Chris Cottom
@chriscottom.bsky.social
First place in 20+ comps, incl: 3-Minute Arts, Allingham, Bangor Lit Mag, Cranked Anvil, Free Flash Fiction, Hysteria, New Writers, NFFDNZ, On The Premises, Pokrass Prompts, Retreat West, Shooter Lit, SWLF, The Phare, WestWord.
'This knife is not a knife: it is a gateway to a new life.' Terrific piece in @mrbullbull.bsky.social by @serrey.bsky.social.
MrBullBull@mrbullbull.bsky.social · last wk."This is not a knife. This is a sword. You will be a knight (yes, Sylvie, the term can be gender neutral), a quester. Try it. Test it on your steak. I guarantee you will never find a knife so perfect." - Sarah Masters mrbullbull.com/newbull/flas...
Ooh! So pleased to be here. Welcome back @ellipsiszine.bsky.social. We've really missed you.
Ellipsis Zine@ellipsiszine.bsky.social · last wk.'Chapel of Dreams' microfiction from Chris Cottom My newbuild husband would settle for a soulless maisonette on a deathless estate, so I insist on another look at the old Baptist church with its pinnacles and glory. Read more: www.ellipsis-zine.com/writing/chap...
Big thanks to the lovely peeps at @goodlifelitmag.bsky.social for publishing this piece, and to @raecowie.bsky.social and @norami.bsky.social for their help with it and for explaining how it contains enough truths to qualify as CNF.
@goodlifelitmag.bsky.social · 7d ago"Daddy bangs around upstairs, packing for another trip. After he whizzes off, Mummy tells us they’re getting a divorce. None of my schoolfriends have parents who’ve got divorces..." From "Animal Husbandry" by @chriscottom.bsky.social thegoodlifereview.com/2026/08/03/a... Photo by Sandy Millar
I'm learning loads as a reader for @broadripplereview.bsky.social. EIC @kellyschoenegge.bsky.social is brilliant at providing clear, thoughtful, and detailed guidelines; at articulating her vision for BRR; and at encouraging us. It's so useful reading each other’s comments (after posting our own).
Broad Ripple Review@broadripplereview.bsky.social · last mo.We are currently accepting applications for volunteer readers in both fiction and creative nonfiction. You can find more information at: www.broadripplereview.com/joinus
Enjoy this one from the irrepressible @sagreene1.bsky.social
Suzanne (writing as S A Greene)@sagreene1.bsky.social · 3w agoDelighted to have my orgasm piece shortlisted in the Welkin Joy Genre! Many thanks to judge @chriscottom.bsky.social for choosing it, and huge appreciation to @mattkendrick.bsky.social for the summertime delight that is The Welkin competition!
'We were the only runners in Regency sun-bonnets'. Ha, love this Austen/Adidas mash-up by @sagreene1.bsky.social in @freeflashfiction.bsky.social.
Free Flash Fiction@freeflashfiction.bsky.social · 3w agoAs Chosen by Judge Emma Phillips @words-outwest.bsky.social FFF Competition Thirty-Four Highly Commended: Pemberley Parkrun by S.A. Greene @sagreene1.bsky.social #writingcompetitions #flashfiction freeflashfiction.com/fiction/comp...
Delighted to see this one out there. Big thanks to @words-outwest.bsky.social for shortlisting my story and to @freeflashfiction.bsky.social for running this brilliant competition.
Free Flash Fiction@freeflashfiction.bsky.social · 4w agoAs Chosen by Judge Emma Phillips @words-outwest.bsky.social FFF Competition Thirty-Four Shortlisted: Crusader Knights of Carshalton by Chris Cottom chriscottom.wixsite.com/chriscottom @chriscottom.bsky.social #writingcompetitions #flashfiction freeflashfiction.com/fiction/comp...
I'm so thrilled to be in matchbook literary magazine @matchbooklitmag.bsky.social
matchbook literary magazine@matchbooklitmag.bsky.social · 4w agoA new micro has hit MB! Check out “Annaliese Dreams of Her Long Lost Fiancé and the Night the Hostel Closed Forever” by @chriscottom.bsky.social - www.matchbooklitmag.com/mb/cottom/an...
Delighted to have my 500-word summer holiday story read so beautifully here on Sherry's Shorts (at 18:40 mins in).
Sherry Morris 💙🇺🇦💛@uksherka.bsky.social · last mo.Whatever the weather, enjoy the July episode of Sherry's Shorts on hhr.scot, with summer holiday stories by @chriscottom.bsky.social, Phil Baarda & 2 fun tales by humourist @mrallanmiller.bsky.social. Keep cool with the fab summer stories & tunes on Sherry's Shorts! www.mixcloud.com/invernesshr/...
Crikey, that's a lovely surprise.
Delphine Gauthier-Georgakopoulos@delgeo14.bsky.social · last mo.Longlisted 🥳 Coleman Bigelow - "Cricket Cake" rawlit.weebly.com/6_12.html Chris Cottom @chriscottom.bsky.social - "How You Know Your Father's Heart is in the Military" rawlit.weebly.com/6_11.html Nina Miller @ninamiller.bsky.social - "Alone in an Endless Blue" rawlit.weebly.com/6_1.html
Bring it on, Matt. I'm up for the challenge. Expect a late surge of entries, make it even harder for me, please.
The Welkin Press@welkinpress.bsky.social · 2mo agoI wouldn't want to be @pleomorphic2.bsky.social as picking a winner for the Body Prize is going to be TOUGH 🤩 Ditto the Joy Prize. Poor @chriscottom.bsky.social 😂 The Firefly Prize. I'm currently clinging onto 20 entries & @mynachang.bsky.social has to choose a shortlist of just 4 😬 ...
So thrilled to be in this dream journal. Thank you so much to the awesome MFA students at Temple University for that all-important editorial suggestion (reader, I made the change).
Barrelhouse@barrelhouse.bsky.social · 2mo agoNew online issue is out today!
So thrilled to appear in this dream journal, thank you wonderful editor-people @nffr.bsky.social. Thank you also to the Group 10 word wizards in March Micro Madness @smokelong.bsky.social for their help with this piece.
New Flash Fiction Review (subs closed)@nffr.bsky.social · 2mo ago"At long past bedtime, Mum digs a hole in the border, snips her veil confetti-tiny, entombs the scraps near the bones of our bunnies." Family dynamics, a one-legged Barbie and My Little Pony at play in this wonderful #flash from @chriscottom.bsky.social newflashfiction.com/when-dad-mov...
Hi Kathy. I was introduced to the pantoum by the wonderful @sfreligh.bsky.social and was delighted to have my piece 'Pantoum for the Planet' published in Paperboats Zine. paperboats.org/2025/04/09/p...
Pantoum for the Planet – paperboats
After school I find Mum frying meaty quarter-pounders, like I’ve never told her it’s ozone-irresponsible to fill the world with methane-making cows.
paperboats.org
Kathy Fish@kathyfish.bsky.social · 3mo agoHey friends, have you used poetic forms or devices in your flash fiction? I'm writing about this now and I'd LOVE to include some more published examples. Thanks!
A-wooooooo! @thewoolfofficial.bsky.social is such a cool mag and I’m stoked to be here. Big thanks for their help to the wordsmiths of Group 18 on this year's March Micro Madness at @smokelong.bsky.social
The Woolf (Official)@thewoolfofficial.bsky.social · 3mo agoWhat’s new, fabulous and green all over? Issue 10, featuring @hughbehmsteinberg.bsky.social @kerstenak.bsky.social @chriscottom.bsky.social @judydarley.bsky.social @kdawn999.bsky.social @katherine-glee.bsky.social @mandirapattnaik.bsky.social ...and @megpokrass.bsky.social Enjoy! thewoolfx.com
Delighted to see this one out there, thanks to @everydayfiction.bsky.social. Also thanks to @raecowie.bsky.social for her help with it.
Every Day Fiction@everydayfiction.bsky.social · 4mo agoRead JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE • by Chris Cottom @chriscottom.bsky.social -- Literary -- #ChrisCottom #CorporatePolicy #megacorporations #OfficeLife https://everydayfiction.com/?p=24205
Bravo, Jaime
Jaime Gill@jaimegill.bsky.social · 4mo agoI'm 99.9% sure this isn't an April's Fool given they contacted me a week ago. I'M SO INSANELY EXCITED. I compiled a collection of my 20th century gay histories into a chapbook (mini-book if you don't know) and the lovely @purpleinkpress.bsky.social have made it a finalist for their Cat's Eye Prize.
Thank you very much, Jaime, and for your input on this one. While discretion prevents me from revealing which single word you helped with, I can assure you it was significant, and probably the one that swung it with the judges. I shall buy you a cup of tea next time I’m in Cambodia (date TBA).
Jaime Gill@jaimegill.bsky.social · 4mo agoFor the record I think I maybe made a suggestion on one single word and I'm not even sure about that, but I would like to claim the 20 per cent of the credit this post suggests. Amazing work @chriscottom.bsky.social - this is one of your finest, and your finest is very very fine indeed.
‘and every sin with you will feel like resistance’. Absolutely stunning one-sentence story by the peerless @rosaleenlynch.bsky.social in @freeflashfiction.bsky.social.
Free Flash Fiction@freeflashfiction.bsky.social · 5mo agoAs Chosen by Judge Kerri McCourt... The FFF Competition Thirty-Two Winning Flash Fiction!!.. Penance Plaid by Rosaleen Lynch @rosaleenlynch.bsky.social 52quotes.blogspot.com freeflashfiction.com/fiction/comp...
Gobsmacked! Mega thanks to @newwritersuk.bsky.social & all those who helped me with this one, incl @unmutualcharlie.bsky.social, @emilyrinkema.bsky.social, @jaimegill.bsky.social, @jrfenn.bsky.social, @marioaliberto3.bsky.social, @finnegag.bsky.social, @yalanchang.bsky.social & @norami.bsky.social.
New Writers@newwritersuk.bsky.social · 5mo agoBig congratulations to the winners of the New Writers Flash Fiction Competition 2026. Full results here: newwriters.org.uk/flash-result... 1st place: Chris Cottom @chriscottom.bsky.social 2nd place: Jay McKenzie 3rd place: Teodora Vamvu Thank you to everyone who entered! #flashfiction
Delighted to be in the gorgeous juicy pages of @littlefruitsmagazine.com. Thank you to @raecowie.bsky.social, @norami.bsky.social and Barbara Marsh for their help with A Bigger Splash.
Little Fruits Mag@littlefruitsmagazine.com · 5mo agoenjoy the first bloom of little fruits’ spring season with the delightful “A Bigger Splash” by @chriscottom.bsky.social. www.littlefruitsmagazine.com/a-bigger-spl... #literarymagazine #prose #fiction
Thank you so much to @fictivedream.bsky.social for giving Dad Club a home, and to @raecowie.bsky.social and the word soldiers of Smokelong Fitness February Cardio Group 2 at @smokelong.bsky.social for their help with it.
Fictive Dream@fictivedream.bsky.social · 5mo agoICYMI today we're delighted to be featuring Dad Club by Chris Cottom @chriscottom.bsky.social #microfiction #MicroMonday. Please click on the link below and enjoy fictivedream.com/2026/03/23/m...
Thank you to @freeflashfiction.bsky.social for running this great comp, to judge Kerri McCourt for choosing my story, and to @raecowie.bsky.social, @norami.bsky.social, @yalanchang.bsky.social, and @serrey.bsky.social for their help with it.
Free Flash Fiction@freeflashfiction.bsky.social · 5mo agoAs Chosen by Judge Kerri McCourt... FFF Competition Thirty-Two Highly Commended... I Wake on Our Tenth Anniversary to a Slate-Grey Saturday and Tom Already Running by Chris Cottom @chriscottom.bsky.social #FlashFiction #flashfiction #writingcompetitions freeflashfiction.com/fiction/comp...
Thank you, Lori, and I absolutely love your story. I wrote mine on last year’s March Micro Madness at @smokelong.bsky.social. Big thanks to Group 28 for their help with it, and particularly @francesorrok.bsky.social for the surrogacy line, and to @underbellypress.bsky.social for publishing it.
LM “Gory” Fontanes 👻@lorifontanes.bsky.social · 5mo ago@chriscottom.bsky.social that new story of yours in the latest @underbellypress.bsky.social holy moly!!! 🙀
Delighted to make the Trash Cat line up.
Trash Cat Lit@trashcatlit.bsky.social · 6mo agoHere be teases for our preloved stories issue, coming 28th Feb 🦝 @chriscottom.bsky.social gives us a deliciously magical glimpse into how working from home could be for every career @cuylermeade.bsky.social takes us on a tense, mystical ride where finding the truth means losing something immense
I always thought Smokelong Fitness was for the grown-ups. Reader, I was wrong. It’s the best thing to have happened to my writing for yonks.
SmokeLong Quarterly@smokelong.bsky.social · 6mo agoIt's sign-up time to start SmokeLong Fitness March 1st! www.smokelong.com/product/smok...
So pleased to see this one out there. Big thanks to @bulbculture.bsky.social for publishing it and to @norami.bsky.social and @raecowie.bsky.social for their help with it.
Bulb Culture Collective@bulbculture.bsky.social · 6mo agoThe light is on for Chris Cottom! @chriscottom.bsky.social💡 Before Valentine’s Day, we invite you to read “Hero of Electrification” — the story of a love affair set against the backdrop of the Cold War. Check out Chris’s incredible writing over at the site!
Thank you very much, Matt, and for introducing me to 'lanky' metaphors on your inspiring course Glorious Words. Thank you to @bendinggenres.bsky.social for publishing this piece, and to @norami.bsky.social and Smokelong Fitness's Jan Cardio Group 4 at @smokelong.bsky.social for their help with it.
Matt Kendrick@mattkendrick.bsky.social · 6mo ago" This is someone who could swell to five times the height of Snowdon, with an anvil top from here to Abersoch." Wonderful use of an extended metaphor from @chriscottom.bsky.social in @bendinggenres.bsky.social bendinggenres.com/dad-served-t...
