Blogs

READING EVENT - THANK YOU!

Posted by Insertponceyfrenchnamehere on Sun, 02 Apr 2023

A very big thank you to all who came to our online reading event last night. I think it was our best yet with some truly spectacular performances. I'm very very grateful to Mark Burrow and onemorething for herding kittens organising the reading list, and to Mark for keeping everything running so smoothly on the night. As an added bonus Mark has recorded this one, due to popular demand, so if you couldn't make it we'll be posting a link once it's...

Luzzu, BBC 4, BBC iPlayer, written and directed by Alex Camilleri.

Posted by celticman on Sat, 01 Apr 2023

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001kjgx/luzzu ‘Without a boat you’ll lose your way,’ a fisherman friend warns Jesmark (Jesmark Scicluna). Jesmark fishes the same inshore Maltese waters in his 12-foot Luzzu that his father and grandfather before him fished. It’s not a job, but an identity. His boat, which was his father’s father’s boat before him, needs work. But he can’t afford to pay for it. His forefathers made a living from the sea,...

Scotland 2—0 Spain.

Posted by celticman on Tue, 28 Mar 2023

The last time Scotland beat Spain at Hampden, King Kenny Dalglish scored and so did super-rat Mo Johnston. The last time Scott McTominay scored a double double in two competitive matches was eh, never. McTominay used to get a game for Man United. He was recently touted for a loan move to Rangers because he wasn’t good enough to get into the Celtic midfield. We all know the rules, for the diddy team to win, Hampden has got to be the perfect...

Betsy Lerner (2002) An Editor’s Advice to Writers: The Forest for the Trees.

Posted by celticman on Fri, 24 Mar 2023

Betsy Lerner has won a stack of awards. Since the publication of her book over twenty years ago, there’s more wood, more forest, more trees. She tells us this book is not a book about how to write. Anne Lamott (1994) Bird by Bird , one of my favourites, is listed in her bibliography. Rather, Lerner’s book is about pattern recognition. How writers can’t really see what they (we or I) write, but engage in magical thinking. To ad lib William...

Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point

Posted by Insertponceyfrenchnamehere on Fri, 24 Mar 2023

Happy Spring to all! Our Poem of the Week is JupiterMoon's 'the frog pond at equinox' - an incredible poem. You can read it here: https://www.abctales.com/story/jupitermoon/frog-pond-equinox Our Story of the Week is rosaliekempthorne's brilliant Ice Blue Eyes. You can read it here: https://www.abctales.com/story/rosaliekempthorne/ice-blue-eyes And if you haven't read these pieces already, you should. Fine writers and fine writing from Terrence...

AI/Change of Terms of Use - Please Read

Posted by Insertponceyfrenchnamehere on Fri, 24 Mar 2023

This is to let you all know that our Terms of Use section has now been updated to reflect our decision not to alllow the use of AI on our site. https://www.abctales.com/legal If you have any further queries about this please email Claudine@abctales.com

Climbing Blind, BBC 4, BBC iPlayer, Director and Producer Alastair Lee.

Posted by celticman on Wed, 22 Mar 2023

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000jb7t/climbing-blind ‘I’m not disabled, I’m blind able,’ said Jesse Dufton, the first blind man to climb the 440- foot sea stack the Old Man of Hoy in Orkney on the 4 th June 2019. A consultant’s diagnosis that you are going to be blind is akin to a diagnosis of terminal cancer. Of all our senses, sight is the most precious. Given a choice (we don’t get a choice, it’s more like fate) I’d take the terminal...

Murder in the Pacific, BBC 2, BBC iPlayer, Director Chloe Campbell.

Posted by celticman on Tue, 21 Mar 2023

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0dvdpmq/murder-in-the-pacific-series-1-episode-1 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0dvdqvz/murder-in-the-pacific-series-1-episode-2 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0dvdrpx/murder-in-the-pacific-series-1-episode-3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Warrior_%281955%29 ‘One death is a tragedy, a million death is a statistic.’ A quote perhaps wrongly attributed to the Georgian, and mass murderer...

Andrew O’Hagan (2006) Be Near Me.

Posted by celticman on Mon, 20 Mar 2023

I’ve been dipping into Andrew O’Hagan’s back catalogue. Be Near Me was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2006, but for me the book didn’t work. The title comes from an Alfred, Lord Tennyson poem, ‘In Memoriam, A.H.H.,’ preceding the beginning of the novel. ‘Be near me when the light is low, When the blood creeps, and the nerves prick And tingle: when the heart is sick, And all the wheels of Being slow.’ Who is it? What is it? We can expect...

ONLINE READING EVENT REGISTRATION LINK

Posted by Insertponceyfrenchnamehere on Mon, 20 Mar 2023

Very pleased to announce that the reading list for our upcoming virtual event on Saturday April 1st is now FULL! We still have places in the audience but you must register here or you won't be allowed in: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYqd-mopjkvHt2R5NRDreRa_8JOzMvT5Frw We have some brilliant readers and it's always a wonderful evening so we'd love to see as many of you as possible. We start at 7pm All enquiries to rachel@abctales.com

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