At just over 650 pages this offers a comprehensive account of Grigory Efimovich Rasputin’s life and deaths. Deaths—plural. Most of us are familiar with the legend that Rasputin was poisoned, shot and finally drowned. His bound hands still clawing underneath the ice. Radzinsky takes the reader through different versions, but with the same outcome. Rasputin was murdered. The question of why he was murdered in much the same way that the tsar,...

Way back in the music history of the 1980s, a lady called Audrey Hall had a one-hit-wonder with a song called 'One Dance Won't Do'. You may remember it? If not, you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pbWf5tb_CA I've come to the conclusion that I can sympathise with her! Not in terms of dancing, one dance with me would be more than enough for anyone! No, I'm thinking, instead, about readers and, in particular, a couple who have...

‘A young woman tells you what she’s “learned”. Learned is kinda ironic, I guess. I’m Scottish, not sure who Lena Dunham is, but it tells me on the cover she’s the Creator and Star of HBO’s Girls . That helps. I imagine it’s a successful comedy franchise in America and it involves Girls. When I check her biography I find her show has won a stack of international awards and she has too. Lucky her. I guess that goes with the territory of the...

The 2020 Cerasus Poetry Olympics took place as scheduled in July and the final results were: Gold Medal - Mark Kilburn Silver Medal - Sophie Norton Bronze Medal - John Gallas Laurel Wreath - India Halstead Poetry collections by each of the winners will be published in due course, plus a special souvenir compilation featuring the best poems by all entrants. Regular ABCtales will recognise that the Gold Medal Winner is aka Kilb50. *** CERASUS...

We’re all aware that with great power comes great responsibility, after all these were the lines mouthed by Batman with the pointy ears before he jumped off a tall building. The moron’s moron, who anybody with any sense would like to see jumping from a tall building, reaches new lows in grasping one and abdicating the other. But that’s another story unless the moron’s moron stumbles into an Armageddon strategy to remain power, a historical aside...

In these six short stories Kevin Crowe favours the fallen and the vulnerable. I like that he takes on difficult themes. Involuntary incest. Involuntary and false imprisonment. Deported gay refugee, who can’t prove who he is or what he is. A Mary and Martha story, a soldier that loses his wife and gives up on life, but finds another partner. Historical romp and misunderstanding of the slave trade. And gay, coming-of-age in the age of AIDs,...

Really enjoyed reading the many wonderful and interesting pieces on ABC Tales this week! Story of the Week is the first chapter of Kilb50's brillaint four-parter 'Brewster's Way', the tale of an only child who decides to take on God. Immensely readable and witty, the story as a whole has been one of the highlights of my week. Do follow the links to all the parts! https://www.abctales.com/story/kilb50/brewsters-way-1 Poem of the Week is Jupiter...

Matt Gaw’s son mused that we spend 26 years of our life asleep, or if you’re my sister who is apt to like her long lies, 50 or her 60 years asleep. Gaw gives us a wake-up call in six chapters that begins in moonlight and ends in darkness. His family remain largely, unimpressed by his journey that takes him from his home in Bury St Edmonds, Thetford, the bright lights of London, Oban, and Isle of Coll, which is designated a Dark Sky Community. I...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00071xr/inside-the-bruderhof The end of the world is nigh. That’s not religious dogma, but the science of global warming. Hundreds of millions will die. Perhaps billions. The mass extinction of non-human species on land and sea has already begun. But Inside the Bruderhof is a joyous look at communal living in a religious community. But then again, I’m a big fan of utopia. The flip- side of Brave New World...

Lots of marvellous writing on the site again this week and, of course, our first Zoom reading event! Many, many thanks to all the wonderful writers who came to read and listen - the variety of voices and material was a complete joy. And a special thank-you to Mark Burrow, who organised it all and compered on the night. One comment referred to our Poem of the Week as 'stonkingly good', and I can think of no better way to describe 'Salamander' by...