Blogs

Baby P: The Untold Story. BBC 1 directed by Henry Singer (watch it on BBC IPlayer).

August 2007, Peter Connelly, a cherubic, 17-month old, blond-haired, blue eyed boy was unlawfully killed – beaten to death. Among other injuries he suffered were broken ribs, a broken back and a missing fingertip. His mother and her boyfriend were found guilty of those crimes. This is not the story about the 260 children that have died since the, 26 of them known to the local authorities. Or the story of the five to ten familial homicides every...

More comely than a Palfrey's Gazookus

An old lady staggering in the street in a quilted turqouise anorak/body suit looked so much like an alzheimers astronaut, tipping slowly into the wind.. david bowie in sheltered housing Weird dream of teenage girls, beauties, watching me take a bath through the skylight. One starts opening her buttocks and shitting through the window and the turd turns into the neck of a honking canada goose that starts flapping round the bathroom causing havoc...

John Lanchester (2014) How to Speak Money.

Not many people read dictionaries, especially, a dictionary of money-talk that will be out of date by the time it gets to print, but I was always a bit weird. One of the few and therefore scarce O’grades I got was in the ‘dismal science’ of economics. I got a B grade. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. I know you’re secretly impressed. I was surprised. I’ll tell you my secret: if it wasn’t supply; it was demand. I could even pontificate about...

Story, Poem and Inspiration Point of the Week

Congratulations this week to Bee for her stunning, multi-layered piece on memories, and to Barely Black Francis for his wonderful poem on parenthood: http://www.abctales.com/story/barely-black-francis/maudlin-tuesday-after... http://www.abctales.com/story/bee/all-ghosts-us As for the Inspiration Point, well, with Halloween next Friday it's a bit of a no brainer isn't it: poetry or prose with some reference to ghosts . Good luck!

A Pledge for Lily Poole

A Pledge for Lily Poole I'm an avid fan of Jack O'Donnell's writing and this is my small supportive pledge for the big man himself. As you know, Unbound is a brand new publishing concept – a crowdfunded publishing platform. At Unbound, authors pitch their ideas and the public choose which books get written. You can fund your favourite authors directly by pledging cash to their novel. Ewan is deliciously close to completion and needs your support...

Roll Up, Roll Up

A guest post by ABCtales Author Ewan Lawrie : The galloping mare that is Gibbous House 's campaign to be published is careering down the home straight. We are 87% of the way there. And to save this poor jockey from brandishing his whip, Unbound is holding a draw for Launch Party tickets: everyone who contributes from now until the target is reached is eligible. I'll buy the winner a drink too, when I meet them. Now that's an offer. Let nothing...

The Reclamation Of Self

A Statement Of Truth And Consciousness: Humanity And The Reclamation Of Self Or A 1000 Year Manifesto For those of you who feel lost, we have a map For those of you who feel directionless, we have a compass For those of you who feel about to fall, we have a net to place between you and the abyss The history of man lacks any and all relevance. Discount it, for it is in-credible. What went before is as water that passed between unknown rocks, in...

Don't fear the dead

Today, I drove a very long way to talk to some people for an hour. Then I drove a very long way back again. It was deemed a good thing to do. The people applauded spontaneously. I felt embarrassed and thanked them. I hired a car through work to get me there. It was almost new and as big as a bus. Tonight, I just drove my own car to a local garage and posted the keys through what I hope is the right letterbox. If not, the neighbour of the garage...

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

'If chance supplied a loaf of white bread, Two casks of wine and a leg of mutton, In the corner of a garden with a tulip-cheeked girl There'd be enjoyment that no Sultan can outdo. A rubai is a four-line lyric a,a,b,a, the third line adding variation of form. They were popular verse, anyone and everyone could write and share them. Omar Khayyam (1048-1131) was a distinguished Iranian philosopher. he wrote rubai for fun. Many variations on a few...

Michael Cannon (2014) Articles of Faith

I admit to googling Michael Cannon to see if I knew him. He comes from the West of Scotland and has had a wide variety of jobs (snap), wasn’t very good at school (snap), has written a couple of novels (well I’ve kinda) and they’ve been published. Snap out of it. I don’t know the lucky bastard, but I have read his book. What attracted me to Articles of Faith wasn’t the author but the subject. The narrative setting in my hometown Clydebank, a...

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