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
We have winners! The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest was a bear this year. So many excellent micros. These are our top 7 and will be published Monday in Issue 90! www.smokelong.com/the-smokelon...
The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest — The Winners! - SmokeLong Quarterly
Well that was difficult—and so rewarding. This time of year is always an avalanche of great flash. From August to December we read for The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest (The Mikey), the SmokeLong Work...
www.smokelong.com
December 12, 2025 at 7:26 PM
We have winners! The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest was a bear this year. So many excellent micros. These are our top 7 and will be published Monday in Issue 90! www.smokelong.com/the-smokelon...
When Sarif refused to anoint a #successor, many of his aides encouraging his delusions of immortality, he doomed his empire. For it was these very aides, knowing they would not be chosen, that preferred to take their chances fighting for the chance to rule in his place. #vss365
December 12, 2025 at 7:21 PM
When Sarif refused to anoint a #successor, many of his aides encouraging his delusions of immortality, he doomed his empire. For it was these very aides, knowing they would not be chosen, that preferred to take their chances fighting for the chance to rule in his place. #vss365
Reposted by Matthew C. McLean
His corpse lay on top of the smashed remains of the table. I wondered how Jardin's pimp had tracked them down, but all good predators have their secrets. Whatever his were, they hadn't been a match for Sophie and the skillet that sat nearby, a rust colored stain on it. #WIPSnip #amquerying
Here are the #WIPSnips words for December 8th through December 14th!
Sorry to you WIPSnippians in the future for the slightly late post. It's been one of those days. Plus, I thought I scheduled this one already but hadn't. Whoops!
#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
Sorry to you WIPSnippians in the future for the slightly late post. It's been one of those days. Plus, I thought I scheduled this one already but hadn't. Whoops!
#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
December 12, 2025 at 3:45 PM
His corpse lay on top of the smashed remains of the table. I wondered how Jardin's pimp had tracked them down, but all good predators have their secrets. Whatever his were, they hadn't been a match for Sophie and the skillet that sat nearby, a rust colored stain on it. #WIPSnip #amquerying
Who's going to come after you? Who will fill your shoes? Do you care who your #successor will be? #vss365 #promptshare #flashfiction
Autumn will soon be declared officially dead. It did its best. Or at least existed. But the real headline is its successor. Not due for nine days yet already stomping and chilling around. Utterly unfazed. Frankly, even the paperwork has better manners.
#vss365 #prompt Dec 12 #successor
#vss365 #prompt Dec 12 #successor
December 12, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Who's going to come after you? Who will fill your shoes? Do you care who your #successor will be? #vss365 #promptshare #flashfiction
#Illicit things are their own temptation, like a blackhole, an unseen pull that you can’t feel until you know it’s there. That’s what led John to a bordello. The women there, though, only made him want to rescue them. That’s when he left. You can’t rescue anyone if you can’t rescue yourself #vss365
December 11, 2025 at 7:45 PM
I had to evict one patron after the smell made me realize they were wearing a very #full adult diaper. I would have called social services, but my French wasn't up to the task of explaining grandma had addiction issues that led her to sit in a pile of her own shit. #WIPSnip #amquerying
December 11, 2025 at 7:34 PM
I had to evict one patron after the smell made me realize they were wearing a very #full adult diaper. I would have called social services, but my French wasn't up to the task of explaining grandma had addiction issues that led her to sit in a pile of her own shit. #WIPSnip #amquerying
Unlawful, not allowed, #illicit. But things that are forbidden are often tempting. Sometimes simply because they're forbidden. What's your #illicit desire? #vss365 #promptshare #flashfiction
December 11, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Unlawful, not allowed, #illicit. But things that are forbidden are often tempting. Sometimes simply because they're forbidden. What's your #illicit desire? #vss365 #promptshare #flashfiction
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.