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Mitch James

@mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social

110 followers 110 following 46 posts

First-gen PhD, professor of writing, author of the novel Seldom Seen, a Miner's Tale. Writer of tales short and shorter, poems, CNF, scholarship. Facilitator of therapeutic and expressive writing workshops. Crafter and consumer of cocktails.

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Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Dec 16

Excited to see the new issue out. Check out my story "Obit," written in an @sfreligh.bsky.social workshop, and the accompanying interview with the sagacious Chey Dugan. Can wait to read through it all. Congrats, everyone!🤘

SmokeLong Quarterly @smokelong.bsky.social · Dec 16

SmokeLong Quarterly Issue 86 is live. Featuring the six finalists of the SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest (The Mikey) and four stories from this quarter's general submissions. It's wonderful.
www.smokelong.com/issue-eighty...

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Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · 13d

Love this! Gonna to read 'em all!

Myna Chang @mynachang.bsky.social · 13d

September MicroVerse roundup is out!

Flash Roundup * September 2025

A gathering of recent speculative flash & micro fiction, each presenting a tiny-yet-powerful universe. How tiny? About one-thousand words for flash; four-hundred words for micro. The word count…

mynachang.com

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Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · 22d

Just discovered this little slice of the microsphere! Can't wait to dive into @claudineliterary.bsky.social

Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Sep 6

I'm behind on promoting a rare piece of published nonfiction. A huge thanks to @alliumjournal.bsky.social for publishing this frantic, plaintive experience.

tinyurl.com/ya7na9as

Mitch James — Allium, A Journal of Poetry & Prose

tinyurl.com

Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Sep 6

“Uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, cervix,” Dr. Doris Day says. “I say we take them all.”

“That’s a lot of me,” I say.

“Oh, you’d be surprised how little it is!"

Awesome story by @kathyfish.bsky.social in Hot Flash Literary

tinyurl.com/3ubv7uv2

Wyoming - Hot Flash Literary

It’s the time of the Great Evacuation. That’s what my friend Jess calls it. I’ve been bleeding all over the place. My body is emptying itself out. It’s undignified. And painful. Out for coffee with J...

tinyurl.com

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Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Aug 17

Thanks, James! Keep 'em coming!

Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Aug 16

"The men are dying . . . beautiful boys ugly-cry too."

On-point rendering by @jamesmontgomery.bsky.social in his story "Boys in Boxes," Published in @fracturedlit.bsky.social

fracturedlit.com/boys-in-boxes/

Boys in Boxes - Fractured

The men are dying. We’re the boys who see them. In tabloids, on news bulletins. Faces pocked with purple lesions, bodies ravaged by weight loss. Their abandoned eyes, their hollowed-out stares, hold u...

fracturedlit.com

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Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Jul 30

Super excited (and a little proud) to have new micro published with such a preeminent supporter of the super short form. Thanks to everyone @lostballoon.bsky.social !!

Lost Balloon @lostballoon.bsky.social · Jul 30

It’s Wednesday, and that means we have a great new piece today from @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social! Check out “Why I Stopped Tying My Shoes.” lost-balloon.com/2025/07/30/w...

Why I Stopped Tying My Shoes by Mitch James

I saw my first picture of spontaneous human combustion in fourth grade. A black and white photo of shoe and ash. Laces in bunny ears. Mom taught me the bunny ear song to help me learn to tie my sho…

lost-balloon.com

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Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Jul 23

matterpress.com/journal/2025...

Knots and Braids – Compressed

matterpress.com

Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Jul 23

A masterclass example of precision dialogue used to reveal the story not told. Admired the subtleties in awareness of marriage, sacrifice, taking and being taken advantage of, rebirth, and failure. A good study of the flash fiction by Gaurav Bhalla, published in Journal of Compressed Creative arts

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Reposted by Mitch James

Bookshelfie @bookshelfie.bsky.social · Jun 6

#booksky

380 3.2K 19K

Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · May 21

Congrats, Emily!

Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Apr 8

Not at all, Tom. In high school, I won The International Competition for Best Sarcastic Mime Performance (ITCBSMP). But nobody cares what I post here. If they did, I wouldn't negatively generalize groups of people who could be allies during the literal demise of our country. Or I like good jokes.

Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Apr 8

100% agree with her point in that regard and your assessment. That's why we need to model better communication. You tell enough people they're something, they can become it. Scott Galloway has some very interesting insights on some of this if you're not familiar:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qpq...

The Single Biggest Point of Failure In A Man's Life | Scott Galloway X Rich Roll Podcast

YouTube video by Rich Roll

www.youtube.com

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Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Apr 7

Why would you ever want to generalize all men and equate them to the literal worst of our sex? I hope those with large platforms are judicious with their words when posting. They can actually make a difference. The stakes are too high to have the best of us riven by divisive thinking.

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Reposted by Mitch James

Matt Kendrick @mattkendrick.bsky.social · Feb 16

"I had to wrestle Patricia into isolation again. I’ve never had a senior like her. This is why Gary thinks it’s work causing the miscarriages"

Such a fascinating piece that braids together different elements and character focuses, and leaves so much for a reader to discover on second / third reads

Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Feb 11

Big thanks to @bendinggenres.bsky.social for publishing my braided micro piece that uses Leviticus, the epistolary form, and a little bit Minecraft. Originally drafted in an @sfreligh.bsky.social workshop.

Can't wait to read through the issue!

bendinggenres.com/prophecy/

Prophecy

bendinggenres.com

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Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Feb 11

Congrats, Brett! Looking forward to reading.

Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Feb 11

Me too! Good luck, Emily!

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Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Feb 11

Prophecy

bendinggenres.com

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Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Feb 11

Stoked to be a finalist for this contest! Thanks to all the editors @flashfrog.bsky.social and Guest Judge Gina Chung for your time and commitment 🤟

Flash Frog @flashfrog.bsky.social · Feb 11

The 2025 Blue Frog Finalists are here! 🐸💙

Blue background with title “2025 Blue Frog Finalists” with 12 story titles: the house by the dead end; When the rain comes; Materials Needed; The Third; Jesus Wept; A City by an Ocean with a Plant by a Window, and a Cat; Universal; How You Remind Your Mother That You’re Still Alive After Your Brother Dies; Inside Voices; Gulls of Algarve; The Bright Jars of Our Bodies; every glacier has a ghost

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Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Jan 31

Congrats here as well, Sarah! Can never have too much celebration!

Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Jan 25

"If Leo Tolstoy could have ten kids and famously forget some of their names, then I could get pregnant and keep creating everyday."

Fuck yes.

Megan Mizanty's "Hillers" in @bendinggenres.bsky.social

tinyurl.com/7edhwaet

Hillers

tinyurl.com

Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Jan 25

Crazy you popped up on my feed. I love Cornerstone and have been eying this. I think it's a sign from the universe. 🤟

Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Jan 25

We made a swimming pool out of an F-150 a number of times when I was young. Makes me think I might do it in my truck this summer. Been a minute :)

Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Jan 25

Though I'm from the rural Midwest and not South, much of this piece from @raniqualee.bsky.social in @barrenmagazine.bsky.social felt like home. And that ending. C'mon, ya'll.

tinyurl.com/2hj3wwmu

F-150, Carry Me Over

Barren Magazine - F-150, Carry Me Over -

tinyurl.com

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Mitch James @mitchjamesauthor.bsky.social · Jan 21

Admire the nuance of mother/daughter & mother/son here, as well the promising ending and chance at redemption and growth: Read @rachellaverdiere.bsky.social in @okaydonkey.bsky.social

tinyurl.com/4sbpxvhy

Almost Plea to My Ex-Therapist by Rachel Laverdiere

Things may have gotten too serious too quickly, but I gather up the long skirt of my dress and step out of Steve’s vintage yellow bug—a car I’ve dreamed of owning since I was little— one of Steve’s…

tinyurl.com

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