Blogs

Well, for a welcome change there was a little less agonising to do in order to select this week's winners. Two stand-out pieces. First the winning story, it's noo's wonderfully rich and deep Game : Game and the winning poem is Vladislas32's astonishing Homage to Mr Ginsberg which was a pick of the day but now gets a thoroughly deserved promotion: Homage to Mr. Ginsberg The list of honourable mentions that I'd compiled for this week's process is...

For those Talers who currently have submissions out to agents or plan to have in the future: Rejection: Live! Is it fair? Is there any objectivity? Does it bring confidence to the process?

There was a place I loved to go as a child… that place held a myriad of stories- in worn pages bound in leather and cloth covers-- it beckoned me to come and play. It promised adventure, laughter, exploration and amazing magic…and it was all a child could imagine. The building was made of large stone blocks…a refuge from the world …It protected, it taught and it comforted. An outlet to all things imagination could conjure. In those pages I found...

Our latest ABCtales book to be published by Unbound is the truly excellent 'Ex' by Laurie Avadis, known on here as 'lavadis'. It's the extraordinary tale of a 30 stone policeman who is intent on murdering his young son. It makes you laugh - a lot - and then suddenly take in a sharp breath and realise just what it is that you are laughing at. This is a shocking and thought provoking book that comes from the heart of Laurie's experience as a...

This is from the AQA (formerly known as the Assesments and Qualifications Aliance) website: The Department for Education announced on 10 September 2015 that AS and A-level Creative Writing cannot be redeveloped under government changes to A-levels. That basically means that AS and A levels in creatve writing are to be discontinued. For those interested the full directive is available to read here: Read the announcement If you aren't already...

There will come a time when things will start to make sense again; the frame you broke, the comedy that made you choke, the meal you ate, tasteless but good all the same. The paradox of life, soon all of it will make sense. But until then, whatever we are doing now, will only take us a step closer to what we'll fully understand then.

ABCtales, as many of you will already know, is the go-to writers site for Unbound publishing so this makes very interested reading: How crowdfunding is fuelling the avant garde Exciting times!

A little on the early side this week as I'm on holiday and there's a swimming pool ten feet away waiting for the pleasure of my company... Nottingham by all accounts was a huge success, so a million thanks to VeraClark for her super-efficient organising. We are planning something for London in November, so watch out for further details. Meanwhile, ABC has been bursting at the seams with quality poetry and prose - so much to choose from! Poem of...

A good grey day. How I love a cloudy, sun blocked, clouds rolling in, grey day. I am lazy personified on a typical sun drenched day with the heat melting my rubber soles…but give me a good storm brewing and suddenly I am pulsing with energy and racing thoughts. At the first clap of thunder, I find a window and watch the clouds roll in. I thrill to the sway of the trees and the teaming rain…I am in heaven with the artistic dance of lightning. I...

Our next ABCtales reading event is bound for Nottingham... tomorrow night! Do join us on Saturday 5 th September at 7pm, The Cross Keys, 15 Byard Lane, Nottingham, NG1 2GJ for prose and poetry in a splendid city. It’s a vibrant reading line up, including Blackjack Davey, Johnshade, Philip Sidney, airy fairy, Bear, Scratch, London Calling, Luigi Pagano, Denzella, Lisa H. If you’d like to read, there are still a couple of slots, so drop me an...