Many thanks to the Shoutout Army for catapulting us to the top 5 on Substack's rising list! Follow us here for a once-weekly new-story-short-appreciation. #booksky #litfic

𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐲’s work in 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 is a reminder of the kind of line-by-line joy one can create. A joy that accretes as you read, the way a snowball rolled on the front lawn is, soon enough, the solid base of a serviceable snowman. @katetooley.bsky.social @kenyonreview.bsky.social

Big thanks to 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐓𝐮𝐜𝐡 at 𝐋𝐢𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 for giving me some space to preach about the hidden joys in the short story submission process. Take a gander, short story writer, then up your game and SUBMIT OFTEN! The world is waiting on your masterwork... #booksky #litfic

Big thanks to 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐓𝐮𝐜𝐡 at 𝐋𝐢𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 for giving me some space to preach about the hidden joys in the short story submission process. Take a gander, up your game and SUBMIT! The world is waiting on your masterwork...

On illegal immigration in “𝑈𝐹𝑂” in 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥: “The streets were made of money, and it was quite simple, Benny assured us. All we had to do was be inside a crashing car, easiest work in our lives. And the insurance paperwork, he said, it proved out existence." @adroitjournal.bsky.social

When the MC, Ira, is introduced to star-eating at the age of five, there’s something of the mom-running-a-whiskey-soaked-finger-along-the-gums-of-a-teething-toddler in it. Ira is warned by her mom: “don’t go star eating without our help, ok?” #booksky More on the story and a link to it here:

By framing the idea of solar systems destroyed through the eating of a star—as 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐞 𝐀.𝐌. does in “𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟 𝐸𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟” in 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡’s latest—the thought of the effects of addiction are given their due in a way that news reports on the effects of second-hand smoke or DUI traffic fatalities never could.

As a sci-fi conceit, Jamie A.M.’s “𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟 𝐸𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟” (𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡) hints at its world-destroying-horrors enough to establish huge stakes, but it clothes them in the distance of a million light years away, in the benign tutelage of family tradition (mom's a star eater, too). @passagesnorth.bsky.social

𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐭 verb 1. Subject oneself to a process. 2. Yield to the authority of another. By all means, submit your short stories to literary magazines for possible publication. Once you’ve subjected yourself to the publication process, definitely submit to the authority of said magazines.

Please visit 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐭, take a look around, and consider subscribing (we’re free). More readers puts more eyes on the 𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 we shoutout, and more attention for the 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 that work tirelessly to give us all the platforms we need to further our careers. #booksky

Themes in short stories are best deployed as apparitions. They float like ghosts through great works. We catch fleeting glimpses of them, just enough to feel their presence, but not so much that we feel the heavy hand of message.

There are many ghosts floating through Mina Austin's “Walk” (3,200 words, Post Road Magazine), but thematically that ghost is 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛; how hard it is to establish it between people, never mind between people and animals. How hard it is to really 𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛. @postroadmag.bsky.social Link here:

A quick reminder of why we're here: 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. Hemingway, Carver, Cheever, Saunders, O'Connor, Chekhov - all fantastic. But new writers are bringing it every week, and we bring them to you. Join us, won't you?

In "Ancestral Milk" (in 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐬) Paige Kaptuch takes one woman’s struggle with pregnancy and childbirth after a cross-country move and elevates it, through a special brand of expository pyrotechnics, to a kind of time-travel-lite. To four-dimensional story telling.

You’ll remember writer 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐆𝐢𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐞 from last week’s Shoutout “Van Cleef” in 𝐁𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐞. Her website 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐫 gives you more to dig into, including her story collection “The Knockers.” Please consider subscribing to her newsletter. Looking forward to more, Caroline!

“Open for fiction submission” on 6/1: 𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 is published four times a year: including a prose issue in the summer, and a special longform issue in the fall. Spring and summer issues are guest-edited by different writers of prominence. word count limit: 6,500

“You’re an unemployed grown man still living with his mother! That’s what you are! You’ve turned idleness into a bloody job description and expected us all to clap along.” The chatter in the pub dipped. Van Cleef didn’t move. 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗚𝗶𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗲'𝘀 "𝐕𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐟" 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞:

The first thing that will jump out at you about “𝐕𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐟” (3,100 words) by Caroline Giudice in 𝐁𝐔𝐋𝐋, is its period-piece-ness. It feels like it’s trapped in the amber of some long-ago, while somehow remaining a romance tailored for today. @mrbullbull.bsky.social @

Big Shoutout to fellow PNW writer 𝐊𝐢𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 - his short story “Horn of Plenty” appears in the latest issue of 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡! @kittrick.bsky.social @pinchjournal.bsky.social More about Kit’s fantastic writing here: kittrick.co/writing

David Foster Wallace: “the most important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about.” These realities are not talked about in “The Fishless Cycle,” but they are floating around all the characters. What 𝑖𝑠𝑛’𝑡 said carries more weight than what is addressed directly.

From E.P. Tuazon’s exquisite “𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝐶𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒”: "I filled a pot of water for rice. I didn’t ask him about food again. I knew what the answer would be. He would eat whatever I made. Or he wouldn’t. His appetite lived elsewhere now." @reedmagazine.bsky.social Read about and link to it here:

𝐄.𝐏. 𝐓𝐮𝐚𝐳𝐨𝐧 brings the thinking behind David Foster Wallace’s 2005 commencement address “𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟” to life in the brilliant short story “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘊𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦” in Reed Magazine’s latest issue. For an introduction and a link to the story:

From Andrew Plimpton's "Breadcrumbs" in 𝐇𝐚𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: "Even as a child I was dimly aware of the hint of hostility in the air when my entire family was present...it was not the absence of love; it was merely something that stood in its way." @haydensferryreview.bsky.social

The less a reader knows, the more they are compelled to infer. That inference pulls them deeper into the story, until they are practically co-creators. Their contributions are really expectations that are, ideally, replaced by better, more compelling alternatives crafted by talented writers.

The best expression I can come up with to describe the unsettling feeling Plimpton steeps us in—which, dramatically, is akin a pressure cooker with an unsecured lid—is 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒-ℎ𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟. And the narrator in this masterful story feels it, too. Check out the story, and more about it, below:

You’re not thinking enough about 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭-𝐨𝐟-𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰. Gordon Brown is. Gordon Brown is published. Read “Death of a Hotel Manager,” and about it, here:

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐭! Check us out on Substack to get a taste of the kind of stories these great pubs are looking for (maybe yours?): Baltimore Review Tahoma Lit Review Massachusetts Review Prairie Schooner Trampset Prime Number …and more, once weekly, for free :)

“Because he served the tourists too well, we threw the hotel manager into the pool.“ This is where we start in Gordon Brown’s short-but-sweeping “𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐇𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫,” in The Baltimore Review. And I use we advisedly. This story’s point-of-view is the mob’s point-of-view. Grab a pitchfork!

Once you’re gut punched by a break in form, you read a story differently. Suddenly your antenna is up, you’re off auto-pilot. You put a lot more attention into the text. You’re fully engaged. And a fully engaged reader is a happy reader.

From Adam Falik's "A Very Short Repine Regarding Me and My Father" in Tahoma Literary Review: "All I wanted was to tell my father that nothing was forgiven. I wanted to howl it like an animal, lean over his cowering face...and scream it into his every scream." @tahomareview.bsky.social

SHOUTOUT REDUX If you were with us back in March, you’ll remember 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐤’s riveting “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔” in Blackbird Journal: freilly2020.substack.com/p/the-four-w... Her short story collection, “𝑴𝒂𝒈𝒅𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒂 𝑰𝒔 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌,” 2025 Rising Writer Prize winner, was released last week!

𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠! Submissions to 𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 will close on 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟑𝟎𝐭𝐡 for both FLASH (up to 1K words) and FICTION (1-7K words). They're looking for work "that explores the human condition with empathy and curiosity." @psmokejournal.bsky.social www.peatsmokejournal.com/submit

SHOUTOUT REDUX: You'll remember Amelia Valasek from her awesome story "Mud Season," profiled here previously (freilly2020.substack.com/p/mud-season...). Well, it don't stop there, y'all. Check out "Cathedral" from the fine folks at 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬: halfwaydownthestairs.net/2024/06/01/c...

𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝? Learn about what’s being accepted by 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 what’s being accepted. Like Jess Row’s great “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” in the latest issue of 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: freilly2020.substack.com/p/the-seven-...

From Jess Row's "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" in Mass Review: "“I have no idea if this is recyclable,” she said. “We’ve lived through so many waste management trends. Now I’m too tired even to dig a hole so I can shoot myself and fall in it." freilly2020.substack.com/p/the-seven-...

Reminder!: The Common magazine is open for fiction submissions (up to 10K words) through 6/1/26. They seek pieces in which SETTING is crucial to character, narrative, mood and language. Want an example of what they like? Check out the gripping “Islands”: freilly2020.substack.com/p/islands-th...

Screenwriters create blueprints. Novelists create the thing meant to be consumed. Novelists are Gods. Screenwriters are replaceable. 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡, 𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬! Here's how: freilly2020.substack.com/p/screenwrit...

From “The Bird That Cries Mayday” in Prairie Schooner Journal: "The girl didn’t like the boy. He talked too much, unlike his father. People let him be because they believed the boy’s fate dictated that he inherit all the words his father could not speak." freilly2020.substack.com/p/the-bird-t...

“𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐶𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑀𝑎𝑦𝑑𝑎𝑦” in Prairie Schooner Journal starts with a bang. We’re alongside a German warplane that’s “sputtering a dark plume from its engine.” The plane nose-dives. The crash is inevitable. @prairie-schooner.bsky.social More here: freilly2020.substack.com/p/the-bird-t...

Submitting short stories for publication in literary magazines is an act of faith. Everything you put out there is a message in a bottle cast into raging sea of indifference. Only one thing you can do, really. SUBMIT! More on that here: freilly2020.substack.com/p/submit

From Erika Krouse's "Jude" in Colorado Review, an awesome achievement: "..when my grandmother told me her secrets, this was as special as I got. I felt wonderful but single-use, like a cigarette, treasured until it burned all the way through." More here... freilly2020.substack.com/p/jude-color...

I’ve met so many short story writers whose only metric for choosing which literary magazines to send their work to is whatever invitations to submit randomly land in their email inbox. How do YOU choose where you submit your short stories? freilly2020.substack.com/p/welcome-to...

"She was dark with small piercing eyes and bad skin. He, by comparison, was distractingly handsome...It was not until much later that I understood why a man like him had married someone like her." @michiganquarterly.bsky.social @hemapadhu.bsky.social freilly2020.substack.com/p/the-ant-an...

“the driver...lived long enough to bring the tank here to the cliffs, and had perhaps then died inside, fallen onto the accelerator…until it...dropped away and...yet I did not hear the impact of its fall” @westbranchmagazine.bsky.social freilly2020.substack.com/p/and-now-yo...

Are your short stories dramatic enough? Check out Grace Spulak’s “The Four Winds” in Blackbird Journal for a masterclass in tension. Nearly every scene is like a rubber band stretched to its breaking point. @gspulak.bsky.social @blackbirdjournal.bsky.social freilly2020.substack.com/p/the-four-w...

From Lizzie Challen Hubbard's excellent "Fear Theory" in X-R-A-Y: "Then they come. From under the door, from under the bed. Quick-moving shadows, with long tails. Bigger than the lab rats, and meaner." @xraylitmag.bsky.social freilly2020.substack.com/p/fear-is-a-...

From "Keep Your Visions to Yourself" in Trampset Journal: "I sank down behind my twin bed, winding the phone cord around my wrist, you sat on your bed, doing your nails, rolling your eyes." @trampset.bsky.social @writesofkathryn.bsky.social freilly2020.substack.com/p/keep-your-...

You have that friend who writes great short stories, but won't submit them for publication... Turn them on to SHORT STORY SHOUTOUT. It'll give them a weekly lesson in what actual lit mags are publishing, so they'll know if they're a fit. And it's FREE... freilly2020.substack.com/p/invite-you...

"If she made only one objection, then she’d no interest. Ditto if she’d made two. But three was defensive; four was obsessive. Four meant that if Charlotta could ever find the Last Word Cafe, she was definitely going."@gavingrant.bsky.social @kellylink.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/freilly2...

The focal point of “Keep Your Visions to Yourself” is its unabashed emotionality, its Stevie Nicks-ness. But as with most efficient vehicles, what’s purring under the hood is a story-engine that sucks you right into its intake manifold. freilly2020.substack.com/p/keep-your-...