Had a fantastic time discovering more about the novel Cloudless by @rupertdastur.bsky.social and his writing during a brilliant event at @serenitybookshop.bsky.social last night & now can’t wait to read my signed edition 🤩

The 2025 To Hull and Back humorous short story competition is open until end-June. www.christopherfielden.com/to-hull-and-...

We are looking for submissions editors. If you've been published by SmokeLong already and would love to read for the journal, hit us up. www.smokelong.com/work-with-us/

Hi Flash Ficiton writers, if you've read any great pieces in the last 3 months, please could you add a link below / share the title? I'm looing at delving back in & would love to read.

Can you tell I'm off work for a few days? Another substack from me. This one on common editorial mistakes I wrote for TSS Publishing a while back barbarabyar.substack.com/p/thoughts-o...

New look to TSS. A calm, quiet space for reading short fiction, interviews & essays. Opening with a wonderful short story by the hugely talented Elaine Chiew. theshortstory.co.uk

It's already been four weeks since Cloudless hit shelves. I've been pondering coming back here in the meantime & I guess am just saying hi. Mainly, I'd just like to share stuff about my reading, the odd writing thing, some art maybe. Plants. My dog. This weird old life.

This is my last post here for a while as this account is going dormant. I'll dip in very occasionally, but I've decided to stick with Twitter & Instagram. Wishing everyone a good week & that they find a path that works for them :)

Doppelgänger moment

Please share

No prizes for guessing what kind of presents I'm giving for Xmas this year 😎🎄

Fab book! A mother-daughter relationship, both fraught & tender. Carmel carries trauma & love, but wildly grips her independence. Nell, 22, sharp as scissors, confused angry & funny & exhausted by the shittiness of life. Line by line beauty, wisdom, stylistic risk & mastery of voice. Brilliant

Honestly, I've found the proliferation of SM sites hard to manage - one was time-consuming enough. Are those of you with multiple accounts posting the same thing on each site? Which are you finding has the most engagement / most enjoyable?

One of the hardest bits about writing a book is when you get an idea that demands a significant rewrite - the sheer amount of work that can entail - as well as the casting an cutting off hours and hours of former labour - is genuinely emotionally exhausting. Often I have to take a bit of time

Happy Bookshop Day to everyone & a huge thanks to all the booksellers who make High Streets and other nooks & crannies of the world a place of calm and discovery. Picked these 3 books up from my local bookshop Clapham Books today. One is a birthday gift, the other two... well...

A personal message from Taylor Swift regarding the countdown to the SmokeLong Grand Micro Competition. 32 days to go. Maybe this is your day. $1,500 grand prize/$500 2nd/$300 3rd/$100 finalists. Fiction/CNF/translations/previously published welcome. www.smokelong.com/the-smokelon...

Web submissions are open until 13th October: www.ellipsiszine.com/submissions/

Just had my review of Clare Fisher's short story collection published. If you've had a short story collection published / anthology published in the last 6 months, please get in touch. I'm happy to be back reviewing. theshortstory.co.uk/short-story-...

I'm sorry if you're seeing this for the millionth time & I promise not to spam any more for a while, but my debut BOOK has just been announced & I'm just super-duper giddily excited about it! Meet: CLOUDLESS Ft Welsh mountains, sheep, war, addiction & love! www.thebookseller.com/rights/fig-t...

I'm curious: If you were to choose just ONE piece of writing advice, what would it be? I'll go first: BUM ON SEAT! i.e. sit the hell down and put in the time, even if it's just thinking. This is kinda my first commandment. Gotta start somewhere!

Hi! Finally coming over here & think I'll be making it my new online home. I like flash fiction, short stories, novels, memoir - words, basically! Happy to follow other writers & readers & hopefully enjoy a pleasant time & be a little more active on SM. 🧡