In light of today's episode of lunchtime politics, there haven't been over 50,000 stabbings recorded in the UK last year. We don't track 'stabbings'. There is a record of offences involving a knife or sharp object - a broad category. A more relevant statistic might be NHS admissions: 3500.

Just read this phenomenal story by @slashnburnett.bsky.social: mythaxis.co.uk/issue-43/25-... It features food as a sensory metaphor for generational trauma and is heartbreakingly rendered, with just the right touch of hope at the end.

New eco horror story! About a subject that's close to my heart (and my rage): aedeakin.substack.com/p/plastic-tr...

My words are projected onto the side of Freo Ports building as part of a series with other amazing local writers for a literary festival! 🥹 Catch @gilloshaughnessy.bsky.social and @belindarowe.bsky.social too! (Looks like AI has ruined em dashes for good?!) #totallylitfreo #microstories #flashfic

Coming spring 2026!

Oooo, this one rings a bell for those of us still looking for ourselves. Be careful, it may leave you cackling at the end. Wonderful piece by @annaclark.bsky.social in @flashfictiononline.bsky.social www.flashfictiononline.com/article/no-l... #speculative #flashfiction #shortstory #specfic

I'm teaching a "Writing While Neurodiverse" workshop on Saturday, August 16 as part of the @seattlein2025.org. If you'd like to read the detailed booklet I provide participants plus see more details on the workshop and my Worldcon schedule, dive into this link. 1/2 www.patreon.com/posts/genre-...

New story! This one comes particularly from past worries about authenticity when doing the very natural thing of adapting behaviours around different people, taken to the extreme.

I always read @annaclark.bsky.social’s prose with a magnifier, to see every tiny touch, sentence by sentence. And this one is fantastic! And what a first sentence to begin a story: Ellen’s ex-girlfriend called her a personality vacuum before she considered doing it for work.

FRESH FICTION: “No Laughter in a Vacuum” by Anna Clark. Ever feel like you don’t know who you are? This story is about relationship to self #flashfiction #fantasy #writingcommunity @annaclark.bsky.social www.flashfictiononline.com/article/no-l...

My wonderful friend @annaclark.bsky.social smashed it out of the park again. Go have a fun quick read about a personality vacuum: www.flashfictiononline.com/article/no-l... #shortfiction #flashfiction #shortstory #fantasy #sff #fantasyfiction

Keep seeing complaints about Marvel-style dialogue in books, and I kind of get it. I don't mind a good quip at a dire moment, but relentlessly glib characterisation that never gets dug into is very frustrating in novel format.

This is a wonderful period grief story with a folkloric feel, written by my talented friend. Very recommended!

Some art! Which is a bookmark. Which is titled "procrastination" and made out of a biscuit packet using the fine liner colours I haven't lost yet. I don't even like zombies, I just began drawing hands, remembered I had scissors, and took the path of least resistance. Yes, it puppets.

Some art! Which is a bookmark. Which is titled "procrastination" and made out of a biscuit packet using the fine liner colours I haven't lost yet. I don't even like zombies, I just began drawing hands, remembered I had scissors, and took the path of least resistance. Yes, it puppets.

The Ravenous Gindark is one of Strangehollow's many predators, specific to the swamps. It stands at around 2m tall and looks a little like a flightless bird, yet it is not a bird. It can be heard making deep booming calls using the airsack under its chin and will eat anything smaller than it. #art

I'm quite proud of this story. It's angry.

My body is a MACHINE That turns ANXIETY into COOL THINGS FOR OTHERS but also MORE ANXIETY

Look at this wonderfully uncanny story by my friend!

Stories I read in June: annalieselemmon.com/2025/07/03/h...

a new newsletter is here! I talk about my new poem that's out, some (small) good news for trans kids in Alberta, and show you part of my garden because why not look at something green when you feel sad I also rec short stories from @slashnburnett.bsky.social and @sylvie-althoff.bsky.social !

What does a Chinese grandma and bunyips have in common? Read/listen to learn more in my #shortstory "Feeding Spirits." Thanks to the wonderful team @castofwonders.org Narrated by amazing #Australian actor Tanya Jade: IG @ tanyajadeism www.castofwonders.org/2025/06/cast... #speculative #fantasy

Diabolical Plots is opening for submissions in 8 days! Ask any questions you want to ask before the window is here!

Recent listen: www.castofwonders.org/2025/06/cast... by @emmikhor.bsky.social It's a really beautiful story of connecting to old and new cultures through food (and family, and looking after the local environment). Very much recommended!

Cover Reveal for A RIVER FROM THE SKY (the second book in the Natural Engines duology) forthcoming April 2026 with @titanbooks.bsky.social is now live with @thefantasyhive.bsky.social 👀‼️🌊🌬️⚙️ Eternally grateful to Natasha Mackenzie for once again creating such a gorgeous cover! 😭🫶🏼🔥

My hard copy of In Another Time arrived last week which means I now have on my shelf an actual book with my writing in it. Very cool @inanothertimemag.bsky.social. If you fancy a very loosely folklore inspired story about grief with a side of evil fae go take a look #writer #shortstory #fantasy

A new flash fiction of mine is live at @dreamtheorymedia.bsky.social ! The world is under attack from dark, eldritch beings, so it’s probably not the best time to talk about us, but… we’re through. www.dreamtheory.media/its-not-you-...

The bird’s name is Cupid and I raised him from 2 weeks old after he was attacked by evil older pigeons. Unfortunately, he is now an evil older pigeon who loves to bully me!

Here is a bathroom moth I just spent too long trying to photograph. I've managed to fracture my ankle, leaving me with too much time on my hands.

It's almost July, friends, which means: PodCastle will soon be OPEN TO SUBMISSIONS! General subs call, so: fantasy stories <6k, originals or reprints. You can send one of each at a time, and submit as soon as you're rejected, so get sending! escapeartists.moksha.io/publication/...

New fiction! "Paths, Littlings, and Holy Things" by Somto Ihezue @somtoihezue.bsky.social www.diabolicalplots.com/dp-fiction-1...

🎹🐙Do you like cephalopods, retrofuturistic underwater restaurants, and murderous synthwave music? This one in @reckoningmag.bsky.social is a short read & one of my favorites! Thank you @fusionfragment.bsky.social for sharing !!💚 reckoning.press/the-piano-pl...

Even comes with the ringing endorsement of 1/2 of my parents!

This is my amazing friend @annaclark.bsky.social's story. I remember doing a read through for her and falling in love with it when she wrote it and I am UNBELIEVABLY PUMPED to see it in such a good home. Go read folks #sff #sciencefiction #shortstory

ICYMI, latest Diabolical Plots fiction is "Irina, Unafraid". This one feels very true to me in my experience with anxiety and, altho I have never jumped through the moon, I still felt like some of the things I am proud of accomplishing felt familiar to me here with pushing against that nagging voice

This was a great exploration on anxiety and what overcoming it might mean to those whose life are crippled by it... All in a fun #speculative piece! Read it with your next cuppa! Great #shortstory @annaclark.bsky.social published by @diabolicalplots.com www.diabolicalplots.com/dp-fiction-1...

Happy Pride to queer readers.

I'm in this issue with a brand new story and it is full of so many great words by so many great writers. ❤️

"It’s hard to reconcile Irina Treloar in her youth with the stunt-star who jumped through the moon. Archived family memories collage a girl with hunched shoulders and nail-bitten forearms against the unchanging backdrop of her room." --"Irina, Unafraid" by Anna Clark

I have a story out! At dream publication, no less! It’s about adventure and anxiety, methods of coping, a tool that might help but also caries drawbacks (because brains are delicate and individual), and being empathetic to another person’s choices, even when they end in disaster.

As someone who used to write 1000+ words each day and now goes days/weeks without writing a single sentence, I just want to say: don’t beat yourself up for not being able to do things you used to. Priorities change, slumps come + go, and far too much joy is lost in chasing the past.

The eternal question: has the quality of my writing dramatically improved, or am I just reading it in Garamond?

Hey. Have a collection coming 9/25, "Uncertain Sons and Other Stories." Short stories about characters in strange worlds. Cover, an oil painting by Ove Tøpfer. Pre-order for self, lover, enemy, or grandma. Request from library or sneak into free library on street. Spread like poison. Many options.

Today has not been a fun day. I got covered in water and had a nightmare trying to replace a gauge pipe on a pump. People often stereotype engineers as lacking imagination, but I've got to tell you, the places some design engineers imagine a spanner will fit are pure make-believe.

To celebrate ANHPI month, @anovelescape.bsky.social & I are teaming up with our publisher, @titanbooks.bsky.social for a giveaway!! Five winners will receive a hardcover of A PALACE NEAR THE WIND + an ARC of DEMON SONG!! 🥳 To enter, repost and comment recommending a book!

GOOD LUCK!!👀✨🙆🏻‍♀️🌬️🎭

This story! Emma absolutely nails both the voice and concept - one of the most exciting short story writers around.

Awesomeness right here! Stories by @nalohop.bsky.social , @nuzo.bsky.social , @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social, @wtalabi.bsky.social, and more! Just 21 days. $5 for 4 whole books, $20 for all. @storybundle.bsky.social, @meerkatpress.bsky.social, @rdspress.bsky.social, @sauutiverse.bsky.social 💞

Not to go on about the same book too much but there is an author's note at the end of 'A Drop of Corruption' that I found to be a very insightful reflection on fantasy's relationship with autocracy that I think everyone should read. Plus the novel slaps

Attended a fun Aurealis Awards tonight, but sadly, not close enough. Still, there are so many amazing #aussiewriters and I'm humbled to be shortlisted alongside them! And now, back to the grindstone. A story does not write itself! Wishing you all a productive #writing session! #5amwritersclub