Rachel Abbey McCafferty
@ramccafferty.bsky.social
Pinned
Ghosts of the Mundane by Rachel Abbey McCafferty
The office bathroom
Picture this: you’re in the bathroom, trying to rinse off your hands, but the automatic faucet won’t acknowledge your existence.
Can you imagine being stuck in a public bathr...
www.havehashad.com
“… when you were young, you were just always bumping up against all the ghosts of people you used to be, and the ghosts of people you wished you were, and what no one tells you is that life is about figuring out just how to live with all those different ghosts.” www.havehashad.com/hadposts/gho...
Reposted by Rachel Abbey McCafferty
SUBMISSION CALL COMING!
Wednesday, 1/14, 10 AM (MT) / 12 PM (ET) / 6 PM (CET)
Subs will be capped at 150, so be quick.
The nitty-gritty:
750 words for prose (or 2 micro pieces of equal combined length)
1-2 poems & hybrid pieces (each no longer than 2 pages)
guest ed: @sarpsozdinler.bsky.social
Wednesday, 1/14, 10 AM (MT) / 12 PM (ET) / 6 PM (CET)
Subs will be capped at 150, so be quick.
The nitty-gritty:
750 words for prose (or 2 micro pieces of equal combined length)
1-2 poems & hybrid pieces (each no longer than 2 pages)
guest ed: @sarpsozdinler.bsky.social
January 12, 2026 at 6:28 PM
SUBMISSION CALL COMING!
Wednesday, 1/14, 10 AM (MT) / 12 PM (ET) / 6 PM (CET)
Subs will be capped at 150, so be quick.
The nitty-gritty:
750 words for prose (or 2 micro pieces of equal combined length)
1-2 poems & hybrid pieces (each no longer than 2 pages)
guest ed: @sarpsozdinler.bsky.social
Wednesday, 1/14, 10 AM (MT) / 12 PM (ET) / 6 PM (CET)
Subs will be capped at 150, so be quick.
The nitty-gritty:
750 words for prose (or 2 micro pieces of equal combined length)
1-2 poems & hybrid pieces (each no longer than 2 pages)
guest ed: @sarpsozdinler.bsky.social
An important part of introducing new foods to my baby is having a corresponding movie or song earworm to go along with it.
January 12, 2026 at 4:06 PM
An important part of introducing new foods to my baby is having a corresponding movie or song earworm to go along with it.
My piece was close, but no such luck this year! I have to praise @mattkendrick.bsky.social, though — my rejection was so kind and encouraging. It honestly feels like a win to have something read with that care. Can’t wait to read the winners (and to send my piece back out into the world)!
DRUM ROLL!!!! 🥁🥁🥁
It gives me great pleasure to announce the SPARKLING longlist for the Welkin Writing Prize 2026.
Congratulations to all the writers on this list. And commiserations to everyone else. The standard was incredibly high:
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-prize...
It gives me great pleasure to announce the SPARKLING longlist for the Welkin Writing Prize 2026.
Congratulations to all the writers on this list. And commiserations to everyone else. The standard was incredibly high:
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-prize...
Welkin News | MattKendrick.co.uk
A writing prize open to all forms of narrative prose, be that flash fiction, short-short, vignette, haibun, hermit crab, prose poem or work that sits outside such labels.
www.mattkendrick.co.uk
January 8, 2026 at 3:17 PM
My piece was close, but no such luck this year! I have to praise @mattkendrick.bsky.social, though — my rejection was so kind and encouraging. It honestly feels like a win to have something read with that care. Can’t wait to read the winners (and to send my piece back out into the world)!
You know, we could just wait a little longer?
PSA: the new year doesn’t fully begin until the first Monday of the year. This is still liminal season.
January 5, 2026 at 5:08 PM
You know, we could just wait a little longer?
PSA: the new year doesn’t fully begin until the first Monday of the year. This is still liminal season.
January 2, 2026 at 2:32 PM
PSA: the new year doesn’t fully begin until the first Monday of the year. This is still liminal season.
I’ve decided being sick to start the new year is an in like a lion, out like a lamb situation for the year.
January 2, 2026 at 2:31 PM
I’ve decided being sick to start the new year is an in like a lion, out like a lamb situation for the year.
“That’s a miracle — but not a rare miracle. A miracle like a sunrise, or a strange cloud, or a weird bird. A miracle that happens often, that maybe we don’t appreciate enough. It’s special. Stories are special. Storytellers are special.”
All righty -- this year's writerly resolution is live, should you care to read it. The tl;dr is it's actually quite an optimistic read, so hopefully it'll give you some juice to kick open the new year and put words to stories that need to be told.
Writer Resolution 2026: Wield The Weapon That Is You
It’s never precisely easy to be a writer — professional or otherwise. I mean, it’s easy in the sense of, hey, anybody can open a word processor and start (fiercely or methodically…
terribleminds.com
January 2, 2026 at 2:40 AM
“That’s a miracle — but not a rare miracle. A miracle like a sunrise, or a strange cloud, or a weird bird. A miracle that happens often, that maybe we don’t appreciate enough. It’s special. Stories are special. Storytellers are special.”
Reposted by Rachel Abbey McCafferty
There are 242 working days in 2026. If you write just one page a day - just 250-300wds, roughly 5 Bsky posts - you will have two full scripts or a novel by New Years Eve.
If you write just two pages a day - just 500-600 words - you will have five scripts or one epic novel.
Just. Keep. Writing.
If you write just two pages a day - just 500-600 words - you will have five scripts or one epic novel.
Just. Keep. Writing.
January 1, 2026 at 8:14 PM
There are 242 working days in 2026. If you write just one page a day - just 250-300wds, roughly 5 Bsky posts - you will have two full scripts or a novel by New Years Eve.
If you write just two pages a day - just 500-600 words - you will have five scripts or one epic novel.
Just. Keep. Writing.
If you write just two pages a day - just 500-600 words - you will have five scripts or one epic novel.
Just. Keep. Writing.
Millennial nostalgia is missing Facebook’s old, original version of embarrassing trash (cringy statuses and photo albums) vs its current iteration of embarrassing trash (AI and bots).
January 1, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Millennial nostalgia is missing Facebook’s old, original version of embarrassing trash (cringy statuses and photo albums) vs its current iteration of embarrassing trash (AI and bots).
Reposted by Rachel Abbey McCafferty
if you send a micro submission to [email protected] by 11pm eastern today 12/31, i’ll send you a response before the new year.
@identitytheory.bsky.social
guidelines here: www.identitytheory.com/about/micro-...
@identitytheory.bsky.social
guidelines here: www.identitytheory.com/about/micro-...
Micro Submission Guidelines - Identity Theory
Thank you for your interest in publishing your micro in Identity Theory. We thoughtfully read, consider, and discuss all submissions. Qualifying micros
www.identitytheory.com
December 31, 2025 at 11:36 PM
if you send a micro submission to [email protected] by 11pm eastern today 12/31, i’ll send you a response before the new year.
@identitytheory.bsky.social
guidelines here: www.identitytheory.com/about/micro-...
@identitytheory.bsky.social
guidelines here: www.identitytheory.com/about/micro-...
Hard to pick a favorite but this is one I remember being struck by, visually and musically, in real time. youtu.be/fTH71AAxXmM
December 31, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Hard to pick a favorite but this is one I remember being struck by, visually and musically, in real time. youtu.be/fTH71AAxXmM
In 2025, I wrote in spite of and I wrote because of and I wrote before and after and during and my goal for 2026 is to do the same.
December 31, 2025 at 4:31 PM
In 2025, I wrote in spite of and I wrote because of and I wrote before and after and during and my goal for 2026 is to do the same.
“Everything is fraught
with terror when one’s life is blessed
by saving.”
with terror when one’s life is blessed
by saving.”
This was my favorite of of the poems I published this year.
In September, the illustrious @identitytheory.bsky.social put up this very personal poem
11/14
11/14
December 31, 2025 at 4:26 PM
“Everything is fraught
with terror when one’s life is blessed
by saving.”
with terror when one’s life is blessed
by saving.”
Some of my favorite reads of 2025:
- Annihilation, @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social
- Fever House & The Devil By Name, @keithrosson.bsky.social
- The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, @sgj.bsky.social
- Annihilation, @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social
- Fever House & The Devil By Name, @keithrosson.bsky.social
- The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, @sgj.bsky.social
December 31, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Some of my favorite reads of 2025:
- Annihilation, @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social
- Fever House & The Devil By Name, @keithrosson.bsky.social
- The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, @sgj.bsky.social
- Annihilation, @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social
- Fever House & The Devil By Name, @keithrosson.bsky.social
- The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, @sgj.bsky.social
Little 2025 publication thread, with thanks to @crowkeys.bsky.social and @templeinacity.bsky.social and @bendinggenres.bsky.social: (And send me your lists!)
December 31, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Little 2025 publication thread, with thanks to @crowkeys.bsky.social and @templeinacity.bsky.social and @bendinggenres.bsky.social: (And send me your lists!)
Just stumbled across a BookTok take that reminded me we are all writing to our own audiences because what do you mean you hate titled chapters?? I want all of the little clues and in-jokes and extra contextualizations.
December 29, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Just stumbled across a BookTok take that reminded me we are all writing to our own audiences because what do you mean you hate titled chapters?? I want all of the little clues and in-jokes and extra contextualizations.
Oo, I may have to try this.
Four days to submit your micro-excerpt (≤200 words) from your novel-in-progress or wayside-novel (or novella)!
Yes, it's difficult, yes it's on purpose, na nah!
gonelawn.net/journal/glj_...
Yes, it's difficult, yes it's on purpose, na nah!
gonelawn.net/journal/glj_...
Gone Lawn : Submission Guidelines
gonelawn.net
December 28, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Oo, I may have to try this.
Ok, it is time. Time for the annual filling out of the new planner, allowing me to transform into a new person, a better person, an organized and timely person.
December 28, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Ok, it is time. Time for the annual filling out of the new planner, allowing me to transform into a new person, a better person, an organized and timely person.
Reposted by Rachel Abbey McCafferty
Dickens: hey guys it's the week after Christmas
Dickens: you know what that means?
Poe:
Barker:
King:
Koontz:
Lovecraft:
Dickens: it means ghost stories, damnit
Dickens: ghost stories
Dickens: you know what that means?
Poe:
Barker:
King:
Koontz:
Lovecraft:
Dickens: it means ghost stories, damnit
Dickens: ghost stories
December 27, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Dickens: hey guys it's the week after Christmas
Dickens: you know what that means?
Poe:
Barker:
King:
Koontz:
Lovecraft:
Dickens: it means ghost stories, damnit
Dickens: ghost stories
Dickens: you know what that means?
Poe:
Barker:
King:
Koontz:
Lovecraft:
Dickens: it means ghost stories, damnit
Dickens: ghost stories
I don’t really watch football, but whenever I catch a bowl name, I feel like I’m reading Infinite Jest.
December 27, 2025 at 7:15 PM
I don’t really watch football, but whenever I catch a bowl name, I feel like I’m reading Infinite Jest.
Ok, plans for 2026 are to only read the books I actually own. Plus whatever we pick for book club. Plus the new Scott Hawkins and the third Ninth House book. And and and …
December 27, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Ok, plans for 2026 are to only read the books I actually own. Plus whatever we pick for book club. Plus the new Scott Hawkins and the third Ninth House book. And and and …
Yessssss.
THIS IS NOT A DRILL: Scott Hawkins' second novel comes out in 2026!!!!!! The Library at Mount Char is one of my favorite books of all time and I have been waiting for this day for almost a decade oh my goddddd bookshop.org/p/books/blac...
Blacktail: A Novel
A Novel
bookshop.org
December 27, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Yessssss.
Reposted by Rachel Abbey McCafferty
We keep the tree up until January, sometimes early, sometimes late. A little extra light in the coldest month .
December 27, 2025 at 3:55 PM
We keep the tree up until January, sometimes early, sometimes late. A little extra light in the coldest month .
Happy for everyone who has already dissembled Christmas, but it could not be me. Tree’s still up, dragon hoard piles of presents underneath, no sense of the passage of time. Chaos week celebration activated.
December 27, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Happy for everyone who has already dissembled Christmas, but it could not be me. Tree’s still up, dragon hoard piles of presents underneath, no sense of the passage of time. Chaos week celebration activated.
Thought I didn’t have anything for the @welkinprize.bsky.social this year, but then the last @havehashad.com call sparked a new idea. Sharing in case you, too, need a few more days to trim and polish something up!
I may have got a little over-excited and opened entries a little early. I'm not going to start reading until Monday, but if you want to send something over the weekend, you are welcome to do so:
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-prize...
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-prize...
December 26, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Thought I didn’t have anything for the @welkinprize.bsky.social this year, but then the last @havehashad.com call sparked a new idea. Sharing in case you, too, need a few more days to trim and polish something up!