"I wanted this story to move at the speed of thought." Lane Michael Stanley is our featured author this week. Read Coleman Bigelow's interview with the author at SmokeLong, and then read "Sugar," a finalist in The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction. www.smokelong.com/interviews/s...

Smoke Signals with Lane Michael Stanley - SmokeLong Quarterly

You begin your story with a breathless sentence. The technique works beautifully to pull us into this world of online hookups. What do you like about the breathless sentence and why’d you choose to st...

smokelong.com

@smokelong.bsky.social "I wanted death to be a beautiful, positive surprise, because why not?" Mamie Willoughby Pound is our featured author this week. Read Amy Marques' interview with the author at SmokeLong. www.smokelong.com/interviews/s...

Smoke Signals with Mamie Willoughby Pound - SmokeLong Quarterly

I love the title! It has length (which can be a fun twist in flash or micros) and humor. It sets a stage for a story where there could be multiple meanings and layers of meaning and interpretation. Wo...

smokelong.com

Yay!!!!

Nora Nadjarian@noranadj.bsky.social · 2d ago

Kind words from a fellow writer always make my day. Thank you @tomljanovic.bsky.social and of course dear Claudine, @claudineliterary.bsky.social for publishing YOLO, which started off in @smokelong.bsky.social !!! I think it's one of my own personal favourites 😍

Yay!!!

Chelsea Stickle@chelseastickle.bsky.social · 3d ago

Thrilled to have a new micro in Boudin about rage and community! This story came from @smokelong.bsky.social Summer. thereview.mcneese.edu/and-she-stil...

Yay!!!!

Tracie Adams@tracieadams.bsky.social · 3d ago

Happy dancing to see my flash "If Mother's Grief Had Been a Dog" published in Thin Skin Magazine alongside one of my favorite flash writers @nomad-sw18.bsky.social . Check out Issue 8! My story was written in @smokelong.bsky.social (where else?) thin-skin.com/flash-fictio...

Yay!!!!

Tracie Adams@tracieadams.bsky.social · 3d ago

Special thanks to EIC Sofia who reprinted my speculative CNF piece (written in @smokelong.bsky.social of course) "My Jellyfish Journey Through Mental Illness" in this stunning Issue 2. (orig. in The Shallot) I cried when I saw this layout! Check out this magazine that's doing amazing things. ❤️

Yay!!!!

June Phung@j4prez.bsky.social · 3d ago

Thanks to the wonderful folks at @doesithavepockets.bsky.social for giving my story a wicked home, and to my groupmates at @smokelong.bsky.social Fitness for reviewing, editing, championing.

Next in the #smokelongsummer #blurbchallenge: The Price of Cookies by @finnwritesstuff.bsky.social (another 🇨🇦 flash author)—one of the first novella-in-flash I read. A unique cast of small town characters navigating trauma/hardship while reaching for joy & love. Tragicomic fiction at its finest.

And another #smokelongsummer #blurbchallenge recommendation: 100neHundred by @laurabesley.bsky.social — an 100-word story collection with such an impressive variety of genres & experiences. Historical tales, everyday slices of life, surrealist gems... and so many more. A magical flash fiction ride.

Broke out Shit Cassandra Saw before going to see The Odyssey. The frustration she experiences in Ancient Greece is shared by many of the women in these funny and fierce stories. #blurbchallenge #smokelongsummer

I keep this one in a stack near my bed and return to it often. I love these flash stories about marriage and family and the sacrifices we choose to make or refuse to make. #blurbchallenge #smokelongsummer

another recent fav flash collection: Everything’s Changing by @chelseastickle.bsky.social. love how each piece leans into the surreal to get at the complex messiness of human relationships. grab a copy from @thirtywestph.com #smokelong #blurbchallenge

Yay!!!

Stan J Wild@stanjwild.bsky.social · 4d ago

Thanks @wallstrait.bsky.social! Grateful to @smokelong.bsky.social friends, @marioaliberto3.bsky.social and @graythebruce.bsky.social It’s story about a 🐐, a chef, and overreach… at an NGO compound in Haiti www.wallstrait.com/post/heifer-...

This month's #FromTheCoursesMouth features brilliant-sounding things from @stillsquirrel.bsky.social @jmgatford.bsky.social @smokelong.bsky.social @rgvaughan.bsky.social @bendinggenres.bsky.social @sagetyrtle.bsky.social @marthawrites.bsky.social: fromthecoursesmouth.substack.com/p/august-sep...

August / September 26: Upcoming courses, workshops & events

Here’s what’s coming up from your your friendly neighbourhood freelancers, lit mags and awesome independents over the next couple of months.

fromthecoursesmouth.substack.com

SmokeLong Quarterly@smokelong.bsky.social · 7d ago

The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest will open for entries on August 1st! www.smokelong.com/the-smokelon...

Yay!!!

Coleman Bigelow@cbigs.bsky.social · 6d ago

I’m a big fan of what Hugh is doing over @turnandwork.com and love having this story there. This one was inspired by some game prompts from @erinvachon.bsky.social. Thanks to her and @smokelong.bsky.social where this was born. #cornhole #marriage #flashfiction

SmokeLong Quarterly@smokelong.bsky.social · 7d ago

The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest will open for entries on August 1st! www.smokelong.com/the-smokelon...

The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest will open for entries on August 1st! www.smokelong.com/the-smokelon...

The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest 2026 - SmokeLong Quarterly

The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest (The Mikey) is now an annual competition celebrating and compensating the best micro fiction and nonfiction online. The grand prize winner of The Mikey is automatical...

smokelong.com

ICYMI: Maureen Langloss on her hope for Split Lip, the decision making process at the journal, a memorable publishing moment and some specific things that stop an otherwise good story from getting published.

The Village with All of the Flash Writers@heyflashvillage.bsky.social · 4mo ago

@maureenlangloss.bsky.social talks everything @splitlipthemag.bsky.social in The Village. All the hearts to Split Lip! smokelong-quarterly.mn.co/posts/intro-...

Matt Kendrick is the winner of The Villager Challenge 2026 for his inspiring commitment to the flash community. The prize ($200) will be passed along to two more people. Matt has already chosen two people to receive a free place in one of his workshops. smokelong-quarterly.mn.co/posts/105247...

Please help us celebrate these 27 publications reported to us by our workshop participants in July! Onward, trousers! www.smokelong.com/the-smokelon...

The SmokeLong Workshop Celebration – July 2006 - SmokeLong Quarterly

Each month we celebrate our current and previous workshop participants’ publications reported to us through Submittable (The SmokeLong Workshop Prize). Each of the publications below, with the excepti...

smokelong.com

Yay!!!!! Congratulations, Vennila!

Neon & Smoke@neonandsmoke.bsky.social · last wk.

We love debuting new authors. But we didn't know @2nila.bsky.social was one when published her story in July. Thank you for your wonderful story "Mrs." And a quick note to @smokelong.bsky.social whose workshop honed some amazing writing chops.

PSA: We are going to start reading for The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest on August 1st! Previously published and unpublished micros 250 words or fewer, fiction, CNF, micros that lean poetic considered. Opens Aug 1st, closes Nov 15. Grand prize $1000! Details soon!

First up in my @smokelong.bsky.social #blurbchallenge flash fiction recommendations: Widow Fantasies by Iranian 🇨🇦-ian Hollay Ghadery—an atmospheric collection about people grappling w/ regrets & longings. Wonderful concrete imagery throughout ( @hollay.bsky.social is also a poet/multi-genre writer).

Thank you to everyone who came! That was an amazing 2 hours. We went over because we just couldn't stop! And we raised $700 for Every Last One, a dog rescue org. in NYC. We're so inspired by Amy Hempel's generosity, empathy, and presence.

"I wanted death to be a beautiful, positive surprise, because why not?" Mamie Willoughby Pound is our featured author this week. Read Amy Marques' interview with the author at SmokeLong. www.smokelong.com/interviews/s...

Smoke Signals with Mamie Willoughby Pound - SmokeLong Quarterly

I love the title! It has length (which can be a fun twist in flash or micros) and humor. It sets a stage for a story where there could be multiple meanings and layers of meaning and interpretation. Wo...

smokelong.com

ready your TBRs, my #smokelong #blurbchallenge recommendations are incoming tonight

another banger of a flash collection, Maybe This is What I Deserve by Tucker Leighty-Phillips pub’d by @splitlippress.com. bits of wonder woven with the everyday, each story offers this childlike sense of understanding something new and weird and glorious #smokelong #blurbchallenge

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

Don't miss it 🫶💙

SmokeLong Quarterly@smokelong.bsky.social · 2w ago

This Sunday July 26, a special 90-minute live interview and reading with Amy Hempel! Included with A SmokeLong Summer/$19 tickets available to anyone via link: www.smokelong.com/product/smok... Proceeds to NYC dog rescue, Every Last One www.everylastonerescue.org. Noon NYC online. Don't miss this.