Linda M. Bayley
@lmbayley.bsky.social
Different rubber duckies, same writer. @lmbayley at the other place. For now, this account only follows writers, editors, and lit mags. I like my echo chambers cozy!
I recognize and respect all pronouns. Mine are she/her.
I recognize and respect all pronouns. Mine are she/her.
In which @sfreligh.bsky.social issues a CHALLENGE to all those who might be thinking of entering the @welkinprize.bsky.social this year! If you want to take up the challenge (I sure do!) the rules are here: www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-prize...
November 28, 2025 at 11:57 AM
In which @sfreligh.bsky.social issues a CHALLENGE to all those who might be thinking of entering the @welkinprize.bsky.social this year! If you want to take up the challenge (I sure do!) the rules are here: www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-prize...
This story by @sightlined.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social just hurts so much.
"They sit, one on either side, holding me up all through dad’s funeral. Finally, is all I can think. The words rushing like blood. Freefreefree. So much for the good daughter."
Damn. I can taste this feeling.
"They sit, one on either side, holding me up all through dad’s funeral. Finally, is all I can think. The words rushing like blood. Freefreefree. So much for the good daughter."
Damn. I can taste this feeling.
"My big sister. Always stronger. Always right." Six Stitches and a Scar by Jane O'Sullivan @sightlined.bsky.social #flashfiction #readingcommunity #writingcommunity. Please click on the link and enjoy fictivedream.com/2025/11/28/s...
November 28, 2025 at 11:45 AM
This story by @sightlined.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social just hurts so much.
"They sit, one on either side, holding me up all through dad’s funeral. Finally, is all I can think. The words rushing like blood. Freefreefree. So much for the good daughter."
Damn. I can taste this feeling.
"They sit, one on either side, holding me up all through dad’s funeral. Finally, is all I can think. The words rushing like blood. Freefreefree. So much for the good daughter."
Damn. I can taste this feeling.
Now that I've read this story by Gitanjali Kolanad in @fictivedream.bsky.social , I find I'd like to read a lot more of her work! It seems to be hard to find in Canada though. At least we have this!
"Vidya didn’t like Indian crowds—the heat, the disorder, the pushing and shoving, everyone asserting their own needs at once..." Eight Kinds of Embrace: 4. Piditakam by Gitanjali Kolanad #flashfiction #writingcommunity. Please click on the link and enjoy fictivedream.com/2025/11/14/e...
November 14, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Now that I've read this story by Gitanjali Kolanad in @fictivedream.bsky.social , I find I'd like to read a lot more of her work! It seems to be hard to find in Canada though. At least we have this!
Oh, goodness. A little bit of heartbreak by @olgapoet.bsky.social out in @fictivedream.bsky.social this morning!
#MicroMonday #flashfiction #microfiction
fictivedream.com/2025/11/10/m...
#MicroMonday #flashfiction #microfiction
fictivedream.com/2025/11/10/m...
MicroMonday #31
Hidden Leopard by Olga Dermott-Bond Driving back from work today I remembered a time, long ago, I couldn’t see the leopard right in front of me. I was a student backpacker, unprepared for saf…
fictivedream.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Oh, goodness. A little bit of heartbreak by @olgapoet.bsky.social out in @fictivedream.bsky.social this morning!
#MicroMonday #flashfiction #microfiction
fictivedream.com/2025/11/10/m...
#MicroMonday #flashfiction #microfiction
fictivedream.com/2025/11/10/m...
What would I do with $200 from @smokelong.bsky.social? Writing classes and books from independent publishers, obvs!
It's FlashGiving! Follow @smokelong.bsky.social if you don't already, then like and share this post to get your name in the hat to win $200 holiday money. Deadline is midnight ET, November 26th! Winner chosen randomly on Nov 27th. Please tag @smokelong.bsky.social so that we know you've posted!
November 7, 2025 at 11:06 PM
What would I do with $200 from @smokelong.bsky.social? Writing classes and books from independent publishers, obvs!
Woot! Look what just downloaded itself to my Kobo! Happy official release day, @lumchanmfa.bsky.social !
November 4, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Woot! Look what just downloaded itself to my Kobo! Happy official release day, @lumchanmfa.bsky.social !
This story by @shiramusicant.bsky.social has been nominated by @welkinprize.bsky.social for a Pushcart, and I am thrilled beyond words. This was my very favourite of all the shortlisted entries this year!!
#microfiction #flashfiction
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-stori...
#microfiction #flashfiction
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-stori...
Unreliable Narrators | MattKendrick.co.uk
www.mattkendrick.co.uk
October 30, 2025 at 10:50 AM
This story by @shiramusicant.bsky.social has been nominated by @welkinprize.bsky.social for a Pushcart, and I am thrilled beyond words. This was my very favourite of all the shortlisted entries this year!!
#microfiction #flashfiction
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-stori...
#microfiction #flashfiction
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-stori...
I love this piece by @bsherm36.bsky.social in today's @fictivedream.bsky.social !! So, so good.
#flashfiction #microfiction #micromonday
fictivedream.com/2025/10/27/m...
#flashfiction #microfiction #micromonday
fictivedream.com/2025/10/27/m...
MicroMonday #29
Sylvia, Before and After the Sun Collapsed by Beth Sherman Sylvia is a Latin word, meaning forest or woods, a silky-sounding word, though my mother has always been a no-nonsense woman, a teacher (n…
fictivedream.com
October 27, 2025 at 11:03 AM
I love this piece by @bsherm36.bsky.social in today's @fictivedream.bsky.social !! So, so good.
#flashfiction #microfiction #micromonday
fictivedream.com/2025/10/27/m...
#flashfiction #microfiction #micromonday
fictivedream.com/2025/10/27/m...
To the stranger who helped me when my mom fell down in the Ross Dress for Less, thank you. This is Jesus-level stuff, and I wish I knew your name.
October 23, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Reposted by Linda M. Bayley
October 25th! Join us and Sage Tyrtle for this special 2-hour webinar/workshop. www.smokelong.com/product/spec...
October 22, 2025 at 10:21 AM
October 25th! Join us and Sage Tyrtle for this special 2-hour webinar/workshop. www.smokelong.com/product/spec...
The cabbie who kindly wrote down the name of the Tamil musician he was listening to while he drove me home. #beautifulordinarypeople (It was A.R. Rahman, if you want to hear something beautiful.)
October 21, 2025 at 9:05 PM
The cabbie who kindly wrote down the name of the Tamil musician he was listening to while he drove me home. #beautifulordinarypeople (It was A.R. Rahman, if you want to hear something beautiful.)
Reposted by Linda M. Bayley
Good news, everyone! Literary Namjooning's first ever flash reading and open mic's happening soon! Register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
#namjooning #namjooningbutliterary
#namjooning #namjooningbutliterary
October 13, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Good news, everyone! Literary Namjooning's first ever flash reading and open mic's happening soon! Register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
#namjooning #namjooningbutliterary
#namjooning #namjooningbutliterary
Reposted by Linda M. Bayley
Do you have "Fear of Physics"? Let me cure you at my Zoom writing workshop, When Physics & Fairy Tales Collide, Mon Oct 20 7-9pm UK! We'll play with weird & wonderful physics words, celebrate female physicists and invent particles! Pay-what-you-can available: app.tickettailor.com/events/tania...
October 12, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Do you have "Fear of Physics"? Let me cure you at my Zoom writing workshop, When Physics & Fairy Tales Collide, Mon Oct 20 7-9pm UK! We'll play with weird & wonderful physics words, celebrate female physicists and invent particles! Pay-what-you-can available: app.tickettailor.com/events/tania...
Yes! Sometimes the Almost is way better than the Actually There. Read all about it in this story by @kdiannerule.bsky.social today in @fictivedream.bsky.social .
fictivedream.com/2025/10/10/t...
fictivedream.com/2025/10/10/t...
The Almost
by Kelli Dianne Rule Chugchug-chugchug-chugchug-chugchug. The exhaust, the grumble, the cough, the rumble. The reliability of the laboring machine. I pull up twenty minutes early to my first stop j…
fictivedream.com
October 10, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Yes! Sometimes the Almost is way better than the Actually There. Read all about it in this story by @kdiannerule.bsky.social today in @fictivedream.bsky.social .
fictivedream.com/2025/10/10/t...
fictivedream.com/2025/10/10/t...
"But it’s like that game where someone asks you not to think of an elephant, and there it is in your brain—the elephant. There they are—everyone I hate."
I don't hate this story by @jaimegill.bsky.social ... I freaking love it. And @anchalastudio.bsky.social 's art is brilliant as usual!
I don't hate this story by @jaimegill.bsky.social ... I freaking love it. And @anchalastudio.bsky.social 's art is brilliant as usual!
"Fake it ‘til you make it, Tony says, though I’m not sure that works when the it is inside you."
Sharp as an incisor, a phenomenal #fiction #mustread from @jamiegill.bsky.social | www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/jaim...
Art @anchalastudio.bsky.social
Sharp as an incisor, a phenomenal #fiction #mustread from @jamiegill.bsky.social | www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/jaim...
Art @anchalastudio.bsky.social
October 7, 2025 at 11:17 AM
"But it’s like that game where someone asks you not to think of an elephant, and there it is in your brain—the elephant. There they are—everyone I hate."
I don't hate this story by @jaimegill.bsky.social ... I freaking love it. And @anchalastudio.bsky.social 's art is brilliant as usual!
I don't hate this story by @jaimegill.bsky.social ... I freaking love it. And @anchalastudio.bsky.social 's art is brilliant as usual!
"the susurrus, I know the word susurrus ’cause that was on Who Wants to be a Millionaire this week, so anyway I remember the susurrus..." Wow. I'm just knocked back in my seat this morning by @jennystalter.bsky.social , whose story is now out in @fictivedream.bsky.social .
"So, this lady’s looking at me with more desperation than I’ve ever seen in someone’s eyes..." Divine Intervention by Jenny Stalter @jennystalter.bsky.social #flashfiction #shortstory #writingcommunity. Please click on the link and enjoy fictivedream.com/2025/10/05/d...
October 5, 2025 at 12:55 PM
"the susurrus, I know the word susurrus ’cause that was on Who Wants to be a Millionaire this week, so anyway I remember the susurrus..." Wow. I'm just knocked back in my seat this morning by @jennystalter.bsky.social , whose story is now out in @fictivedream.bsky.social .
"Fascist regimes have classic, telltale traits, like vilifying immigrants, adopting patriotic symbolism of their nation’s glorious past, embracing a narrow definition of masculinity and family values, and striving for economic and diplomatic self-sufficiency."
"There is nothing funny about calling me or Donald Trump a fascist, and if you do, we will ship you to Guantanamo."
We Are Not Fascists, and If You Call Us Fascists, We Will Arrest You
President Trump had another successful week of what is already the greatest presidency of all time, and yet, the woke leftist mob continues to deli...
buff.ly
October 4, 2025 at 12:21 AM
"Fascist regimes have classic, telltale traits, like vilifying immigrants, adopting patriotic symbolism of their nation’s glorious past, embracing a narrow definition of masculinity and family values, and striving for economic and diplomatic self-sufficiency."
Reposted by Linda M. Bayley
Reposted by Linda M. Bayley
This is happening next week on Tuesday (7pm BST) or Saturday (9am BST) - still time to join 👇
Really looking forward to my "Story Shapes" workshop in October where I'm going to get writers writing Cinderella narratives against the clock and crafting stories across different sized bits of paper.
7th Oct 7pm BST or 11th Oct 9am BST.
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/live-worksho...
7th Oct 7pm BST or 11th Oct 9am BST.
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/live-worksho...
October 3, 2025 at 4:22 PM
This is happening next week on Tuesday (7pm BST) or Saturday (9am BST) - still time to join 👇
Reposted by Linda M. Bayley
I wrote a raw piece about my experience commuting to work… it’s foul, but it’s 100% true. Thanks to @mrbullbull.bsky.social for giving my gritty CNF a home!
"The rain doesn’t want you to dawdle at the end of the workday. The rain is your bully. It will piss in your Cheerios. It has one mission—purge the streets." @johannah.bsky.social mrbullbull.com/newbull/flas...
September 28, 2025 at 1:17 PM
I wrote a raw piece about my experience commuting to work… it’s foul, but it’s 100% true. Thanks to @mrbullbull.bsky.social for giving my gritty CNF a home!
@sagetyrtle.bsky.social !! Congratulations!
Thrilled to announce our nomination for Best of the Net 2026: America, Flooding by Sage Tyrtle @sagetyrtle.bsky.social #flashfiction #BestoftheNet. If you missed it the first time, here's another chance...Please click on the link and enjoy fictivedream.com/2024/11/29/a...
September 27, 2025 at 9:58 AM
@sagetyrtle.bsky.social !! Congratulations!
I am so excited and grateful!!
September 26, 2025 at 3:43 PM
I am so excited and grateful!!
Join me and other fabulous writers tomorrow for what's bound to be a wonderful couple of hours! www.tickettailor.com/events/dubli...
Select tickets – Writers Reading - Quarterly Zoom Reading Event
Writers Reading - Quarterly Zoom Reading Event, Multiple dates and times - Got a book to promote, or would you like to read us your latest published story? Come along and let us hear your work. You ca...
www.tickettailor.com
September 24, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Join me and other fabulous writers tomorrow for what's bound to be a wonderful couple of hours! www.tickettailor.com/events/dubli...
Reposted by Linda M. Bayley
"Nobody wants to be around you if you’re just gonna dwell on this well stuff."
Things People Have Yelled Down to Me, a Person Trapped Alone at the Bottom of a Well
1. Are you sure you’re really trapped? You don’t look that trapped. 2. But you’re too smart to be trapped in a well. 3. Yeah, I was trapped in a we...
buff.ly
September 20, 2025 at 8:14 PM
"Nobody wants to be around you if you’re just gonna dwell on this well stuff."