Blogs

It's snowing

I love the quiet snow the huge silky snowflakes that sprinkle down Like they did many years ago Muffling my heartbeat And lifting my spirits As I walk in dreams Together with my memories

Infinite Sky by C.J. Flood - out now!

C.J. Flood - or, as we know her, Chelsey Flood - has her first book out with Simon and Schuster. 'Infinite Sky' has attracted considerable interest in the trade and we're very proud that another ABCtaler is doing so well. Here are reviews from Sunday's Child (the winner of our Ininite Sky comp) and tcook: SUNDAY'S CHILD WRITES: When I realised this (very pretty!) book was a coming-of-age story, I was really excited because when done well, I find...

Rio and Norway

Sandown was so wet on the 2nd Feb that all Hurdle races were cancelled so no race for Rio! We are looking at a race that may suit on the 15th also at Sandown, so fingers crossed for the weather. Norway was fantastic. Northern Lights, Ice Hotel, Dog Sledding, we crammed a lot into 5 days. Went to Tromso and Alta in the north of Norway. Would highly recommend it!

Getting past the censor

I'm starting this blog in the hope that I'll be able to keep it up. It's not that I’m the type of person who starts something and then quickly gives up. On the contrary, I’m a persistent character who, once he starts something, will go all out to keep it up. And I do, in fact, have a Japan-based blog that, despite coming up against many hurdles, I have kept up for more than five years. The problem is that I live in China, and the Chinese...

Sneaking past the censo

I'm starting this blog in the hope that I'll be able to keep it up. It's not that I’m the type of person who starts something and then quickly gives up. On the contrary, I’m a persistent character who, once he starts something, will go all out to keep it up. And I do, in fact, have a Japan-based blog that, despite coming up against many hurdles, I have kept up for more than five years. The problem is that I live in China, and the Chinese...

Length of Posted Pieces

I am often asked what is the ideal length of a piece of prose to post on here - and the answer is 1500 to 2000 words. If your piece is longer then I suggest that you break it up into sections and post it in bits. You can get away with 3000 words - but it will inevitably suffer from fewer reads and anything over that taxes the patience of the Editors!

Black Swan (2010) directed by Darren Oronofsky (watched on DVD).

This is a story about possession, obsession and the search for perfection. Nina Sayers (played by Natalie Portman) is all of these things and a bit more as well. Her life is ballet and is being relived vicariously through her mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) an ex-ballet dancer. In a telling exchange Nina reminds her that she was 28 when she gave birth to her, so her claims of having to give up ballet…In a prior scene Erica offers her a slice of...

Snowdrops

Better get over it. Snowdrop shoots are sprouting round about in gardens- also in my garden. Harbingers of Spring- we are getting closer with each day that passes.

Sandown 2nd feb.

Well hes now entered in a big race at Sandown on Saturday. However, I will be in Norway! But the lads will be there cheering him on. He's up against much more experienced horses and the best I can hope for is a place. But you never know! I will try to listen to the commentary whilst away. I'll be on some kind of glacier somewhere in the middle of bloody nowhere trying to get a signal! But thats okay, looking forward to the trip. Come on Rio!

The Queen of Versailles Storyville BBC 4 written and directed by Lauren Greenfield

The stories we tell ourselves tell us who we are. ‘I got George Bush elected…it wasn’t strictly legal, so I don’t want to talk about it.’ ‘I don’t want to kiss some old hag.’ David Seigal aged around 74, says of his wife Jackie 43. ‘She’s like another child.’ Jackie: ‘Seven [kids] by birth and one inherited.’ ‘My husband told me he was going to trade me in for two twenty year olds when I got to 40.’ ‘When I grew up I never knew you could have a...

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