Declan Ryan

Big thanks to @frazzledlit.bsky.social for including me in this anthology ❤️

Thank you to @delgeo14.bsky.social for starting this discussion! A little terrified to have my words about it out in the world, but also delighted to be included ❤️ My Novella-in-Flash, The Lives of the Dead, was inspired by my experiences of motherhood in the early years

“how nice it is to be clean and empty on an evening like this, and not smelling of fish guts, lemon peel and sadness.”

"What a view, what freedom. No longer would they squat obediently in back gardens and down the side-alleys like tethered pets." "But how will their families manage without them?" Wheeee! The depth & relatability. Such an absolutely brilliant story from @fionamckay.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute.🔥❤️

"On they fly, calling to one another in alarm and joy." It's about bins, but not really, and it's absolutely gorgeous. Brava, @fionamckay.bsky.social 🗑️💙

This is stunning!!! Like Virgina Woolf collided with @fionamckay.bsky.social on steroids!!!⬇️⬇️⬇️

"They walk on cooling sand by the sea at the end of another hot day, where they call out to each other, over the sound of the waves,...." Big love for this brilliance by @fionamckay.bsky.social 💙💙💙

Go read this lovely story I got to illustrate, and prepare to feel emotional about rubbish bins!!

SO fun, so strangely moving. Good stuff. Inspires me to go back to an object-based flash I started this time last year.

Woohoo! It's a dream to be in Ghost Parachute w/ my weird little rhesus monkey story! Immense thanks to @brettpribble.bsky.social for welcoming me into the 10th Anniversary issue w/ so many writers I admire, and thanks to Brett J Barr for the gorgeous artwork. ❤️❤️❤️ ghostparachute.com/issue/octobe...

Bin night will never again be the same! Well done @fionamckay.bsky.social

Read "Unexpected Weather" written by @fionamckay.bsky.social and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social. "They had been full, full, full, and now it is so lovely to be empty, to be so full of potential and not the leavings of people’s lives." tinyurl.com/2s465p64

"It is spring – that month that comes in like a lamb and takes its leave with a vicious swipe of its lion’s paw" A stunner from @fionamckay.bsky.social Love the language, the rhythms, the deep and resonant emotions beneath every word. Brilliant, brilliant writing.

'Unexpected Weather' - A stunner from @fionamckay.bsky.social in the 10th Anniversary edition of #GhostParachute Read it and never see your bins in the same way again!

Hey, I have a story in the amazing 10th Anniversary issue of Ghost Parachute 😍 It’s about bins!! (And yes, it’s a metaphor!!) Thanks so much to @brettpribble.bsky.social and @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social for the amazing illustration ghostparachute.com/issue/octobe...

My writing is 100% human because I’m a Small Language Mammal not a Large Language Model #StopAI

Holy moly!! Such a powerful, fiery piece from @fionamckay.bsky.social 🔥 "...smile like a children’s TV presenter, and keep dodging, dodging, dodging awkward questions about their absent parent..." LOVE IT!! bendinggenres.com/rx/

I'm a bit teared up this morning already & this really got me going! I could so relate to this. Great story @fionamckay.bsky.social

The breathing before speaking, the passage of those tears past smile lines and into her ears - oof, the constrictive weight of this piece 👏 Congrats, Fiona! 🎉🎉🎉

Fiona McMay’s latest that hits close to home.

bendinggenres.com/rx/ I was away last month when this came out and didn’t get to post. So, thank you to @bendinggenres.bsky.social for publishing my piece, Rx ❤️❤️❤️

trashcatlit.com/the-good-peo...

Delighted to make the Longlist for the Wigleaf top 50 ❤️ Thanks to @trashcatlit.bsky.social for publishing my story and @sudhab.bsky.social for all the hard work on the @wigleaf.bsky.social top 50

‘She reads about the transition between two hyperfine levels of the ground state of this atom.’ Fabulous writing by @fionamckay.bsky.social

This ⬇️⬇️⬇️ ⏱️🍊⚛️ 'She feels every single oscillation.' We do too! Check out 'A Brief History of Atomic Time' by @fionamckay.bsky.social in @natflashfictionday.bsky.social

We all know days like these! Spend an atomic second or two to read this from @fionamckay.bsky.social #amreading #nffd2026

“She feels every single oscillation. Balances the needs of her students, and her desire for a promotion.” Brilliance from @fionamckay.bsky.social in @natflashfictionday.bsky.social ⚛️🧡🧡🧡

'The orange drips juice and her fingers are sticky on her phone as she calculates the number of seconds in a week.' Brilliant, @fionamckay.bsky.social! (Was this inspired by me waiting for a response to a submitted story?😂)

Sharp, relatable writing from Fiona 💜 "does she need to worry about her pension or will the world have ended?"

'In the staffroom, Kate plugs in a fan which swings from side to side, moving the stale air around.' A BRIEF HISTORY OF ATOMIC TIME by @fionamckay.bsky.social @natflashfictionday.bsky.social #fiction #microfiction #nffd2026 #writingcommunity flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/2026/06/a-br...

"The effect of waiting on the passage of time should be studied." That's a really damn profound line. Nice. Excellent, expansive flash from @fionamckay.bsky.social

WOW! 'A Brief History of Atomic Time' by @fionamckay.bsky.social published on NFFD's #flashflood Fiona won 1st prize in our #flashfiction competition in 2021 for her brilliant story 'Glass', and this one is another triumph. Nice one Fiona! #nffd2026 flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/2026/06/a-br...

flashfloodjournal.blogspot.com/2026/06/a-br... Big thanks to @natflashfictionday.bsky.social for publishing this little slice of time 🕰️⏱️⏰

ICYMI

www.cleavermagazine.com/a-conversati... Thanks so much to @anchalastudio.bsky.social for the thoughtful interview process and to Autumn Konopka at Cleaver Magazine ❤️

Get your subs in quick! Delighted to be joining the flood 🌊🌊🌊

To conclude @theprideroars.bsky.social's inaugural Flash Competition, we'd like to share our Judges' Report. Thank you again to all who submitted and to our amazing judges: Megan Hanlon @sugarpigblog.bsky.social Fiona McKay @fionamckay.bsky.social T. L. Tomljanovic @tomljanovic.bsky.social

The two stories in joint second place really blew us away!! So good! Read them NOW!!

Congratulations to the writers of our Highly Commended stories 🎉🎉🎉 I can’t wait for you to read them!!

Loved illustrating this one. It's a beautiful and unique story.

Great voice in this beautifully polished piece of art from @fionamckay.bsky.social 'Family Busines' in Ghost Parachute I can hear the accent, the love and the heartbresk. It just sings!🎶

ICYMI - thank you @brettpribble.bsky.social for including my story in this issue ❤️

ghostparachute.com/issue/march-... Thank you to @brettpribble.bsky.social and Ghost Parachute for having my story in this issue ❤️

Huge thanks to @judehwriter2.bsky.social for all the work she puts into this award ❤️ I’m happy to have been Highly Commended, and now the search begins to find a publisher for this Novella… And big hugs anyone on the shortlist feeling disappointed today ❤️❤️❤️

🐈‍⬛ ICYMI 🐈‍⬛ CNF by @fionamckay.bsky.social: “I remember carrying her, my cousin, when I was ten and she was five and clingy as a limpet: two only children making siblings of each other, with none of the skills honed by everyday friction.” www.claudineliterary.net/fionamckay

Delighted to be one of the judges here! Send us your favourite words!

Her breasts are the first to disappear. Such a strange sensation, the wind cutting through her where the flesh had curved out over her meaty ribs, where blood had flowed through deep blue veins, and now there is nothing. Love this one by @fionamckay.bsky.social in @thin-skin.bsky.social

'she realises that the firm peach of her ass is gone, vanished, kaput – like a page ripped out of a magazine. She still has something to sit on, but whatever it is, Gary isn’t looking at it'. Love this by @fionamckay.bsky.social thin-skin.com/flash-fictio...