🔥✍️ Taking Submissions ✍️🔥 Flare Magazine is running the Strength In Stories Contest. Theme: Disability as a Strength. 💰 Prizes up to $140 🗓 Deadline: March 1, 2026 🔗 horrortree.com/taking-submi... From @flarelitmag.bsky.social #WritingContest #CallForSubmissions #CreativeWriting

Working until my lupus acts up by giving me a bad headache or my joints swelling is what I'd like to say is my version of Eleven from Stranger Things having a nosebleed after exerting herself😂

I’m officially open for queries from now through Feb 15th. I’m looking forward to seeing all the wonderful work you end my way! querymanager.com/ErnieChiara

Hello Writing Community! We are delighted to announce our Second Official Bluesky *** #MSWL Day *** February 26, 2026. 🎉🎉🎉 Agents + editors can post what they ✨wish✨ they had in their inboxes; writers can find their next best fit for querying. Learn more: manuscriptwishlist.com/2025/01/the-...

Gotta love that #disabledrep! If you're looking for a picture book for kids that has disabled rep, we highly recommend pre-ordering @jlockettauthor1.bsky.social's new picture book!

This year, I decided to start doing book reviews on my socials. First up, @jlockettauthor1.bsky.social! I received an ARC of Jake’s picture book, MY LIFE AS AN ASTHMANAUT, that will be published by @freespiritbooks.bsky.social soon! Read the comments for the ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review!

YOU GUYS I just got a really super great email from @kellyesparza.bsky.social and @flarelitmag.bsky.social!!!

NOT QUITE DEAD YET x GLASS ONION but with ghosts At her estranged sister's party, Abby Martinez doesn’t expect to get stabbed in the back, literally. Now she must solve her own murder before any of the other guests die and to pass on to the afterlife. #questpit #A #MY #PR #S #F #Latinx #Q

GLASS ONION x NOT QUITE DEAD YET When Abby is killed at a party, Fate connects her soul w/ Wyatt, the only guest who can see her as a ghost. They must both solve her murder, but if they can't by midnight, Wyatt will die too & Abby will never pass on to the afterlife. #questpit #Q #A #MY #PR #S #F

NOT QUITE DEAD YET x GLASS ONION but with ghosts At her estranged sister's party, Abby Martinez doesn’t expect to get stabbed in the back, literally. Now she must solve her own murder before any of the other guests die and to pass on to the afterlife. #questpit #A #MY #PR #S #F #Latinx #Q

Firefly Lane x Liane Moriarty Disabled GenX Ellie reconnects with her college crush, but her friends suspect him in the unsolved disappearance of one of their group on graduation day. Ellie must risk her safety to learn the truth about her missing friend. #QuestPit #Q #A #WF

Why Ellie is nostalgic for ‘90s college: 👩‍❤️‍👩BFF Brooke not missing 😘Crush Eric shyly smiled in computer lab 🎶Happiness = mixtape + Walkman Today: 🤑Broke ☠️Divorced 💔Brooke missing Now Eric is back & not shy! But hiding truth about Brooke…?👀 #QuestPit #Q #A #WF

TRAIN FROM PLATFORM 2 X WE USED TO LIVE HERE X TELL-TALE HEART Hamlet, flipped on its head Dual POV (sibs Ophelia & Laertes) A private train to a will reading 2 snowed-in murders & a haunting F/F enemies to lovers to— ❄️Querying soon❄️ #questpit #agentsguide #A #T #H #W

Ravensgrove Academy is trying to rid the school of witches. So when star student Gwen is caught doing magic by the principal's rebellious son, she's sure she'll be expelled. Instead, he offers her a deal—pretend to date him, and he won’t tell anyone she's a witch #questpit #YA

ERIC LAROCCA xGIRL INTERRUPTED Ash doesn't believe in curses--not really--but when she recklessly casts one, people who have hurt her start ending up dead. If she can't find the countercurse, it will strike down everyone she loves--she may never recover from her depression #QuestPit #Q #A #H #LGBT

ERIC LAROCCA x GIRL INTERRUPTED Ash doesn't *really* believe in curses, but when she recklessly casts one, people who have hurt her start ending up dead. If she can't find the counter-curse, it will strike down everyone she loves--& she may never recover from her depression. #QuestPit #Q #A #H #MH

Soon to Query! KPOP DEMON HUNTERS X SLAY By day, Mia & her friends are a viral pop group. By night, they're vigilantes who fight virus monsters in a metaverse. ⚡️Mixed Race/Chinese Rep 🐶TALKING CORGI 🔥Magical Cyber Girls ❤️Hot (rival?) Boy Band 💥Cyber Boss Battles #questpit #ya #f #sf #q

SAILOR MOON x HANNAH MONTANA x TRON By day, Mia & her friends are a hot pop group. By night they're vigilantes who fight virus monsters in a metaverse. ⚡️Mixed race & Chinese rep 🐶TALKING CORGI 🔥Magical Cyber Girls 🗺️Diaspora themes 💞Rivals to lovers #questpit #ya #f #sf #poc #q

GLASS ONION x NOT QUITE DEAD YET When Abby is killed at a party, Fate connects her soul w/ Wyatt, the only guest who can see her as a ghost. They must both solve her murder, but if they can't by midnight, Wyatt will die too & Abby will never pass on to the afterlife. #questpit #Q #A #MY #PR #S #F

Will be participating in #questpit on Twitter & Bluesky tomorrow but not creating a list this time due to my health not being great & being busy, BUT I will try to swing by & boost whoever I see! The community is everything w/ pitch events🩵 #amquerying

Excited to announce that I have a prose piece about my frustrations with lupus and seeking the medical help one needs called "Push and Pull" getting published with @inkinthirds.bsky.social in spring 2026 for their tenth anniversary issue! 1 a.m. rants for the win!😆

you know you're querying when you start having dreams about getting offers of rep again😂 #amquerying

Yesterday, my poetry chapbook about living with my #chronicillness published by #BottlecapPress was stocked at small bookstore #OldHauntsBookshop in Granite Bay, CA! Ahhh so cool to see! 💜💜 buy my book here: kelly-esparza-merch-and-books.square.site/s/shop

Wow! A weekend of good news! -a partial request yesterday -a full request today -an accepted piece today by @genrepunkmag.bsky.social that will appear in July! Helloooo, January! #amquerying #amwriting

We just published our first newsletter! Check it out and subscribe for FREE! #litmags #chronicillnesses #disabilities #mentalhealth

Me: I can't wait to query my next book! Let's gooooo! 🤩 *I was previously agented, two YA novels died in the trenches despite having editor interest from bigger publishers, and I'm back with my first adult book😂 🤣 Me just a few days in to my main #amquerying era for my new book:

*semi-finalist for Tucson Festival of Books Awards My #A #M #PN #F #Q includes: 💪 strong #OV female MC ❤️ mental health & grief rep 💔 relationship issues ♿ #DIS rep 👻 new take on the afterlife 🔪 Abby gets murdered & has to solve her own murder as a 👻 to pass on to the afterlife & save other guests

✨ONE DARK WINDOW x KATABASIS✨ Lola Knight is cursed with a violent dark magic. When it kills her best friend, she must attend Le Fay academy to seek control before it kills again-or consumes her. But the monstrous mystery waiting for her could consume her entire world. #bluepit📖 #A #F #LGBT #Q #OV

WHEN DEVILS SING X FEAR STREET "Four pieces reunited by sinner's hand may finally break the Curse." Looks like Chava Rose is sinning. 💞 Women's autonomy ✡️ Jewish mythology ❤️🩹 Star-crossed lovers who refuse to give up 🌈 Diverse ensemble cast ⚖️ Strong themes of equality #YA #H #Q #OV #BluePit📖

SAILOR MOON x HANNAH MONTANA x TRON By day, Mia & her friends are a hot pop group. By night they're vigilantes who fight virus monsters in a metaverse. ⚡️Mixed race & Chinese rep 🐶TALKING CORGI 🔥Magical Cyber Girls 🗺️Diaspora themes 💞Rivals to lovers #Bluepit #Bluepit📖 #ya #f #sf #q #poc

Killed at a party, Abby Martinez must solve her own murder as a ghost b/c Fate intertwines her soul w/ Wyatt, the only guest who can see & talk to her ghostly form. If they can't solve the case by midnight, Wyatt will die too & Abby will never pass on to the afterlife. #BluePit📖 #A #M #F #PN #OV #Q

A true skill is somehow writing a 1-page synopsis for your 72k-word novel for UK literary agents #amquerying

I will be participating in #Bluepit📖 tomorrow w/ my adult speculative murder mystery I #amquerying! Can't wait to connect with other creatives! This book was a semi-finalist for the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards out 719 subs! 👀🌟

So excited to announce my first acceptance of 2026! My literary fictional short story, "Live Like Adrian," will be getting published this month by #litmag @prosetrics.bsky.social for their "Aurora" issue! Stay tuned! Can't wait to share!

How do you live life to the fullest when you’re diagnosed with a chronic illness in your twenties? In A SPOONIE’S GUIDE TO SELF-ACCEPTANCE, a grief-inspired poetry chapbook, @kellyesparza.bsky.social chronicles her experience with living with a chronic illness. Get it: kellyesparza.wordpress.com!

We’re delighted to spotlight this #ExpoFam member (@kellyesparza.bsky.social was Associate Editor for “Hunger and “Flux,” Fiction Co-Editor for “Lines,” and judged our “Escape” Flash 405 (tinyurl.com/ExpoIssues)). She is also the editor-in-chief of @flaremagazine.bsky.social

Hey folks! We changed our handle from "@flaremagazine.bsky.social" to "@flarelitmag.bsky.social" so that it copies our other socials like Twitter and Instagram!

Ahhhhh so excited to announce that my poetry chapbook will be stocked in two indie bookstores!!! ⏳Time Tested Books in Sacramento, CA 👻Old Haunts Bookshop in Granite Bay, CA Ahhhh! What a dream! Also excited to start making connections now for when my novels get published someday!

Not me accidentally having a typo...yeah the lupus brain fog is still here LOL

Me: *starts widely querying my new book that got me super delayed to due a massive lupus flare* I think I'll take a break from writing books while I query finally. Also Me: Okay, but hear me out, what if I started writing a new book today??🤣 #amquerying #amwriting

I'm finally back to my #amquerying era with my adult speculative murder mystery and I have gotten 2 full requests so far! Woo!! Let's keep it up! I was SO close with my last book, so here's to hoping this is the book that will get me an agent again!

Running my first writing contest with a monetary prize! Calling all disabled, chronically ill, and those who deal with mental health conditions! @flaremagazine.bsky.social has been around for a YEAR! Love championing marginalized voices❤️

What a way to end 2025! 🤩 My poetry chapbook A SPOONIE'S GUIDE TO SELF-ACCEPTANCE (#BottlecapPress) is getting stocked at a small bookstore, Time Tested Books, in Sacramento, CA! Soooo excited! Check out my book here in the meantime: kelly-esparza-merch-and-books.square.site/product/new-...

Happy holidays from FLARE Magazine! Whichever holidays you celebrate, we hope you have a great time and a safe holiday season! ❄️ ✨ I know it's easy to overdo & feel like you have to for the holidays, but please rest & take care of yourself when you need it! -xoxo, EIC @kellyesparza.bsky.social

Ugh...my #amquerying journey keeps getting delayed because my lupus is really bad. I have to see a cardiologist tomorrow because guess who's having heart issues? It's times like these I remember lupus can be serious and wish it wasn't😭

Submissions for Knee Brace Press's "Darkness" issue are open now until January 4! I hope you will submit your writing and art about chronic illness, disability, and neurodivergence to us! :)

My microfiction romantic New Year's Eve story published by @micromancemagazine.bsky.social is published today! The extended version was published in their holiday anthology! Read the story here:

I'm now also selling signed copies of my poetry chapbook about what it's like to live with lupus on my @ko-fi.com!

Although it’s been almost a year of being around, we made it on the FISH List of lively independent #litmags! Woohoo! FLARE is number 1282 out of 1848 lit mags that qualified! Thank you for curating all this, @charliefish.bsky.social! See the list here: www.fictionontheweb.co.uk/p/fish-list....

Screaming! My poetry chapbook that was published by #bottlecappress is FEATURED on the @reedsy.bsky.social discovery site & will be in their newsletter that reaches hundreds of thousands of readers!! Ahhh! Not every book gets picked up so this is amazing! The link to buy my book is in my bio! ☺️