Jim Toal
@jtstories.bsky.social
Fiction: The Stinging Fly, Mechanics Institute Review, The Forge Literary
Magazine, Litro, Shooter Literary Magazine, Fictive Dream, Lunate Literary Journal & elsewhere. Commended Bath Flash Fiction Award. Lifelong Newcastle United fan.
Magazine, Litro, Shooter Literary Magazine, Fictive Dream, Lunate Literary Journal & elsewhere. Commended Bath Flash Fiction Award. Lifelong Newcastle United fan.
Reposted by Jim Toal
Wudja look at this!!
Very proud to be published by The Lilliput Press, and am in love with my book's beautiful cover ❤️🔥
Very proud to be published by The Lilliput Press, and am in love with my book's beautiful cover ❤️🔥
FOUR NIGHT SEAS by Niamh Mac Cabe 🌊 🌊 🌊 🌊
We are so excited to be publishing the debut collection from writer and artist @niamhmaccabe.bsky.social!
Mac Cabe's stories take the ordinary - people, animals, trees - and casts them in a way that is beguiling fresh.
We are so excited to be publishing the debut collection from writer and artist @niamhmaccabe.bsky.social!
Mac Cabe's stories take the ordinary - people, animals, trees - and casts them in a way that is beguiling fresh.
January 28, 2026 at 2:55 PM
Wudja look at this!!
Very proud to be published by The Lilliput Press, and am in love with my book's beautiful cover ❤️🔥
Very proud to be published by The Lilliput Press, and am in love with my book's beautiful cover ❤️🔥
Reposted by Jim Toal
Utterly delighted to be joining Ballerini Book Press, with a new story collection, Blurred Edges, planned for publication in the first half of 2026. Huge thanks to Renée Ballerini for this wonderful opportunity.
ballerinibookpress.ch/author-signi...
ballerinibookpress.ch/author-signi...
December 17, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Utterly delighted to be joining Ballerini Book Press, with a new story collection, Blurred Edges, planned for publication in the first half of 2026. Huge thanks to Renée Ballerini for this wonderful opportunity.
ballerinibookpress.ch/author-signi...
ballerinibookpress.ch/author-signi...
A strange, unsettling and highly original story by @niamhmaccabe.bsky.social
💫 Excited AGNI @agnimagazine.bsky.social published The Sundial Pilgrimage online!
This story also features in their upcoming magazine, AGNI Issue 102. Thanks to the editors, especially Mary O'Donoghue & Bill Pierce
Click if you like stories about feral architects
agnionline.bu.edu/fiction/the-...
This story also features in their upcoming magazine, AGNI Issue 102. Thanks to the editors, especially Mary O'Donoghue & Bill Pierce
Click if you like stories about feral architects
agnionline.bu.edu/fiction/the-...
The Sundial Pilgrimage
It’s morning. I’m off again to my tree, my bundle of tricks slung over my shoulder, the summer solstice having played out a few weeks ago.
Every year since the event, when summer is beginning to clos...
agnionline.bu.edu
October 20, 2025 at 3:20 PM
A strange, unsettling and highly original story by @niamhmaccabe.bsky.social
Sandwich terns fishing in the surf off South Beach, Tenby. Adult passing fish to juvenile. Credit to my son for the photos.
September 20, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Sandwich terns fishing in the surf off South Beach, Tenby. Adult passing fish to juvenile. Credit to my son for the photos.
Loved this story by @polyscribe70.bsky.social. Tender and moving. Really admired how the writing mirrored a previous story, while keeping the narrative voice distinct. Superb. #FictiveDream
Honoured to return to @fictivedream.bsky.social today with The Shape of Moments, a twin of an earlier story, Backgrounds. Very grateful to Laura, also to @kerryhp.bskyb.social and @[email protected] for encouragement to explore these characters further.
"Davy wouldn’t intrude, but he’d be around. And in his way I think he liked it that I was." The Shape of Moments by Mike Fox @polyscribe70.bsky.social #shortstory #fiction. Please click on the link and enjoy fictivedream.com/2025/09/05/t...
September 5, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Loved this story by @polyscribe70.bsky.social. Tender and moving. Really admired how the writing mirrored a previous story, while keeping the narrative voice distinct. Superb. #FictiveDream
The remains of a ruby tailed wasp. A very small and beautiful parasitic wasp.
August 19, 2025 at 6:15 PM
The remains of a ruby tailed wasp. A very small and beautiful parasitic wasp.
After loving her two brilliant short story collections, I'm so looking forward to reading Wendy Erskine's @wednesdayerskin.bsky.social debut novel, The Benefactors, which arrived in today's post.
June 19, 2025 at 1:59 PM
After loving her two brilliant short story collections, I'm so looking forward to reading Wendy Erskine's @wednesdayerskin.bsky.social debut novel, The Benefactors, which arrived in today's post.
Can you see anything?
June 15, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Can you see anything?
My wife took this photograph of a grey wagtail among blossom in one of our apple trees
May 12, 2025 at 3:27 PM
My wife took this photograph of a grey wagtail among blossom in one of our apple trees
Reposted by Jim Toal
Issue 1 of The Lonely Crowd was published 10 years ago today. To celebrate we’re giving away a rare copy of this issue. Simply share this post to be in with a chance of winning!
April 14, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Issue 1 of The Lonely Crowd was published 10 years ago today. To celebrate we’re giving away a rare copy of this issue. Simply share this post to be in with a chance of winning!
Hedgerows now abundant with blackthorn blossom. Each tiny flower a little miracle.
April 12, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Hedgerows now abundant with blackthorn blossom. Each tiny flower a little miracle.
Walking the dog this afternoon, I came across a roe deer trapped in electric fencing. I saw some movement, so knew it was alive. It turned out to be a buck, completely bound by the fencing which was tangled and wrapped tightly round its throat, antlers and foreleg. 1/5
March 25, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Walking the dog this afternoon, I came across a roe deer trapped in electric fencing. I saw some movement, so knew it was alive. It turned out to be a buck, completely bound by the fencing which was tangled and wrapped tightly round its throat, antlers and foreleg. 1/5
Pitch N Putt with Beckett and Joyce
YouTube video by wyllieohagan
youtu.be
March 19, 2025 at 12:33 PM
I was planning to keep this app focussed on writing and literature. Forgive me this indulgence. Went to my first game in 1973 and have been waiting for Newcastle United to win a trophy since then. Emotional. #nufc
March 16, 2025 at 9:38 PM
I was planning to keep this app focussed on writing and literature. Forgive me this indulgence. Went to my first game in 1973 and have been waiting for Newcastle United to win a trophy since then. Emotional. #nufc
Four stories from @nightjarpress.bsky.social arrived today (with an extra story for free!) Exceedingly well packaged by @nicholasroyle.bsky.social Think I'll start with Removals by @iancritchley.bsky.social
March 12, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Four stories from @nightjarpress.bsky.social arrived today (with an extra story for free!) Exceedingly well packaged by @nicholasroyle.bsky.social Think I'll start with Removals by @iancritchley.bsky.social
Goodness, almost ready for my third short story submission of the year. That's hugely prolific in my world. #amwriting
March 11, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Goodness, almost ready for my third short story submission of the year. That's hugely prolific in my world. #amwriting
Do any litmags consider short stories with a historical setting? Not a specialist publisher in particular, but litmags that might take such stories. #writingcommunity #shortstories #litmags
March 9, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Do any litmags consider short stories with a historical setting? Not a specialist publisher in particular, but litmags that might take such stories. #writingcommunity #shortstories #litmags
Reposted by Jim Toal
We've come to the end of another #flashfictionfebruary. Our sincere thanks to the stellar line up @sudhab.bsky.social @jtstories.bsky.social @sfreligh.bsky.social @bsherm36.bsky.social @lumchanmfa.bsky.social @francesgapper.bsky.social @grahammort.bsky.social @ruthabrandt.bsky.social
March 1, 2025 at 9:45 AM
We've come to the end of another #flashfictionfebruary. Our sincere thanks to the stellar line up @sudhab.bsky.social @jtstories.bsky.social @sfreligh.bsky.social @bsherm36.bsky.social @lumchanmfa.bsky.social @francesgapper.bsky.social @grahammort.bsky.social @ruthabrandt.bsky.social
Reposted by Jim Toal
'Short Fiction' is a great magazine - and that's praise indeed! I love the illustrations, which accompany each story.
@shortfiction.bsky.social
@shortfiction.bsky.social
We're delighted to announce our new Featured Story is here! WHAT HAPPENED AT THE HOTEL is an unbearably poignant, exquisitely written tale of loss, guilt & holding on. It's by the brilliant Graham Mort & illustrated by the excellent Wilson So. Read it now! buff.ly/3CAMmzO
February 5, 2025 at 3:22 PM
'Short Fiction' is a great magazine - and that's praise indeed! I love the illustrations, which accompany each story.
@shortfiction.bsky.social
@shortfiction.bsky.social
I loved this piece by John Wheway. Very fine writing -poetic, vivid and inventive. #fictivedream #flashfictionfebruary
"My tactic is to pursue her with discords even when she clambers upstairs and slams the bathroom door in my face." She and I by John Wheway. Please follow the link and enjoy #microfiction #flashfiction #flashfictionfebruary fictivedream.com/2025/02/28/s...
February 28, 2025 at 4:52 PM
I loved this piece by John Wheway. Very fine writing -poetic, vivid and inventive. #fictivedream #flashfictionfebruary
Exquisite story by @judehwriter2.bsky.social. Both beautiful and unsettling.
"Each morning, they sat in the fire bowls and weighed each other, using pea gravel from the patio." Weighing It All Up by Jude Higgins @judehwriter2.bsky.social #microfiction #flashfiction #flashfictionfebruary. Please follow the link and enjoy fictivedream.com/2025/02/26/w...
February 26, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Exquisite story by @judehwriter2.bsky.social. Both beautiful and unsettling.
Reposted by Jim Toal
Still some copies of my collection Things Grown Distant available from @confingopublishing. Here's my favourite review: manchestereviewofbooks.wordpress.com/2024/10/15/t...
February 21, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Still some copies of my collection Things Grown Distant available from @confingopublishing. Here's my favourite review: manchestereviewofbooks.wordpress.com/2024/10/15/t...