Blogs

"The brief here was to write something that holds back and has stuff going on beneath the surface" Scratch has taken that brief by the ears, and wowed us all with a quality piece that leaves us wanting more. Congratulations to him for Story of the Week - "Silver Rider" Poem of the week goes to Esmerelda-O who marks a welcome return with her piece of stunning melancholy, "People in Rooms" http://www.abctales.com/story/esmerelda-o/people-rooms...

It's May! The birds are singing! The blooms are blooming! The sun is shining! The Tories have just won the election! Never mind though! Because we are holding one of our legendary readings at the Wheatsheaf in Fitzrovia which is 100% guaranteed to make you feel better. I'll eat my hat if you don't! Do come along. It's on May 27th at 7pm. We usually finish around 9.30 pm. We already have some fantastic readers lined up, but if you'd like to read...

I have dusted off the chapters and with much apprehension have posted them to ABCtales. I want them to fly but I worry...are the characters well defined? Believable? Worthy of readers emotions? Is the storyline tight enough...enticing enough? Should I re-write and re-write until I'm convinced it is perfect...and will I ever be convinced? Me thinks not! So I have posted them and sat back. Do I wish for comments from readers? Am I happy to see...

I met Scott Halley on my way up Singers Road. I assumed he’d been to the polling station. But he told me he didn’t bother. I know a lot of people that don’t bother. I can’t say I blame them. We live in a more-it-tocracy. The more you have the more you expect and the more you get, whether it’s wealth, jobs, health, or education. For the poor politics is something done to you. When you expect nothing and get nothing there are no surprises. That’s...

Well the the trend that started at the beginning of the year continues apace. Every week without fail new and talented writers turn up, open accounts and start to post. We've already seen some stella performances; here's another... airyfairy signed up and posted a story in response to last week's inspiration point. That story was awarded pick of the day yesterday and today I have great pleasure in announcing that it has now won story of the week...

Laugh Out Loud when you feel like crashing down,because you have nothing left to lose.Take a bow, but don't you give up Now!!! Your future is still in tune. The past is behind you. The present belongs to you. So, do what you've got to do to get back up and make it through. Let life humour you, it is funny:)

“It was the late 70s. Everyone seemed focused on a sense that we were always at the end of things, that it was all collapsing. London was filthy, semi-functional. The phones didn’t work properly, the tube was a nightmare, but no one complained. It fed into a rather apocalyptic sense of things.” Ian McEwan, The Guardian, 26 January 2014. “The farm is crucial. Stranded in such an isolated place, where there are only the natural rhythms of life and...

Almost There. In just over twelve hours’ time, we’ll know who’s the world’s best boxer at welterweight and more importantly who’s the best pound for pound boxer alive today. It’s being billed at Good Guy v Bad Guy. Floyd Money Mayweather the multi-million dollar, cocky, arrogant, bully boy American against little Manny Pacquiao the quiet well- mannered Filipino. Not quite the truth. That’s what the promoters want us to believe because it all...

I use to think : There must be a true writer inside because I have this need to write. But I'm not sure how to cultivate the acclaimed writer within or even if I'm supposed to. Maybe it's just letting the thoughts flow and catching a great dialogue or one magnificent paragraph, a moment to savor, like catching a wave - a rush of adrenaline. Maybe I don't have a full length masterpiece inside... but it's all right. I can survive. I will still...

We have a tie for Story of the Week! Both very different styles, both wonderfully authentic depictions of family, love and ageing. Read them one after the other and you'll see what I mean. Congratulations to T_az and Celticman: http://www.abctales.com/story/taz/taking-turns http://www.abctales.com/story/celticman/snap-0 Poem of the Week goes to london_calling79 for his wonderful Current - inspired by a chance encounter - a nothing much turned...