Rupert Dastur

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 🤩

Thank you, Richard!

To Hull And Back Humorous Short Story Competition Christopher Fielden's To Hull And Back humorous short story competition. A humorous writing contest, awarding the greatest literary prize.

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

Work With Us - SmokeLong Quarterly Are you a workshop leader with at least 5 years of teaching experience, knowledge in the field of the flash narrative, and a connection to the flash community? We are always searching for webinar 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/

thank you!

Thank you so much, Tania! Looking forward to reading over the weekend :)

Ahh, I just read your pitch on your substack, sounds brilliant (intruiged by this phone booth!) - will definitely need to read - some similar themes to my book two incidentally. Looking forward to it!

looking, not looing
I am not looing
What a terrible sounding verb creation
Although, I also sort of like it
Excuse me, I need to loo
The cattle are looing
Hmmm

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.

Thank you, Barbara :)
Hope life is treating you well and the words are flowing, flowing

Thoughts on common editorial mistakes from my time as a Reader for TSS Publishing

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 :)

Thanks, Sarah, yes, I think dipping is the perfect verb! I've decided to stick to Twitter & Instagram. Hopefully that'll do the job :)

Thanks for sharing, Lance - I have 550 followers & basically 0 engagement on Threads. I know it's supposed to be a slower thing and it takes time to build actual connections on SM, but I don't feel it's a good use of effort. Sticking to Twitter, I think & Instagram which I'm liking :)

Thanks, Sarah, for sharing your experience - I agree with the view that this is all too scattergun-like. Think I've decided to stick with Twitter &now use Instagram too which I'm liking much more than I expected (somehow feels more positive place than other spaces)

Doppelgänger moment

BBC and Create Central launch new writing scheme in Birmingham and the Black Country for aspiring sc... Write Across Birmingham and the Black Country will provide up to 12 aspiring writers with a crucial insight into writing for TV

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

Yes, that's my feeling too - but wonder if that 'at some point' is what many of us are thinking - which is actually prolonging & exacerbating the split - to the extent we're all going to be indefinitely toggling between one and the other. Who knows! Thanks for sharing your experience :)

Good luck, Anna - I think breaks from SM are a good idea. Whenever I step away, I'm often much more focused on creative projects. Cuts down on the outside noise.
I wish you well :)

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?

out to build up my energy levels to tackle the task.

Wonder if anyone else feels like this?

Seems like one of those things that's not necessarily discussed that much - the sort of emotional marathon that comes with draft after draft.

And then there's the endless question: is it any good?

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

I have felt this a lot in recent years. I usually have to take 2-3 days off writing fiction if something particularly unpleasant has / is happening. The imaginary often feels trivial in the face of the real.

Three books by Claire Keegan (So Late in the Day) Beasts of England by Adam Biles, and Best British Short Stories, published by Salt Publishing

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...

Still from a captioned Taylor Swift GIF of her singing the song 22 with “32” superimposed over the number, so that the text now reads: “I dunno about you but I’m feeling 32”

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...

An open sign hanging on a door.

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