Now up to 176 of 200 written submissions we can take for this "month" [15 December to 14 January] of the submissions period! Guess I have some Christmas reading lol 🥰 Once we reach 200, written subs will be closed until 15 January, when we'll take another 200.

We'll be reading stories for ✨ What Elegant Stars: Queer Tales of Impossible Style ✨ from January 15th to April 15th. Give us stories of satellites and sewists, terminals and tailors, dandies and dying stars. <6k words. 8¢/word. simsub ☑️. multiple submissions 🚫. www.neonhemlock.com/submissions

Unique prompts, great feedback options, and a “fire” website Q&A section? Odd Embers is a new writing contest that already stands out for all the right reasons! Take a look at their awesome (humorous) website and join them for their first contest on January 30th 2026! www.oddembers.com

New contest alert!!! The inaugural contest is on January 30, 2026 (happens to be my birthday). Consider signing up! www.oddembers.com

Newsletter going out later today—places to read my recent stories, craft talk, and, of course, a word from these adorable doggos. Sign up as a free member of my Patreon to get everything in your inbox when it drops later today! www.patreon.com/c/chrisdotyd...

Newsletter going out later today—places to read my recent stories, craft talk, and, of course, a word from these adorable doggos. Sign up as a free member of my Patreon to get everything in your inbox when it drops later today! www.patreon.com/c/chrisdotyd...

gowron’s eyes

ALIENS (1979) Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 23” x 14” The concept here is that the aliens and the lone human-—who is an alien to the others—are posing for a group photograph, with the photographer being out of view to the right. 1/4

We can’t afford a $1M trailer slot 😔 But reposts on Bluesky cost $0 - and they really help tiny teams like ours ❤️ If cozy medieval creativity is your thing, here’s our Scriptorium trailer!

non-exploding consoles

It is that time of year again fam! We are in the end-of-year festive and gifting season :D (We love getting presents!!!!) Have you considered gifting a subscription to one of your loved ones? It’s the best kind of gift because it keeps on giving throughout the year XD escapeartists.net/support-ea/

CRAFT CHAT! Let's talk about one of my favourite craft techniques for fiction—the use of colour and shade! This blog post is a great place to start, and many thanks to Ingrind Sunberg for creating it in the first place.

As an illustration of the quality of the writing, I do anonymous reading but when I send out responses, the names are revealed, and I've counted NINE previously shortlisted writers who've so far had a not-quite-acceptance. So, if you also get one of those, you're in good company!

The 2025 Anthology is here! If you love what we do here at NQW, you can support us by liking and sharing this post and picking up a copy or two! Shipping within the next few days to arrive in time for Christmas! 🎄 Features all 2025 shortlisted stories plus exclusive judge & author commentary 👀

The Thing (1982, John Carpenter)

galaxy class starship where is paperclip reset hole

absolutely monday pilled. i’m toil-maxxing. going drudgery mode. stumblecore. hitting my slog goals.

beneficent cumberscrunge

hillary clinton doesn't get a lot of love on this site but let's never forget she took odo's virginity with such gentleness and skill that they made a baseball card out of it

Ready for a ghost story that will make you want to crawl out of your own skin? 😱

So spooky! Thanks for sharing your talents with us. We understand the Goblin discord is going off right about now?

So excited to have gotten sixth place in October's @notquitewrite.com contest with "The Ghosts You Bring With You!" You can read the story on their site, but I'd recommend listening because the sound effects and @akscotland.bsky.social's reading are wonderful! open.spotify.com/episode/3Mrk...

I can't listen to the song without thinking of

It's that giving time of year again, so this is a reminder that no matter how they try to dress it up, the Salvation Army is not a charity.

World aids day: a thread. Those that know me know I usually try to inform people about some manner of struggles HIV+ people endure on this day, and, as usual, this comes from both personal experience and research. This years topic is the # of annual AIDS-related deaths that still happen.

“Mr. Christ? No, no, no - please, call me Jesus. Mr. Christ is my father”

Congrats, @hanmarin.bsky.social, on story day!

I am thrilled to debut in @nightshadesmag.bsky.social with my experimental dark cli-fi micro, “Shelter in Place”. 🌪️ Please give my first (eeep!) publication a read, and feel free to share. Lots of love to you all. www.nightshadesmag.com/shelter-in-p...

Stuff I'd love to see more of in the Plott Hound slush: -science fiction -less popular and more obscure species -subversive, refreshing takes on familiar mythical creatures and cryptids -xenospecies/critters entirely made up by you! -non-Western cultures and settings

Story day for me! A silly (complementary) little drabble for this pumpkin spice season.

Excited to be on the NQW long list! Now it's 🤞 for the short list...

NEW STORY: "Not for Sale" by Gabriella Dolores Menezes! 🤖 100footcrow.com/not-for-sale/

I guess I now have to do a thread on shoes in ancient Mesopotamia in response to this (which happens to be from one of my favourite accounts). I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.

We're officially OPEN TO NONFICTION AND REPRINT SUBMISSIONS! We are looking for full nonfiction pieces (not pitches) and reprints of stories currently unavailable for free online. 🪐See our guidelines for details: othersidespec.com/guidelines 🗡️Submit here: hybrispress.moksha.io/publication/...

I am proud to have a story published with Rat Bag. Awesome team to work with, and I would recommend them to any author.

Woo hoooooo!!! This is so dang exciting!

that movie with the force

There’s still time to enter the TL;DR Press 2K Terrors short story horror competition!! Registration closes on the 28th November, so if you want to take part in a fun short story competition, then don’t forget to register asap. Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/2k-terrors...

That wasn’t the part I was worried about, bro

how do large pokemon fit in pokeballs

Wrote this masterpiece on a writer’s group chat awhile back. Really feeling these vibes today re: @diabolicalplots.com 🤣

November newsletter is going out later today! If you want it, sign up for the free tier on my Patreon!

ICYMI, I have a new story out! 🎵🎸🚀

November newsletter is going out later today! If you want it, sign up for the free tier on my Patreon!

Coffee and a book. Currently reading the Florida Writers Association anthology (2025). One of my shorts makes an appearance though I'm mostly enjoying all the other stories in here. Get a copy 👉 amazon.to/3WN4EEt #floridawriters #shortstoryanthology #coffeeandabook #currentlyreading

Folded Space is a work in progress from the editor of the Tales to Terrify Podcast. As we get closer to launch we will update our page @ www.foldedspacepodcast.com

Our next live workshop is "Sellable Short Stories: What Editors Want (And What To Avoid)" led by award-winning author, KC Grifant. Join us! November 14, Friday, at 2pm ET | 1PM CT | 12PM MT | 11AM PT | 18:00 UTC reachyourapex.com/wew #authors #writingworkshops

This story by @parkeriswriting.bsky.social ruined my whole morning, and I mean that as the highest of compliments. Perfect Halloween read.