Strap in for today's spotlight as things get well weird at a funeral tea 🦝 We loved @madeleinewrite.bsky.social's grubby British setting, the build in humour and tension, and the delicious payoff. Grab a slice of quiche and get stuck in. Read and listen: trashcatlit.com/not-all-hero...

Today's Prompted Story spotlight is from Zoe Davis @meanerharker.bsky.social🦝 We loved the angst in this young MC, the real-world challenges of his "gift". It's gritty and sassy and we loved the way the nemesis was transformed in the story. Read and listen here: trashcatlit.com/southend-fal...

Our Prompted Story spotlight today is from Terri Rose @terri-rose.bsky.social 🦝 We loved the dark, creepy mood in this piece, the quiet desperation and obsession oozes with the smoke and ritual. Such an imaginative use of the prompts. Read here: trashcatlit.com/a-second-too...

Today we're very happy to spotlight rj cannon's first published story 🦝 We loved the blend of connection and destruction here. The two siblings who are so very different. The terrible tension and haunting mood. Read and listen here: trashcatlit.com/the-gift/

So happy to see this story pop up again! Thanks @underbellypress.bsky.social for being so awesome🖤

So many fabulous stories in here...and I've got one in there too! Give it a read

Madeleine Armstrong's #story 'The Hanged Man,' available in the Thresholds Anthology: bit.ly/4m9wiHG. #LiteraryMagazine #Writing #Booksky #Microfiction #FlashFiction #ShortStory #Poetry #GraphicNarrative #Horror #Weird #Supernatural #Spectral #Speculative #Dystopian #Fantasy #Gothic

One of our awesome writers! @madeleinewrite.bsky.social

Our first spotlight from our current issue 🦝 We were hooked by Zilla and that first line, then immersed in fabulous dry humour and chaos in a relatable setting without any cliche. Superb voice and an MC you want to be BFFs with 😀 trashcatlit.com/bride-zilla/

Whoop, whoop, my story made it to the shortlist! 🥳

Today we aim the spotlight at @christinaltudor.bsky.social🦝 Trash Cat said: "It hooked me hard with the strangeness, and kept me hooked. Swollen with pain and loss and torment. Leaves you breathless." trashcatlit.com/i-was-born-a...

Subs for our ever-growing Joy issue are always open because Joy is vital sustenance for the work of being alive and tending to others. Joy is nutriment. Send us your defiant joy, learned joy, exuberant joy, escape joy, any kind of joy, you’re the boss here templeinacity.com/submit-writi...

It's LAUNCH DAY! 🦝 Fifteen shiny new Trash Family delivering their most treasured words - Preloved Stories given a new home and lease of life 💜 Thanks again to @madeleinewrite.bsky.social for her reading assistance Grab a cuppa, several biccies, and get stuck in. trashcatlit.com/general-issu...

"Much later in our failed marriage, I understood you turn into a Bollywood hero when you’re trying to score." Great story, @sudhab.bsky.social - and that ending!

This really moved me, @verybadllama.bsky.social

SO lovely! Bravo, @ruralunease.bsky.social

Love this story by @judydarley.bsky.social for @templeinacity.bsky.social. "Small talk didn’t interest her – what she wanted was deep dives where the only light came from biofluorescence."

A quick Q&A with Madeleine Armstrong about her short story, Who's the Daddy urbanpigspress.co.uk/2026/02/25/i... #IndieAuthor @madeleinewrite.bsky.social

Just four more days until this issue launches! 🦝 @jaimegill.bsky.social uses a tension building structure to show how life is often far worse than the movies @bmerklee.bsky.social's MC deals with a lost relationship but ends up with something considerably more intense

Subs still OPEN until March 1 for our spring issue. Micro flash poetry letters and art all welcome. Writers from anywhere and of all experience welcome. Make your debut here or celebrate your 200th publishing. Sim subs welcome (of course). Mix & match. Be you. templeinacity.com/submit-writi...

I was right there with the narrator in this one. @joycebingham.bsky.social deftly capturing all our still-vivid school humiliations

"The rubber band ball is at least a ton, she estimates. She rolls it on her trailer into town at the mayor’s request." What a weird and wonderful story by @pamavoledo.bsky.social!

"Sometimes, Trista likes to say last year, when I was seven, my father ran away with the circus...she knows it sounds like he’s a performer, not just the person who travels ahead of the circus, putting up posters in shop windows" A heartbreaking CNF by @cake-girl.bsky.social

Checking out the whole issue now! @templeinacity.bsky.social

I'm so pleased my little story about an abortion clinic has found a home in the wonderful @templeinacity.bsky.social ❤️

"I packed my name into the small bag because there was no room for fear." This story feels so universal

Voted. That was a tough decision, so I don't know how Matt does it

I'm running out of superlatives for the @welkinprize.bsky.social shortlist but this one is just incredible

I feel seen

Two fab stories here by @nomad-sw18.bsky.social for @frazzledlit.bsky.social. Both so sumptuous, and both feel connected, with a theme of disposing of "inconvenient" parts

"how my voice starved, too" What a way to describe the pain of an eating disorder. Amazing, @cake-girl.bsky.social

Wow, that final sentence!

This is outrageous. Shame on you, @thebulletin.org

Heartbreaking

I needed a good laugh today. Thanks @tacilim.bsky.social!

Gorgeous. Layered. Brilliant. "Coyotes yelped in the streets, no longer afraid to roam among us." Congrats, @melissafitz.bsky.social!

I didn't make it onto the shortlist, but congrats to those who did. Looking forward to reading what will be a cracking bunch of stories (just look at those titles!)

SO excited to be a part of this! Here's my story Beautiful Parts, probably the weirdest thing I've ever had published, about a woman who collects the body parts of her one-night stands. Thanks @frazzledlit.bsky.social & @jmcm.bsky.social www.frazzledlit.com/p/beautiful-...

We land Issue 4 on Sunday! Mark your calendars!

OMG, I'm on the longlist!!! What a massive boost in possibly the most miserable week of the year. This was on my fourth attempt, so it shows persistence pays off. Thank you, @mattkendrick.bsky.social!

Check out my spooky winter story at @mrbullbull.bsky.social!

Our December pop-up submissions are OPEN 🦝 Get your feline flashes out the litter box, polished and ready for the 14th. Please make sure to read the guidelines before you sub - our guest judges are the judgiest. trashcatlit.com/call-for-cat...

Submission Update! The submission period for Underbelly Press Issue 6 will run from December 19 to January 30. The editing period will follow throughout February, and Issue 6 is tentatively expected to release in mid to late March. Thank you so much for your continued support.

Amazing news! Thank you @tcwestminster.bsky.social & congrats to the other nominees! 🍻

So happy to be featured here, among this amazing roll call. Thank you, @underbellypress.bsky.social

Yay, I got a shout out! Thanks Mum, for the endless inspiration 😂 And thanks to @jessicabull.bsky.social for the fun task! #WriteCBC

For the evening crowd - ICYMI, a hungover sea monster tries going vegan until a craving for man-flesh reminds her that self-acceptance sometimes means embracing the beast within. Check out @madeleinewrite.bsky.social 's Gods and Heroes story: literarygarage.com/the-day-the-... 🎸📚😎

Short Fiction Amy Leacy ☆ @deniseb.bsky.social ☆ Derek Jennings☆ @emyrpayne.bsky.social ☆Heather Walker ☆ Ian Johnson☆ John Storey☆ @jupiterjonz.bsky.social ☆ @darkonelf.bsky.social ☆ @lozzawriting.bsky.social ☆ @madeleinewrite.bsky.social ☆ Rebecca Tiger ☆ Scott MacLeod☆ @tednorthodox.bsky.social ☆

We have just made it for our October newsletter! News and Subs and SO MANY Trash Family successes incl. @cbigs.bsky.social @madeleinewrite.bsky.social @adlibby.bsky.social @angelajoynes.bsky.social @leighloveday.bsky.social @meproctor.bsky.social and more!! trashcatlit.com/2025/10/31/h...

Got a story in the bunker! Thanks for having me @tcwestminster.bsky.social