Insertponceyfrenchnamehere's blog

Firstly a huge thank you to everyone who's supported Jack (celticman) since we last posted. With 93% and only another 24 pledges needed, we are so nearly there! He doesn't have the huge contact lists that many others do, so it's all hanging on our lovely ABCtales community to which he's given so much over the years. Please share this with your friends, pledge your support and help make his dream come true! http://unbound.co.uk/books/lily-poole

If you've ever published anything on ABCtales, the chances are celticman's helped you in one way or another. Now it's your turn to give something back. He only needs 38 more pledges to make his book a reality. Please pull out all the stops for him! http://unbound.co.uk/books/lily-poole

It's been a particularly fantastic week for prose this week - really exceptional quality, and I could have chosen any one of about ten pieces, but Crepuscular by RJF has stuck in my head and I don't even like horror much, so it must be good! Our Poem of the Week is Menarche which is an exceptional piece from love_writing who's going from strength to strength. Congratulations to both! http://www.abctales.com/story/lovewriting/menarche http://www...

As quite a few of you know going by the number of reads she gets, Bee has been writing a series of poetry and prose charting her journey since her cancer diagnosis. These are very special pieces, so we've decided to give her a little corner on the front page for them and we will also be featuring them on Facebook and Twitter along with our regular Picks of the Day. You should be seeing the first of these shortly so do watch out for them - and...

We were spoilt for choice this week with some wonderful poetry and prose. But the picks go to Chant for "Strangers" and MyPunkGang for "The Elephants Head,Camden". "Strangers" is contemplative of modern life yet with moody urban undertones. "The Elephants Head, Camden" looks at the sad decline in a relationship set against the backdrop of a house re-decoration! http://www.abctales.com/story/chant/strangers http://www.abctales.com/story/...

Join us on a quest to write a poem a month based on a range of exciting themes and styles. All you need to do to get started is read the brief below, let your imagination soar and get scribbling. Once you’ve finished writing and pruning your piece, you can share it on ABC Tales and see what superbly varied work emerges from the same brief. If you’d like to take it a step further, you can also seek critical feedback from your poetic peers because...

Our picks this month come from one of our brilliant, hardworking and all-round wonderful volunteer editors. Here's their decision: It has been a privilege to be able to choose two stand-out pieces in the month of May. There have been many very wonderful pieces; the two that have been selected have a touch of strangeness, a slight shift of perspective that reminds us of the oddness of living. A short story full of poetry and a poem full of story...

Two fabulous pieces today - our story of the week chosen for its most wonderfully disfunctional character, and our poem of the week, which also has disfunction at its heart, but in a very different way. Big congratulations to airyfairy for Daisy and the Chalet Woman, and to socialleaf for I'm Home. I hope you enjoy them both as much as I did. http://www.abctales.com/story/airyfairy/daisy-and-chalet-woman-part-one http://www.abctales.com/story/...

"The brief here was to write something that holds back and has stuff going on beneath the surface" Scratch has taken that brief by the ears, and wowed us all with a quality piece that leaves us wanting more. Congratulations to him for Story of the Week - "Silver Rider" Poem of the week goes to Esmerelda-O who marks a welcome return with her piece of stunning melancholy, "People in Rooms" http://www.abctales.com/story/esmerelda-o/people-rooms...

It's May! The birds are singing! The blooms are blooming! The sun is shining! The Tories have just won the election! Never mind though! Because we are holding one of our legendary readings at the Wheatsheaf in Fitzrovia which is 100% guaranteed to make you feel better. I'll eat my hat if you don't! Do come along. It's on May 27th at 7pm. We usually finish around 9.30 pm. We already have some fantastic readers lined up, but if you'd like to read...