Matthew C. McLean
@mcleansix.bsky.social
"I have to go on makin' a livin'...so I can die."
Writer. My fetish is a good narrative. I make them for fun and profit. if you like what you see here you can find more at https://matthewcmclean.com
Writer. My fetish is a good narrative. I make them for fun and profit. if you like what you see here you can find more at https://matthewcmclean.com
Reposted by Matthew C. McLean
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
'Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas being transported to Fossanova Abbey.'
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
December 10, 2025 at 5:10 PM
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
The #queer tales of Cole McDowell as he makes his way through the city of Dunhill. Cole must contend with dark alchemy and religious zealotry to survive the crown jewel of the Brittania Empire. In this episode, Cole must deal with a constable and a thief. #Serial #audio #Victorian
The Red Hook of Dunhill, Chapter 1 | Matthew C. McLean
The queer tales of Cole McDowell, last heir to the McDowell family line. In this chapter, Cole must contend with a constable and a thief.
matthewcmclean.com
December 10, 2025 at 7:50 PM
The #queer tales of Cole McDowell as he makes his way through the city of Dunhill. Cole must contend with dark alchemy and religious zealotry to survive the crown jewel of the Brittania Empire. In this episode, Cole must deal with a constable and a thief. #Serial #audio #Victorian
The church bell #bewitched him every time it sounded, reminding him of his rendezvous with Charles in the steeple. He couldn’t help but smile that the church’s tower was the only place they and their forbidden love wouldn’t be seen and could be expressed freely. #vss365 #flashfiction
December 10, 2025 at 7:49 PM
The church bell #bewitched him every time it sounded, reminding him of his rendezvous with Charles in the steeple. He couldn’t help but smile that the church’s tower was the only place they and their forbidden love wouldn’t be seen and could be expressed freely. #vss365 #flashfiction
Reposted by Matthew C. McLean
My first professionally published story is available to read now at Apex Magazine! It's less than 1000 words--what do you have to lose?
Thank you to everyone who reads and comments. Your support means so much to me.
Thank you to everyone who reads and comments. Your support means so much to me.
"The wide ring of brambles holds the typical detritus of youth—beer bottles, soggy magazines, nicotine pouches. At the center is God." 🚬🚲
New fiction today by @rj-sterling.bsky.social: "Cassandra and the Changeling"
Read it here: www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-...
New fiction today by @rj-sterling.bsky.social: "Cassandra and the Changeling"
Read it here: www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-...
December 10, 2025 at 2:42 PM
My first professionally published story is available to read now at Apex Magazine! It's less than 1000 words--what do you have to lose?
Thank you to everyone who reads and comments. Your support means so much to me.
Thank you to everyone who reads and comments. Your support means so much to me.
The #queer tales of Cole McDowell as he makes his way through the city of Dunhill. Cole must contend with dark alchemy and religious zealotry to survive the crown jewel of the Brittania Empire. In this episode, Cole must contend with a constable and a thief. #Serial #audio #Victorian
The Red Hook of Dunhill, Chapter 1 | Matthew C. McLean
The queer tales of Cole McDowell, last heir to the McDowell family line. In this chapter, Cole must contend with a constable and a thief.
matthewcmclean.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:57 PM
The #queer tales of Cole McDowell as he makes his way through the city of Dunhill. Cole must contend with dark alchemy and religious zealotry to survive the crown jewel of the Brittania Empire. In this episode, Cole must contend with a constable and a thief. #Serial #audio #Victorian
You know your country is in trouble when you realize that NPR is using Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows" as its interlude music.
December 10, 2025 at 3:39 PM
You know your country is in trouble when you realize that NPR is using Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows" as its interlude music.
It's hard to get up, look at the disaster of the world, and keep #writing. But there's no bigger monster than a writer who isn't writing.
December 10, 2025 at 1:32 PM
It's hard to get up, look at the disaster of the world, and keep #writing. But there's no bigger monster than a writer who isn't writing.
You can #bewitched by almost anything; an item, a person, an animal. What ensorcels you? #vss365 #promptshare #flashfiction
She would like to be the little girl again who skips rope, inventing a vault perfectly sized to the body that flips within it, bewitched by her own motion.
#vss365 #prompt December 10 #bewitched
📸 Rudolf Koppitz
#vss365 #prompt December 10 #bewitched
📸 Rudolf Koppitz
December 10, 2025 at 1:29 PM
You can #bewitched by almost anything; an item, a person, an animal. What ensorcels you? #vss365 #promptshare #flashfiction
As Marco lay bleeding out on the cobblestones of the town square, he had two things as #consolation. The first was the fountain’s spray felt wonderful against his hot skin, like a cool cloth against a fevered forehead. The second was, at least he had won the knife fight. #vss365 #flashfiction
December 9, 2025 at 8:06 PM
As Marco lay bleeding out on the cobblestones of the town square, he had two things as #consolation. The first was the fountain’s spray felt wonderful against his hot skin, like a cool cloth against a fevered forehead. The second was, at least he had won the knife fight. #vss365 #flashfiction
That lady must be a widow, cause she ain't no #consolation prize. #vss365 #promptshare #flashfiction
At times a reluctant glance passes and something numinous enters the moment offering a brief consolation before returning to whatever called it forth. Even as its imprint belongs to a time we never lived, the ache settles into a softer contour.
#vss365 #prompt Dec 9 #consolation
📸 M. Batich
#vss365 #prompt Dec 9 #consolation
📸 M. Batich
December 9, 2025 at 7:56 PM
That lady must be a widow, cause she ain't no #consolation prize. #vss365 #promptshare #flashfiction
Have we (the States) always been a country that's based our policies on cruelty? Or is this just a neat, new trend?
December 8, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Have we (the States) always been a country that's based our policies on cruelty? Or is this just a neat, new trend?
His #soliloquy on the empty stage was meant only for him, a pronunciation of the things he believed and held in his heart with earnestness. He didn’t realize he was being recorded. When he saw his sudden internet fame the next day, he learned what it felt like to be truly betrayed. #vss365
December 8, 2025 at 7:57 PM
His #soliloquy on the empty stage was meant only for him, a pronunciation of the things he believed and held in his heart with earnestness. He didn’t realize he was being recorded. When he saw his sudden internet fame the next day, he learned what it felt like to be truly betrayed. #vss365
Who doesn't talk to themselves? If a thought questions, another answers, and sometimes it comes out of our mouths. When it makes sense, sometimes they call it a #soliloquy. #vss365 #promptshare #flashfiction
From scraps of silence trembling beside sudden bursts of thought, a story we have long feared begins to gather. Farewell to the hesitant preludes! Make a place for a raw soliloquy. What was stifled has finally found the ribs to break through.
#vss365 #prompt December 8 #soliloquy #art ~ Lily
#vss365 #prompt December 8 #soliloquy #art ~ Lily
December 8, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Who doesn't talk to themselves? If a thought questions, another answers, and sometimes it comes out of our mouths. When it makes sense, sometimes they call it a #soliloquy. #vss365 #promptshare #flashfiction
It's snowing in North Carolina.
December 8, 2025 at 6:22 PM
It's snowing in North Carolina.
If Netflix is buying HBO, streaming has officially eaten cable.
December 5, 2025 at 3:05 PM
If Netflix is buying HBO, streaming has officially eaten cable.
Is #chic conforming to the latest fashions? Or being a trendsetter? What's the cost of either? Iconoclast or cutting edge, both can make you bleed. #vss365 #promptshare #flashfiction #writing
December 5, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Is #chic conforming to the latest fashions? Or being a trendsetter? What's the cost of either? Iconoclast or cutting edge, both can make you bleed. #vss365 #promptshare #flashfiction #writing
As above, so below.
December 4, 2025 at 10:03 PM
As above, so below.
This hurt my brain to write:
Behind her, she heard someone call for order, followed by immediate requests for the proper form to request such order, followed by debates about whether the order-requesting forms needed to be ordered in order to order more order forms.
Pre-Order Now
a.co/d/e0qXA6A
Behind her, she heard someone call for order, followed by immediate requests for the proper form to request such order, followed by debates about whether the order-requesting forms needed to be ordered in order to order more order forms.
Pre-Order Now
a.co/d/e0qXA6A
December 4, 2025 at 9:14 PM
The Countess #Vespertine should have been easy to spot as the undead: pale skin, no shadow, pointed ears. She shapely figure and dark eyes caused men to question themselves, each hoping that was obvious wasn’t true. She could do this for years before some smart woman drove her off. #vss365 #writing
December 4, 2025 at 8:01 PM
The Countess #Vespertine should have been easy to spot as the undead: pale skin, no shadow, pointed ears. She shapely figure and dark eyes caused men to question themselves, each hoping that was obvious wasn’t true. She could do this for years before some smart woman drove her off. #vss365 #writing
In this concluding chapter to the latest Aggie McPherson #Mystery justice and ideals are discussed. There may also be Nazis. #audio #serial #urbanfanasy
The Case of the Biting Decision, Chapter 3 | Matthew C. McLean
The flash fiction conclusion to the latest Aggie McPherson Mystery, in which justice and ideals are discussed. There may also be Nazis.
matthewcmclean.com
December 4, 2025 at 7:55 PM
In this concluding chapter to the latest Aggie McPherson #Mystery justice and ideals are discussed. There may also be Nazis. #audio #serial #urbanfanasy
The desert sands changed to purple under the rising night, its #vespertine inhabitants coming out of their holes once the sun had set. Each scavenged while they could, the lucky finding a feast under the cover of a wagon, the dried carcasses of those foolish enough to travel by day. #vss365 #writing
December 4, 2025 at 7:51 PM
The desert sands changed to purple under the rising night, its #vespertine inhabitants coming out of their holes once the sun had set. Each scavenged while they could, the lucky finding a feast under the cover of a wagon, the dried carcasses of those foolish enough to travel by day. #vss365 #writing
Reposted by Matthew C. McLean
"In the novel I’m reading, a cowboy
dies, dies, of snakes in a river. "
Contributor Elisa Gabbert has two new poems in Poetry Magazine December 2025 issue 👏 Enjoy the new issue here: buff.ly/ycDgIwO
dies, dies, of snakes in a river. "
Contributor Elisa Gabbert has two new poems in Poetry Magazine December 2025 issue 👏 Enjoy the new issue here: buff.ly/ycDgIwO
December 4, 2025 at 4:35 PM
"In the novel I’m reading, a cowboy
dies, dies, of snakes in a river. "
Contributor Elisa Gabbert has two new poems in Poetry Magazine December 2025 issue 👏 Enjoy the new issue here: buff.ly/ycDgIwO
dies, dies, of snakes in a river. "
Contributor Elisa Gabbert has two new poems in Poetry Magazine December 2025 issue 👏 Enjoy the new issue here: buff.ly/ycDgIwO
December 4, 2025 at 3:19 PM
What happens when you invent something that consumes everything? You make money! #flashfiction
Wealth Redistribution | Flash Fiction | Matthew C. McLean
A flash fiction piece on how time travel can effect in the bottom line.
matthewcmclean.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:15 PM
What happens when you invent something that consumes everything? You make money! #flashfiction