kmelkes.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

I am loving Wendy Erskine's first novel, The Benefactors – it is both generous and urgent, the writing taut as you could wish but fizzing over everywhere, a river of perfectly rendered voices – tragic, comic, subversive, absolutely captivating Thank you @wednesdayerskin.bsky.social, Ansa & Sceptre

submitted 205 days ago • 2 comments

Out in six weeks… #NewRelease #PsychologicalSuspense

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

I've got some more contributor lists of best and favorite stories of the century (so far) coming, but instead, for this week, I put together a few stats and reflections on the second full year of Short Story, Long...

submitted 11 days ago • 2 comments

I'm gonna embarrass my friend @claudiamonpere.bsky.social by publicizing this interview, which honors her as it lifts up Flash Fiction! www.scu.edu/cas/english/... @dawnsteffler.bsky.social @smokelong.bsky.social @trampset.bsky.social @unchartedmag.bsky.social

submitted 11 days ago • 6 comments

Because it’s our 10th anniversary year, we’re giving away a new BFFA anthology to a person who can correctly guess which Ad Hoc Fiction 150 word micro winner was included in @bestmicrofiction.bsky.social Requires a bit of research! Tip look through our website archives! Bathflashfictionaward.com

submitted 14 days ago • 2 comments

Good news for short stories!

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

The act of reading like a writer is, arguably, as important as the act of writing itself. So I’m starting a series on Substack called Microdosing Fiction, to explore the ‘how’ of stories to support writers to hone their close analytical skills. Check it out at kmelkes.substack.com

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

Having WAY too much fun making playlists for my Story in a Song writing workshop in June, but would love to expand outside of my own musical taste/knowledge! Throw me your favourite songs featuring stories, characters, places, specific times & general VIIIIIBES. www.jogatford.com/workshops#st...

submitted 31 days ago • 23 comments

Some places left for our lovely festival 18-20th July in Bristol. Writers coming from all over the world. Also, we have a few special deals for low-income writers. Plus one day tickets now released. DM if interested Flashfictionfestival.com

submitted 29 days ago • 0 comments

JUST 12 HOURS TO GO, PEOPLE, THE SMOKELONG QUARTERLY AWARD FOR FLASH FICTION 2025 CLOSES IN 12 HOURS, MIDNIGHT TONIGHT SATURDAY MAY 10 SEND US YOUR BEST. $2,500 TOP PRIZE. Check out past top 3 stories we'll share today. But NOT FOR TOO LONG⌛. 2ND $1,000 3RD $500 www.smokelong.com/the-smokelon...

submitted 29 days ago • 1 comment

Want to write with me in August? My #WriteBeyondTheLightbulb "Colourful Characters" course is open for bookings. Online. Work-at-your-own-pace. Pay-what-you-can pricing. Body Language | Senses | Voices | Perspective www.mattkendrick.co.uk/wbtl-colourf...

submitted 32 days ago • 0 comments

Love this from Ken Elkes. I’m always advocating that writers should write a one-sentence synopsis but this is even more honed in. Seven words to say what your story / collection is actually about. Such a great exercise in defining a story and finding narrative / thematic focus.

submitted 29 days ago • 1 comment

Latest from my Writing Talk Substack. For all those struggling a little, or a lot, with their work in progress, be it a flash fiction, short story or novel. Hyper-dististilling the essence of your draft can help you clarify and move forward. Check it out: kmelkes.substack.com

submitted 29 days ago • 0 comments

The right-wing attack on universities and the widespread use of ChatGPT to replace thinking and writing are two sides of the same relentless assault on what the Greeks called paideia: the education and development of citizens as ethical beings engaged in their communities.

submitted 31 days ago • 10 comments

The 'Writing Life' page of the Itch of Writing Tool-Kit has key posts on making money from writing, coaching for your writing self, and surviving submission blues. Find it on the Itch of Writing Substack: buff.ly/9h4YWaX

submitted 31 days ago • 0 comments

I have new work in Wigleaf. Deepest thanks to Scott Garson and the @wigleaf.bsky.social team for holding my story with such care. I wrote this piece with love for a friend and I'd be so honored if you could read it.

submitted 36 days ago • 23 comments

Registration closes on the 1st June for our brilliant live taught summer school so you’ve only got a few weeks left to register! I can’t wait to meet you all!

submitted 31 days ago • 0 comments

April spec flash roundup, featuring: @molotovlitzine.bsky.social @heartlines-spec.com @bulletpoints.bsky.social @factorfourmagazine.com @apexmag.bsky.social @metastellar.bsky.social @hexliterary.bsky.social @flashfictiononline.bsky.social +

submitted 44 days ago • 4 comments

New Flash with the lovely @lostballoon.bsky.social “In the back of the car, you show me your chest, and I show you mine. We agree that they are both concave and too much alike. We are eight years old, and we are often left to our own...” lost-balloon.com/2025/05/07/i...

submitted 32 days ago • 9 comments

From Faber the FAB Prize highlights new talent from underrepresented backgrounds with a publishing deal for the winner. Please share :)

submitted 47 days ago • 0 comments

Great conversation on great short stories the short story is the trademark of this friendly short story club. Hosts have included @sophiehaydock.bsky.social @devaneemily.bsky.social @hanakhalique.bsky.social this month it will be a pleasure to host Tom Conaghan of @scratchbooks.bsky.social

submitted 32 days ago • 0 comments

Lovely review here. With thanks to Colin Grant :)

submitted 59 days ago • 1 comment

and in the tangle of sheets you'll poke your tongue through the hole of that tooth, you'll climb through that hole like a window, so you are cushioned by the soft, hot, wet of his mouth, and you'll fall in love with the garden of his body @aniking.bsky.social in @wigleaf.bsky.social wigleaf.com

submitted 59 days ago • 1 comment

Join us!!!

submitted 60 days ago • 0 comments

"I wonder if I was given some stultifying drug, weeks or months or even years ago, but I wonder this idly, my feet up on the dash." (Don't miss Robbie Herbst on the Wigleaf mainpage: wigleaf.com)

submitted 60 days ago • 0 comments

One-month alert! Reading until May 10! The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction. More than $4700 in the prize pot. We're rooting for you! www.smokelong.com/the-smokelon...

submitted 60 days ago • 0 comments

This week for #WelkinWindbackWednesday, "Digestion" by @amygcb.bsky.social

submitted 60 days ago • 0 comments

Some Salty connections here: notalittlelamb.substack.com/p/5-novels-f...

submitted 60 days ago • 1 comment

Two of my poems 'Plum' and 'Psychopomp' are featured today at Creative Writing at Leicester, from my new poetry collection Menagerie. creativewritingatleicester.blogspot.com/2025/04/nual...

submitted 60 days ago • 1 comment

Did you know that we offer extra awards for the highest-placed writers across the competition in the following groups? 🖊️ Young Writer Award, for writers aged 16-25 🖊️ Never Too Late Award, for writers aged 60+ 🖊️ Dorset Award, for writers from the county Deadline day 31 May! bridportprize.org.uk 📝⭐️

submitted 60 days ago • 0 comments

We’re hitting the road again, listening to Pen Pals Podcast, which I had the pleasure of being a guest on their bonus episode during #AWP25! open.spotify.com/episode/08WU...

submitted 60 days ago • 1 comment

Off to The Southbank now to be interviewed by Bernardine Evaristo for my new novel, The Best of Everything - hope to see you there :)

submitted 59 days ago • 2 comments

The latest update from my Substack channel - Writing Talk. An essay on how a cold compress during a nasty bout of shingles made me think about writing advice - because that’s how I roll... kmelkes.substack.com/p/cold-flann... Sign up to be a subscriber - free or paid!

submitted 59 days ago • 0 comments

ICYMI this months #Mondettes picked by the superlative @pleomorphic2.bsky.social Ten flash fictions by writers from the global majority. Well worth a read.

submitted 76 days ago • 0 comments

Such an amazing short story, "The Notion of Limbs" by @kmelkes.bsky.social from Issue #2. www.theargylelitmag.com/fiction/the-...

submitted 79 days ago • 0 comments

Delighted to have a new story in the wonderful @trampset.bsky.social This one is about fishes riding bicycles and being the last remaining Brussels sprout at Christmas. It was written on Christmas day.

submitted 99 days ago • 10 comments

Please come if you can and help make this festival a success. forthwrite.uk/forthwrite-f...

submitted 96 days ago • 3 comments

@kmelkes.bsky.social is a fab facilitator and the other group members are proper good fun. Even though I'm not really subbing much flash at the moment (struggling as I am with my lets-call-it-a-novel) the prompts. discussions and feedback always get my mind working in new and interesting ways.

submitted 96 days ago • 1 comment

Lads, this is a great group. I’m not going at the moment bc I seem to have developed a deep aversion to writing (😬😬) but if it ever wears off I’ll be back like a shot. Ken and the other members are 🔥🔥🔥

submitted 97 days ago • 1 comment