Blogs

Summer's been a bit of a wash-out but everything in the ABCtales' garden is rosy. I've gone for a clutch of pieces that didn't get the golden cherries in the week but are no less deserving for that. First-up, a lovely piece of nature writing from Di-Hard is our poem of the week: https://www.abctales.com/story/dihard/18th-june-woods-and-back Story of the week is one that spoke to me for lots of reasons from the prolific and talented Rosalie...

I have not been blessed this week with the art of literary creation. I have been staring at blank pages for far too long…and too many hours…to feel content with my day. Why? What causes this lack of concentration…This ebb from imagination to flat line? I’ve only an empty room and humming keyboard responding…no answer forth coming. It is frustrating. I know the story is there and the next chapter on the verge of birth but...here…just on the...

Cider warned me, ‘he’ll no recognise you.’ Willie Miller was standing in the doorway, squinting in my direction. He bounded down the two steps and came out into his driveway, took a step up on to the mossy lawn to meet me. Cider hovered, anxiously, at my shoulder. ‘How you getting on Jack?’ Willie stuck out his hand. We shook hands, ‘Great Willie, how are you getting on?’ ‘No bad,’ he smiled. I only ever talked to Willie about fitba. I’ve known...

I came to read Doug Johntone’s The Jump , sideways. I’d never heard of the guy, but read a review and thought, aye. And I’m glad I did. Doug Johnstone is the business. If I need to talk about setting, then you’ve got it wrong. Ellie does the work for you. She knows every park bench and every pebble that has rolled down a hill around the Forth Road Bridge and South Queensferry. It’s imprinted on the page. Ellie likes the pain of tattoos, a...

Frank Woods (2019) Where the Bridge Lies. Where the Bridge Lies was Scottish novel of the week recently, which is quite an achievement for debut author Frank Woods. He can be proud of that. This novel should tick all the boxes for me. It’s set in Clydebank. And Clydebank is where I set most of my stories. It features a family that died in the Clydebank Blitz. I’d guess it’s loosely based on the Rocks’ family, who apart from the father, who...

(image courtesy of Andrew Shiva/Wikipedia) Being the third part of The Moscow ChroniclesI Follow the link s for Part 1 - Moscow Calling and Part 2 - Taksi! Stepping out from the Arrivals Hall of Moscows Domodedovo Airport into the Russian night was more of a surprise than I expected. It was, of course, cold, this being November. However, at an average of -5C it was, apparently, relatively spring-like by Muscovite standards. The real shock to the...

Seize the Day

two sides of the same coin