ABC TALES READING NIGHT IN YORK SATURDAY 22 SEPTEMBER! We shall be having another of our fantastic ABC Reading Nights, this time at The Black Swan pub in York, on 22 September. It’s a wonderful chance to put faces to names, talk about writing and, best of all, hear our authors’ work read in their own voices. We start at 7pm, it’s free for the Readers and £5 entry for everyone else. You’re welcome to bring friends and family members, but remember...

My background and that of my ancestors is real. It is also a forest, a forest that obscures the tree that is Elsie. And in a few weeks I shall uproot myself from the small seaside town where I have lived for 18 years. I'm shifting to Bournemouth. Why have two miles of golden sands when I can have seven? I shall be training to teach English as a foreign language. I don't know if I shall use my new training abroad or if I shall teach adult...

It's been a sad week on our site, with the loss of one of our own. Well Wisher has inspired many of you to write some brilliant fairytales - and this week's story of the week is one brimming with hope, Airyfairiy's magical two-parter, 'Round the Corner' - make sure your read both parts: https://www.abctales.com/story/airyfairy/round-corner-part-one https://www.abctales.com/story/airyfairy/round-corner-part-two Poem of the week is from the...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0bbbv4w/rip-it-up-series-1-1-blazing-a-trail https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0bc3ljs/rip-it-up-series-1-2-success-and-excess https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0bc3ljs/rip-it-up-series-1-2-success-and-excess Rip it Up and Start Again. Rip it Up and Start Again. That’s the lyrics to an Orange Juice song. I don’t know my contraltos from my tomatoes. Doesn’t matter. I loved Rip it Up , three hours...

I read both of these books very quickly in one day. Years ago I tried bending spoons when Uri Geller was on telly. It didn’t work then. Let’s just say it wouldn't work now. But good on him, I say, the multimillionaire got away with it. There’s that moment in Elmer Gantry when Burt Lancaster gets caught up in his own rhetoric he convinces himself he’s not a fraud. So far, so human. The most dangerous type of human is the one that is never wrong...

Every year, since we've been able to do so, my wife and I have bought Senior Citizen Railcards with the intention of "seeing a bit more of this country, this year", and, every year, just like clockwork, we realise that we're coming to the end of the Railcard's natural life and that we haven't done anything with it. Panic sets in and we hunt about for possible locations for a day out, which will go some way toward justifying the expense of the...

Prison, Channel 4, 9pm, produced and directed by Paddy Wivell. https://www.channel4.com/programmes/prison/on-demand/66913-001 https://www.channel4.com/programmes/prison/on-demand/66913-002 Durham Prison in the North East of England holds around 950 inmates on any given day. In the first episode there were no real surprises, apart from the prisoner that managed to smuggle a phone inside up his arse. He freely admitted to it on camera. There’s a...

If you've got children of a certain age around the house, then you'll know about Bing! If not, his work may have passed you by, particularly if you don't happen to be an avid fan of CBeebies. Bing! (and he always comes with his own exclamation mark) is a charming black rabbit dressed in a colourful set of dungarees (which people my age would have called a romper suit in the dark ages). He has a series of adventures with his friends Sula (an...

David Halberstam was killed in a car crash in 2007, clichéd as it is, his memory lives on here. This is a book all American citizens need to read before saluting the flag. Old Glory, American Presidents should be handed it when they are sworn in and take office. The Korean War began on 25 th June 1950 and lasted three years. The forgotten war, a stepping stone into Vietnam. Military historian S.L.A Marshall described it as ‘the century’s...

Our Story of the Week is london_calling79's introduction to his series 'I'm Not Disappointed, I'm Just Angry'. It's funny, it's touching, and it's shot through with rage at the state of things in the UK education system. Do read it, and the chapters so far, if you haven't already: https://www.abctales.com/story/londoncalling79/im-not-disappointed-im-ju... Poem of the Week is ralph's 'Going Out for Cigarettes', which gives us a whole novel's...