Will my family ever talk to me again? Results pending. But my truth’s all in these seven small fictions.
Angela James
@olangela.bsky.social
Lover and writer of flash fiction. Obsessor over comedy and Americana music. Lawyer in the midst of a midlife (or late-life, if being honest) crisis. Whooping it up at being on the Wigleaf Top Fifty long list.
FAMILY NIGHT comes out in one month!!! Early feedback from one of my all time favorite writers and people in general, @lumchanmfa.bsky.social: (full text in the alt text, too)
Guess who has a story in her much beloved Milk Candy Review? Thank you, as always, to my @smokelong.bsky.social cronies for your feedback and inspiration! milkcandyreview.home.blog
Milk Candy Review
We're here for your beautifully weird flash fiction.
milkcandyreview.home.blog
Our first birthday is coming up. . . a thread!!!!!! 🎉🐈⬛ To celebrate our phenomenal 1st year, we’re hosting a pair of readings! Micros galore and some chapbook goodness, too. Unbelievable line ups. Nothing but bangers! Live on zoom!! Sept 4th at 5pm & Sept 6th at 8am (PDT)
Around 30 participants from A SmokeLong Summer 26 are taking a deep dive into around 30 flash journals (one each). To read this impressive list of flash, all you need to do is search for #archivechallenge
Everyone has those pieces they are especially proud of. For me, it's "Clean Cuts." Thank you to @susurrusmag.bsky.social for publishing my flash fiction about culling plants and friends. #flashfiction #fiction #writing #writesky #fictionsky
Clean Cuts — Susurrus
susurrusthemagazine.com
I was an early beta and it was already sooo good!
Jonathan Danielson@jonathanin2k.bsky.social · 2mo agoI had the chance to blurb this book and really enjoyed it! I hope you’ll check it out!
Another @smokelong.bsky.social #archivechallenge digging into @offbeatlit.bsky.social. Love this spec story as press release! thedisappointedhousewife.com/2023/03/07/v...
Vaginal Claw Press Information ~ press release by Meredith Wadley
VAGINAL CLAW® PRESS INFORMATION: January 31, 2032 Positive Data Reports for Vaginal Claw® and Development of New Claws Out! Product Claws Out! proudly announces that from 2026–2031, wherever our be…
thedisappointedhousewife.com
Back in the @smokelong.bsky.social #archivechallenge diving through @offbeatlit.bsky.social and I can say this is one by @audrakerrbrown.bsky.social blows my mind every time I think of it— the premise! The execution! thedisappointedhousewife.com/2023/02/23/w...
When the Cowbirds Come to Carry Your Sister Away ~ fiction by Audra Kerr Brown
They descend in clattering droves, sag telephone lines, drip from the tulip tree like rotten fruit. You watch from the window, push your nose against the pane. Your mother tells you about a sudden …
thedisappointedhousewife.com
Physical copies are flowing into bookstores & mailboxes! Maybe yours will be next.
Archive challenge at @smokelong.bsky.social and I have selected @offbeatlit.bsky.social. Today’s piece by @travisflatt.bsky.social is voice-y, humorous, and full of Travisitude! Enjoy! thedisappointedhousewife.com/2024/10/15/t...
Two Excellent People Burning ~ fiction by Travis Flatt
You, the consummate gentleman, bring me a paper plate of Little Caesars pepperoni and mushroom, my favorite. It gets me moist when you remember this intimate factoid. I ask, since it’s only us, sh…
thedisappointedhousewife.com
For the #archivechallenge, I’m hitting @offbeatlit.bsky.social! Enjoy this 2019 masterpiece by Lucy Zhang which is a perfect example of bleak with a helping of even bleaker humour. thedisappointedhousewife.com/2019/12/04/a...
An Uninspired Kidnapping ~ fiction by Lucy Zhang
When I was kidnapped, I wore a denim jean jacket with a front button placket, point collar and two button-flap chest pockets—one for my phone, the other for a twenty-dollar bill. I figured one day …
thedisappointedhousewife.com
It'd mean everything to me if you preorder my book. But definitely pick up some other Malarkey titles. They're all amazing reads 💙💙💙
Malarkey@malarkeybooks.bsky.social · 2mo agoWill’s book comes out in April and it is beautiful. As it’s our first book of strictly flash fiction we are offering a flash sale. Code AFTERLASTCALL gets 50% off anything in our store today only (8/1/26). Great day to preorder Will’s book but the code will also work on all of our other titles!
Hereafter by @sfreligh.bsky.social is a novella-in-flash that feels like a guiding light for the genre. a tiny book I read slowly because I didn’t want it to end, even if I cried at every other flash. head to @adhocfiction.bsky.social and get your tissues ready #smokelong #blurbchallenge
Mercury has been in retrograde in Cancer since last month and will only be retrograde for a couple more days. Why am I telling you this? Well, this is my most Mercury Retrograde ever. So if you feel drawn back into the past lately, this story is for you. Let's play What If?
ellipsis zine@ellipsiszine.bsky.social · 3mo ago'The What If? Game: Advanced Version' flash fiction from @chelseastickle.bsky.social Tossing and turning in your twin bed, you try to understand your place in every room. Sleep won’t visit until you’ve exhausted yourself. Read more: www.ellipsis-zine.com/writing/the-...
Today I've got a new flash in @reckonreview.bsky.social about disappearing fireflies and family. Thank you to the editors for publishing it. This story saw many drafts over the years, but I'm glad this is the one out there. reckonreview.com/life-cycle-o...
LIFE CYCLE OF A DOMESTIC FIREFLY | Fiction by Chelsea Stickle – Reckon Review
reckonreview.com
Instinct will tell you to leave space to savour each story in @marioaliberto3.bsky.social 's All the Dead We Have Yet To Bury. Don't. Race through. Gulp it down in one go. Let it roll over you, then come up gasping. #blurbchallenge @smokelong.bsky.social Just trust me on this.
'Different Folks' flash fiction from @bsherm36.bsky.social The week after Harry died, Helen spray painted the toilet gold. Is it meant to be ironic, her sister, Liz, asked. Or is it because he enjoyed spending time there? Read more: www.ellipsis-zine.com/writing/diff...
You can never go wrong reading @travisflatt.bsky.social !!
Coleman Bigelow@cbigs.bsky.social · 3mo agoYou’ve got to read @travisflatt.bsky.social latest chapbook. Here’s me reading it on the lovely NJ Transit, and like NJ transit, this collection is full of constant surprises. The writing is always clever, unexpected and magic. The story “She’s a miracle” is incredible. #blurbchallenge #smokelong
Thrilled to share that my new collection—Rare Good: Essays on Art, Autism, and Astonishment—is available for pre-order! It’s a book about belonging & becoming & finding our way together. I hope you will read it. ❤️ www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/978...
Rebecca Halsey on what would surprise writers about Flash Fiction Online, her worst fear as an editor, how the submission queue is managed and so much more. Here: smokelong-quarterly.mn.co/posts/102449...
The Last Day by Kim Magowan is a delight, fearlessly digging into the often unspoken nuances of women’s relationships with their friends, families or lovers. Plus: classy but kinda slutty women receive significant representation. #blurbchallenge @smokelong.bsky.social @kimmagowan.bsky.social
Blur by Dan Crawley speaks to my soul three years on. I dreamed I saw Dan in a Mexican bar spinning Jamiroiqui, likely representing my delight at the tenderness and wit with which he treats his characters in seemingly real moments. #blurbchallenge @smokelong.bsky.social @danbillyc.bsky.social
Dudes!! My beloved Bruiser has nominated my little flash about the continued lowkey foxiness of decagenarian Dick Van Dyke (who is still with us and still awesome!)!!!
BRUISER@bruisermag.com · 3mo ago
Thrilled to have my weird martyrs story "Ontkommer" in @wigleaf.bsky.social's Top 50! Many thanks to the Wigleaf team, guest judge @andrewporter01.bsky.social, and @djpoissant.bsky.social for publishing this in @theflreview.bsky.social! cah.ucf.edu/floridarevie...
Ontkommer - The Florida Review
Kim Magowan My husband is Catholic and more devoted than I like, though it didn’t stop Matt from marrying me. In September, our ten-year-old son Ethan will be confirmed—a strange verb. As babies, bo...
cah.ucf.edu
Congratulations @olangela.bsky.social and @francesorrok.bsky.social, as well as all of our contributors, staff, and friends who made the top 50 and long list!
Me? On the Wigleaf Long List? Not sure I would have even had the gall to wish for such a thing! Thank you, Kim for being the absolute best editor! And writer— top fifty and long list woohoo!
Kim Magowan@kimmagowan.bsky.social · 3mo agoAlso, love seeing so many writer friends on the @wigleaf.bsky.social Top 50 and Longlist. Yay @brttnyblm.bsky.social! Yay @mczyzniejewski.bsky.social! Yay all of you! Special hoorays for the two @pitheadchapel.bsky.social writers on the Longlist, @olangela.bsky.social and Frances Orrok.
"That last morning I watched him make the guest bed, yank wool blankets smooth over sheets, a precise geometry of corners,...." My lord, this powerful tiny story by @sfreligh.bsky.social 💙💙💙
Sarah Freligh@sfreligh.bsky.social · 4mo agoNew story up at 100 Word Story! Thanks, Michelle! 100wordstory.org/the-suicides...
ICYMI Microfiction by Angela James! @olangela.bsky.social “neither death solid proof of my lingering hunch that dicks take a lot out of a woman” www.claudineliterary.com/angelajames
Angela James | A Belated Happy Birthday to the First Lady of Erotic Cinema
claudineliterary.com