Blogs

Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point

Even harder than it usually is to make my picks this week. Thank you to all our writers and poets for making ABCTales such a vibrant place Two absolutely outstanding stories have started this week and I'd urge you to read both. They're very different but equally brilliant. I can only choose one as Story of the Week so my vote goes to Drew Gummerson's very very funny Stick of Rock which I'm sure will be in print as soon as he's finished it, but...

The Mule, BBC 1, BBC iPlayer, Writer Nick Schenk, Director Clint Eastwood.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0019n5y/the-mule Based on a true story (kinda, but not really). An article in The New York Times reported that Earl Stone, aged 90, had been convicted for transporting drugs for a Mexican cartel. If Earl Stone had been aged 30 or 40, or even 50, there’d be no story. The story is in his age. He was just doing what a man gotta do. You have, for example, Brian Cox leaving the Scottish islands and chasing...

Book published "Living in the time of Corona Virus"

Mes amie, By posting regular reports of life during two years of Corona, I was able to compile a book about the subject. It is now available at Amazon.com Thanks, as always, for the support from y'all. JXM Available Now, July 2022 (at Amazon.com in hard copy or kindle version) “Living in the time of Corona Virus” -Joseph Xavier Martin 371 pages- available in hard copy and Kindle form at Amazon.com Preface In early March of 2020, we were visiting...

Andrew Miller (2022) The Slowworm’s Song.

The Slowworm’s Song begins with ‘Start,’ and ends with ‘Start’, and in between there is a ‘Stop’. I guess that’s true of most of life, although there might be a lot of hanging about in between. Ex-soldier Stephen Rose lives in Somerset, which is home of sorts. It was where he was brought up by his father. Quakers don’t join the army, but Stephen went against the grain of his father’s pacifist beliefs and that decision defined his adult life. He...

Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point

Posted by Ewan on Fri, 22 Jul 2022 The weeks seem to be flying by. I hope you all survived the heat. No moaning about today’s rain, please. Story of the Week Story of the Week this week goes to not-so-cosy Cotswolds-set “The Bounds” by Charlie77. The start of something longer, this first part is gripping, chilling and blessed with a narrative voice that is very strong indeed. Do check out Rosalie Kempthorne’s latest, too. Discovery is as off-...

Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point Fri 22nd July 2022

The weeks seem to be flying by. I hope you all survived the heat. No moaning about today’s rain, please. Story of the Week Story of the Week this week goes to not-so-cosy Cotswolds-set “The Bounds” by Charlie77. The start of something longer, this first part is gripping, chilling and blessed with a narrative voice that is very strong indeed. Do check out Rosalie Kempthorne’s latest, too. Discovery is as off-kilter and unsettling as all her work...

THE KINDNESS BY SJ HOWARTH (ABCTales' own JupiterMoon). OUT NOW!

When you know your time is short, anything starts to feel like everything… Daisy Lowry is missing a dad…Gabriel Lowry is a dying illusionist seeking a daughter…as both look for a reunion, they tumble into new and magical experiences, Gabriel having it all on to perform the greatest trick of this life – slipping the noose a very bitter, overworked Death has for him…whilst Daisy finds solace in a mysterious group of strong, independent women… SJ...

out of the frying pan

If as some people believe, Russia was behind the Brexit vote, might it be possible they have been influencing social media to turn the population against Johnson? It is not as though everyone was not aware he found truth dull at best, to be glossed over with mockery or buried in fluff of Latin quotes. I don't see why, just now, everyone has suddenly noticed the emperor has no clothes? If Putin were responsible for Johnson becoming PM, as he was...

Story and Poem of the Month

Our Story and Poem of the Month for June, very kindly chosen for us by Mark Say: Here we go with Picks of the Month June 2022! I’m migrating from the written word to audio for my story of the month. Sheep Without a Shepherd by colin.b – an extract from an audiobook – is a great slice of working class memoir told in a Scottish vernacular that makes clear it comes from the heart. It’s a lethal piece of social commentary and carries a real...

Seth Stephens Davidowitz (2017) everybody lies. What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are.

Google announced they would delete data. Algorithms rule the world. And their algorithm made Sergey Brin and Larry Page the richest men in the world. That’s the equivalent of an oil company announcing it would no longer produce petrol. Google would not cooperate with law officials who sought to prosecute women seeking abortion in lieu of Roe versus Wade after searching online, using Google. Google is a noun and verb. Google trends offer the...

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