airyfairy's blog

Great to see that even with the easing of lockdown and the various sporting distractions going on, ABC Talers have still managed to find the time to post some brilliant work. Story of the Week is 'First Last Friday' by ice rivers. Like many of the best stories, it's deceptively simple. It's one of those pieces where nothing and everything happen at the same time. The ending might be heartbreaking, or it might be the start of something else...

Two more wonderful pieces for our Picks this week. Story of the Week goes to Terrence Oblong's 'The Word Police'. Funny, surreal, and yet so very, very familiar to those of us attempting to extract inspiration from our little grey cells and get something, anything, on the page: The Word Police | ABCtales Poem of the Week is bhi's beautiful 'In the shadow of geraniums'. A vivid, thought-provoking piece full of colour and life, its imagery lingers...

I've greatly enjoyed another week of tremendous ABCTales writing, and this week's Picks are absolute stunners. Story of the Week is Mark Burrow's 'Council Estate Jesus'. Wonderful characters and dialogue that build tension so that the whole structure balances on a knife-edge. By the end, you feel you've glimpsed, and learned from, something very important: Council Estate Jesus | ABCtales Poem of the Week is Yutka's 'Impaired'. This finds beauty...

Two very differently styled pieces for our Picks this week. What they share is passion, conviction and, of course, brilliant writing. Story of the Week is TJW's 'Lap Dance'. This writer puts his heart, soul and pretty much all the rest of him into everything he writes. This is about someone trying to build a life after experiences that refuse to let him go: Lap Dance | ABCtales Poem of the Week is Di_Hard's 'just deserts'. The frustration of...

We've been advised by the server that this is now likely to take place later on in the day/early evening, but there's a chance it will go on until Tuesday. Again, many apologies for the inconvenience. Hopefully it will all go smoothly and we'll be back soon!

Happy springtime, everybody! Let's hope the brighter days bring brighter times. Please don't forget that the site will be down for maintenance on 29 March. Our Story of the Week is 'Craven Gets Flashed', Episode XVI of hudsonmoon's brilliant and increasingly surreal Craven Danger series. Laugh out loud funny, you can enjoy this as a stand alone piece or do what any sensible person would do and read all the episodes: Craven Gets Flashed XVI |...

SITE MAINTENANCE 29 MARCH Just to let you know, our server will be carrying out maintenance on the site on 29 March. This is across all the sites they serve, so unfortunately we can’t give you the precise time it will start, or how long the site will be down for. Many apologies for the inconvenience. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!

Thank you again for all the lovely reads this week. Story of the Week is mitzi44's 'A Friend Indeed'. This series has been splendid from the beginning, and this evocation of childhood friendship, and the mishaps that can befall a big sister trying to be kind, are a joy to read: A Friend Indeed | ABCtales Poem of the Week goes to 'Don't Name Them' by Mentalelf. I found this quite extraordinary. It's spare, terse even, but its story of love, pain...

Thank you for all the wonderful pieces on the site this week. There has been some stunning work, and it's been very hard to make the Picks of the Week. Poem of the Week goes to Di Hard's beautiful 'Getting Ready'. Beautiful, sensuous language, and a real feeling of strength and renewal. There are many layers to this poem, and it rewards any number of readings: Getting Ready | ABCtales Story of the Week is 'My New Nemesis', the latest fascinating...

There's been a great variety of things posted on ABC Tales this week, and my two Picks couldn't be more different from each other. Story of the Week goes to Simon Barget's 'A Day In The Life'. It's very difficult to get it right with a story 'told' by an animal, but this one captures Essence of Cat and is also very, very funny. You don't need to be a cat lover to appreciate it. In fact, if you don't like cats, this will confirm all your...