James Montgomery
@jamesmontgomery.bsky.social
Flash writer ✍️ | Latest: Gooseberry Pie, Fractured Lit, FlashFlood | 📖 Best Small Fictions ‘25, Wigleaf Top 50 ‘25 | 💫 Welkin People’s Prize ‘25 | 🌟 HC Bath Flash Award ‘23 | 🥈 Micro Madness ‘24 | He/Him 🌈 www.jamesmontgomerywrites.com
Pinned
new on our mainpage: THE WIGLEAF TOP 50 VERY SHORT FICTIONS 2025 (selecting editor @samanito.bsky.social )
I cannot fathom that a story of mine is in the @wigleaf.bsky.social Top 50…! Like, what?! 🤯 Thank you to @splonk.bsky.social and @nualaoconnor.bsky.social for publishing this micro of bare, gleaming bones 🦴 And @stillsquirrel.bsky.social, for the workshop in which this was born 🤍
‘Last week, it was the lengthening of a day to more than twenty-four hours. A week before, it was the weight of the air. She is dependable like this.’
Devastatingly precise and precisely devastating; @mattkendrick.bsky.social in Milk Candy Review ⛅️
milkcandyreview.home.blog/2025/11/20/n...
Devastatingly precise and precisely devastating; @mattkendrick.bsky.social in Milk Candy Review ⛅️
milkcandyreview.home.blog/2025/11/20/n...
Nothing certain ~ by Matt Kendrick
The day the sun forgets to rise, Mr White sits down for breakfast at precisely twelve minutes past seven. This is in the dining room. It is Tuesday. His Tuesday breakfast is a soft-boiled egg opene…
milkcandyreview.home.blog
November 20, 2025 at 10:57 PM
‘Last week, it was the lengthening of a day to more than twenty-four hours. A week before, it was the weight of the air. She is dependable like this.’
Devastatingly precise and precisely devastating; @mattkendrick.bsky.social in Milk Candy Review ⛅️
milkcandyreview.home.blog/2025/11/20/n...
Devastatingly precise and precisely devastating; @mattkendrick.bsky.social in Milk Candy Review ⛅️
milkcandyreview.home.blog/2025/11/20/n...
And just like that, I have an idea for a micro 💡 @welkinprize.bsky.social opens on 1 December for entries - be sure to get something ready! 💫
I don't want to alarm anyone, but it's now just TWO WEEKS until entries open for the #WelkinWritingPrize 2026!!!
However, if you count like @smokelong.bsky.social (this is a thing apparently), it may also be 13 days, 71 elephants or 0.035 rotations around the sun...
However, if you count like @smokelong.bsky.social (this is a thing apparently), it may also be 13 days, 71 elephants or 0.035 rotations around the sun...
**ATTENTION WRITERS** This is your ONE MONTH warning. Entires open for the #WelkinWritingPrize 2026 on the 1st Dec. 100 words. Rolling subs. Free entry. Publication for shortlistees. Prizes for top 5.
November 20, 2025 at 4:56 PM
And just like that, I have an idea for a micro 💡 @welkinprize.bsky.social opens on 1 December for entries - be sure to get something ready! 💫
Reposted by James Montgomery
⚡️Fast Flash Review: Bitter Over Sweet by Melissa Llanes Brownlee. A stunning read. Plus, Melissa writes in Hawaiian Pidgin Creole & English, this book is a masterclass on authentic own voice writing. Unmissable.
@lumchanmfa.bsky.social @smokelong.bsky.social @sfwp.bsky.social
@lumchanmfa.bsky.social @smokelong.bsky.social @sfwp.bsky.social
November 19, 2025 at 6:21 AM
⚡️Fast Flash Review: Bitter Over Sweet by Melissa Llanes Brownlee. A stunning read. Plus, Melissa writes in Hawaiian Pidgin Creole & English, this book is a masterclass on authentic own voice writing. Unmissable.
@lumchanmfa.bsky.social @smokelong.bsky.social @sfwp.bsky.social
@lumchanmfa.bsky.social @smokelong.bsky.social @sfwp.bsky.social
Look at this powerhouse team! 💥 @natflashfictionday.bsky.social’s 2026 microfiction comp opens 1 December - send @joannacampbell.bsky.social, @devaneemily.bsky.social, @debdanthewriter.bsky.social and @daveswann.bsky.social something good.
We’re thrilled to announce that the judges for our microfiction comp are: Joanna Campbell, Emily Devane, Debra A Daniel & David Swann! The comp opens on 1 Dec for micros up to 100 words. www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/index.php/co...
November 18, 2025 at 6:47 AM
Look at this powerhouse team! 💥 @natflashfictionday.bsky.social’s 2026 microfiction comp opens 1 December - send @joannacampbell.bsky.social, @devaneemily.bsky.social, @debdanthewriter.bsky.social and @daveswann.bsky.social something good.
‘The swollen traffic comes and goes. The heart roosts where it can.’
Goodness! What a micro in @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social, @claudiamonpere.bsky.social 🎹
gooseberry-pie.com/player/
Goodness! What a micro in @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social, @claudiamonpere.bsky.social 🎹
gooseberry-pie.com/player/
Player - Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine
Photo by Paul Arky on Unsplash by Claudia Monpere A piano tilts on the dirt beside a freeway entrance like an unbalanced stilt walker: chipped keys, case body cracked, chunks of wood missing, and stil...
gooseberry-pie.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:06 AM
‘The swollen traffic comes and goes. The heart roosts where it can.’
Goodness! What a micro in @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social, @claudiamonpere.bsky.social 🎹
gooseberry-pie.com/player/
Goodness! What a micro in @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social, @claudiamonpere.bsky.social 🎹
gooseberry-pie.com/player/
Over the moon about this Best Small Fictions nomination from the #WelkinWritingPrize! And to be nominated alongside these four stunning writers: @cake-girl.bsky.social, @sfreligh.bsky.social, @brusowrites.bsky.social and @noranadj.bsky.social. Thank you so, so much @welkinprize.bsky.social. 🥰
The #WelkinWritingPrize is thrilled to announce nominations for Best Small Fictions 2026...
@cake-girl.bsky.social
Brian Bruso
@sfreligh.bsky.social
@jamesmontgomery.bsky.social
@noranadj.bsky.social
Congratulations all! Five sparkling micros:
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-stories
@cake-girl.bsky.social
Brian Bruso
@sfreligh.bsky.social
@jamesmontgomery.bsky.social
@noranadj.bsky.social
Congratulations all! Five sparkling micros:
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-stories
November 16, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Over the moon about this Best Small Fictions nomination from the #WelkinWritingPrize! And to be nominated alongside these four stunning writers: @cake-girl.bsky.social, @sfreligh.bsky.social, @brusowrites.bsky.social and @noranadj.bsky.social. Thank you so, so much @welkinprize.bsky.social. 🥰
‘If you ask me about love, I’ll show you late winter light on the farmland—some liminal thing.’
About the most beautiful thing I’ve read in some time; @dinalrelles.bsky.social in @matchbooklitmag.bsky.social 🛫
www.matchbooklitmag.com/mb/relles/de...
About the most beautiful thing I’ve read in some time; @dinalrelles.bsky.social in @matchbooklitmag.bsky.social 🛫
www.matchbooklitmag.com/mb/relles/de...
Departures | matchbook
www.matchbooklitmag.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:32 AM
‘If you ask me about love, I’ll show you late winter light on the farmland—some liminal thing.’
About the most beautiful thing I’ve read in some time; @dinalrelles.bsky.social in @matchbooklitmag.bsky.social 🛫
www.matchbooklitmag.com/mb/relles/de...
About the most beautiful thing I’ve read in some time; @dinalrelles.bsky.social in @matchbooklitmag.bsky.social 🛫
www.matchbooklitmag.com/mb/relles/de...
Bloomin’ brilliant theme and editorial team for the 2026 @natflashfictionday.bsky.social anthology 👏 Submissions open 1 December. How exciting! 🥳
We are very excited to reveal our guest editor & theme for our 2026 anthology! Submissions open on 1 Dec & close on 15 Feb 2026. Our microfiction comp judges will be announced next week! www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/index.php/an...
November 14, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Bloomin’ brilliant theme and editorial team for the 2026 @natflashfictionday.bsky.social anthology 👏 Submissions open 1 December. How exciting! 🥳
‘It’s Bring Your Kid to Work Day. And seeing I don’t have a kid, I find one a few streets down.’
When you see where this prize-winning @failingwriters.bsky.social flash from @kiklodge.bsky.social takes you, oh my goodness. Do give it a listen! 👔
When you see where this prize-winning @failingwriters.bsky.social flash from @kiklodge.bsky.social takes you, oh my goodness. Do give it a listen! 👔
Only gone and bagged 3rd in this brilliant comp 🙌🫡😚. 2nd and 1st were obvious wowers, naturellement. And I think it’s something akin to squishy having your story read by pros. Classy people, you @failingwriters.bsky.social
The Failing Writers Podcast - S5 Ep20: 2025 Flash Fiction Contest FINAL!
YouTube video by Failing Writers
m.youtube.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:58 PM
‘It’s Bring Your Kid to Work Day. And seeing I don’t have a kid, I find one a few streets down.’
When you see where this prize-winning @failingwriters.bsky.social flash from @kiklodge.bsky.social takes you, oh my goodness. Do give it a listen! 👔
When you see where this prize-winning @failingwriters.bsky.social flash from @kiklodge.bsky.social takes you, oh my goodness. Do give it a listen! 👔
‘Thirteen was the year I discovered spite.’
Such incredible characterisation in just 73 words - wow! Sarah Chin in @xraylitmag.bsky.social 🎂
xraylitmag.com/ages-by-sara...
Such incredible characterisation in just 73 words - wow! Sarah Chin in @xraylitmag.bsky.social 🎂
xraylitmag.com/ages-by-sara...
AGES by Sarah Chin
Thirteen was the year I discovered spite. Fourteen, eyeliner. Fifteen, seduction in a slow blink. At sixteen, I mailed seventeen birthday cards to myself, all unsigned. My mother asked who loved me th...
xraylitmag.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:32 PM
‘Thirteen was the year I discovered spite.’
Such incredible characterisation in just 73 words - wow! Sarah Chin in @xraylitmag.bsky.social 🎂
xraylitmag.com/ages-by-sara...
Such incredible characterisation in just 73 words - wow! Sarah Chin in @xraylitmag.bsky.social 🎂
xraylitmag.com/ages-by-sara...
‘…a different man, a London man, one who could ride the top deck of a London bus without feeling sad…’
Love the journeys that this winning @flash500.bsky.social story from @quickasaflash.bsky.social takes you on 🇮🇪
flash500.com/flash-fictio...
Love the journeys that this winning @flash500.bsky.social story from @quickasaflash.bsky.social takes you on 🇮🇪
flash500.com/flash-fictio...
Flash Fiction 1st Place: The Grass Is Always Greener by Gill O' Halloran - Flash 500
What if years after leaving Kerry’s green hills for England, his Irish father had not been struck by a thunderbolt of yearning while sitting on the top deck of the no. 88 bus to Clapham? What if his I...
flash500.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:29 PM
‘…a different man, a London man, one who could ride the top deck of a London bus without feeling sad…’
Love the journeys that this winning @flash500.bsky.social story from @quickasaflash.bsky.social takes you on 🇮🇪
flash500.com/flash-fictio...
Love the journeys that this winning @flash500.bsky.social story from @quickasaflash.bsky.social takes you on 🇮🇪
flash500.com/flash-fictio...
Reposted by James Montgomery
This week for #WelkinWindbackWednesday, "
We built a time machine in your ward " by @jamesmontgomery.bsky.social :
We built a time machine in your ward " by @jamesmontgomery.bsky.social :
The Welkin Writing Prize | Shortlist 25
Shortlisted pieces for the 2025 Welkin Mini
www.mattkendrick.co.uk
November 12, 2025 at 10:01 AM
This week for #WelkinWindbackWednesday, "
We built a time machine in your ward " by @jamesmontgomery.bsky.social :
We built a time machine in your ward " by @jamesmontgomery.bsky.social :
‘After I told him how sorry I was, he said, "Want to come?" I joked, "It's too soon but take me to the next one."’
All the humanity in this one from @anniejowrites.bsky.social in @havehashad.com 🪦
www.havehashad.com/hadposts/our...
All the humanity in this one from @anniejowrites.bsky.social in @havehashad.com 🪦
www.havehashad.com/hadposts/our...
Our second date was meant to be unconventional and unromantic by Anna Vangala Jones
—we thought we were funny when we suggested meeting at the laundromat because we bonded on the first date about putting it off so long we'd almost reached the bathing suits as underwear stage. But whe...
www.havehashad.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:56 AM
‘After I told him how sorry I was, he said, "Want to come?" I joked, "It's too soon but take me to the next one."’
All the humanity in this one from @anniejowrites.bsky.social in @havehashad.com 🪦
www.havehashad.com/hadposts/our...
All the humanity in this one from @anniejowrites.bsky.social in @havehashad.com 🪦
www.havehashad.com/hadposts/our...
‘The out-of-work actress finds a mastodon in her bathtub. Her thirty-five-year-old hands are beginning to show blue veins and instead of staring at them all night long, she has someone to talk to.’
Pure magic from @megpokrass.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute 🦣
ghostparachute.com/issue/novemb...
Pure magic from @megpokrass.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute 🦣
ghostparachute.com/issue/novemb...
Paradise — Ghost Parachute
The out-of-work actress finds a mastodon in her bathtub. Her thirty-five-year-old hands are beginning to show blue veins and instead of staring at them all night long, she has someone to talk to. She’...
ghostparachute.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:53 PM
‘The out-of-work actress finds a mastodon in her bathtub. Her thirty-five-year-old hands are beginning to show blue veins and instead of staring at them all night long, she has someone to talk to.’
Pure magic from @megpokrass.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute 🦣
ghostparachute.com/issue/novemb...
Pure magic from @megpokrass.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute 🦣
ghostparachute.com/issue/novemb...
‘I like to listen to the people around me panting, groaning, moaning. I always wonder if they make those same noises when someone is fucking them.’
What a triptych from @dawnsteffler.bsky.social - love how the PoV gets progressively closer and more intimate 🧘♀️
ghostparachute.com/issue/novemb...
What a triptych from @dawnsteffler.bsky.social - love how the PoV gets progressively closer and more intimate 🧘♀️
ghostparachute.com/issue/novemb...
Sex In Public: A Triptych — Ghost Parachute
Hustling She is ten and obsessed with porn. Been around it her whole life. Her uncle, who still lives with her grandmother, has stacks of it under his bed. And he wallpapers the back of his many fish ...
ghostparachute.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:49 PM
‘I like to listen to the people around me panting, groaning, moaning. I always wonder if they make those same noises when someone is fucking them.’
What a triptych from @dawnsteffler.bsky.social - love how the PoV gets progressively closer and more intimate 🧘♀️
ghostparachute.com/issue/novemb...
What a triptych from @dawnsteffler.bsky.social - love how the PoV gets progressively closer and more intimate 🧘♀️
ghostparachute.com/issue/novemb...
‘I eventually pretended I could see the solitary wild thing, just so we could at last drive on, trundling through dust and grandeur of the Masai Mara in our rusty van.’
A superbly written micro from @olgapoet.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social 🐆
fictivedream.com/2025/11/10/m...
A superbly written micro from @olgapoet.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social 🐆
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 11, 2025 at 6:37 PM
‘I eventually pretended I could see the solitary wild thing, just so we could at last drive on, trundling through dust and grandeur of the Masai Mara in our rusty van.’
A superbly written micro from @olgapoet.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social 🐆
fictivedream.com/2025/11/10/m...
A superbly written micro from @olgapoet.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social 🐆
fictivedream.com/2025/11/10/m...
‘He chooses a brie baguette (I have a dairy intolerance) and I order a bacon cob (he’s a vegetarian).’
A writer in total command of her craft; @laurabesley.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social 🫖
fictivedream.com/2025/11/07/l...
A writer in total command of her craft; @laurabesley.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social 🫖
fictivedream.com/2025/11/07/l...
Love (a journey)
by Laura Besley AFTER WE SIGN the divorce papers, my soon-to-be ex-husband and I decide to go for lunch. We’re in an unfamiliar neighbourhood, but we spot a café across the road from the lawyer’s o…
fictivedream.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:32 PM
‘He chooses a brie baguette (I have a dairy intolerance) and I order a bacon cob (he’s a vegetarian).’
A writer in total command of her craft; @laurabesley.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social 🫖
fictivedream.com/2025/11/07/l...
A writer in total command of her craft; @laurabesley.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social 🫖
fictivedream.com/2025/11/07/l...
‘…and she says no, it’s not a goddamn metaphor, and grabs my Camp TakaWaka tank top from my hands and folds it as if she works at GAP…’
That final image - oof! @emilyrinkema.bsky.social in @bathflashaward.bsky.social 🐻
www.bathflashfictionaward.com/2025/10/2nd-...
That final image - oof! @emilyrinkema.bsky.social in @bathflashaward.bsky.social 🐻
www.bathflashfictionaward.com/2025/10/2nd-...
2nd Prize, October 2025 Award: Emily Rinkema
Vagina First by Emily Rinkema Two weeks after my twentieth birthday my mother begs me not to move to Montana by myself because she says I will be eaten by a grizzly bear, vagina first, and I laugh …
www.bathflashfictionaward.com
November 4, 2025 at 10:05 PM
‘…and she says no, it’s not a goddamn metaphor, and grabs my Camp TakaWaka tank top from my hands and folds it as if she works at GAP…’
That final image - oof! @emilyrinkema.bsky.social in @bathflashaward.bsky.social 🐻
www.bathflashfictionaward.com/2025/10/2nd-...
That final image - oof! @emilyrinkema.bsky.social in @bathflashaward.bsky.social 🐻
www.bathflashfictionaward.com/2025/10/2nd-...
‘The fat man next door is swimming nude again. He also stays up late. Night owls.’
What an atmosphere this @bathflashaward.bsky.social winner from Adam Brannigan, chosen by @kazbarwrites.bsky.social, conjures 🏊
www.bathflashfictionaward.com/2025/10/1st-...
What an atmosphere this @bathflashaward.bsky.social winner from Adam Brannigan, chosen by @kazbarwrites.bsky.social, conjures 🏊
www.bathflashfictionaward.com/2025/10/1st-...
1st Prize, October 2025 Award: Adam Brannigan
Two Nude Night Owls by Adam Brannigan Its past midnight, and I’m sitting at my fire pit, burning old letters from old girlfriends. Old photos. Old birthday cards. Trinkets and whatever. It’s time t…
www.bathflashfictionaward.com
November 4, 2025 at 10:01 PM
‘The fat man next door is swimming nude again. He also stays up late. Night owls.’
What an atmosphere this @bathflashaward.bsky.social winner from Adam Brannigan, chosen by @kazbarwrites.bsky.social, conjures 🏊
www.bathflashfictionaward.com/2025/10/1st-...
What an atmosphere this @bathflashaward.bsky.social winner from Adam Brannigan, chosen by @kazbarwrites.bsky.social, conjures 🏊
www.bathflashfictionaward.com/2025/10/1st-...
‘…I light two pear candles five days apart, to sit with the feeling of them in flickers and whispers…’
Just love the poetry of these details - @kathrynsilverhajo.bsky.social in @tinymolecules.bsky.social 🍂
www.tinymolecules.com/issues/twent...
Just love the poetry of these details - @kathrynsilverhajo.bsky.social in @tinymolecules.bsky.social 🍂
www.tinymolecules.com/issues/twent...
twenty-five — Tiny Molecules
www.tinymolecules.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:56 PM
‘…I light two pear candles five days apart, to sit with the feeling of them in flickers and whispers…’
Just love the poetry of these details - @kathrynsilverhajo.bsky.social in @tinymolecules.bsky.social 🍂
www.tinymolecules.com/issues/twent...
Just love the poetry of these details - @kathrynsilverhajo.bsky.social in @tinymolecules.bsky.social 🍂
www.tinymolecules.com/issues/twent...
‘I like being in Wendy, darling’s house because she is capable.’
@pleomorphic2.bsky.social absolutely lands that ending in this new flash in @tinymolecules.bsky.social ⏰
www.tinymolecules.com/issues/twent...
@pleomorphic2.bsky.social absolutely lands that ending in this new flash in @tinymolecules.bsky.social ⏰
www.tinymolecules.com/issues/twent...
twenty-five — Tiny Molecules
www.tinymolecules.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:52 PM
‘I like being in Wendy, darling’s house because she is capable.’
@pleomorphic2.bsky.social absolutely lands that ending in this new flash in @tinymolecules.bsky.social ⏰
www.tinymolecules.com/issues/twent...
@pleomorphic2.bsky.social absolutely lands that ending in this new flash in @tinymolecules.bsky.social ⏰
www.tinymolecules.com/issues/twent...
‘…because you craved salt, flavor, feeling, something.’
That brilliant, insistent ‘because’… @christinaltudor.bsky.social in @tinymolecules.bsky.social 🃏
www.tinymolecules.com/issues/twent...
That brilliant, insistent ‘because’… @christinaltudor.bsky.social in @tinymolecules.bsky.social 🃏
www.tinymolecules.com/issues/twent...
twenty-five — Tiny Molecules
www.tinymolecules.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:11 PM
‘…because you craved salt, flavor, feeling, something.’
That brilliant, insistent ‘because’… @christinaltudor.bsky.social in @tinymolecules.bsky.social 🃏
www.tinymolecules.com/issues/twent...
That brilliant, insistent ‘because’… @christinaltudor.bsky.social in @tinymolecules.bsky.social 🃏
www.tinymolecules.com/issues/twent...
‘…she’d just hung there with her hair sweeping the woodchips and eyes shut tight like she was sleeping.’
What a central image to this fantastic flash from @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social in @fracturedlit.bsky.social 🦇
fracturedlit.com/first-they-f...
What a central image to this fantastic flash from @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social in @fracturedlit.bsky.social 🦇
fracturedlit.com/first-they-f...
First, They Fall | Fractured
fracturedlit.com
November 1, 2025 at 5:59 PM
‘…she’d just hung there with her hair sweeping the woodchips and eyes shut tight like she was sleeping.’
What a central image to this fantastic flash from @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social in @fracturedlit.bsky.social 🦇
fracturedlit.com/first-they-f...
What a central image to this fantastic flash from @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social in @fracturedlit.bsky.social 🦇
fracturedlit.com/first-they-f...
Reposted by James Montgomery
**ATTENTION WRITERS** This is your ONE MONTH warning. Entires open for the #WelkinWritingPrize 2026 on the 1st Dec. 100 words. Rolling subs. Free entry. Publication for shortlistees. Prizes for top 5.
November 1, 2025 at 11:01 AM
**ATTENTION WRITERS** This is your ONE MONTH warning. Entires open for the #WelkinWritingPrize 2026 on the 1st Dec. 100 words. Rolling subs. Free entry. Publication for shortlistees. Prizes for top 5.