Even though there's been some brilliant writing on the site this week, london_calling79's 'A Letter To My New Tory MP' stood out immediately. We're not a political site and members have all sorts of different views, but the humanity, compassion and reason of this piece shine a light in times that seem to get darker and grimmer ever day: https://www.abctales.com/story/londoncalling79/letter-my-new-tory-mp Poem of the week is another remarkable...

Any book with a cover showing a submarine in a loch gives me that sinking feeling. I’ve never read any of Alan Judd’s books. He’s prolific and has a whole stack of fiction and nonfiction published. Deep Blue was West Dunbartonshire libraries novel of the week (here’s where I do a bit of boasting and tell you my novel Lily Poole was also a novel of the week https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lily-Poole-Jack-ODonnell/dp/1783522356 ) and that’s how I heard...

Posted by Philip Sidney on Fri, 09 Jun 2017 It's been wonderful to see so many new writers and such a range of writing this week. I've chosen pieces that take an unusual perspective on the natural world. Markle's beautifully described, 'The Gardens', takes us somewhere slightly unsettling, I dare you to take the garden walk: https://www.abctales.com/story/markle/gardens Rosa Cruz's, 'Today birdsong is turned up loud', is full of verve, a gift to...

It's been wonderful to see so many new writers and such a range of writing this week. I've chosen pieces that take an unusual perspective on the natural world. Markle's beautifully described, 'The Gardens', takes us somewhere slightly unsettling, I dare you to take the garden walk: https://www.abctales.com/story/markle/gardens Rosa Cruz's, 'Today birdsong is turned up loud', is full of verve, a gift to the senses, so yours a favour and take this...

I’d like Alan Johnson to be Prime Minster. That seems outlandish as Jeremy Corbyn, but Johnson is not such a Daily- Hate- Mail figure. But he was Home Secretary under the Labour Government 2009-10, a position our current Prime Minster Teresa May held before becoming Tory leader. I guess at the end of polling today she’ll remain Prime Minister. I read an interview with Paul O’Grady on Sunday in which he wished the heads of David Cameron, and his...

I usually vote SNP, but will vote Labour. The first-past-the-post system means that my vote is meaningless, but if everybody thought the same thing the Tory party would win by a landslide. Teresa May obviously thought that way. Her Damascene moment came while walking the dales. It had nothing to do with local government elections, where historically the party in government gets trashed, but the Conservative Party gained seats, even in places...

Writing is the easy part. That’s what I tell folk. That’s when I learn what I think. And others think about me. Reading is the engine of writing. I’ve had a long love affair with books, with bouts of promiscuity. As I get older I find time not reading is time wasted. Selling yourself, well, that’s the hard part. Not many folk know about Scottish Book Trust. It’s a national charity. Until I started writing a few years ago I hadn’t heard of it...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08tj1kx/bill-cosby-fall-of-an-american-icon Today, 5 th June 2017, Bill Cosby faces four charges of first-degree aggravated sexual assault against Andrea Constand. A possible ten-year prison sentence hangs in the balance. He has pled not guilty. In many ways this is the reverse of the OJ Simpson trial. When Constand made the allegations against Cosby that he had drugged and sexually assaulted her in summer...

Picks for the month of May very kindly chosen by Sean McNulty: Story: The Green and White Dress by rosaliekempthorne https://www.abctales.com/ story/rosaliekempthorne/green- and-white-dress The Green and White Dress is a wonderful piece of writing. It feels like a timeless, classic satire – the characters and the setting could exist at any time in history. It feels so real, yet plays out like images twinkling in some fantastic magic lantern...

Horrible news again. I often feel that terrorists hold lefty-liberals like myself in even worse contempt than the hard right. When we say 'have what religion or non-belief you like and we don't care who owns the land provided we all have food and water and have whatever views you like provide you stick to words only' I am sure we are seen as being human toilet paper because they don't understand us. My thoughts are with the relatives of the 10...