Maddie knew who she was from a very early age

My hot take is that every picture book should be 3-5 (or more) pages shorter.

You can find links to all of these wonderful pieces on our awards page. lost-balloon.com/awards/

We are happy to announce our nominees for this year’s Best Microfiction anthology!!!! Vic Nogay: @vicnogaywrites.bsky.social, Carol M. Quinn, Titi Kusumandari, Michael Nickels-Wisdom, and Nicole Desjardins Gowdy!

9th times the charm! Finally got my 💀 today from @havehashad.com after submitting since 2021!!

Had a little story come out with @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social!! gooseberry-pie.com/current/?fbc...

I dunno maybe I have no sense of humor but I hate the videos of kids being legit terrified by a Grinch running into their houses and dragging kids by their feet and stealing their trees. SORRY!!

My face when someone tells me to enjoy every second of motherhood bc it goes by too fast

Love this story out today with @lostballoon.bsky.social: lost-balloon.com/2025/12/17/s...

A residency where someone takes my kids for a month and I sleep for 30 days straight

I love that @lostballoon.bsky.social was # 4 on "Where to publish that piece you wrote crying in your car" on @chillsubs.bsky.social because tbh that's where I'm reading your submissions, too! (and sometimes while crying!!) www.chillsubs.com/lists/crying...

“The current carries the box away quickly and my son sobs, saying he was just getting to know him, why did he love him so much only to lose him, how is this fair?” @madelineanthes.bsky.social in @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social gooseberry-pie.com/current/

“My son is distraught when his fish dies…” @madelineanthes.bsky.social gooseberry-pie.com/current/

Had a little story come out with @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social!! gooseberry-pie.com/current/?fbc...

Friends, remember that two things can be true at once. Awards season is exciting and hard. You can be bummed to not be nominated for anything and also be genuinely thrilled for other people. You can be disappointed and overjoyed. It's a weird time. It's ok to feel weird!

This week's story, chosen by guest editor @nicholas-claro.bsky.social, is "Vixen" by @madelineanthes.bsky.social. necessaryfiction.com/stories/vixen/

Other writers: Wow I just got nominated for an award! I'm so honored! Me: I ate a plate of mashed potatoes for lunch.

This piece by @madelineanthes.bsky.social is so, so good.

I have a story out today!! So thrilled it is out with Necessary Fiction :) Huge thank you to @nicholas-claro.bsky.social for accepting this story!

I am so excited to have gotten an acceptance from Sunlight Press! Slowwwlyyyy getting back into publishing after my last baby. Feels like stretching after a long nap.

Only thing worse than watching the Browns lose to the jets was seeing it in person along with all 130 jets fans in the stadium

Saw this on Netflix and not sure it translates as a finger puppet book idk I could be wrong

Heard we were dressing as superheroes this year @msrachelforlittles.bsky.social

Surprised my 7yo with a library trip after school. He found a coveted Beverly Cleary book and we played chess. He can’t stop talking about how fun it was. Never would have thought this baby with reflux who never slept would become my best friend. (If you’re in the newborn trenches, it gets better)

Time to redo my website -- writer friends, what's the best free website builder to make my site look good and easy to navigate?

Creative Nonfiction Editors Wanted! jmwwblog.wordpress.com/2025/09/12/c...

Everything feels kinda awful today but I got an acceptance from @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social so that helped a lot ❤️❤️

Me: I hope I get good writing news soon!! My email: G-A-R-A-G-E-S-T-O-R-A-G-E-B-Y-W-A-Y-F-A-I-R

We have a wonderful new piece today from Michael Nickels-Wisdom! Check out “Plum Mother.” lost-balloon.com/2025/08/27/p...

I started a writing club at work where we sit together in silence and write over our lunch hour. I got 1200 words down today!

My new mom friend rolled into daycare pickup blasting Panic at the Disco and I swooned

I got an acceptance from @necessaryfiction.com! I haven't been so excited about an upcoming story in a long time.

I cannot believe that after a long day of work my children – who I once prayed for – have the audacity to talk to me

Looks like free submissions have already closed for @lostballoon.bsky.social! They'll open again in October. If you're so inclined, tip jar submissions are open: lostballoon.submittable.com/submit

It happened. My son asked me what colors were like when I was little. “Did you have them or did you live in black and white?” Time for bed.

Parenting young kids means going back and forth between “omg stay this exact age forever” and “omg GO TO SLEEP”

My 2 and 6 year olds were arguing over a beach toy and in the middle of the argument the 2 year old leans over and hugs his brother. His brother hugs back. They moved on. Proud to be raising a generation of gentle boys.

2 year old from the other room: mommy can you come snuggle me? Me:

"Where was the life we were promised when we promised life?" Wow, this extraordinary poem by @madelineanthes.bsky.social in @bulbculture.bsky.social 💙💙💙

The light is on for Madeline Anthes! @madelineanthes.bsky.social 💡 “Mothers Posting on Facebook Mommy Message Boards Break My Heart Over and Over Again” is a heart-wrenching and sublimely Real poem you don’t want to miss! Check out Madeline’s incredible writing over at the site!

In other Bulb news, we have a poem from @madelineanthes.bsky.social coming tomorrow that is going to BLOW YOUR MINDS! It blew ours. And made us teary. And then on Friday, @mollyandrearyan.bsky.social's short story is so compelling and powerful, and we just know you're going to love it!

Today's @smokelong.bsky.social archive challenge pick is one of my favorite flash ghost stories! Read "The Ghost that Haunts my House" by @madelineanthes.bsky.social in @nffr.bsky.social: newflashfiction.com/the-ghost-th...

Working on a copy edit for a small press anthology I’ve done some work for before & just deeply happy in my comfort zone. Would love to book more work like this. Love working on all genres (& hybrids) of prose. Rates are reasonable. Email: [email protected]

"I’ve heard that motherhood is a series of releases." I am completely floored by this powerful piece. Brilliant writing by @madelineanthes.bsky.social in @gonelawn.bsky.social 💙💙💙

"I’ve heard that motherhood is a series of releases. Separations. Each one is painful but each one on time. Release, say goodbye. Let go." Powerful story-poem from @madelineanthes.bsky.social full of so much resonance and truth

I had a story come out with @gonelawn.bsky.social! Is it a story? Is it a poem? Is it a scream into the void about every parent's worst fear? Is a meditation on the state of the country? Is it all of the above? Anyway, enjoy. gonelawn.net/journal/issu...

Stranger: wow I love seeing your kid in a cast! you don't see many kids getting hurt these days. It's good to let them play rough! Me, two weeks after watching my kid break his arm horrifically and need surgery: oh yeah me too i love it

I appreciate that every father's day ad I see is like "MAKE YOUR HUSBAND SOB OVER THIS GIFT" and it's an AI video of a kid growing up. So moms need a break for mother's day and dads need an emotional reckoning?

New Flash with the lovely @lostballoon.bsky.social “In the back of the car, you show me your chest, and I show you mine. We agree that they are both concave and too much alike. We are eight years old, and we are often left to our own...” lost-balloon.com/2025/05/07/i...