctales.com/story/veraclark/24th-july It's Tony Cook here - back for six weeks whilst Luke and Anna enjoy their honeymoon. Their wedding was a wonderful affair on the banks of the River Dart and I'm sure you...

Paul Chappell (FTSE100/Footsie), a long-standing member of ABC, very sadly took his own life this past July. UKA Press will be publishing a collection of his work in paperback next month, and they are hoping the publication will help raise awareness of mental health issues in the UK. Please take the time to read this review of the collection by David Gardiner of Gold Dust Magazine: This is a very unusual book in that it was written by a man who...

Ralph Dartford has been a member of ABC since the beginning. He's just put out a fantastic collection of poems, and I wanted to share this glowing review from Rachael Smart (a.k.a VeraClark) with you all: In his debut collection, Ralph Dartford presents narrative poems that are compassionate and heartfelt, gritty and bleak, brimming with insight, experience, truths and tragedy. For starters, ‘Cigarettes, Beer and Love’ is up there with some of...

I, Tony Cook, will be stepping down as Editor on October 7th and Luke Neima will be taking over. This is a major step forward for ABC - Luke will be full time and he's committed to taking us onwards and upwards whilst still retaining all of our core values - open to all, free of charge, supportive and community led. I will still retain ownership of the site and will be involved at every step of the business - I just won't be doing all the day to...

This is an exciting new development for us - and I hope you like it! Inevitably there are teething problems but we are swiftly getting them sorted out. If you have a problem then it's best to post it on the Forum here: http://www.abctales.com/forum/wed-2013-08-07-1657/please-post-your-glitc... Cheers, Tony

Jolono, a fine, talented and much loved member of this site, has published his autobiographical book 'The East End Butcher Boy'. It is a fantastic read and I recommend it highly to all of you. Make it your Summer Holiday reading. The hilarious trailer is on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxltlSu89lo Here's the blurb for the book: Ever wondered what it’s like growing up in London’s East End. Read this book and you’ll find out. How...

C.J. Flood - or, as we know her, Chelsey Flood - has her first book out with Simon and Schuster. 'Infinite Sky' has attracted considerable interest in the trade and we're very proud that another ABCtaler is doing so well. Here are reviews from Sunday's Child (the winner of our Ininite Sky comp) and tcook: SUNDAY'S CHILD WRITES: When I realised this (very pretty!) book was a coming-of-age story, I was really excited because when done well, I find...