tcook's blog

I am often asked what is the ideal length of a piece of prose to post on here - and the answer is 1500 to 2000 words. If your piece is longer then I suggest that you break it up into sections and post it in bits. You can get away with 3000 words - but it will inevitably suffer from fewer reads and anything over that taxes the patience of the Editors!

The winner is: Sunday's Child for this heart-rending poem: http://www.abctales.com/story/sundayschild/infinite-sky It was a very tough one to call but honourable mentions must go to mgwalpole and ScoZen (twice): http://www.abctales.com/story/mgwalpole/infinite-sky http://www.abctales.com/story/scozen/infinite-sky http://www.abctales.com/story/scozen/infinite-sky-0 Congrats to all on a very very high standard of entry.

The anthology of the Poetry Pentathalon entries is now out at a price of £6.99. Go and order your copy now! http://www.lulu.com/shop/2012-poetry-pentathlon/fox-shade-other-poems/pa... Congrats go to Bear, sonora and ItsSteveDave for taking the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals respectively. Many, many thanks go to the Wilky Bar Kid for organising this competition and sorting out the book. There will be Prose Pentathalon early in the New Year -so...

Jennifer Pickup's 'Unbelievable' is out! This is the first result of the link-up between crowd funding publishers, Unbound, and ABCtales. Please do go into your local bookshop and order a copy or go here for the cheapest available internet deal: http://www.best-book-price.co.uk/Product-266239/1908717068-Unbelievable.... Full details are here: http://www.abctales.com/forum/2012/08/18/unbelievable-go

Long time ABCtaler Derek Rogers, better known as jingle on here, has had his children's book 'Blackmore's Treasure' selected by Helen Hollick, the Editor of the Historical Novel Society. She writes: “I am a fan of Barbara Erskine’s time slip novels—and this is a superb equivalent for younger readers, boys especially, but adventure-loving girls (and adults!) will also enjoy this engrossing read. It is June 1995. Thirteen-year-old Tobias Allinson...

Congratulations (and £100 prizes) go to Judygee and Kilb50 and the runners up (with £25 prizes) are Alison McManus and albamac. There's lots of commendations and an explanation of how I arrived at my decision here: http://www.abctales.com/magazine/talecatching

Joe is 'spack' on ABCtales and his first novel 'Submarine' has met with huge success, including being made into an excellent film. His second novel 'Wild Abandon' is now out and it's set in a commune. My friend, Red Tina, was one of the founders of a well known commune and so I thought it apposite for her to review the book. Here are her thoughts: Wild Abandon is a bit of a romp about mid-life crisis and family breakdown. The story has added...

That's the title of the new book of poetry by ABCtales member Swep Lovitt - known on here as bosch. Swep has longed to publish this book for a while and now his time has come. The poems in the slim volume take us on a personal journey through the break-up of his marriage and divorce. It's not bitter but it is sad. The poems have been carefully honed. The work on them shows through time after time. You realise that every word has been considered...

That's the title of the new children's book by ABCtales member Richard Penny - better known on here as Blighter's Rock. It's the tale of a little girl with a dream - to meet the Queen. She and her father camp outside Buckingham Palace every weekend until eventually she is invited in for supper - bangers and mash - and her dream comes true. The book is illustrated by Chris Baker with a series of delightful drawings that bring the tale to life...

The latest issue of ABCtales Magazine is now available to buy or download from: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/ABCtalesMagazine Featuring Nick Garrard, Chris Birrane, N J Quantrill, Alex Rankin, Richard Aronowitz, Camden Reece, John F King, Deirdre Malone, Kate Hall, David Davidson, Peter Gavin-Rowney, Alex Cruden, Harry Bagnall, Florian, Kirsty Harris, Matt Evans, Nick Kirincic, iDrew, Peter Davidson, Alice Evermore, Sue Dinum, Catherine Rose...