Michael Gattis
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mgattis.bsky.social
Michael Gattis
@mgattis.bsky.social
1.1K followers 1.2K following 470 posts
He/him
Aspiring #fantasy #author 📖 🐲
Dad by day, #writer by naptime 🧑‍🍼
#AmQuerying
(I'm just leaving these parentheses here until I think of something clever to say)
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mgattis.bsky.social
Jelly is the name of the dog set to play Toto :)
#WIPSnips #smash #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #WritingPrompts #Writing
Last summer, Charlie auditioned for Dorothy in the camp’s Wizard of Oz play. It was Ellie’s idea. She’d said being the lead in a play would help Charlie realize her curse was nonsense. “No one forgets Dorothy,” she’d claimed. Charlie was into it, of course. Ellie could have suggested she smash her face in a tray of hot donuts fresh from the oven, and Charlie’s only question would have been what kind of filling they had. Ellie’s ideas were always great, and led to fun things, so Charlie trusted her sister. And besides, she’d have done anything to get to spend more time with Jelly. The audition had gone fine. Charlie had remembered all her lines and delivered them with “zesty zeal.” So said Miss Lucy. But the other kids who’d auditioned had brought an equally zealous zest to the stage, and they didn’t have a curse to contend with.
December 12, 2025 at 1:56 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Gramsay, god of restaurants and narrator of my current WIP, makes his first appearance for today's #WIPSnips #full.
#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #WriteSky #Writing
“Your hand is on my cutting board,” I said. She snatched her fingers away just before I diced them, along with the red onions currently at my mercy. “Sorry,” she sniffed. “And I’m not crying because I’m sad or anything, if that’s what you’re thinking.” “I know,” said I, rocking the knife with godlike speed and precision. “It’s because of my face.” “No!” said Charlie. She wiped some snot on the back of a hand. If she’d had orientation, she’d have known to go and wash her hands right away. “It’s the onions.” “Really?” I leaned over my assembled row of third pans, all full and heaping with perfectly diced red onions. “What did you say to this poor girl?” I asked them. “It’s nothing they said. It’s how they smell.” I gave her a horrified look and put my hands on the sides of the pans, as if covering their ears. “Don’t listen to her. You smell just as onions should, my darlings.”
December 11, 2025 at 1:51 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips vibes for #design today! Here we see the MC facing off against a garbage phoenix.
#WritingCommunity #WriteSky #WritingPromprs #Writing
“Want it.” The phoenix nodded. “Instead of eating me,” said Charlie. She pointed to Luka. “And him.” “Eat you and plastic both. Give.” Charlie looked to Luka, hoping for some sort of instruction, or for him to chime in and help her bargain. He was too busy keeping the phoenix’s boney wing from crushing his larynx. From the sweat beading on his forehead and the vein pulsing at his temple, the kitchen manager didn’t look in any position to offer instruction. “Now,” snapped the phoenix. “Give. Hand over.” Then Charlie did something smart. Not that she’d planned it or anything, but the result was the same. She tossed the plastic bottle into the air.
December 9, 2025 at 2:19 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Woof. An ugly one for #WIPSnips #fourth today.
*rocks back and forth in the chair, hugging self: "Trust the process...trust the process...trust the process..."

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky #WritingPrompts #Writing
As they made their way back through the kitchen, it became clear to Charlie that Luka was in charge. He tasted the contents of different pots and pans, remarking on their thickness or lack of salt. Here he inspected a cube of cheese and berated the person responsible for its cut size being closer to an eighth of an inch than the expected fourth. There he yelled at another worker for being five minutes behind where they should have on prep. Three different emergencies were brought to his attention in the time it took to walk from the back door to the dining room, and he resolved them all with a plan of action hatched on the spot.
December 8, 2025 at 2:00 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Just a short one for #WIPSnips today. Going with #dominant vibes. This draft is about as raw as it gets - only started it a week ago!
#WritingCommunity #Writing #WriteSky #WritingPrompts
She might have noticed Ellie’s abnormal exhaustion. Typically, Charlie’s Curiosity would have piqued her into asking, but her other chief quality (and Curiosity’s nemesis), Absentmindedness, was at that moment in control. Next to Ellie, growing out of the overturned tree was the sure-fire way to get the part. “Dandelion!” Charlie exclaimed. She plucked it from the stump and held it aloft.
December 3, 2025 at 1:46 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
First #WIPSnips from my new WIP - the opening 3 paragraphs, in fact! #Belong
#WritingCommunity #Writing #WriteSky #WritingPrompts
If your personal jar of peanut butter were floating in the air next to your bedside table (instead of on top, where you’d left it) you’d have been as befuddled as Charlie was when she awoke in the middle of the night, at summer camp, on a Tuesday. Most adults would have jumped up, startled by the incredible sight. Charlie was not an adult. Most kids would have hidden their heads under the blanket and hoped the jar would put itself back where it belonged, perhaps with a written note of apology for being so rude. Charlie wasn’t cut of that jib.
December 1, 2025 at 1:59 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Really had to vibe for today's #WIPSnips. Up is a #direction, eh? #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #WriteSky #Writing
Up and up, certain that my story’s disaster awaits me at the top of the hill. I knock spiderwebs out of my way, waving my hand before me like a priest cleansing a haunted house. Normally I would find a stick to do this, but I’m exhausted. The idea of swinging a stick for the rest of my hike sounds disastrous. What if I use all my energy and have none left to fight off the bear? I’m thirsty too, but risk only little sips. A heavier water bottle makes for a greater defense. The bear needs to know I mean business.
November 21, 2025 at 1:56 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips from a short story about a story-serving restaurant called Cliche's.
Let me know if you have any questions.
#Special #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #WritingPrompts #Writing
“But…The Special is a three-course meal. Are you sure you can pull it off on such short notice?” “Easy as 1, 2, 3.” Chef knocked on a wooden cutting board. “It’s too risky,” said Waiter. “What if you did two courses instead? Less is more.” “I won’t make a long story short!” Chef pulled out her notepad and began scribbling out the meal plan, speaking aloud as she did so. “First, the appetizer: a fast-paced, steamy romantasy, in which a human heroine falls for her elflike oppressor. A real enemies-to-lovers story, sprinkled generously with some absence-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder. “Next, the entrée: a slow-burning, epic trilogy about an orphaned thief who turns out to be the true heir to the throne. Swords! Sorcery! Dragons for some reason! We’ll glaze it with some calm-before-the-storm and finish it in the pan with a hint of all-hell-breaking-loose. “Finally, for dessert: an amusing (if tiresome) and self-deprecating short work of satire, thick with clichés and references to overused fantasy tropes…which, itself, may not be wholly original, but sure seems that way to whoever came up with it. It’ll be a bit hard to swallow, so we’ll beat in some beating-a-dead-horse and add some proof-in-the-pudding and…voila!”
November 20, 2025 at 3:06 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Another #WIPSnips from my short story about a support group for people with incredibly niche super powers.
#Third #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #WritingPrompts
“Let him go,” said Steven. “Cookie bribes are beneath us. We’ll be here when you’re ready to face your mediocrity, Lenny. Third Tuesday of every month. 7pm sharp.” “I appreciate it,” Lenny said. He passed Steven’s mom at the top of the steps and took a couple cookies at her insistence, then let himself out the front door. And there was the rabbit, sitting in the grass, scratching at its ear. So freakin’ cute! It sniffed the air and hopped into the arms of a man – hooded, and dressed all in black – who’d been kneeling behind a tree. The rabbit nuzzled against his ear, as if telling him a secret. “Rabbit Randall?” Lenny asked. “My associate tells me you’ve rejected The Super Pals’ weak offer.” He grinned wickedly. “Hand me one of Steven’s mom’s cookies, and we’ll find out just how many eggs you can scramble following the path of darkness.” Lenny grinned back. “I’m in.” He gave Randall a cookie, then took a bite of another. “Wow. Jimmy wasn’t kidding about these cookies.” Randall’s maniacal laughter filled the cul-de-sac.
November 19, 2025 at 1:48 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Another #WIPSnips from a short story today. Going with vibes: #spend = pay. I'm hoping to start a new novel by next week. If all goes to plan, I can start snipping from a new source!
#WritingCommunity #WriteSky #WritingPrompts #Writing
On the eve of the morrow, the king was set to marry an evil sorceress. The nobles whispered amongst each other at the general wrongness of it. The peasants, being out of His Majesty’s earshot, grumbled more loudly (and quite specifically) about the new taxes levied upon them to pay for the wedding. And the horses ate hay, giving exactly zero whinnies about the whole business. Yet even they suspected some ensorcelling must have occurred in the time between the king’s quest to vanquish the sorceress and his engagement to her. One thing they all agreed on? Having an evil sorceress as queen was likely to give everyone stomach ulcers.
November 17, 2025 at 2:04 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
"We're a support group for people with incredibly niche abilities."
#WIPSnips #Week #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Writing #WritingPrompts
“We’re a support group,” said Louise. “For people with incredibly niche abilities. For instance, I can make a rose smell like a s’mores pop tart, but not the other way around.” “Once a week, I can either add or subtract a freckle from my arm,” said Jimmy. “And I can deliver messages to people’s pockets without them seeing,” Steven said proudly. “As long as they are written by someone else, and don’t have anything to do with government, military, or crime bosses.” “That sounds like it could be useful,” Lenny said. “Useful for a middle school student, maybe. Or if it was still the early 90s, before email and text messaging came to be.” They all stared at Lenny expectantly. “Oh,” he said. “I can fry one egg per day, without a heat source.”
November 14, 2025 at 2:06 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
POV: You are a 3yo and your parents stashed your toy robot in the basement (because it's annoying as hell).
#WIPSnips #Movement #WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #WritingPrompt
I know I can pull it off, provided I avoid The Guardians. The Guardians run this place. Their rules are arbitrary. Their moods, unpredictable. They think the rest of us are powerless. That our every movement needs monitoring. I shiver to think what consequences await me, if I’m caught. The Guardians wouldn’t send me to The Basement. No, I’m too valuable to them. More likely, they’ll take their fury out on one of my friends; exile them to The Basement or worse. This threat usually quells my heart’s rebellious tendencies. But not this time. I can’t abandon Roby. Won’t.
November 7, 2025 at 2:08 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Let's try this again...

Bit longer of a passage for today's #WIPSnips #Spell.
Context was needed.
#WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #WritingPrompt
On the eve of the morrow, the king was set to marry an evil sorceress. The nobles whispered amongst each other at the general wrongness of it. The peasants, being out of His Majesty’s earshot, grumbled more loudly (and quite specifically) about the new taxes levied upon them to pay for the wedding. And the horses ate hay, giving exactly zero whinnies about the whole business. Yet even they suspected some ensorcelling must have occurred in the time between the king’s quest to vanquish the sorceress and his engagement to her. One thing they all agreed on? Having an evil sorceress as queen was likely to give everyone stomach ulcers. To find out exactly what had befallen the king, the nobles hired the most expensive psychologist their peasants’ taxes could buy. His name was Aremento Spellsage, and he was the only psychologist in the tri-kingdom area with a PHD in both witchcraft and wizardry. The king lay down on Aremento’s leather couch. He was under a spell – one of Aremento’s – essentially a hard hypnosis, as opposed to the suggestive sort that was hit-or-miss.
October 30, 2025 at 2:25 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips vibes! #blood-curdling
#WritingCommunity #Writing #WritingPrompt #Writesky
I check through every cage twice, but my friend is nowhere to be found. I risk calling his name louder. “Roby?” Still no reply. Doubt slithers into my mind. Maybe The Guardians didn’t put Roby in The Basement. Maybe he ran away. No. He wouldn’t. He loves me. He told me so only yesterday. A loud sound bangs at the back of The Basement. A click. A whoosh. It startles me into a scream. Then I see it: a monster made all of metal. Sharp corners. Countless steel appendages. And fire in its mouth. I run and hide under a table.
October 27, 2025 at 1:20 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips vibes. #Total = summed up!
#WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #WritingPrompt
Finally, an idea hits me: I’ll write a short story about my hike today. But every story needs a disaster. When is mine going to strike? The path ahead leads down to the stream. My immediate reaction can be summed up in one, great big, “NOPE.” It’s a picturesque scene, but all that rushing water makes it loud. How will I hear the bear’s approach? And there are so many boulders. Which one is hiding the bear? Which dark, bear-sized cave has it chosen to lay in wait for an unsuspecting hiker (read: snack) to walk by? And when the bear does show up, how will I back away slowly while maintaining eye-contact without tripping, probably startling the apex predator and dooming myself?
October 24, 2025 at 12:46 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips vibes! #gradient = hill.

Never underestimate the power of a haunting children's melody...nor the unexpected honk of a goose.

#WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #WritingPrompt
Ever upward, I march. I’m tired. What if I’m hit with vertigo, then have to back away slowly from a bear, down a hill, while I’m too dizzy to see straight? A children’s song plays in my head. If you go into the woods today, you’re in for a big surprise …because today’s the day “I’ll be the teddy bears’ picnic,” I finish aloud. I don’t know all the words, clearly, but it’s a haunting melody at any rate. A lone goose honks in the distance, startling me back into silence.
October 23, 2025 at 1:04 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips vibes. #Charge = cost.
This was a fun little short story to write.

Premise: a support group for people with niche and useless superpowers.

MC: can fry a single egg per day.

#Writingcommunity #writing #Writesky #WritingPrompt
“Then he went and started his own support group for people who wanted to increase their powers,” said Steven. Lenny sat up a little straighter. “Is that possible?” “Well, yeah, but at what cost?” Steven asked. “So, he can make a rabbit come sniff his finger now. So what?” “What do you mean, ‘so what?’” Lenny laughed. “Don’t you want to deliver important secret messages, Steve? And Louise, what if you could make daisies smell like funions? And Jimmy, what if you could…uh…” “Change the color of my freckles to look diseased and get out of taking finals?” Jimmy asked.
October 22, 2025 at 1:39 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #Second #WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #Writingprompt
What a lovely witch.
The boy hid behind the hedges, watching the witch feed her chickens. She wasn’t as ugly as the townsfolk joked. Her skin was neither green nor gray, but a pleasing combination of the two. She sported a thick beard that would have been considered attractive on any man. In fact, if you looked past the mountain range of warts on her cheeks, her knobby, horse-sized knees, and the second nose growing where her left ear should have been, she was quite lovely.
October 21, 2025 at 1:17 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #Field
Demons have different olfactory opinions than most people.
#WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #Writingprompt
“It doesn’t pretend to know the impetuses of humankind.” Zaelzagog smothered a yawn in the crook of its arm and a sink hole swallowed one of their hovels. Half the villagers fled into the forest. “Apologies. Its strength grows the longer it remains awake. Mayhap if they turn over proper tribute, it can eat and be on its way?” “No!” the sacrifice cried. “I won’t let you take any more of the people I love!” “You don’t have to watch,” said the demon, quite reasonably. “You’ll have me or no one.” The demon considered her. She smelled terrible, it was true. Like a field of roses slathered in honey. Yet, something was familiar. “Has it eaten of your flesh before, sacrifice?”
October 20, 2025 at 12:47 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips vibes today. #loaf = bread.
This was a fun one to write because I sought out cliches to use, rather than avoid them. It was the point.
#WritingCommunity #writing #writesky #writingprompt
Chef had time to neither dilly nor dally. Though it would be a quick read, her short story dessert still needed boatloads of preparation and careful editing. As she worked, Chef’s head floated up to the clouds. She could see The Critic’s article now, calling Cliché’s “the best thing since sliced bread.” The appetizer and entrée would never win any awards, but maybe she’d enter the dessert in a short story competition to see what would happen.
October 17, 2025 at 2:43 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
I #might have had too many choices for this week's #WIPSnips...
#WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #Writingprompt
…Well, it was less a superpower, and more a “specific issue resolver.” Lenny Livingston could [insert drumroll here] fry an egg under any circumstances, provided he had a frying pan handy. No, he couldn’t create fire to heat the pan. No, he didn’t have laser vision to cook the egg. And, no, he didn’t switch the uncooked egg for a fried one when you weren’t looking. He merely cracked the egg open, dropped it into the pan, and shook his fist at it threateningly. Moments later, the egg was so perfectly fried, Gordan Ramsay himself would call it “the most amazing” thing he’d ever eaten (before remarking the burnt toast that came with it was “a real shame”). I imagine some of you might be asking questions about Lenny’s power’s limits. How about an omelet? What if you wanted sunny-side up? Could he do an ostrich egg?
October 16, 2025 at 1:18 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #care #WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #writingprompt
Still, Patrick was exhausted; the kind of tired you get from years of working all day, only to come home and spend what free time you have left focused on other peoples’ needs. Helping the kids with their homework. Chauffeuring them to their various extracurriculars. Cooking, cleaning, doctor appointments, home maintenance, car repairs. Patrick and Rebecca thought they’d reclaim some time for themselves once their youngest left for college, but now Patrick’s mom, in her twilight years, needed daily care. With neither siblings nor the money to pay for a home health aide, that, too, fell on Patrick and Rebecca. It was a miracle they could (barely) keep up with the H.O.A.’s stringent demands in between everything else.
October 15, 2025 at 1:24 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
This #ultimate #WIPSnips from a short story where the king falls in love with an evil sorceress.
#WritingCommunity #Writing #WriteSky #Writingprompt
After a moment, the king recovered himself enough to ask, “well, what is it? What’s wrong with me?” “Nothing,” Aremento said, his voice hollow. “Only…you are in love.” “Love?” asked the king. “Love.” Aremento looked out the window. He was really going to miss the sunshine. “It would be sweet, if the consequences weren’t so dire.” “Love.” The king nodded, slowly. “I see. Well, what can be done?” Aremento shook his head. “Nothing, unfortunately. Love is the ultimate blessing, but also the ultimate curse. People – even kings, it seems – do stupid things for love.” The next day, the king married the evil sorceress, and the kingdom burned.
October 14, 2025 at 1:30 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips #push from a tongue-in-cheek short story about a chef who owns a restaurant called "Cliche's." Seasons the dishes (stories) she makes with overused tropes and cliches.

#WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #writingprompt
There are too many cooks in the kitchen.” “I wondered when we’d see that one,” said Waiter. As the staff shuffled out the door, Chef consulted the rolodex of clichés in her mind, muttering them to herself. “If you can’t stand the heat…no, not for a dessert. Tip of the tongue? It has potential, but I’d rather her swallow it whole.” Then Chef had it. “Icing on the cake!” That one always pushed a dish across the finish line. Chef thrusted the final course into Waiter’s hands and watched him funeral march his way back to the dining room. Then she leaned against the wall and slid to the floor.
October 13, 2025 at 12:49 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Truly some #WIPSnips vibes today for #prize. This is part of a short story I'm going to enter for The Hope Prize. Still lots of editing ahead.
#WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #WritingPrompt
Ron beamed. “A choice has been made! Tell him what he’s won, Bill.” “Connnn-gratulations, Patrick!” said a deep, sultry voice from the ceiling. “You’ll spend the next twenty years paying off a debt totaling $38,575. After graduation, you’ll land yourself in a stable career that has nothing to do with your major. Best of all, your choice today will lead you to Rebecca, the love of your life!” “Amazing!” said Ron. He clapped Patrick on the shoulder. “Good choice. Congratulations, Pat. Thanks for playing. And we’ll see you next time on—” LIFE’S! LITTLE! CHOICES!
October 10, 2025 at 1:02 PM