Join me in the @nycmidnight.bsky.social 500-word Fiction Challenge on May 29th! Learn more at nycmidnight.com/500

Fate Awaits You at the Bottom of the Hill The fortune cookie decides one's fate, and there is no escaping it

The Hunter Becomes the Hunted A retired assassin's instincts kick back in when his family's safety is on the line

Triumphal Exit from Jerusalem A donkey is gently motivated to consider a larger world

Join me in the @nycmidnight.bsky.social Flash Fiction Challenge on May 1st! Learn more at nycmidnight.com/ffc

New story: A SECOND CHANCE PURSUIT Written for the #NotQuiteWrite competition in January Genre: Romance Word: Draw Action: Chasing Kicker: Law

I started my @twistinthetale.bsky.social round 1 story at about an hour and a half to the deadline, and submitted with two minutes to spare. Is it cozy? Not very. Is it good? Not very. Is it done? Very!

My proofreaders are asleep, and so, soon, will I be. So fingers crossed that I kept everybody's names consistent throughout and didnt maek singificant speling erors.

GOING IT ALONE, TOGETHER Jake seeks dating advice from a friend, but it turns out it’s better to be yourself… even if there’s food all over your face. (499 words) Written for the @nycmidnight #500wordchallenge

@notquitewrite.com On your FAQ page you have a link to notquitewritepodcast.com/prize/gifts but that is 404-erroring. Do you have another link I can send to my e̶n̶a̶b̶l̶e̶r̶s̶ friends and family?

Results are in I came in fourth! This weekend I will Write some morth. #RhymingStoryChallenge

I’m a finalist! Please vote by replying “Have You Looked in the Couch?” We will find out for once and for all if my local library has looked in their couch.

When I titled this story, it didn’t occur to me how funny it would be to see person after person post “Have You Looked In the Couch?”

YDL Short Horror Story Competition: Week 1 Voting is now open for the first week of the Ypsilanti District Library's Short Horror Story Competition. The theme of week 1 was "Hauntings." My story, "Have You Looked in the Couch?" is a finalist. You can read it (and vote for it) on any or all of the…

Please vote for my story!

www.writingbattle.com/join-battle I joined the upcoming Fear Flash Fiction Battle with writers from around the world. Get Ready to Battle on Oct 5, 2025! @writingbattle.bsky.social #flashfiction #writingprompts #writerslife #WritingCommunity #writersofbluesky Join the Battle and Learn More

September 2025 Updates Contests Entered Results Submissions Plans and Goals for Next Month Contests entered NYC Midnight Rhyming Story, round 1 Results The Dread Tootling Jen deals with the chaos of a snowed-in vacation with her in-laws Holding the Bag A bank robber finds himself without a getaway…

The theme for the first week of the 2025 Short Horror Story Contest is... HAUNTINGS. Houses, hospitals, toys, lockets. If you can name it, you can haunt it. 👻

A TALE OF MILK AND EGGS (999 words) An academic on her way to a conference struggles with leaving her newborn behind, and makes an unexpected connection with a dragon on the airport runway - Written for the NYC Midnight #flashfictionchallenge round 2

#RhymingStoryChallenge: A week To write six hundred words I waited til I had six hours To write the last two-thirds. I could have used a bit more time But I'd have frittered it away At last my story's at an end As so, too, is the day.

"Yearning" was a fun prompt for round 3 of #TwistedTournament. I wrote FALLING IN GLOVE (100 words).

Holding the Bag A bank robber finds himself without a getaway vehicle and makes do

“Uh-oh, did Bitsy make a wee-wee?” That is the least of Jen's problems in THE DREAD TOOTLING (499 words), written for round 1 of #TwistedTournament (Bitsy did, in fact, make a wee-wee.)

13th! My best finish yet in @twistinthetale.bsky.social #TwistedTournament! Plus: 1x Best Last Line 🎭 1x Most Heartfelt 💔 4x Funniest 😂 1x Best Title 📖 (I shared anonymously and don't seem to be able to change that setting - it's called The Dread Tootling.)

Looking forward to the @nycmidnight.bsky.social #RhymingStoryChallenge starting tonight. I had so much fun writing my rhyming stories last year!

Summer 2025 writing progress and plans for September

Not Quite Write-Up: an introduction to the #NotQuiteWritePrize for anyone considering taking part in a future competition

THE MOTHMAN WHO LOVED ME - written for #NotQuiteWritePrize

This was mine!

@nycmidnight.bsky.social Do you have dates for the 2026 screenwriting challenge yet? I want to finally do it next year, so I want to make sure I block the time off and don’t make any other plans.

IN UNIFORM (999 words): Archer, a historical reenactor on Michigan’s Mackinac Island, is drawn into a chase on foot and ferry boat after a bomb explodes at the governor’s summer residence (1st place, NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge 2025, round 1)

I’m really excited to have made it to the next round in the #FlashFictionChallenge2025, much less gotten my first @nycmidnight.bsky.social 1st place finish!!!!!!

I haven't finished anything in nearly two months, so it's a relief to have written this. 500 words is not a lot! I started out with an idea that was too big for the word count and had to simplify a lot. I wasn't shooting for GOOD, but I'm really glad to have it DONE.

Join me in the @nycmidnight.bsky.social Rhyming Story Challenge on September 5th! Learn more at nycmidnight.com/rhyme

SHEEP OF FOOLS, a microfiction dark comedy written for Twisted Tournament

THE SHOW MUST GO ON In the future, the world has become a violent hellscape, but a long-standing trivia game show has survived - Written for Writing Battle Spring Microfiction

VICTORIA AND THE MESS Perfectionist baking show contestant Victoria learns to embrace mess and go with the flow Written for Not Quite Write

May 2025 Updates Contests Entered Results Submissions Plans and Goals for Next Month Contests Entered Writing Battle Spring Microfiction Twisted Tournament Results None this month! Submissions Submissions: 0 Rejections: 1 Plans and Goals for Next Month May 30 - June 1: NYC Midnight Flash Fiction…

@notquitewrite.com I'm so honored to be called out in the podcast! One note, though, my story involved the seals being broken down and fed to the baking show judges... if they'd been made of glass (as you stated), rather than meringue, it would have been a very different story! 😆

My story for round 1 of #TwistedTournament is submitted!

Issue #3 is ready! Check out stories by @sharkiatwrites.bsky.social, @rworauthor.bsky.social, Zee Coonen, Irina Verene, and Kay Northbridge. Art by @jartravian.bsky.social, @beingcam.bsky.social, Melissa Yskamp, and Denny Marshall. Head to ToadShadeZine.com to get yours! #payforart #FuckAI #zine

The #TwistedTournament from @twistinthetale.bsky.social starts tomorrow. Here’s what to expect: writermcnaughton.wordpress.com/2025/04/23/t...

www.writingbattle.com/join-battle I joined the upcoming Spring Microfiction Battle with writers from around the world. Get Ready to Battle on May 2, 2025! @writingbattle.bsky.social #flashfiction #writingprompts #writerslife #WritingCommunity #writersofbluesky Join the Battle and Learn More

Updates for April from S.A. McNaughton

Hear me out. No more interviews of the weird pronatalist couple. Interview the neighborhood dads. The guy who mows the lawn of an elderly neighbor. The people who live self-sacrificial lives that make other people’s lives better. Normalize that. A crisis in masculinity? Highlight this man.

Done with my @notquitewrite.com story!

In less than 24 hours, #NotQuiteWritePrize entrants around the world will receive their April prompts. With AU$4,000 and print publication on the line, this is an opportunity you don't want to miss! Join the writing fun now at notquitewriteprize.com

The next Twisted Tournament is coming... here's what to expect and how to join in!

Join me in the @nycmidnight.bsky.social 500-word Fiction Challenge on August 15th! Learn more at nycmidnight.com/500 #writing

Join me in the @nycmidnight.bsky.social #FlashFictionChallenge on May 30th! Learn more at nycmidnight.com/ffc