marandina's blog

Notes on writing We all write for different reasons. I returned to ABCTales in October 2020 after a hiatus of fourteen years. In my case, it was an attempt to process two recent deaths of people close to me. That first story came and went. I felt a bit better for it, self-disclosure not being my strong suit. Then things kinda went from there and as a senior member on here remarked one day, I had the “bug” of posting. 2022 was kind to me. A...

https://www.abctales.com/story/marandina/final-message-moscow To anyone that has read my recent story about my son’s homecoming from Moscow my genuine thanks. In the story I referred to an unpublished allegory of sorts. This is the piece I wrote on 28 th February 2022. Having read it back, it’s still appears to be mostly current which is a reflection of how the conflict has become bogged down in attrition. Again, I hope sense prevails soon and...

When I saw the trailer for TV drama “The Terror” I couldn’t help thinking that this is something right up my street – historical drama with an element of the supernatural. I started viewing on BBC iPlayer and ended up binge watching all 10 episodes. This is a show with a heavyweight cast – Jared Harris ( Chernobyl, The Expanse ), Ciaran Hinds ( Munich, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ), Tobias Mendes ( Outlander ) and Ian Hart ( Finding...

Time waits for no man and there’s nothing that marks the advancing years more noticeably than a movie. Some hold up well; others not so much. A genre where this is as relevant as any other is horror. “An American Werewolf in London (1981)” is a seminal offering directed by John Landis. When backpackers Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne) and David Kessler (David Naughton) take refuge at “The Slaughtered Lamb” – an inn in the deepest, bleakest part of...