Blogs

Annest Gwilym (2020) What the Owl Taught Me

Posted by Insertponceyfrenchnamehere on Thu, 11 Jun 2020

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

Posted by Insertponceyfrenchnamehere on Sun, 07 Jun 2020

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...

Annest Gwilym (2020) What the Owl Taught Me.

Posted by celticman on Sat, 06 Jun 2020

Annest Gwilym (2020) What the Owl Taught Me. I don’t usually review poetry. I’ll tackle pretty much anything else—fiction, factual biography, drama, documentaries, comedy, by which I mean politics and economics— with an insouciant swagger and the hope nobody will ask too many searching questions. Poetry leaves me too exposed as a fuck-wit. No-nothing. One of those dreams where you running around your old school naked and everyone else is...

Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point

Posted by Insertponceyfrenchnamehere on Fri, 05 Jun 2020

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.

Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point

Posted by airyfairy on Fri, 05 Jun 2020

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. Our Story of the Week is the latest chapter of Sooz006's 'Break The Child'. This stands alone brilliantly, but if you haven't read the preceding chapters, please...

Opening the Casket

Posted by philwhiteland on Sat, 30 May 2020

For some time now I've been posting stories about my two hapless undertakers, Josiah and Archibald, to ABCtales and I'm delighted to say that they seem to have proven quite popular. Therefore, filled with a (doubtless misplaced) confidence, I've collected all of these stories together and published them in a Kindle book that rejoices under the title ' A Dubious Undertaking and other stories '. In addition, I've included another series of stories...

The Great Durham Swindle

Posted by Robert Craven on Sat, 30 May 2020

I was once told by a Liverpool author that the difference between the UK and the USA when it came to power is that while in the US power came from wealth in the UK, power came from privilege. This side of the Irish Sea, the current narrative rings true with the unelected advisor to the current government: Dominic Cummings. Julien Temple’s flawed but at times brilliant ‘The Great Rock ‘n Roll Swindle’ springs to mind. The Sex Pistols under the...

Bernard MacLaverty (1998) Grace Notes

Posted by celticman on Fri, 29 May 2020

Grace Notes was shortlisted for the 1997 Booker Prize. Reading this book, over twenty years later and it’s easy to see why. Quality rings true. The narrator is easy to describe. Bernard Mac Laverty does all the heavy lifting for us, when we look over his shoulder and read the programme for her performance of Vernicle , a first performance, just up the road from me, Wood Road, Partick. 'Catherine Anne McKenna was born in Co. Derry, and studied...

The Trouble With Magical Beings by JoAnne Stefanizzi (Penny4athought)

Posted by Insertponceyfrenchnamehere on Tue, 26 May 2020

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...

Alan Warner and Brian Hamill (2019) Good Listeners, published by the common breath.

Posted by celticman on Mon, 25 May 2020

I enjoyed this collection of six short stories from Alan Warner and Brian Hamill. If we went at this alphabetically, it would be BH and AW, but get real. Alan Warner writes an introduction, waxes nostalgically about the time he used to send manuscripts by post! That was before he became an internationally acclaimed writing superstar. He felt sorry for would-be writers like Brian Hamill, whose writing he enjoyed reading, but with nowhere much to...

Pages