One of the great weaknesses of political debate is this idea that there’s something called left and right and our feelings must relate to them, like one was black and one was white. Red, blue, black, white or yellow are just the colours of filthy rags, rallying flags under which the desperate and the gullible assemble when the wealthy and ambitious say it’s time to fight. Doesn’t do any harm to keep the hatred going in between times. Banner-...

I like to give Scottish authors a chance. I read an extract by Amy Liptrot in The Observer ( http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jan/17/amy-liptrot-i-am-a-lone-figure-in-waterproofs-the-outrun-extract ) and bought the book because I liked it. Sometimes life is that simple. What I like about it is it’s honesty. When I read Sooz’s diaries online (Harpie in ebooks) I often laugh. Yes, I’m a cruel vindictive person that revels in other folk’s...

A wonderful poem with great depths gets my pick of the week today. It's from Silver Spun Sand and I've no idea how she manages to keep on producing such high quality pieces day after day. An inspiration to us all. http://www.abctales.com/story/silver-spun-sand/painting-homeless-godly-0 Terrence Oblong's 'The Death of Andrew McGinty' is my Story of the Week. Slightly surreal and very funny as always, this has serious undertones as well. Please...

I’m going to start boasting now. So if you’re the type that turns off the computer when someone posts a Facebook picture of their dinner or their cat or both – look away now. I got an O’Grade in something when I was younger. Yeh, hard to believe, but it was in economics. I found it quite simple. If something wasn’t a problem of supply then it was a problem of demand. Multiple choice A or B. Fifty-fifty chance of being one or the other. I might...

Suzanne O’Sullivan (2015) It’s All in Your Head. True Stories of Imaginary Illness. I like stories of imaginary illnesses. Dr Faraday in Sarah Waters The Little Stranger errs on the side of caution and attributes a collective form of psychosomatic illness to the aristocratic Ayre’s family staying at rundown Hundreds Hall, and the subconscious as place and time combine, the equivalent of old cartographers whom declared this be the end of the...

The box was pushed back upon the highest shelf, untouched for decades and gathering dust. I had long ago forgotten it existed. To see it again and feel the memories return from yesterday lost… I was overwhelmed. I sat upon the floor and carefully took out each memento. Year book, pictures, love letters and under all…some old youthful musings in foolish rhyming syntax. Precious thoughts and wishful dreams to be a writer, as I read those old poems...

A cracking story and poem for you. I like them both, a lot. The Inspiration Point is trickier than it looks - and it can give some startling results to your writing. I urge you to have a go. http://www.abctales.com/story/ewan/everlasting-pie http://www.abctales.com/story/lavadis/doubt-my-mistress http://www.abctales.com/inspiration-point-ip

We all have a story to tell whether it is funny or uplifting or dramatic depends on what moment in our lives we focus on. A story is easy to tell when recounting true events but as a fiction writer…I can embellish to my hearts content… and that is so much more fun. Let’s face it…Life can be mundane and boring…and since we still don’t know the big answer to why we are here…I would rather presume we are here for a reason… a good reason of course…...

I didn't have to think very hard this week, as two pieces (luckily one prose, one poetry!) have refused to leave my head since I first read them. The Other Terrence Oblong's 'The Coldplay Problem' is my favourite of all his Island Stories. It has everything anyone could want, including David Bowie, a bottomless well and - this is a big plus - the utter rubbishing of Coldplay. Do read it if you haven't already: http://www.abctales.com/story/other...

I’ll give you a tick box and let you decide. ‘He was a sturdy straw haired man…with rather a hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face, and he gave the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward…it was a body capable of enormous leverage – a cruel body.’ Tom Buchanan or Donald Trump? He ‘conveys’…’the impression of fractiousness. There was a touch of paternal contempt in it,...