insertponceyfrenchnamehere's blog

I was just going to feature one of her pieces as our daily pick, but having read everything Julia posted on ABCTales I think she deserves a bit more space. If you were around a few years ago, you knew her as Overthetop1. Her mum writes here too as seashore. Her real name is Julia and she died suddenly and very tragically last week. In celebration of her wonderful talent here are four of my favourite pieces - but really, if you have time, read...

A very hard choice this week - both for poetry and prose. in fact it's only the puzzle of how to put them both on the front page that I haven't chosen two poems and two stories. Perhaps we'll have to include a second place... Anyway.. Story of the Week goes to MJG for Breaking Rules, which is a real tour de force and I hope she submits it as suggested: http://www.abctales.com/story/mjg/breaking-rules Poem of the Week is Sam Hennig's The Tube,...

Her first (very successful) foray into publishing 'B is for Breast Cancer' took form on ABCTales and now her next book is being published tomorrow. Here's the lowdown: A funny new children’s book by Christine Hamill about the unfunny subject of cancer Available 18 May 2016 | €8.99, PB, 180pp, age 9+ | ISBN 978 1 9104 1151 3 Dear Harry Hill I know you must be really busy but please, please take a minute to help me. I am a twelve-year-old boy and...

What a week for poems and prose. But there always has to be a winner ( or winners) in this case. Story Of The Week goes to The Other Terrence Oblong for THE STOAT PROBLEM. It's clever, witty and with the great style that TOTO has in bucketfulls! I loved it. http://www.abctales.com/story/other-terrence-oblong/stoat-problem As for Poem Of The Week, there was a stand out piece from Philip Sydney. SHALL I BE MOTHER is a triumph of delicate memories...

Two brilliant picks for you this week, both of which have stayed with me since I first read them. Congratulations to Jane Hyphen for 'The Call Centre' - a study in claustrophobia and futility with one small gleam of hope, and to Yvonne Anderson for 'It Was Our Home' - a finely crafted piece of life writing. If you enjoy them too, please let the authors know - it's always nice to get a comment! http://www.abctales.com/story/yvonne-anderson/it-was...

April's Story and Poem of the Month have been chosen for us by the lovely Philip Sidney aka Helen Richardson. Here are her picks: Thank you so much for the privilege of selecting the poem and the story of the month for April! Such a difficult thing to do, so I went for gut feelings. There were so many fantastic poems. Silver Spun’s warm as honey, ‘Where the Bee Sucks’, works on so many levels: http://www.abctales.com/story/silver-spun-sand/where...

So much good stuff to choose from this week - particularly prose - but I hope you like the two I finally settled on. Story of the week goes to The Baby In The Well by Jewel Serpent. A beautiful voice with a very necessary message. Our Poem of the Week is Silver Spun Sand's Where The Bee Sucks. It's Earth Day today, and what better way to celebrate than with this stunning hymn to nature. http://www.abctales.com/story/jewel-serpent/baby-well-0...

For everyone who's been following this, please read my update: http://www.abctales.com/story/insertponceyfrenchnamehere/bees-journey

Just to let you all know there's a shiny new category just for you! Please make sure your work is labelled with it from now on

Our Picks this month have been made by Hudsonmoon and here they are: Of all the fine writes this merry month of March, these two hit home for me. Philip Sidney’s poem Bombinations reflected my experience as a boy living in New York City in 1965. Only, my characters had names like President Lyndon Johnson and Sister Rebecca. It gave me a chill to relive it once again. Running off with Robot and Billy from Lost in Space had crossed my mind once or...