Castle Pillock is quiet again. I am more blessed than I deserve to be by the fact that both my kids choose to come home for Christmas, and one of them now brings his other half. I am glad of heart to have had the Princess home from Uni for the entire vacation. I am delighted beyond measure that the four of us will be together in New York next Christmas. ​ (Did I mention we’re going to New York next Christmas? I may have done. Only fair to warn...

There's been some great pieces this week, particularly on the poetry front. I do hope more of our poets submit work to Cerasus Poetry - go on - you know you want too. Having said that, there's been some pretty stunning prose too. It's been very hard to to pick one but I've chosen Stephen Thom's gruesome but compelling two parter: https://www.abctales.com/story/stephen-thom/hydrotherapy-est-1894-1 So which poem to pick? So tricky, but I have to...

Let's hear it for the boys.

A middle-class lady bought two female parrots, Polly and Dolly, but was shocked to discover that they kept shouting out rude and inappropriate remarks. She sought advice from her parish priest about curing them of this embarrassing situation. The priest was mortified at the things the parrots were shouting. Polly squawked provocatively, “Do you fancy some hanky-panky?” Dolly screeched rudely, “Would you risk it for a biscuit?” The priest then...

We will shortly be announcing another two signings. Both men. Not to detract from their testosterone fuelled ability, but we would love to hear from more women, to redress the hormone imbalance.

Radio 4 is our only well-known channel which is about words not music. Where do they get their material from? The formats often feel 'tired' and threadbare. How do 'us lot' get in there? I suspect unless we are very lucky or a known name our work sinks to the bottom of a barely glanced at submissions pile. Could one of our editors approach them and get a regular half hour, call it 'easy as Abc?' or something. It would be win-win because Radio 4...

The horribles are expecting some goodies soon, perhaps in my name or one I prevously used before being hidden. I know this because I'm being kept seriously awake night and day.

Yet again we've had lots of really good writing on the site this week - wonderful to read and difficult to choose between. Story of the Week goes to 'Afternoon Angel' by ice rivers, a combination of memoir, tribute, and mystery, beautifully written: https://www.abctales.com/story/ice-rivers/afternoon-angel Poem of the week is 'Buttershaw, South Bradford' by ralph, which skilfully merges the everyday with a dream of a different place and a...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b09m6dq6/miriams-big-american-adve... You know the format, actress Miram Margoyles, a self-proclaimed fat, Jewish, lesbian old lady, travels across America finding out what’s what or who’s who or something intelligible to report or see. Here she visits a summer camp in Indiana. Stars and stripes and saluting the flag, hand on the chest at 7am in the morning, type of place. That’s how you build a nation...

Raglan castle in Monmouthshire, south-east Wales, was one of the last medieval castles to be built in the British Isles. Construction first began about the middle of the 15th century and was commissioned by one William Thomas, who was described as the ‘lesser son of a minor family’. He was, however, active in local politics and very attentive to the noble young ladies of the day, eventually marrying two wealthy heiresses in quick succession,...