As the light dims it feels natural to turn back to writing where summer's inspiration can be hammered in to something sensational. I look forward to seeing your creativity darken readers this month in all its rich shades. Remember to make full use of peer critiques to improve your work and also, please do share poetry monthly via social networking and word of mouth - not only for new participants but to encourage old friends to rejoin us. Satire...

A reminder—if we need one— how Dangerous boxing can be is the Sunday Mail front-page headline: ‘My baby has lost his daddy, I’ll never let him fight,’ with a prominent picture of Chloe, holding her infant Rocco, with an insert photo of her partner, and the baby’s father, twenty-five-year old Mike Towell, crouching in a standard boxing stance and fighting Dale Evans on Thursday evening at St Andrew’s Sporting Club. Towell lost more than the bout...

Our picks this month have been chosen by another of our brilliant editors - love_writing. Many thanks to her and big congratulations to the two writers: There is so much rich and wonderful talent on abctales and this month has proven to be exceptionally brilliant. I am thrilled and honoured to say that the two pieces which I remain absolutely captivated by are; Trifecta - Maggyvaneijk: http://www.abctales.com/story/maggyvaneijk/trifecta This...

https://soundcloud.com/robert-craven-649922687/get-lenin-audio-upload-2016 Using a free to download app (Audacity) I've created a post reading the opening of Get Lenin. copy & paste the link above & let me know what yout think. My question is - is an audio excerpt a good idea?

A total gem from Maggy van Eijk makes it a no brainer for Poem of the Week: http://www.abctales.com/story/maggyvaneijk/trifecta A bit of fun on Happy Island is the pick of the Stories: http://www.abctales.com/story/other-terrence-oblong/nudism-problem And an IP that should make you shout at the dog/cat in your life: http://www.abctales.com/inspiration-point-ip Cheers, Tony

Watching Celtic is like going to chapel, but you want to be there and you’re a believer- even though, secretly, after getting humped 7-0 by Barcelona and facing another squad worth a quarter billion pounds, that’s won ten on the bounce, you don’t really expect miracles. Yet, you do, otherwise you’d be ffafing about watching Coronation Street. Belief isn’t optional, it’s part of the tapestry of football, against all the odds (or even 10/1) your...

Lily Poole is the first novel by ABCtales Editor Jack O’Donnell, better known here as celticman. Many of us may be accustomed to his writing but prepare to be surprised. Lily Poole is a two gears up from anything he has written beforehand. It has wit, style, surprise, insight into the human character, extraordinary description of life on the seamy side of Glasgow and a writing style that delights. The book begins with our hero, John, coming...

http://www.channel5.com/show/secrets-of-the-sas-in-their-own-words As Eric, my mate, often parrots, when pissed, ‘I can’t tell you if I’ve been in the SAS or I’ll need to kill you afterwards.’ Usually by that time he can’t zip up his fly and Liz is dragging him up the road. I could probably reconstruct the whole thing, with an idling taxi and two actors and an actress, playing Liz, in a dramatic reconstruction, with the sound of gunfire zipping...

Two stunning pieces take this week's honours: Stephen Thom's 'Lighthouse' and Rosa Cruz's 'Last Night I Became An Emperor Moth'. Big congratulations to both and please do read them - they're both wonderful: http://www.abctales.com/story/stephen-thom/lakehouse http://www.abctales.com/story/rosa-cruz/last-night-i-became-emperor-moth I hope you enjoy the Inspiration Point which is here: http://www.abctales.com/inspiration-point-ip And finally a...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07w532p/the-doctor-who-gave-up-drugs-episode-1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07wwd9d/the-doctor-who-gave-up-drugs-episode-2 I’ve invested almost two hours of my life in these two programmes presented by Dr Chris van Tullaken, with a side-line in epidemiology. He’s evangelical in his belief that too many people are being prescribed drugs they don’t need that don’t work and the side-effects are harmful...