Madeleine Pelletier
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madpelletier.bsky.social
Madeleine Pelletier
@madpelletier.bsky.social
Freelance writer and editor. Lover of birds and flash fiction.

Member: Electric Sheep SF, Codex
Pinned
Thrilled to have a story up at Uncharted. It's got Crow. It's got Death. It's got carnival folk. Go on. You know you want to read it.
New SFF story by @madpelletier.bsky.social

“It’s rare for someone to be born with a genuine gift. I certainly wasn’t. Only thing I ever saw in a crystal ball was my own reflection, not that it stopped me taking the coins off the hopeful and the hopeless.”

www.unchartedmag.com/stories/come...
Come Crow Come Death - Uncharted
It’s rare for someone to be born with a genuine gift. I certainly wasn’t. Only thing I ever saw in a crystal ball was my own reflection, not that it stopped me taking the coins off the hopeful and the...
www.unchartedmag.com
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
“Commander Maeb Len knows that, more than anything, an army needs hope in order to struggle onward. They need a vision to fight for and faith that the future will be better than the past. Better than the present.”

@clclark.bsky.social in @bcsmagazine.bsky.social!
Beneath Ceaseless Skies - The Captain and the Quartermaster by C.L. Clark
How different that was from the beginning. With her hand in Deputy Quartermaster Omopria’s, sneaking away from the army’s camp, Captain Len felt like she could climb the clouds. But the sky was clear ...
www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com
October 23, 2025 at 3:10 AM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
This is going to be a great meeting! @clclark.bsky.social @electricsheepsf.bsky.social
This week’s guest is C.L. Clark! We’ll focus on the craft of short stories vs longer works – and getting them published. Huge thanks to C.L. for taking time to talk with us!

@clclark.bsky.social
Honing the Blade
C. L. Clark is the author of the Magic of the Lost trilogy (The Unbroken, The Faithless, and The Sovereign), Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf, and Fate's Bane.
clclarkwrites.com
October 23, 2025 at 3:12 AM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
“With my eyes closed, I see: constellations of my future—the hero, the lover, the companions, the enemies to slay.”

Love the expertise on display in this story! @clclark.bsky.social in @uncannymagazine.bsky.social !
You Perfect, Broken Thing - Uncanny Magazine
When I leave the kill floor, my legs are wasted. I shuffle to the women’s locker room. I can’t stand anymore, but I know if I sit, I’ll never get back up. At least, not for another hour. I prop myself...
www.uncannymagazine.com
October 23, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
This week’s guest is C.L. Clark! We’ll focus on the craft of short stories vs longer works – and getting them published. Huge thanks to C.L. for taking time to talk with us!

@clclark.bsky.social
Honing the Blade
C. L. Clark is the author of the Magic of the Lost trilogy (The Unbroken, The Faithless, and The Sovereign), Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf, and Fate's Bane.
clclarkwrites.com
October 19, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
“The air is birdsong and honeysuckle and the electric touch of approaching thunderstorms, and I can almost imagine myself happy here.”

February Moon by Josh Rountree in Beneath Ceaseless Skies!
@joshrountree.bsky.social @bcsmagazine.bsky.social
Beneath Ceaseless Skies - February Moon by Josh Rountree
My children have spent so much time living with terrible realities that I’m afraid they no longer take the world’s dangers seriously. I wish for them to simply be children, and for myself to be burden...
www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com
October 13, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
“Night sits heavy against the harvested fields as my bones stir beneath the soil. They find one another, grind together, and take shape as I inhabit that old skin and prepare to play my part once again.”

Another lush story from Josh Rountree!

@joshrountree.bsky.social @thedeadlands.com
Their Blood Smells of Love and Terror, by Josh Rountree - PSYCHOPOMP.COM
I don’t want the things they offer me. Warm blood and broken skulls. Grunting pigs and headless roosters. Bottles of […]
psychopomp.com
October 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
“The witch hunter caught up with me along the banks of the Guadalupe River. He was barely old enough to grow a moustache, and I figured my husband had paid him half of what he would’ve paid someone with more experience.”

Loved this!

@joshrountree.bsky.social @bcsmagazine.bsky.social
Beneath Ceaseless Skies - The Guadalupe Witch by Josh Rountree
The way he said ran away from home made it sound like I was a child who’d snuck out after dark, gotten lost in the woods, and cried until her parents found her. But my leaving had purpose. Laboring un...
www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com
October 15, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
“They step so softly they appear to drift above the graves. Bones bright as blades in the moonlight.”

Josh Rountree in Pseudopod!
@joshrountree.bsky.social @pseudopod.org
PseudoPod 882: See That My Grave is Kept Clean
Dig a hole, climb in, cover yourself in grave dirt. Not your face. You aren’t ready to join the dead, not yet. The bone men tend the graveyard, unaware they’re being watched. You’re crying because you...
pseudopod.org
October 16, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
This week’s guest is Josh Rountree! We’ll look at several short stories & his novella SUMMER IN THE HOUSE OF THE DEPARTED!

@joshrountree.bsky.social @psychopomp.com
Summer in the House of the Departed | Psychopomp
Forty-four years after his grandmother and an entire West Texas town vanished, Brady returns to his childhood home, hoping to follow in her footsteps.
psychopomp.com
October 12, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
What a story! Can't wait to talk about it with @aimeeogdenwrites.com and the @electricsheepsf.bsky.social gang!
October 3, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
Haven't shared this for a while. If you provide recs, reviews, news, or commentary about SPECULATIVE SHORT STORIES, I'm happy to add you!
October 3, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
This week's guest is Helen McClory!

First up is "The Companion" in Wigleaf!

"At this time of day, the risk of attack was minimal, and all she had was that noise, that taste, the treachery beneath, and the cold air around."

@helenmcclory.bsky.social @wigleaf.bsky.social
McClory: 'The Companion'
Fiction by Helen McClory
wigleaf.com
October 6, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
"The sound was high and wrenching. There was a strong, wild smell now. She and I stood watching the second wave of the storm as it broke, droplets spattering, dense as white oil."

Love the relationship amid the storm!

@helenmcclory.bsky.social @wigleaf.bsky.social
McClory: 'White Rain'
Fiction by Helen McClory
wigleaf.com
October 7, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
"I want to tell you about this other film I saw, one night when you were out sticking twigs in your hair and shoving your hand into the mouths of foxes, you dank, fleshy monster."

Every bit of this story is unexpected! And sharp as a snakebite.

@helenmcclory.bsky.social in Winter Tangerine!
The Language of Heaven — Winter Tangerine
www.wintertangerine.com
October 8, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
Political shenanigans prevent some of us from ordering directly from the press, which sucks. But you might find a copy at the evil place:
Mayhem & Death
Mayhem & Death [McClory, Helen] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Mayhem & Death
www.amazon.com
October 10, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
A story in Helen McClory's collection, "Lore," creeped me out so much I still remembered it years after I read it. It's in her wonderful collection, MAYHEM & DEATH. It's available at 404 Ink if you're in the UK.
@helenmcclory.bsky.social @404ink.bsky.social
Mayhem & Death - Helen McClory — 404 Ink
‘A writer completely unafraid’ - Ali Smith | ‘Shiny dark licorice mind candy’ - Margaret Atwood
www.404ink.com
October 10, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
I'm so excited to talk shop at Electric Sheep tomorrow!
September 13, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
"Frank thought all the battle-drones had been deactivated. Certainly, none of them had ever looked around with curious little twitches of their front-facing cameras before."

💜

@erincairns.bsky.social in @escapepod.org
Escape Pod 980: Peace by Piece
Frank thought all the battle-drones had been deactivated. Certainly, none of them had ever looked around with curious little twitches of their front-facing cameras before. This one whirred and clicked...
escapepod.org
September 9, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
"The civilians were dancing on the train again, stomping their feet to the heartbeat of the engine."

Eager to talk about "A Smokeless and Scorching Fire" by
@erincairns.bsky.social - originally pub in Writers of the Future: Volume 34 & republished at
@inkfoundry.bsky.social !
inkfoundry.net
September 11, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
This week's guest is Erin Cairns! We'll read several of Erin's stories and geek out about InkFoundry!

InkFoundry is a phenomenal spec fic aggregator with a robust tagging system. It's easy to find whatever you want to read!

@erincairns.bsky.social
inkfoundry.net
September 8, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
It me! I'm really excited to visit Electric Sheep and talk writing, reading, and all things stories!!!
This week's guest is Erin Cairns! We'll read several of Erin's stories and geek out about InkFoundry!

InkFoundry is a phenomenal spec fic aggregator with a robust tagging system. It's easy to find whatever you want to read!

@erincairns.bsky.social
inkfoundry.net
September 8, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
"When we first met, I was a woman and she was a child, and the carnival was winding its way through one of those dusty states where everyone looks weary..."

Gorgeous work from @madpelletier.bsky.social in @unchartedmag.bsky.social!
New SFF story by @madpelletier.bsky.social

“It’s rare for someone to be born with a genuine gift. I certainly wasn’t. Only thing I ever saw in a crystal ball was my own reflection, not that it stopped me taking the coins off the hopeful and the hopeless.”

www.unchartedmag.com/stories/come...
Come Crow Come Death - Uncharted
It’s rare for someone to be born with a genuine gift. I certainly wasn’t. Only thing I ever saw in a crystal ball was my own reflection, not that it stopped me taking the coins off the hopeful and the...
www.unchartedmag.com
June 6, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Thrilled to have a story up at Uncharted. It's got Crow. It's got Death. It's got carnival folk. Go on. You know you want to read it.
New SFF story by @madpelletier.bsky.social

“It’s rare for someone to be born with a genuine gift. I certainly wasn’t. Only thing I ever saw in a crystal ball was my own reflection, not that it stopped me taking the coins off the hopeful and the hopeless.”

www.unchartedmag.com/stories/come...
Come Crow Come Death - Uncharted
It’s rare for someone to be born with a genuine gift. I certainly wasn’t. Only thing I ever saw in a crystal ball was my own reflection, not that it stopped me taking the coins off the hopeful and the...
www.unchartedmag.com
June 10, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Reposted by Madeleine Pelletier
Important news for fans of Apex Books @apexmag.bsky.social. In short, Apex was screwed by the bankruptcy of the parent of Diamond Book Distributors, who placed their books in retail stores.

This hits my fiction hard. Please read and share this thread. 1/
www.apexbookcompany.com/blogs/frontp...
Looking into the Future
This year has not gone as planned. On January 14th, 2025, Diamond Comics filed for reorganization under Chapter 11. Years of bad business practices had caught up with Diamond Comics as they owed milli...
www.apexbookcompany.com
June 3, 2025 at 5:27 PM