Blogs

Swing Hammer Swing! won the Whitbread Book of the Year. I like whitebread, but scientists with Twitter feeds say it’s not good for ducks or swans. The latter can’t moult and the young are unable to fly. This book does fly, but doesnae go very far. It’s the Gorbals, Scobie Street, when all the houses were falling down and the less-well heeled populist sent on their way. The ne’-er-do-well narrator Tam Clay, 28, wordsmith and would-be-author is...

A short but intense story for you this week by London Calling: http://www.abctales.com/story/londoncalling79/dogs And the poem by scorio 88 just hits the spot for anyone who's ever worked in an office: http://www.abctales.com/story/scorpio88/rumour I hope you also enjoy this week's Inspiration point: http://www.abctales.com/inspiration-point-ip

I've been thinking about Blogging lately. I have all these thoughts in my head all the time but few seem joined up enough to actually write a piece for my ABC account. So I wondered what I could make of a Blog. I dip in and out of other peoples' Blogs, they all seem so interesting I often wonder why they are just Blog entries and not actual stories. I did a daily Blog a few years back, but that was mainly aimed at the London Transport (sic)...

Aye, I can hear you thinking. What’s he reading that shite for? Well, as you probably know I’ve been trying to sell my book Lily Poole to the unsuspecting public. For two years I’ve been making promises and telling enough lies to become the next Tory Prime Minister. Well, that wasn’t to be, but I did get a lot of support from a couple of homeless folk that I bribed with a bottle of Eldorado and the promise of enough cheap wine to float off to...

Here's a new competition for you to enter - and we're looking for a London theme. There will be one winner of poetry and one winner of prose and each will receive a copy of The Gentle Author's 'London Album'. This is a seriously beautiful book and is well worth the winning. Our very own East End Butcher Boy, Joe Lawrence, will be the judge and his decision will be final. Entries cost £2 each and you may enter as many times as you like. Make sure...

I used a phrase in a story the other day, which I thought was fairly commonplace, but someone commented that they were now going to add it to their lexicon ( see comment ). It made me realise just how much I rely on the use of idioms in my everyday speech, and in my writing. Frankly, I blame Readers Digest. Whenever I was waiting, either at the Doctor's surgery or the Dentist's (and waiting used to be the main feature of the NHS) as a child I...

Theresa May, or may not be, the next Conservative leader and Prime Minister. But I’m with Clement Attlee on this one. : for the Tory party that inflicted those bitter experiences on me. So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin. They condemned millions of first-class people to semi-starvation. Attlee was, of course, fighting his and Labour’s corner. Trying to kick-start the NHS and Welfare State and wrestle the money to pay for it away...

A double handed winner of the Story of the Week for airy fairy: http://www.abctales.com/story/airyfairy/flowers-part-one-two-ip http://www.abctales.com/story/airyfairy/flowers-part-two-two-ip And a really good poem: http://www.abctales.com/story/lovewriting/eriksay And a fun time Inspiration Point: http://www.abctales.com/inspiration-point-ip Congrats to the winners and here's to another great week of stories and poems on ABCtales.

Poetry-wise we saw a gallery of colourful artist-inspired pieces in June: a vibrant response. As I post this, I know all of us are thinking of Bee and her family. Bee’s contribution to ABCTales was immeasurable: her time for others, her consummate encouragement, that bold sense of humour that glimmered in all her work and feedback. First up this month is one of my favourite poems written by Bee: A sensual lullaby for grown-ups. Spirited and...

After the success of Jeff Torrington’s Swing Hammer Swing !, The Devil’s Carousel is his follow-up novel. Only it isn’t. It’s not a success and it’s not a novel. The Devil’s Carousel is a collection of short stories, versions of which are listed and have appeared elsewhere, such as ‘The Poacher’ in the Glasgow Herald , ‘The Sink’ in BBC publications, ‘The Fade’ in the Scottia Bar Writers prize. The setting in each story comes from the same place...