Enter the parlour of Lady Luck and gamble your emotions on the spin of her roulette wheel.

We’ve just heard the exciting news that Telltales has been invited back to perform at Port Eliot Festival for the fourth year running. It’s a great opportunity to showcase the incredible creative writing talent that Cornwall has to offer and amazing for our performers to be on the bill alongside some of the country’s brightest literary stars.

Last year’s programme and Round Room performance left audiences enthralled, so for 2012 we’ve decided to take things one step further and get the audience directly involved with the programming itself. With the help of a trusy 1960s Spanish roulette wheel.

With the roulette wheel set up (and hopefully rigged up so everyone in the audience can see it) individual audience members will be selected and invited to spin the wheel in order to decide what each performer will read out.

Will the ball bounce down on red – for a happy tale – or black – for a tale or woe, worry or mistfortune?

As the wheel is spun the programme will take shape, colouring the atmosphere and pulling on our emotions. But in what direction only Lady Luck can decide.

If you are interested in taking part and being one of the (lucky) seven writers we programme, submissions are easy.

Use the form on the right to submit one piece that could be defined as happy and one piece that could be defined as sad, by the 22 June 2012.

These are loose definitions so don’t worry if you don’t write for laughs – it’s more about the overall feeling your writing creates.

Please label your submissions Happy, followed by your name, and Sad, followed by your name, so we can keep track.

Once you have submitted, we’ll confirm we’ve received your submission, have a read and then get in touch by the 30th June to let you know if you have been successfully programmed.

Each performer will get a free weekend pass to Port Eliot Festival (only one though – performer tickets are like gold dust) and of course the chance to perform at one of the UK’s leading literary events.

Sound interesting? Then let Lady Luck inspire you and get thinking, writing and submitting.

The programme includes the ever-entertaining Rob Barratt, Telltales regular and featured Parabola writer Fi Read and the welcome return of Tim Warren.

There’ll be delicious cocktails thanks to the clever team at The Rum Bar and a chance to buy a copy of our latest creative writing anthology The Parabola Project.

Whatever you do don’t miss it.

See you at The Rum Bar, Falmouth, from 7pm for a delicious slice of word pie, Telltales style.

Taking place on Tuesday 27 March at the ever-fabulous Rum Bar, Falmouth (TR11 3PN) we’re on the hunt for submissions to make up our Telltales’ programme.

The theme for March’s Telltales is Another Life, so think birth, death, disguise, deception, reincarnation or whatever the theme conjures up for you.

Whether its poetry, prose, scripts, short stories or novel extracts everything’s welcome. All we ask is that it is an original piece of work read by the writer and not too much more than 10 minutes in length.

Submit your work – loosely related to the theme – through the form on the right of the screen by Sunday 18 March, then we’ll have a read and let you know if you have been successfully programmed.

Look forward to receiving and reading your stuff!

On the 21 February, Telltales will be showcasing the talent of the illustrators and photographers that have helped make its publications truly shine.

Hosted by The Poly, Falmouth, and curated by Venn Creative, Parabola: The Artwork will exhibit illustrations, photographs and designs from issues I and II of The Parabola Project; Telltales’ award-winning creative writing anthology, the latest issue of which was published in November 2011.

With work from leading illustration talents including Nick Radford and Millie Marotta, as well as rising stars like Edward Tuckwell and Laura Callaghan on display, we hope the exhibition will shine a light on the imagemakers that have bright futures as part of the UK’s creative scene.

And it’s not just about admiring. All the prints will be for sale with a portion of the money made going back into the Telltales pot for issue III, in order to continue showcasing top illustration and writing talent.

Oooh. Check out our beautiful poster for the next Telltales by the design wizards at Venn Creative. It’s revolutionary…

Hope to see you all at the Rum Bar, Falmouth on 31 January for what looks set to be another delicious slice of word pie, Telltales style.

As 2012 gets into full swing, so Telltales is gearing up to return. We’ll be taking over The Rum Bar, Falmouth (TR11 3PN) on Tuesday 31 January for our first night of talk and tales this year.

Which means, we’re currently on the lookout for writers keen to read out at the event.

The theme for this month is Revolution. Whether it’s change, turnarounds, power struggles, or spinning emotions, you can interpret the word however you like. Submit your work, loosely based on the theme, using the form on the right by the 22 January and we’ll let you know on the 23 January if you’ve been programmed.

Check back on the website over the next few weeks for more details. We look forward to reading your stuff!

Featuring the talents of 19 writers from across the writing spectrum, as well as stunning illustrations and photographs from some incredible imagemakers, it’s bigger and better than issue I, just as we had hoped.

So far the response both to how it looks and how it reads has been brilliant and we look forward to hearing from more of you once you’ve had a chance to pick up a copy.

You can buy Parabola online now, or from stockists across Cornwall, as well as from our newest stockist Magma, in London.

It’s just £6 and every penny we make will go straight back into the publishing pot to be able to do it all again for issue III.

You’ve all been amazing so far with your support of Parabola and the creative writing scene, but now we really need you.

The more copies we sell the more likely it is we will be able to showcase even more writers and illustrators next year, so please do buy a copy and spread the word. It makes a great Christmas present!

For more information on stockists, featured writers and of course to buy a copy, as well as illustrated postcards and posters check out www.parabolaproject.com

Just a quick post to say we’re really excited about the launch of The Parabola Project Issue II: Quickening. It’s so close now, Zander from Venn has been press passing all week, and the pages are looking truly beautiful. We’re expecting to take delivery of the first batch of copies on Monday and then it’s an evening of bellybanding and numbering ready for the launch party and distribution the next day.

And all the plans for the launch are all in place now too, including testing my Grandpa’s old microphone – it’s in full working order and ready to go so our readers, who include Telltales c0-founder and recently signed author Chelsey Flood, Mac Dunlop, Nick Jarvis, Chris Brown and Fi Read, will have a vintage mic to use, should they want it.

We really hope to see you at the Rum Bar, on 29 November, from 7.30pm – it’s going to be a great evening and of course your first chance to get your hands on a copy of the amazing Parabola Project Issue II: Quickening! Don’t miss it…

After months of campaigning, reading, editing, commissioning, designing and proofing, The Parabola Project Issue II will be hitting the shelves this November with a launch party to remember.

Taking over The Rum Bar, Falmouth on Tuesday 29 November, Telltales will be celebrating the launch of The Parabola Project Issue II: Quickening with an entertaining night of word wizardry, showcasing the rich creative talent featured in the new issue and beyond.

With readings from recently signed author Chelsey Flood, captivating travel writer Chris Brown and satirical performance poet Nick Jarvis on the cards, as well as free Winter Pimms, mince pies and an opportunity to look through the proofs and plates that all fed into the production process,  it promises to be great evening. Not to mention the fact that it’ll be your first chance to get your hands on a copy of The Parabola Project Issue II: Quickening.

For those of you that don’t know, The Parabola Project is an independently published creative writing anthology that showcases creative talent from Cornwall and beyond. Available online in Waterstones Truro and from independent bookshops across Cornwall, it costs £6 – with all profits going back into the production pot for issue III.

So what are you waiting for? Get out your diary and write this in in permanent pen -  “29 November, 7.30pm @ The Rum Bar, Falmouth, celebrating the launch of The Parabola Project and picking up my copy, can’t wait to see it…” or something similar.

Thanks to you we have managed to raise £2120 to put into the production pot, and combined with sales from Issue I, that money means we can showcase 20 writers and imagemakers in Issue II; a beautiful little publication that will take their talent to whole new audiences.

And not only will it be fatter, we’re going to print more copies get stockists onboard from further a field and generally try our hardest to raise Parabola’s profile and get more people reading it.

It seems that when if comes to Issue II, Quickening couldn’t have been a more apporopriate theme…