A writer has only one imperative or simple rule – read. Often I have little understanding of what I’m reading. Usually there is a but here. I do not understand Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, but…kinda like a meme from T. S. Eliot’s Little Gidding: ‘We shall not cease from exploration/And the end of all our exploring/Will be to arrive where we started.’ Or Rumi’s parable of the elephant and six blind men. One holding onto a leg, or trunk, an...

You had a go at kennings this month and some of the pieces were deeply imaginative. Here are three crackers: Ed Crane’s beautifully textured leather cloth war: https://www.abctales.com/story/ed-crane/leather-cloth-wars-poetry-monthly Rhiannon’s visual delight: https://www.abctales.com/story/rhiannonw/%E2%80%98icecoming%E2%80%99 Catherine Poarch’s words are charmingly inventive: https://www.abctales.com/story/catherine-poarch/ladenbox This month’...

Two brilliant pieces get my pick this week - 'Five Go To Happy Island' by Jed and Alun (with a little help from Terrence Oblong) and 'I'm sure there used to be birdsong' by Ledru who is a very welcome new member: https://www.abctales.com/story/jed-and-alun/five-go-happy-island https://www.abctales.com/story/ledru/im-sure-there-used-be-birdsong Don't forget - if you have any recommendations for either our Inspiration Point or our daily picks,...

Simon Miller's Ebolowa is 87% funded on Unbound but needs your help to get over the line! The book has been on ABCtales and Simon is more than grateful for the really helpful feedback he's received from members. Now is the time to support him and pledge towards the book. You can do so here: https://unbound.com/books/ebolowa Let's get one more in the published ABC family! Ewan Laurie's Gibbous House is out on January 12th so make sure you have a...

The Second World War is a fading memory and America rules the world. Bill Bryson (2007) The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid: Travels Through My Childhood shows how it was won and it’s not on the front cover with a kid with a hard plastic hat painted silver, aerial attached, Pegasus’s ears pasted on, his face screwed up as he points a plastic ray gun of brightest gold, while behind him sparks fly and a surreal red and white star explodes,...

I set myself a challenge for November. Write a story a day. 30 Stories in 30 days. Minimum 500 words. I failed! Miserably. I wrote 20. I hadn't taken into account there might be a few problems along the way. Like having Gout twice during November, oh and four days of man flu. But it has got me writing again and that's a good thing. I kind of dried up a bit and found myself being too busy to sit down and tap away at the keyboard. Now I'm tapping...

Huge thanks to Kevin Buckle (parsonthru) for this month's picks: I’ve enjoyed reading the picks of the week for November, which has produced an eclectic set of pieces. Please see my notes below. In terms of selection – always a subjective choice – it was difficult to choose from strong and memorable contenders. For Poem of the Month, it’s difficult to separate seashore’s “ Blue ” with its matter-of-factness in the face of grievous serial...

I've just emerged from that period of considerable uncertainty which is the time between publishing a book and getting the first review for it. You see, it's all very well to thrust your work out there to a generally indifferent public and get a few (in this case, very few) sales but it is quite another to find out what people actually thought of your magnum opus. The answer can be quite traumatic. Some time ago, I allowed myself to be flattered...

(Before) Have to have a scan on my shoulder. The joint is wobbly, keeps coming out of its socket. The MRI 'centre' is not part of the main hospital, I was told: "Drive past the car park, round the back, buzz in at the barrier. It's a set of porta-cabins". It certainly was. We found it fine but I felt a sense of foreboding entering. MRI reception; small waiting area with 4 other people, who might have been together but no one was talking. A table...