ABCtales spring 2008 newsletter

Dear ABCtalers,

First, the good news. Our technical problems of the past few weeks, when the site has been running progressively slower and finally almost ground to a halt, have been cured. We’ve moved to a new server and ABCtales is now faster than it has ever been. Our thanks go to Mike Dixon and the crew at Computerminds.

COMPETITION

It’s more than about time for a new competition – and this one is FREE! We’ve got copies of Joe Dunthorne’s wonderful book ‘Submarine’ and copies of Drew Gummerson’s magnificent new novel ‘Me and Mickie James’ to give to the winners of the poetry and prose sections. I’ll be the judge of this one. The theme is ‘Growing Up’, the maximum number of words is 1,500 and the closing date is Friday June 27th. Only ONE entry in each section (poetry or prose) per member. Clearly mark your entry by putting ‘Competition Entry’ in the description line. Full details are here: http://www.abctales.com/node/573138

Joe is ‘spack’ on ABCtales and he was shortlisted for this year’s Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction – which was controversially won by Will Self. Check out Joe’s latest ABC writings here: http://www.abctales.com/user/spack

ANOTHER GREAT DEBUT NOVEL

Another of our regulars, Drew Gummerson, will have his first major novel ‘Me and Mickie James’ available in the shops from July 5th. Many of you will have read parts of the book as it was posted on ABCtales – and Drew, like Joe before him, has been kind enough to recognise the part that ABCtales played in the writing of the book in the Acknowledgements. It’s a cracking tale of a two man rock group, a hunchback, strange travel adventures, love and perfidy. It’ll keep you glued to the end so go and order it at your bookshop today. Jonathan Cape are the publishers. A review will appear on ABCtales shortly. Drew still keeps us entertained on a regular basis on ABCtales. Check out his latest writing here: http://www.abctales.com/user/drew_gummerson

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR ABCTALES?

The answer is two-fold. We stated at the very outset that we would never charge for ABCtales and we haven’t and don’t intend to do so. But it does cost us money to keep it going and those that send in donations are very much appreciated. Please just send in whatever you can afford by hitting the ‘donations’ button (down the right hand side of every page) and sending us a little (or a lot!) It really does help. You could also buy an ABCtales mug.

You can tell all your friends and family about ABCtales – we need members and the more, the merrier. Spread the word. Print up the excellent ABCtales magazine and give a copy to your best friend or leave a few copies in your local café, doctor’s or dentist’s waiting room or hand them out to your book or writing group. The wilky bar kid does a fantastic job with the magazine – it’s well worth your time to check it out. Find it here:
http://www.etribes.com/abctalesmag

ABCTALES EVENING IN BRIGHTON

As part of the Clifton, Montpelier and Powis Festival we are holding an ABCtales evening on Saturday July 5th at St Michael’s Church Hall on Victoria Road in Brighton from 8 p.m. onwards. Entry will be £3 or £2 concessions. If you live in the area and would like to read then please email me at tcook@abctales.com and let me know. Numbers for reading are restricted, so do it now! The star of the show (apart from you, of course) will be Tara Hanks who will be reading from her latest book, The Mmm Girl – the life of Marilyn Monroe, in her own words. Much of this book was posted on ABCtales as it was developed and the whole is a truly excellent read. You can find out more here: http://www.tarahanks.org/

BOOKTRIBES

If you haven’t tried our sister site which deals in social networking for readers, http://www.booktribes.com – then do so now! Your ABCtales user name, to which you add @abctales.com and your ABCtales password will gain you entry. It’s all free!

LOADS OF GREAT NEW WRITERS

We’ve had a large influx of new members on ABCtales and some really excellent new writing talent is emerging. You can always check out the best by hitting the cherry picked list: http://www.abctales.com/read-cherries or by reading the latest story and poem of the week: http://www.abctales.com/node/546293 (for the story) or http://www.abctales.com/node/546292 (for the poem). If you are stuck and need to kick start your writing then why not try our Inspiration Point, which is updated every week: http://www.abctales.com/node/546833.

Good luck with the competition, enjoy Joe, Drew and Tara’s books and maybe see you on 5th July in Brighton.

All the very best,
Tony Cook and the ABCtales team.