ABCtales
@abctales.bsky.social
📤 607
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http://ABCtales.com
is the place for writers to share, discuss and develop their talent.
Today's
#PickoftheDay
is Rhiannonw's "Dark and dreary". Few words with great impact, multum in parvo, indeed. Please share if you like it too.
www.abctales.com/story/rhiann...
about 14 hours ago
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Today's
#PickoftheDay
is Rhiannonw's "Dark and dreary". Few words with great impact, multum in parvo, indeed. Please share if you like it too.
www.abctales.com/story/rhiann...
about 14 hours ago
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One thing I really like about ABCTales is that people post their novels in progress there. Today I enjoyed Chapter 7 of Bron by Ivan Ok-ish. Give it a go! A Welsh woman returns to Holyhead from London…
www.abctales.com/story/ivan-o...
1 day ago
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ABCtales
Drew Gummerson
3 days ago
Keeping it topical. My latest substack post. On Traitors, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and Annexing Iceland.
@renardpress.com
@beardedbadgerbooks.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/drewgumm...
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On Traitors, the Nobel Prize for Literature and Annexing Iceland
You think about going on Traitors. It would be a good advertisement for your books. But you don’t know if you are the right kind of gay, well-dressed and personable. Able to pull off the obligatory cu...
https://open.substack.com/pub/drewgummerson/p/on-traitors-the-nobel-prize-for-literature?r=rg1n9&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=post-publish
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Angusfolklore brings the - unfulfilled? - past to life with this wonderful poem about a simple object in a cupboard:
www.abctales.com/story/angusf...
3 days ago
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ABCtales
philwhiteland
5 days ago
It's Sunday, and what better time for a trip into the distinctly different world of Gwladys and Aefelthrith? This week, Aefelthrith and 'Arry take offence and Gwladys takes responsibility:
www.abctales.com/story/philwh...
@abctales.bsky.social
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A response to our new Inspiration Point, 'a letter', this intensely moving poem by Jane Hyphen: Letter to Ann Lovett (1968 - 1984)
www.abctales.com/story/jane-h...
4 days ago
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ABCtales
Robert Welbourn
7 days ago
Just doing a little pre-reading ahead of my visit to the Hotel Flamingo this weekend.
@drewgum.bsky.social
never fails to make me laugh; his surreal humour never fails to make me think of Vonnegut. I'm excited to get away.
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ABCtales
Drew Gummerson
6 days ago
Oh, and You also appears in Risky Business on Minor Literatures. This is also one of my Tom Cruise stories, of which I’ve written 20, and is a complete short story collection.
minorliteratures.com/2024/04/18/r...
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Risky Business — Drew Gummerson
You are working in a Korean restaurant in Scarborough as a dishwasher and you live above it with your wife and kid. You are not Korean. Your wife is not Korean. But somehow your kid is Korean. He c…
https://minorliteratures.com/2024/04/18/risky-business-drew-gummerson/
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ABCtales
Drew Gummerson
6 days ago
You (the writer) also appears in my Substack. You can read one such writerly episode here -
open.substack.com/pub/drewgumm...
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You are surprised, as a published author, by how many people have not read your book.
You are surprised, as a published author, by how many people have not read your book.
https://open.substack.com/pub/drewgummerson/p/you-are-surprised-as-a-published?r=rg1n9&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay
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Pick of the Day - a well told story, even if wearyingly topical.
www.abctales.com/story/macash...
6 days ago
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ABCtales
Drew Gummerson
6 days ago
Thanks to
@robertwelbourn.bsky.social
for this lovely review of my chapbook You: From Pissed to Publication. (And it’s £5 from
@beardedbadgerbooks.bsky.social
- all are numbered and signed)
www.beardedbadgerpublishing.com/online-store...
add a skeleton here at some point
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ABCtales
Black Bough Poetry
6 days ago
‘And on a dark night, I am not a refuge for myself’
@racheldeering.bsky.social
from ‘In the Shadow of Gods’
www.blackboughpoetry.com/rachel-deering
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ABCtales
Drew Gummerson
8 days ago
Great to see one of the new prints of Seven Nights at the Flamingo Hotel landing. Thanks to
@beardedbadgerbooks.bsky.social
for getting it out there again. And if you want a copy it’s £10 including P&P.
www.beardedbadgerpublishing.com/online-store...
add a skeleton here at some point
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ABCtales
Drew Gummerson
8 days ago
And meanwhile my follow up, Saltburn, remains 50% off in
@renardpress.com
2025 Book Promotion. You can get a copy of that for £5 here and go the full Gummerson.
renardpress.com/books/saltbu...
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Saltburn – Renard Press
May the residents of the real Saltburn-by-the-Sea and neighbouring towns forgive my mermaids, my nuclear power stations, my foetus museums and so on and so on. They were written with love. Welcome to ...
https://renardpress.com/books/saltburn/
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Our wonderful Poem of the Week:
www.abctales.com/story/jane-h...
7 days ago
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January is a month of introspection for many of us. samhennig’s ‘Rainy day’ does this beautifully. It is today’s Pick of the Day.
www.abctales.com/story/samhen...
8 days ago
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Bron's fascinating life story continues in this Pick of the day. Please do share if you can
www.abctales.com/story/ivan-o...
9 days ago
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ABCtales
Drew Gummerson
11 days ago
I wrote about Christmas. Or rather not. Featuring Saints by Tim MacGabhann
@scratchbooks.bsky.social
Marty Supreme, Saltburn royalties, a new story, and nothing about Christmas.
open.substack.com/pub/drewgumm...
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On Christmas. Or rather not.
It’s over now, Christmas and New Year.
https://open.substack.com/pub/drewgummerson/p/on-christmas-or-rather-not?r=rg1n9&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay
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Today's Pick is a haunting response to this week's Inspiration Point. Don't say you weren't warned.
www.abctales.com/story/soulfi...
10 days ago
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A cautionary tale for our times from Mac Ashton:
www.abctales.com/story/macash...
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Please Hold | ABCtales
When the world ends, humanity will be dangling by a rope it invented. In the late 21st Century, technology advanced with blinding speed, outpacing every expectation. Still, with all these advances, on...
https://www.abctales.com/story/macashton/please-hold
11 days ago
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This moving tribute to a mother is our Sunday pick.
www.abctales.com/story/skinne...
12 days ago
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ABCtales
Drew Gummerson
12 days ago
Got my royalty statement for Saltburn. It sold 24 copies in last six months. Selling books is tough. You can get it now for 50% off in Renard Press’s Books of 2025 promotion. Yours for £5.
#SupportIndiePublishing
renardpress.com/books/saltbu...
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Saltburn – Renard Press
May the residents of the real Saltburn-by-the-Sea and neighbouring towns forgive my mermaids, my nuclear power stations, my foetus museums and so on and so on. They were written with love. Welcome to ...
https://renardpress.com/books/saltburn/
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ABCtales
Drew Gummerson
12 days ago
It’s got some great reviews!
www.goodreads.com/book/show/22...
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Haywood Books Saltburn.
Discover and share books you love on Goodreads.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/229303664-haywood-books-saltburn
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ABCtales
Bex Hainsworth
12 days ago
I spent my weekend with Bycatch by
@csmithpoet.bsky.social
(
@ninearchespress.bsky.social
). These poems about caring for elderly parents, exploring memory and home, are raw, intimate, and intricately captured. This collection will stay with me for a long time! 💙
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ABCtales
philwhiteland
12 days ago
Aefelthrith, Gwladys and their fellow travellers are back and dealing with an entirely different set of problems from ours! This week, Gwladys is organising, Dolly is scheming and 'Arry makes an unfortunate discovery:
www.abctales.com/story/philwh...
@abctales.bsky.social
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ABCtales
Drew Gummerson
14 days ago
Ferg wants to know. Have you ordered your copy of Saltburn yet? It’s currently £5 in Renard Press’s Best Books of 2025 sale.
#Books
#IndiePublishing
renardpress.com/books/saltbu...
add a skeleton here at some point
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Our Friday Pick of the Day is another treat from Ivan the OK-ish! The third part of this novel is as funny and intriguing as the the rest, and you can read it as a stand-alone if you haven't caught up with the rest of it yet:
www.abctales.com/story/ivan-o...
14 days ago
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ABCtales
Robert Welbourn
15 days ago
Saltburn is a great book, one of my top 10 from last year. For a fiver it's an absolute steal!
add a skeleton here at some point
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ABCtales
Drew Gummerson
15 days ago
My book, Saltburn, is part of @renardpress Books of the Year promotion and is 50% off!! Gaily representing March… it’s here for just £5. ** Please share if you can 🙏** Go Indie Publishing
#Books
renardpress.com/books/saltbu...
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Saltburn – Renard Press
May the residents of the real Saltburn-by-the-Sea and neighbouring towns forgive my mermaids, my nuclear power stations, my foetus museums and so on and so on. They were written with love. Welcome to ...
https://renardpress.com/books/saltburn/
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ABCtales
Drew Gummerson
14 days ago
And here is what you might be getting for your £5 Saltburn trip…
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Turlough’s monthly diary updates have woven themselves into the very fabric of ABCTales. Here’s another that doesn’t disappoint and is essential reading. “How to Make Money with a Broken Spirograph” is today’s Pick of the Day.
www.abctales.com/story/turlou...
Please share if you can.
16 days ago
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ABCtales
Bex Hainsworth
16 days ago
So pleased that this poem has found a home in the wonderful Shooter Literary Magazine! ✨ 'Eulogy for my grandfather as Prospero' is part of Issue 20: Sweet Hereafter 🧙♂️
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One to bring a smile in the sludge of January! This is GlosKat's different take on a fairy tale:
www.abctales.com/story/gloska...
17 days ago
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ABCtales
Rachel Deering
17 days ago
A poem from my collection, In the Shadow of Gods. It’s called January. 🖼️ Winter Tale, Ferdynand Ruszczyc, 1904.
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Today's Pick of the Day is Bron-2 part two of Ivan the Ok-ish's Bron about a young Welsh woman's experiences in that there Lunnon. It rings true, and fiction doesn't get better than that.
www.abctales.com/story/ivan-o...
Start here:
www.abctales.com/collection/b...
18 days ago
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ABCtales
Drew Gummerson
21 days ago
And that’s a lovely birthday present, a new review of Saltburn. 😊😍 from
@penofryandennis.bsky.social
add a skeleton here at some point
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ABCtales
Rachel Deering
19 days ago
A poem from my collection, In the Shadow of Gods, Hoar Frost. 🖼️ Hoar-frost And Stars, Gustaf Fjaestad.
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Story and Poem of the Month now LIVE on ABCTales!
www.abctales.com/blog/insertp...
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Story and Poem of the Month | ABCtales
Our Story and Poem of the Month for December, very kindly chosen by Drew Gummerson
https://www.abctales.com/blog/insertponceyfrenchnamehere/story-and-poem-month-120
19 days ago
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ABCtales
Bex Hainsworth
21 days ago
Happy New Year, everyone! 🎉 If you want to start your 2026 off with some poetry, Circulaire is a pamphlet about farewells, new beginnings, and coming full circle 💛 Available from Written Off Publishing here:
tinyurl.com/4cw3e27r
Or DM me/comment for a signed copy, £10 via PayPal, I cover p&p ☕️
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In need of a little distraction from events? Here's another brilliant short from Terrence Oblong:
www.abctales.com/story/terren...
19 days ago
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Pick of the Day - for the early stages of the New Year, a good piece of introspection (and redemption of sorts).
www.abctales.com/story/itane-...
20 days ago
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This wonderful Holiday story from Jane Hyphen is Pick of the Day! Please do share, if you can
www.abctales.com/story/jane-h...
21 days ago
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ABCtales
Drew Gummerson
21 days ago
And so here we are. 55 today! A walk along the beach in Saltburn, watching out for the killer seals, and mermaids, and then off to a party at the Flamingo Hotel.
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Some terrific pieces posted today. It was very hard to choose one. After much deliberation: hudsonmoon’s “The Other Side of the Attic Window II” gets us off to a great start for 2026. It’s Pick of the Day.
www.abctales.com/story/hudson...
Happy New Year to you all.
22 days ago
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And this is our final Pick of the Day for 2025 and what an apt one, as we raise a glass for those both with us and absent. Happy New Year all. Enjoy Turlough’s On the patch where the wild strawberries grew
www.abctales.com/story/turlou...
22 days ago
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philwhiteland
25 days ago
Ok, I'm delighted to say that there will be a New Year's Eve short story. I wasn't sure if it was going to happen, and it is still a work in progress, but I'm pretty pleased with it, so far. Watch ABCTales for more :-)
www.abctales.com/user/philwhi...
@abctales.bsky.social
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ABCtales
philwhiteland
23 days ago
This year's seasonal stories:
www.abctales.com/story/philwh...
www.abctales.com/story/philwh...
www.abctales.com/story/philwh...
@abctales.bsky.social
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A great piece of descriptive, atmospheric writing from markashley is our Pick for today. Definitely one to be read out loud and truly relished for its use of language.
www.abctales.com/story/markas...
24 days ago
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Today's
#PickoftheDay
is Terrence Oblong's first part of a longer piece about an Ernest being important 'The Baron von Ernest goes on tour'. Quirky, funny and so typically Oblong, I defy you not to smile.
www.abctales.com/.../baron-vo...
25 days ago
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