so cool to see @blairpub.bsky.social restart New Stories from the South. And so honored to have @lisawv.bsky.social's story from Cutleaf featured in the venerated anthology among so many other GREAT short story writers.

#tbt miss these guys. Midwest Gothic published my very first short story, in this issue, 14 years ago this spring. They also published my debut story collection 4 years later. I wouldn’t be who I am today w/o their support. MG had a great run and their impact on the lit world is still felt today.

In honor of short story month, I'd love to hear your recommendations for best/favorite short story you've read in the past few months. Please feel free to link to the story or journal or collection. #readshortstories

cool new issue of Cutleaf, guest edited by @kimmagowan.bsky.social and Michelle Ross. The stories were collaboratively written by @emilyrinkema.bsky.social and @dawnsteffler.bsky.social, Amanda Ellard and Madison Porter, and @dianelp.bsky.social and Ania Payne. Check it out here: cutleafjournal.com

a flash piece published today at JMWW. Thanks to the editors for giving this one a home. It's dedicated to anyone who spent an unusual amount of their childhood at garage sales.

It's not even noon and I'm already looking forward to the Twolves-Nugs game 5 matchup. Watching McDaniels work the Nugs into physical and psychological exhaustion has been nothing short of genius. We'll see how it goes w/o Ant and Donte...

Open.

If you enjoy reading and talking about short stories, this is the substack for you.

Gobert played a helluva game, but overall the Twolves looked out of it, like they took themselves outta the game, esp in the 4th. Silly fouls, lapses on defense. They didn't have that drive to win. Anyway, regardless, the @nuggets.bsky.social & @mntimberwolves.bsky.social should be a GREAT series.

the frantic first quarter pace of the Heat-Hornets game is off the charts. This is why people don't watch the regular season #nba but will tune in for the playoffs. So far, it's a sloppy game, but high intensity and fun to watch.

People commenting on Raven Johnson going to the Fever don't understand how sports work. It's about winning on the court. The court is its own, immediate space, devoid of politics, history, or bad blood. There is only the here and now and winning. An example:

#wnba should demand more money. Their game is objectively better than the NBA game. The men's game is full of foul grifting, too many threes, zero team offense, among so many other issues, including the dunk. The dunk -- and the three-point line -- have ruined the NBA.

amish buggy edition of #hoopdreams.

ICYMI: this story, published on 1/1/26, takes place over Easter weekend. It's a highway romance marked by cheap motels, Old Style, and a three-song piano concert in the Old Market in Omaha. One song is by the inimitable @dawestheband.bsky.social.

A huge, huge thanks to @roxanegay.bsky.social and @therumpus.net for publishing my autoerotic-asphyxiation, porn-in-a-Little-Free-Library short story. (Seriously, I owe those people a lot of beer.) It's called "Hell Is the Absence of God's Love," & I hope you dig it. therumpus.net/2026/04/02/h...

I'm stepping away from my editorial role at Cutleaf, for this year, but we have three excellent guest fiction editors: Monic Ductan, @arahko.bsky.social, and @karammck.bsky.social -- fiction cap is 500 and we're getting close to that mark. If you're thinking of sending work, now is the time...

remember when people used to cup their hand under a spigot of running water and then drink out of their own hand?

rural writer friends, take heed

a new story that came out earlier this month. Still available to read online. It's about friendship, marital woes, and NICUs.

It's such a joy to see this story (originally pub'd in Cutleaf) selected for Best of the Net 2026. Congrats, @kirakh.bsky.social!

Sunday morning read w @fbereaud.bsky.social. His debut novel is structurally inventive, propulsive, heartbreaking, hilarious. The title tips its hand: A Question of Family. Wonderful debut!

haven't posted yet this month -- AWP/travel, etc -- but posted quite a few reviews in Feb of some GREAT short stories published in @brownhoundpress.bsky.social Short Story, Long, @fracturedlit.bsky.social, and @mrbullbull.bsky.social Check them out here: read-short-stories.com

Your heart will break. You will shed a few tears. And—most of all—your faith in love and the human spirit will be renewed. Buy @barbarabyar.bsky.social’s IN THE DESERT www.cowboyjamboreemagazine.com/in-the-deser...

While you're waiting for the Oscars, why not read some excellent short fiction? We've published many award-worthy stories. Just saying. doric-literary.com/nominations/

two damn fine poets

It’s pub day!! She makes good company www.rockandahardplacemag.com/womans-guide...

Our new issue is truly epic. So many feels in this one. It's impossible to pick a piece to tell you to start with because they are all so good. Please read the whole issue! Let me know what you think. Thank you so much for supporting our talented contributors! 💕

this is a wild ride of a story: a fabulist tale of money, credit, and gratitude, all rooted in the complications of all-too-real relationships. Propulsive, hilarious, heartbreaking. electricliterature.com/please-accep...

a new all-fiction issue of Cutleaf featuring new stories by Sarah Bradley, Nikki Barnhart, and JJ Amaworo Wilson. Check it out here: cutleafjournal.com

grateful to the Bennington Review for publishing my story "Soap to the Elbows." It's a print journal, but my story is currently available online, for the time being: www.benningtonreview.org/fifteen-lesm...

had a ball reading this one on the train from B'more to NYC Thank you @aaronburch.bsky.social for writing this one. Full of fun, mystery, friends, cocktails, trips down memory lane, & Becket Baseball Card monthly: "A nostalgia storm rained down on me, washing me away in a time traveling river..."

ICYMI:

join EastOver Press, Porphyry Press, and TrioHouse Press for an off-site event, Friday, March 6, 7-9pm. Free food, cash bar! More details below:

This is awesome

short story review of "Cabin 28" by @marythor.bsky.social published in BULL. A dark, eerie story set, appropriately, at a cabin in the woods. check out the review here: read-short-stories.com (also, check out some of the other reviews from earlier this month)... #readshortstories

a new review up today. This one comes from @caelyncobb.bsky.social "Time Management" published in Short Story, Long. It's a fascinating tale that examines corporate life, ambition, coffee, cubicles, and notions of time. review here: read-short-stories.com

congrats to @yasminadinmadden.bsky.social whose debut collection "You Know Nothing" is now available!

here's a "highway romance" for your Valentine's day. also, the first time I've ever had a story published on New Year's day. thank you, again, @doricliterary.bsky.social for giving this one a home.

flash fiction Friday review of "Sometimes Grief is a Moonrise" by @allisonfieldbell.bsky.social, published in @fracturedlit.bsky.social. The piece is a heartache of complicated emotional processing. Read my brief review here: read-short-stories.com

Extremely honored to be lonlisted for the 2026 Joyce Carol Oates Prize!

Read Sophie Newman’s interview with “Tacoma” author Aaron Burch. They talk about the last 20 years of the literary scene, writerly obsession, autofiction, and more. buff.ly/wOBxFyz

new issue of Cutleaf, featuring poems by Richie Hoffman, an essay by Matthew Sidney Parsons, and a short story by Kate Finlinson. Read them here: cutleafjournal.com

for anyone not watching football, here's a review of Bob Johnson's latest short story, "The Train to Union Station," published in the new lit journal @brownhoundpress.bsky.social. The review along with a link to Bob's story: read-short-stories.com

Please help me get the word out about our lovely lit journal! www.south85journal.com/submissions/

This book is now out in the world and I’m jazzed to have a story in it. eastoverpress.com/book/an-anth...

new issue of Cutleaf, featuring an essay by Jim Huff, poems by Judy Kaber, and a new short story by @georgesingleton.bsky.social cutleafjournal.com

Here's a brilliant story we published on New Year's Day. If you were indisposed at that time, now's your chance to read this wonderful work about a road trip romance with music, dance, ashes, and a family reunion. Link in bio. #DesMoines @keithlesmeister.bsky.social

a brief review of Pardeep Toor's tense and uneasy story "Dinner Party" published in @greatriverreview.com. Also, Toor's debut story collection is coming out this April. Review here: read-short-stories.com

it was a pleasure to interview @tayyba.bsky.social about her debut story collection "Talking with Boys" -- a beautiful collection published last week with @blacklawrence.bsky.social.

new issue of Cutleaf, which features an essay by Chrissie Anderson Peters, poems by Clayton Adam Clark, and a short story by Daniel Abiva Hunt. cutleafjournal.com