Every sorcerer knows the power of nonsense words. Working #balderdash into an incantation double its potency. Claptrap trebles it, and bunkum increases it five-fold. Other, far riskier words exist, but only the mightiest spellcasters dare employ flapdoodle or codswallop. #vss365 #microfiction

The latest product from IntelliGen is #Abstraction, a perfume that makes slight medications to your DNA, allowing you to emit pheromones based on your emotional state. Love smells like a campfire. Hope like freshly cut grass. Sadness is the petrichor after a rainstorm. #vss365 #microfiction

One thing they don’t tell you before you’re turned is blood tastes like shit. You gotta drink it, but every vamp more than a few years dead is quite the midnight mixologist. Me? I like a little Sunny #Delight with my nightly nourishment. I call it a To-Kill-Ya Sunrise. #vss365 #microfiction

Today, I sent my 121st #submission for 2025, which breaks my previous single-year sub record of 120. I'd hoped to hit 1,000 total subs total in 2025, but I'll fall short of that at 966. I'll cross that off next year's goals in the first quarter, though. #writingcommunity #writersofbluesky

Ghosts first exist in a #dream state, unaware of what they are. Then, as they gain clarity and understand their plight, the resulting anger turns them into poltergeists. Finally, after long years, that anger cools into something truly malevolent, and a specter is born. #vss365 #microfiction

Getting kissed on NYE? Neither are we. BUT there's still time to submit your fiction, poems, and flash! Get a head start on your 2026 submission goals: www.radonjournal.com/submit

I miss real #travel. Physically getting into a car or a plane or a shuttlecraft and going somewhere. You know, a journey. Now they just teleport you, and assure you that any pieces you lose are inconsequential. A fingernail, a tooth, your mother’s name. Inconsequential. #vss365 #microfiction

Continuing with the stories I published in 2025, here's "What Hope's Worth" published at @metastellar.bsky.social. This one is REALLY dark, so, please, mind the CWs at the top of the page if you decide to read. #flashfiction #writersofbluesky #horror www.metastellar.com/fiction/flas...

I was the #sole inheritor of my uncle’s estate. He left me his crumbling old house, a library of ancient esoteric books, and a note. I didn’t read the note, and I set house and books on fire. Crazy Uncle Howard should've picked a nephew who DOESN'T watch horror movies. #vss365 #microfiction

Wrapping up the year by highlighting the stories I published in 2025. First up is "Thicker Than Water" at @radonjournal.bsky.social. It's a postapocalyptic tale that's kind of The Road meets Day of the Triffids. :) #writingcommunity #horror #writersofbluesky www.radonjournal.com/issue9/thick...

#Mars has always been a penal colony. It seemed the best way to get rid of undesirables, until those undesirables woke up the real Martians. When the aliens pointed their ray guns and demanded "Take me to your leader", the inmates offered to make a personal introduction. #vss365 #amwriting

The signs say you can't fish in Hamond’s Pond. That never stopped us, though. We’d drop our lines into that dark water, then #struggle to haul our catches to the surface. Always black ceramic jars sealed with wax, squiggly writing on the top, bits of withered meat inside. #vss365 #microfiction

Hunting season is always tough for those of us at the Cryptozoological Preservation Society. As forests fill with gunfire, someone will inevitably #shoot a sasquatch or a Jersey Devil or a Mothman. Then it’s bribes, memory wipes, or, if necessary, a “hunting accident.” #vss365 #microfiction

The first #jump station was built on Mars, the second on Pluto. After that, dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt extended Earth's reach beyond the solar system. Progress stalled at the Oort Cloud, however. Every probe and crewed mission sent into that icy dark never returned. #vss365 #microfiction

Mickey’s car collection wasn’t what you’d expect for a successful hitman. It was a ragtag fleet of aging, nondescript SUVs. When I asked him about it, he grinned and said, “Not even the most paranoid asshole on the planet expects his killer to come in an '05 #Saturn Vue.” #vss365 #microfiction

A story acceptance this morning gives me ten for the year. Good to be back in double digits. I've sent 111 submissions in 2025, and I still have 17 pending, so there's a chance I might snag one more yes before year's end, but if I don't, I can live with this. :) #writingcommunity #writersofbluesky

I give all my hits a choice: gun, knife, or garotte. I'd call it a pretty fair deal. I mean, how many of us get to choose the way we go out? Not too damn many. Still, even after they make a choice—always a bullet—some of 'em still fight me. Pfft. That’s #gratitude for ya. #vss365 #microfiction

Absolutely over the moon that my story "Coin Flip" published at Flash Point SF made @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social's Must Read Short Speculative Fiction for November at Reactor Magazine. What a lovely way to close out the year.

As a vampire thrall, one of my jobs is writing letters of condolence to the families of my maker’s victims. He thinks it’s cruel to let folks wonder about the fate of their loved ones. I’m not sure “I #regret to inform you that I ate your Dad” qualifies as a kindness, though. #vss365 #microfiction

Death is a #recall on your soul, but if you don’t turn it in, you can go right on living. Of course, souls past their recall date tend to go bad. You get strange urges, sunshine makes you queasy, and you start to smell like rotting meat, but hey, beats being dead, right? #vss365 #microfiction

Well, folks, here it is; all 14 years of my submission numbers in one handy-dandy post. Yep, all the subs, rejections, and acceptances I've accumulated in the decade and change I've been seriously submitting. Check it out. #WritingCommunity #writersofbluesky rejectomancy.com/2025/12/16/t...

I hear people used to sell blood when they needed extra cash. Folks from our generation sell #memory instead. Can’t pay your rent? Well, can you part with that spring day in 2004 that smelled like cut lawns and lemonade? It’s worth a couple of bucks to the right buyer. #vss365 #microfiction

If you're an author looking to get into Radon's first 2026 issue, we suggest submitting in the next week or two. We'd like to lock in the issue by Christmas and have plenty of time in January for editing

Every domestic android comes in for servicing once a month. We do the usual maintenance, install any necessary upgrades to the CPU, and then sweep for #illicit functions. An occasional emotional blip is fine, but full-blown feelings are a one-way trip to the incinerator. #vss365 #microfiction

“Welcome to Kirby’s Curse Breakers. How can I help you?” “Lnif0]`$5xyc” “I don't understand? Are you enchanted?” “3y;Tvi4=SMC)” “#Bewitched? “7%I8_3%dxo)P” “Ensorcelled?” “u6)1#RGd3#?+!!!” “Oh, you’re ENCRYPTED. One sec, let me get my technomancer out here. #vss365 #microfiction

I’m a contract killer, but I’m not a monster. I know my targets suffer a lot of emotional trauma before I pull the trigger. That’s why I have the #consolation box. I let them choose a toy—a little car, a fidget spinner, etc.—before the end. It makes ME feel better, anyway. #vss365 #microfiction

Well, folks, here we are, year ten in my Ten Years of Rejectomancy series. 2024 was a bit of a rebound year, but there were some definite bright spots. Check it out. #writingcommunity #amwriting #writersofbluesky rejectomancy.com/2025/12/08/t...

Silence is dangerous. That’s when the walls get thin, when things look through from the other side. You need lots of noise to keep you safe. Me? I like a good #soliloquy. Nothing like a little “to be, or not to be” to keep the elder abominations in their own dimension. #vss365 #microfiction

Determining whether someone is possessed can be difficult, but not anymore. Clearblue Blasphemy makes the exorcist's job a snap. Just have the alleged pawn of Satan bleed, urinate, or projectile vomit on the test strip. Purple is pure and #magenta is possessed. It's easy! #vss365 #microfiction

The old guy in 2B keeps pigeons on the roof. He’s up there all the time watching them, writing down everything they do in a little notebook. He always looks worried, even afraid. Yesterday, he opened the coops and let his pigeons go. Today, the first bombs fell. #vss365 #augury #microfiction

Every #chic design house operates the same way. They pretend to be run by humans, but that's just a front. In actuality, the clothes are made by fashion brownies. They're kind of like shoe elves, but instead of milk and cookies they subsist off cigarettes and diet pills. #vss365 #microfiction

I run a bar called the #Vespertine. Like the name implies, it’s a place for folks who have to do their drinking after the sun sets. It’s a nice quiet spot, and I try to be accommodating, but I do have some rules. Number one is drinks come from the bar, NOT the patrons. #vss365 #microfiction

At #Chivalry is Dead, our zombies have been imbued with the courteous nobility of ages past. They will hold doors, carry packages, and stand vigil outside your home. They still eat living brains, sure, but only those of blackguards, ne'er-do-wells, and rapscallions. #vss365 #microfiction

When I was a crab fisherman, I hated the deep pots, the ones that went below the #aphotic zone. Sometimes you'd haul one up, and it'd be full of ghost-white crabs with too many legs and faces on their shells, faces that looked like people you once knew, people who’d died. #vss365 #microfiction

People think my clothes are snobby, but some Italian designers are connected to the church, their logos blessed by the Vatican. My Gucci belt drives off vampires. These Versace boots are proof against possession. I’m not trying to look #suave. I’m trying to protect myself. #vss365 #microfiction

A 24-pound Maine Coon squeezing his floofy orange immensity into a cat bed designed for a critter half his size is the definition of "If I fits, I sits." lol #cats #catsofbluesky

Existence is a #timed event. Everyone get a set number of minutes and hours, though some do rig the system to their benefit. Vampires, sorcerers, and fae-touched can slow the clock but never stop it. Eventually, entropy knocks, and even so-called immortals must answer. #vss365 #microfiction

Hey, folks, got another installment of Ten Years of Rejectomancy for ya. This one is a good reminder not to query where you, uh, submit. Check it out. :) #amwriting #writingcommunity #writersofbluesky rejectomancy.com/2025/11/24/t...

To stay #relevant in this business, you have to keep current with times. Folks looking for a hitman don’t find one by word of mouth anymore. No way. You gotta have an app or an Instagram following or a YouTube—oh, uh, to keep the hits coming, please like and subscribe. #vss365 #microfiction

“Welcome to Hell," the demon said. "Before we get started with your torment, we gotta figure out your scream frequency.” "Uh, how do you #measure that?” "Easy," the demon said with a toothy grin. "We use the HURTS scale. Get it?!” “Oh, man, this place is gonna SUCK.” #vss365 #miscrofiction

I’m an attorney for those aggrieved by the supernatural. I defend folks who get themselves into Faustian pacts or help them evict poltergeists, but the majority of my business is crafting detailed and #specific wording for wishes. What we call genie justice in the biz. #vss365 #microfiction

I always give a client #options. Gun, garrote, or knife are in the standard package. For a little more cashola, I’ll add poison and asphyxiation. If someone wants to pay the big bucks, though, I don’t mind getting a little exotic. You know, the ol' Hannibal Lecter special. #vss365 #microfiction

The universe has layers, worlds stacked up like pages in a book. Where we live, science and sanity are the norm, but just turn the page and things get strange. Small changes at first, moth holes in the fabric of #reality that grow and grow until they swallow you whole. #vss365 #amwriting

I’m a life coach for the undead, and you’d be surprised how many need real direction in their unlives. You see, immortality requires a whole new set of #goals, and though it’s a little cheesy, my advice begins with “kick your bucket list and start your forever endeavors.” #vss365 #amwriting

fun fact: @radonjournal.bsky.social only needs $80 more per month to be fully funded for their amazing authors and artists. help support anti-establishment art! cool perks including exclusive discord access. www.radonjournal.com/support #litmag #scifi #anarchist #writing #art #joinus #wedontbite

You start getting Hell's magazine, Damnation Daily, after you’ve committed one of the big sins, murder and such. Each #issue is full of lurid photos of demons, the damned, and all the torments awaiting you. That stuff is great, but I swear I just read it for the articles. #vss365 #amwriting

The Temporal Invasive Species act prohibits the #transport and sale of animals originating from epochs before the Holocene. It provides bounties to authorized hunters and has been instrumental in curbing Arizona's Velociraptor infestation and the Colorado Smilodon issue. #vss365 #amwriting

My story published today with @flashfictiononline.bsky.social pushes me over the 200 mark for short fiction publications (and over 400 for writing publications in general). Not too shabby. Here's to the next 200. :) #writersofbluesky #writingcommunity

#Science tells me that it’s simple UV radiation that burns a vampire, that a lycanthrope’s aversion to silver is due to antimicrobial properties, not a mythical tie to the moon. Yet still I carry a crucifix and wolfsbane, and cling tenaciously, even stubbornly, to faith. #vss365 #amwriting

Got a new story out at @flashpointsf.bsky.social today. Another in my series of stories where I turn biblical characters into monsters and hitmen and stuff. See if you can guess who gets the makeover in this one by the image. :) #flashfiction #writersofbluesky