Oh, goodness. A little bit of heartbreak by @olgapoet.bsky.social out in @fictivedream.bsky.social this morning! #MicroMonday #flashfiction #microfiction fictivedream.com/2025/11/10/m...

What would I do with $200 from @smokelong.bsky.social? Writing classes and books from independent publishers, obvs!

Woot! Look what just downloaded itself to my Kobo! Happy official release day, @lumchanmfa.bsky.social !

This story by @shiramusicant.bsky.social has been nominated by @welkinprize.bsky.social for a Pushcart, and I am thrilled beyond words. This was my very favourite of all the shortlisted entries this year!! #microfiction #flashfiction www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-stori...

I love this piece by @bsherm36.bsky.social in today's @fictivedream.bsky.social !! So, so good. #flashfiction #microfiction #micromonday fictivedream.com/2025/10/27/m...

October 25th! Join us and Sage Tyrtle for this special 2-hour webinar/workshop. www.smokelong.com/product/spec...

The cabbie who kindly wrote down the name of the Tamil musician he was listening to while he drove me home. #beautifulordinarypeople (It was A.R. Rahman, if you want to hear something beautiful.)

Good news, everyone! Literary Namjooning's first ever flash reading and open mic's happening soon! Register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi... #namjooning #namjooningbutliterary

Do you have "Fear of Physics"? Let me cure you at my Zoom writing workshop, When Physics & Fairy Tales Collide, Mon Oct 20 7-9pm UK! We'll play with weird & wonderful physics words, celebrate female physicists and invent particles! Pay-what-you-can available: app.tickettailor.com/events/tania...

Yes! Sometimes the Almost is way better than the Actually There. Read all about it in this story by @kdiannerule.bsky.social today in @fictivedream.bsky.social . fictivedream.com/2025/10/10/t...

"But it’s like that game where someone asks you not to think of an elephant, and there it is in your brain—the elephant. There they are—everyone I hate." I don't hate this story by @jaimegill.bsky.social ... I freaking love it. And @anchalastudio.bsky.social 's art is brilliant as usual!

"the susurrus, I know the word susurrus ’cause that was on Who Wants to be a Millionaire this week, so anyway I remember the susurrus..." Wow. I'm just knocked back in my seat this morning by @jennystalter.bsky.social , whose story is now out in @fictivedream.bsky.social .

"Fascist regimes have classic, telltale traits, like vilifying immigrants, adopting patriotic symbolism of their nation’s glorious past, embracing a narrow definition of masculinity and family values, and striving for economic and diplomatic self-sufficiency."

Accurate.

This is happening next week on Tuesday (7pm BST) or Saturday (9am BST) - still time to join 👇

I wrote a raw piece about my experience commuting to work… it’s foul, but it’s 100% true. Thanks to @mrbullbull.bsky.social for giving my gritty CNF a home!

@sagetyrtle.bsky.social !! Congratulations!

I am so excited and grateful!!

Join me and other fabulous writers tomorrow for what's bound to be a wonderful couple of hours! www.tickettailor.com/events/dubli...

"Nobody wants to be around you if you’re just gonna dwell on this well stuff."

Announcing our noms for @genrepunkmag.bsky.social awards. Good luck Trash Family 🦝💜 @sophia-adamowicz.bsky.social @muchadoaboutnil.bsky.social @judepickledplum.bsky.social @heatherbooknook.bsky.social @supernaturalfeat.com @lmbayley.bsky.social @gtwriter.bsky.social @mrallanmiller.bsky.social

Your monthly reminder: Keep writing. When no one cares, persist. When things appear to be crumbling, keep at it. When it's difficult, push through. When you feel alone, listen to the stories in your blood. Just write. The world needs your stories.

Just read this story by @glennorgias.bsky.social in @smokelong.bsky.social and was startled by the relentless language. #flashfiction #flashinthefeed

So many brilliant lines by @lisaferranti.bsky.social , like this: "Remind her that she is allergic to cats. Because of this, your dad took Buttons when he moved out. Be careful not to make this feel like a guilt trip." Happy #MicroMonday, everyone!!

I'm reading this issue on Kindle, and loving it! Thanks @rhppress.bsky.social for providing it in this format, where I can adjust the font to my heart's content!

Just came here to say that I love this story by @libbycudmore.bsky.social too! How have I never heard of @rhppress.bsky.social before?

Any day I get to read new work by @emilyrinkema.bsky.social is a good day! Today we have "Juror Number Eight" in @fictivedream.bsky.social . fictivedream.com/2025/08/29/j...

"no talking, no eye contact, just the quiet understanding that this was the stupidest and most sacred thing we’d ever done." - Oleg Olizev

My essay on AI and writing is up on Island Mag online islandmag.com/read/extinct...

Book mail! Look what beautiful thing arrived at my door. Congratulations to Jeff Bogle @stanchion.bsky.social !!!

It's getting so that one of the best things about Monday mornings is @fictivedream.bsky.social 's #MicroMonday emails. Talk about treasure.

I am absolutely REELING from reading @mariegethins.bsky.social 's tiny flash this morning. I'm going to be thinking about this all day.

In case you missed it!

It's sign up time for September! Our first September writing task goes live on September 1st, so we'll be letting new members into the workshop a few days before the end of August to do some onboarding. Write with us. Community works. #notacult www.smokelong.com/smokelong-fi...

Finally wrote my ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review of @ljabouttown.bsky.social 's book Still Alive on Goodreads, Kobo, and Amazon. I hope you'll all go read the book, if you haven't already! It's been a month and I'm still thinking about it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for The Lives of the Dead by @fionamckay.bsky.social ! Well worth reading.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for Sex Robots Must Die by @ajstanton.bsky.social ! This might be old news to some of you, but I thought it was brilliant, and thought you should know about it!

A History of the Future We stopped reading, and then we all died.

@ajstanton.bsky.social, @markburrow.bsky.social told me that I must read Sex Robots Must Die. He did not tell me I would be looking up the word "teledildonics." I'm not sure which one of you I'm more mad at! 😱🤣

Book mail from @writesloud.bsky.social via the @stanchion.bsky.social book club! Um, my TBR may be getting out of hand.

Good article, laying out the facts clearly. Note: “While the mother behind the original complaint assumed the M&S employee was trans, there is no evidence as yet that this is even the case. [The mother only claimed] the staff member was “obviously” trans because she was “at least 6ft 2in tall”.”

"We decluttered the old ways of thinking. Scratched out the chalkboard full of ideas. The answer had been in front of our eyes the whole time. It was straightforward. Elegant. Like a perfect mathematical proof. Our plan for peace was simple: kill everyone."

Have you read Martha Keller's new story in @fictivedream.bsky.social yet? I just read it, and came here immediately to make sure that you do too! Because it breaks my heart, and what could possibly be better on a Monday morning than a little bit of heartbreak?

Thanks, @mattkendrick.bsky.social !!

Brilliant story and animation by @lumchanmfa.bsky.social !

Book mail! The Lives of the Dead by @fionamckay.bsky.social ( @adhocfiction.bsky.social ) and At Peace With the Night Owls by Alex Grehy ( @alienbuddhapress.bsky.social ) !

Write the truth—not the tidy version, not the sexy one. This article teaches you how to say the unsayable. thebrokenspine.co.uk... Check our events for more.

Our short story prize is open for submissions again! Please share this widely - and please send us your stories: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/prize Closing date 8 November!