Posted by airyfairy on Fri, 13 Oct 2017 Two very different pieces for this week's picks. Poem of the Week is PoetonaHill's 'In Cardiff Jail'. Undoubtedly bleak, it's brilliantly written and makes the reader go on to think about all sorts of things other than the original subject: https://www.abctales.com/story/poetonahill/cardiff-jail Story of the Week is 'The St Trinian's Problem', by The Other Terrence Oblong. Those already acquainted with...

Two very different pieces for this week's picks. Poem of the Week is PoetonaHill's 'In Cardiff Jail'. Undoubtedly bleak, it's brilliantly written and makes the reader go on to think about all sorts of things other than the original subject: https://www.abctales.com/story/poetonahill/cardiff-jail Story of the Week is 'The St Trinian's Problem', by The Other Terrence Oblong. Those already acquainted with Happy Island will know that its residents...

This book is a delight to read. I’m not really sure why, I guess it’s because the author is honest. No waffle. He doesn’t believe in dyslexia even though he and his son have been given that moniker by earnest professionals. Early in life he wanted to be an artist, and went to among others, the Slade Art School in London. It’s not so much as he pissed the chance away, he realised early that he didn’t have what it takes. He was at the first Sex...

Poetry Monthly – October Hello all and hope your transition between summer and autumn is a peaceful one. Last month’s theme was Back and it produced some marvellous writing. Here are three to go back to (I’ll avoid saying, see what I did there, as that would be awful): https://www.abctales.com/story/parson-thru/golden-hour https://www.abctales.com/story/pencilflake/back https://www.abctales.com/story/ewan/back-catalogue So, on to October – I...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0991fsb/louis-theroux-dark-states-1-heroin-town There’s a funereal feel to most things Louis Theroux is in. He’s like the Stephen King of documentaries and with a title like Dark State – Heroin Town you expect the residents to rise up from their crypt and stab you with a used syringe and make you part of the problem. The fortunate thing about Louis is he’s already undead. He’s like the actor that plays Steve...

*The new meds are making me hungry. whoops!

I got to page 41 of this book, Chapter 6. You might get further. I had a quick look because the author Laura Lam is coming to do a reading in Duntocher Library soon. Shattered Minds is a dystopian novel set in the near future. The setting is San Francisco, California, Pacifica. I guess that’s the place Laura Lam grew up, but there’s no such place as Pacifica. That’s a hint. The world is not as it seems. Near the Pacific, but no longer in broken...

I heard about this book in a kind of roundabout way. Richard Holloway had given a reading at Dalmuir Library and this was one of the books he said he re-read every few years. Well, that was good enough for me. I finally got around to reading The Last of the Just and was not disappointed. Where is God? That is the question this book asks. In the final chapter, the narrator of the biography of Ernie Levy, the last of the just men, is in a sealed...

We've been inundated with masses of really high quality writing this week (especially poetry) which has made for a difficult but very enjoyable search for the best of the best. Story of the Week is Noo's spectacular 'Vampire', and Poem of the Week is Hudsonmoon's brilliant "Shots fired''. Congratulations to both: https://www.abctales.com/story/noo/vampire https://www.abctales.com/story/hudsonmoon/shots-fired Here's this week's Inspiration Point...

What is it about a crisp fall day that sets the creative thoughts to warp speed? Every year, for as far back as I can remember, the first crisp days of autumn have always affected me this way. I want to change things...do things...discover or re-discover the world at large in my neighborhood... and beyond. The feeling is irrepressible…and I need to walk…not drive…to be surrounded by this cool fresh air… I want to sit outside with my morning cup...