airyfairy's blog

Two very different, and very thoughtful, pieces this week. Story of the Week is jxmartin's 'Ian - the aftermath', about the devastation of a hurricane. One commenter on ABC has likened this author's beautifully written diaries of American life to the BBC broadcasts by the late, great Alistair Cooke, and I would certainly agree. The same warmth and friendliness, accompanied by acute observation: Ian- the aftermath | ABCtales Poem of the Week is...

We're living in a strange old world at the moment, one way and another, and our Story of the Week reflects this perfectly. Jane Hyphen's 'It's the year...' is sharply funny and surreal, and yet somehow all too believable. If you happen to know an Orca, now might be the time to start getting on the right side of it. It's the year. . . | ABCtales Our Poem of the Week takes the autumn equinox as its theme. Jennifer Skinner's haunting 'Lucid Dreams...

So much good stuff to enjoy! Our Story of the Week goes to Hudson Moon's 'Onward I Mutter - A Ramble'. It's funny, it's instantly relatable, it was a bright spot in the week, it's like having a conversation with a good friend: Onward I Mutter - A Ramble | ABCtales Poem of the Week is TJW's stunning 'Insidious'. This is writing from the heart and soul, and it will stay with you: Insidious | ABCtales This week's Inspiration Point is here:...

We're having what we in the UK call a heatwave, so it's been nice to be able to sit in the shade and read lots of lovely stuff on ABC this week. Poem of the Week is the latest in bhi's brilliant sequence This Life. This one is called Resilience - as usual the writing is wonderful and the images draw you completely into the writer's vision, but there is also message within it that is absolutely perfect for our times: (This Life) Part 7:...

The longer days and warmer weather has definitely brought something out in ABC Talers - there's been some cracking stuff on the site this week. That being said, one poem in particular stood out for me. Our Poem of the Week is 'Stories I won't tell you' by london_calling79. It is a visceral piece, digging down into the realities of a particular kind of grief. It pulled me into its narrative, and although I immediately wanted to read it again, it...

No difficulty at all in choosing our Story of the Week this time - an episode of jeand's brave and absorbing account of her experiences of what started out as Bell's Palsy and has now taken an even more complicated turn. Please do read this, and the other parts of Jean's story. I know everyone on the site will want to send her all the very best: Janus Look 4 | ABCtales Poem of the Week goes to smokejack's 'Undertow'. It's a swirling, hypnotic...

Again this week we've had marvellous work on the site, some writers tackling head on the heartbreaking events of the last couple of weeks, others giving us some uplifting respite from the grim news. Poem of the Week is socialeaf's beautiful 'Then to Spring', which manages to do both, with its wonderful description of spring breaking through and its image of desperate escape from the thing 'raking at our backs'. A remarkable piece of work. Then...

Two very haunting and unsettling pieces for you this week, which also have the advantage of being beautifully written. Poem of the Week is onemorething's 'The Tale of the Six Swans'. It captures the dark magic and timelessnes of the original story, giving it a new focus for our own times. It really is like reading a fairytale anew: The Tale of the Six Swans | ABCtales Story of the Week goes to Simon Barget's 'Fame'. This has a dark magic of its...

ABC writers have really started the new year with a flourish. There has been some absolutely marvellous poetry, and the prose writers have been exercising their humour muscles to exceptional effect. After a lot of thought, Story of the Week goes to donignacio's 'The God of Mistakes'. It's funny, it's eminently relatable, and it explains a lot! The God of Mistakes | ABCtales Poem of the Week is 'Sealwatching' by HarryC. Deceptively simple, it's...

As always, really tough to make choices. Not surprisingly, the political situation here in the UK has moved several ABCtalers to put finger to keyboard. And opinions have differed. It's what writers do. Our Story of the Week is one such piece, Terrence Oblong's 'I Stayed Up For Portillo'. For non-UK readers, the announcement that MP Michael Portillo had lost his seat was the moment the nation realised the government had lost the 1997 general...