Francesca Leader

"Proust doesn’t talk but he’s taking notes. He stares at Mom like she owns wisdom, and I stare at him, like he can teach me."

@happilander.bsky.social is always good but damn do I love this new one from The McNeese Review!

www.mcneese.edu/thereview/th...

Mythic Picnic on X: "MICRO MAYHEM v4 Mythic Micros by @Madeleine_write @melostrom @angela_joynes @jenwithwords @JohnTures2 @amy_grech @AniketSanyal6 @happymil_ @mooninabucket @Koss51209969 @KennethMGRAY2 & @OfferKuban Curated by @NathanBorn2010 / Nathan Pettigrew #MythicPicnicTweetStory === ===" / X MICRO MAYHEM v4 Mythic Micros by @Madeleine_write @melostrom @angela_joynes @jenwithwords @JohnTures2 @amy_grech @AniketSanyal6 @happymil_ @mooninabucket @Koss51209969 @KennethMGRAY2 & @OfferKuban Curated by @NathanBorn2010 / Nathan Pettigrew #MythicPicnicTweetStory === ===

Pleased to have work in Mythic Picnic alongside other fine work by @happilander.bsky.social, @mooninabucket.bsky.social, @melostrom.bsky.social, @jenwithwords.bsky.social, Aniket Sanyal, @angelajoynes.bsky.social, and others! Thank you, @nathanpettigrew.bsky.social ! x.com/MythicPicnic...

A little something of mine for @tomsnarsky.bsky.social ‘s #smallpoemsunday, first published in Molecule

Welp, guess I gotta leave this drawer open all the time now 😂 Hope you have the love of a good feline Valentine in your life this Caturday 💕

Well, I just submitted the longest, most fully-realized story I’ve ever written (all 6,389 words of it) to a dream mag, even though their limit is 6k words. I acknowledged it in my cover letter, & requested an exception. I guess we’ll see what happens 😉🤞

Here I am, late Sunday morning, in bed with my cat, busily reading and posting about poetry and stories without a single football-related thought in my head. I didn’t even realize until late last night that today was #SuperBowlSunday. And I love that for me. 😆 🥰

For @tomsnarsky.bsky.social’s #smallpoemsunday, here’s a lethal little gem by Dallas poet laureate Mag Gabbert 🩵 #thebreakup

"Hot Minutes"

recent poem by me #smallpoemsunday

If this isn't overkill, here is the poem. Note I also have five micros and this is really a great issue, so be sure to read the whole thing! www.southfloridapoetryjournal.com

50 may be the new 40 if you take care of yourself, but if you don’t, it’s still just 50, man.

I bet cheesemongers had game back in the day Imagine…there’s like one person with all the cheese. They are your only avenue toward cheese availability. Cheese possession.

That person is basically a god.

www.discretionarylove.com/the-cup/

Grateful to Discretionary Love for publishing “The Cup.” Not sure if it’s poetry or flash CNF, but it’s a thing that came from my heart.

(Screenshotted from my laptop as this one displays better on desktop)

Maybe it was the Princess Lea ear rolls, the buttered biscuits brows, or the oh-so-squeezable challah braid down his back, but I seriously almost bought this bread dog for no reason yesterday. Please clap that I didn’t, because yes, I can be a responsible adult sometimes 😂

A writer friend called this story "great writing and also bonkers." Feel like it might appeal to folks who've soured on Wallace or never understood his popularity?

Today is the 30th anniversary of Infinite Jest. Have a David Foster Wallace thing.

#DavidFosterWallace #InfiniteJest #GoodOldNeon #footnotes

Got to spend a long weekend in a beautiful place with the one who puts the color inside of my world 🩷 🩵 🧡 💚

Omg, thank you so much, Patricia 😭 🤗

Böyle bir şeyi nasıl yaparsın?
How could you do such a thing?

READ @mooninabucket.bsky.social in @wigleaf.bsky.social !!

wigleaf.com/202205phrase...

Happy #smallpoemsunday, with regards to @tomsnarsky.bsky.social 🤗 This is “Older Women,” by Jack Gilbert 🍯 😉

Jack Gilbert 💙

My anaconda, don’t want none, unless, you overuse commas, hun.

dodoeraser.org/2026/01/14/t...

My first flash fiction of the year is up in the debut issue of Dodo Eraser 🤗 (link below) If you’d like to join the zoom launch party tonight (where I’ll be reading, along with luminaries like @neonpajamas.bsky.social, @tomsnarsky.bsky.social, and @alinaetc.bsky.social), there’s still time to RSVP 🤗

I just got a VM from Publishers Clearing House saying I’m a winner. That’s hysterical. Do most people even know what that is anymore?

Might as well have called and told me I got invited onto the Johnny Carson Show.

Writers just starting out, I know it feels like getting published (anywhere) is the hardest thing, but there’s actually something even harder that you’ll face once you gain some recognition:

Knowing when to refuse an offer of publication for a work that just isn’t ready yet.

First rejjie of 2026 is a form rejection from the Adroit Journal. I sent them a packet of what I believe are the best poems I’ve ever written. It wasn’t their cup of tea, and that’s ok—every award-winning thing I’ve ever written was form-rejected at least a few times. #keepgoing

What the fox/dog/bear is going on here lol

😂 😂

LOLOL