ABCtales Critiquing Service - good reports!

Over the years many of you have asked for a critiquing service and it has taken a long time to find (a) someone good enough to do it well and (b) someone who will charge what we regard as a reasonable fee. Finally, we've done it! Lorraine Mace is a freelance writer, columnist and tutor for the Writers Bureau. Winner of the Petra Kenney International Poetry Competition (comic verse category), Lorraine's fiction, features and humour have appeared...

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Stuff and Nonsense

Just before I got married, 35 years ago, I was at my bride-to-be's house, pre-Christmas, in a rather nice village between Burton upon Trent (my hometown) and Lichfield. Some Christmas Cards were pushed through the door and I went to collect them. A few minutes later, there was an insistent ringing of the doorbell and I found a rather grand lady standing on the doorstep. "Mea culpa!" She said, in a dramatic tone, one hand pressed against her...

Phantom of Remains

Phantom of Remains The light we lost fades into oblivion. Slips beyond reach, swallowed by A wasteland of abandoned hope. Lies unburied, in silence, are louder than, grief: should we not have known this? By now? In twilight’s enigma in murky waters, flows from here to there; father from God. With a hidden conflict, smoldering in obsession, blooms like a dark rose, a catacomb of the unsealed burrows. Its thorns are scraping the marrow of being in...

Whisper of a distant Sky

Whisper Of A Distant Sky One last glance at the sky before sunrise, where predawn eclipses and casts its shadow and veils along the beacon touch in horizon, only to linger like a cactus flower bloom softly, yet fleeting, and unforgettable. Let’s race to the world’s greatest bookstore, where she waits. Her presence feels like a timeless symphony. The melody murmurs to a restless, aching heart. The books beckon; pages wait their turn. A widespread...

Waves of Affliction

WAVES OF AFFLICTION DRIFTING BETWEEN CONSCIOUSNESS AND OBLIVION IS A DELICATE DANCE. ON THE EDGE OF DREAMS AND REALITY: SHADOWS AND PLAY BEHIND A HAZE OF FOREBODING, THAT ELLIPSE EPISODE OF LAMENTATION. CONSTANTLY SHIFTING LIKE INTO DEEP SLEEP AND A NEED TO KNOW. SOLITUDE STRETCHED THIN, NOT SURE WHETHER TO BEND OR GRIN; THIS DISTORTED LONGING ETCHES AGONY THAT EMERGES AND TEETERS RAW AND UNYIELDING, SO THE MIND WRESTLES FOR MASTERY. CONTRAST...

Dead of the Night

DEAD OF THE NIGHT Bending toward the void, you can hear crickets chirping beneath the scattered stars. Darkness swallowed their faint chorus up as the clock ticked with a final warning. The hills bear witness to the weight of the night, resting in borrowed time. Lands holding us as we pause, Crossing over a fragile bridge. Binding us to its presence, being led as blind men on a tightrope. Our lives unravel, thread by thread. Who are we? We can’t...

Vantage Point

vantage point The translation of thoughts. Has become an unspoken poetry, this exotic bloom bearing a scent of a distant truth, raw emotion that resonates within the depths of one's soul. An epic drama rises and unfolds; oh, how sweetly awaiting the climax yet to be told: this impossible love; Now orbits with an arctic breeze, beyond fantasy passages. Passion shattered like a broken dream when you once serenaded a silhouette against my heart,...

God is with us

GOD IS WITH US God is with us, we’re waiting here for You; where we’re standing now, You’ve brought us through. In our remembrance, we cling to this truth: great is your faithfulness. Steadfast: Through trials and triumphs, The journey is a testament to favor. In blessing and tears, you’ve made us strong. You’ve done it before, and you’ll do it again. Awaken our souls, and open our eyes, to see all things made new. Beneath the heavens, skies:...

Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point

Posted by onemorething: This week's Poem of the Week is Turlough's brilliant and powerful poem, Fifty-One Empty Places at the Dinner Table. https://www.abctales.com/story/turlough/fifty-one-empty-places-dinner-table This week's Story of the Week is Ghigau 4 by w.w.j.abercrombie. https://www.abctales.com/story/wwjabercrombie/ghigau-4 Our new Inspiration Point is here: https://www.abctales.com/inspiration-point-ip Have a lovely weekend.

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