Blogs

I'm delighted to announce that Excavatum: A Northern Folk Story, 1953 by our very own Sean McNulty is available to order on Amazon now. It was originally posted on ABCTales so I've already enjoyed it and can 100% recommend! Disembodied. So many living things.' Three exiled clergymen set off for Greenland aboard the trawler Dolores Costello with a wayward sea captain at the helm. When they are tasked with fulfilling a mother’s last wish, the...

Filed by Fletcher Moody — Literary Correspondent There were forty-four speeches in that room on the Fourth of July, 1873, and a man killed every one of them with a single sentence, and I was there to watch it done. I was also, I should say at the front, carrying the forty-fourth. The occasion was the Independence Day dinner of the Americans in London, held that year with the full pomp the exiled patriot brings to the business of missing home. I...

Story and Poem of the Week, with Inspiration Point posted by di_hard Thank You so much to everyone who has posted this week, giving ABCTales such a wonderful variety of quality writing! Here is a tiny selection : Eric Marsh continues to share a chapter a day, of both his latest fabulous Witch of the Dark Forest, and Amandarella stories. This week Amandarella has ventured North and found an archeological challenge. The characters encountered make...

When you’re out and about, getting in your 8000 steps, you are liable to cross paths (if not swords) with the crazy that is the dog lover. Not all dog walkers are dog lovers, but when they have their dog in a pram, take my advice, don’t make eye contact. Have come to the conclusion that many dog lovers have a dog for the sole purpose of seeking attention. This is not restricted to the senior dog lover, many of whom are the worst offenders for...

What is love? There was a pop song by Howard Jones that asked the question, 'What is love, anyway? Does anybody love anybody anyway?' It is a question that I have had to grapple with as a Christian. In western culture, the word love tends to be associated with romantic love. In America, young women used to wear a T shirt saying, 'Jesus is my number one (boyfriend.)' If the love of God is simply understood as a romantic feeling, this is unhelpful...

I receive more positive feedback about The Less Miserables than any of my other work... and nothing makes me happier. I love these stories, and I thought that all of you might want a "heads up" about the approaching end of the series. The next story is called "The Less Miserables Find a Way". I think this is the point of the entire series: finding a way . The lessons behind each story are principles of self-mastery. Hopefully, anyone who reads...

I have always appreciated a bargain and being treated fairly, and find that this proclivity has increased with age – or perhaps it’s just brass neck that has increased, if I can sneeze-fart in the post office and brazen it out, I can certainly ask for what I want. So, it came to pass, that before going away on holiday in May, I bought two of those plug-in timers for lamps to fool burglars that there was somebody home. (Now I just use inulin as a...

Patricia Wolf’s Outback is a DS Walker Thriller. This is her debut novel. Less than a handful of readers would know (or care) who DS Walker is. But it’s presented as part of a series of books such as Rebus or Laidlaw that has a pedigree. This is market-speak for look at me. Outback is readable. I’ve left unfinished around four novels recently. Simple setup—with the ticking clock. Unless they’re found they’ll die. The Australian sun is a killer...

Having too much time to scroll, and having clicked once on something to do with gut health and the microbiome, my Insta feed has become inundated with increasingly disgusting images of bloated bellies and corresponding cures. From Tai Chi – emphasis on the AI – to mushroom gummies. Some of the things I thought I’d try until I saw the price, or the ingredient list, usually both. However, had decided to try inulin as it’s only chicory and is good...

Nowadays, sausages and other processed foods are allegedly the devil’s work. Extremely bad for the body. But who can easily give up a lovely sticky, slow-cooked pork sausage? Not I. Especially if you’ve ever read Nigel Slater’s description of the joys of a sausage sandwich. Nothing else will do. It is fortunate then, that supernatural helper, YouTube, and a Food Processor have come to the rescue for making less-bad-for-you, and more economical,...