Blogs

The Prowler

A prowler in the world is really a storm of wind- at times solemn determined to drink all of the wine in your life. But today the sun brings life- dispels anger & hostility. Just left church enthralled by the massage of good-will common sense & being forgiven.

Steve Pinker (2021) Rationality: What it Is, Why it Seems Scarce, Why it Matters

I fail the rationality test with unfailing regularity. Remember Spock (Leonard Nimoy) from Star Trek ? He was always mucking up and being too logical. James T. Kirk (William Shatner) was always cutting through the bullshit and getting to the heart of the matter. Intuitive knowledge trumped rationality every time. We like to think of ourselves as one or the other, but most people are bits and bobs. Easily taken. When was America American? A...

Story and Poem of the Month

Our Story and Poem for the month of March, very kindly chosen by onemorething The birds are starting to tell us that Spring is here and it’s my pleasure to choose the Picks of the Month for a blustery March. It feels like it hasn’t stopped raining where I am in England for the last few weeks so I’m looking forward to some warmth and brightness. Though reading all the wonderful writing on the site always brings its own light and comfort and ever...

'Feeding the Sea' by ABCTales writer Lem

Lem has been a long-time contributer to ABCTales. At our reading event she mentioned that 'Feeding the Sea' which she read so beautifully last night had been accepted by Seaside Gothic, so a big congratulations to her! You can buy your copy here: https://seasidegothic.com/shop/issues/issue-6/

READING EVENT - THANK YOU!

A very big thank you to all who came to our online reading event last night. I think it was our best yet with some truly spectacular performances. I'm very very grateful to Mark Burrow and onemorething for herding kittens organising the reading list, and to Mark for keeping everything running so smoothly on the night. As an added bonus Mark has recorded this one, due to popular demand, so if you couldn't make it we'll be posting a link once it's...

Luzzu, BBC 4, BBC iPlayer, written and directed by Alex Camilleri.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001kjgx/luzzu ‘Without a boat you’ll lose your way,’ a fisherman friend warns Jesmark (Jesmark Scicluna). Jesmark fishes the same inshore Maltese waters in his 12-foot Luzzu that his father and grandfather before him fished. It’s not a job, but an identity. His boat, which was his father’s father’s boat before him, needs work. But he can’t afford to pay for it. His forefathers made a living from the sea,...

Scotland 2—0 Spain.

The last time Scotland beat Spain at Hampden, King Kenny Dalglish scored and so did super-rat Mo Johnston. The last time Scott McTominay scored a double double in two competitive matches was eh, never. McTominay used to get a game for Man United. He was recently touted for a loan move to Rangers because he wasn’t good enough to get into the Celtic midfield. We all know the rules, for the diddy team to win, Hampden has got to be the perfect...

Betsy Lerner (2002) An Editor’s Advice to Writers: The Forest for the Trees.

Betsy Lerner has won a stack of awards. Since the publication of her book over twenty years ago, there’s more wood, more forest, more trees. She tells us this book is not a book about how to write. Anne Lamott (1994) Bird by Bird , one of my favourites, is listed in her bibliography. Rather, Lerner’s book is about pattern recognition. How writers can’t really see what they (we or I) write, but engage in magical thinking. To ad lib William...

Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point

Happy Spring to all! Our Poem of the Week is JupiterMoon's 'the frog pond at equinox' - an incredible poem. You can read it here: https://www.abctales.com/story/jupitermoon/frog-pond-equinox Our Story of the Week is rosaliekempthorne's brilliant Ice Blue Eyes. You can read it here: https://www.abctales.com/story/rosaliekempthorne/ice-blue-eyes And if you haven't read these pieces already, you should. Fine writers and fine writing from Terrence...

AI/Change of Terms of Use - Please Read

This is to let you all know that our Terms of Use section has now been updated to reflect our decision not to alllow the use of AI on our site. https://www.abctales.com/legal If you have any further queries about this please email Claudine@abctales.com

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