Anna Vangala Jones
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anniejowrites.bsky.social
Anna Vangala Jones
@anniejowrites.bsky.social
2.6K followers 770 following 990 posts
author of TURMERIC & SUGAR (Thirty West). stories in Wigleaf, Short Story Long, Berkeley Fiction Review, HAD, Craft, AAWW, etc.

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anniejowrites.bsky.social
Anna Vangala Jones @anniejowrites.bsky.social · Sep 19
I have a new story in Short Story Long today! it’s about the mystery of people you come across often but can’t truly know. many thanks to wonderful editor @aaronburch.bsky.social, Zoë Petersen for the lovely art, & any of you who read it ♡
The Legend of the Convenience Store Cashier by Anna Vangala Jones
"He was beautiful but not in the way of a movie star or something. Beautiful in the regular person way. Beautiful to us."
ashortstorylong.substack.com
Reposted by Anna Vangala Jones
anniejowrites.bsky.social
any day I end up writing immediately turns into the best day
November 11, 2025 at 3:03 AM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
any day I end up writing immediately turns into the best day
November 11, 2025 at 3:03 AM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
the bruce springsteen residency (for people sick of trying to write their books): drive all night, let the wind blow back your hair, dance in the dark, live with the sadness, love with all the madness in your soul
November 8, 2025 at 4:48 PM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
happy no novel november to all who celebrate in which we will continue to write new short stories instead of our novels
November 4, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Reposted by Anna Vangala Jones
m-ixedbag.bsky.social
"It’s the perfect place for our imperfect girl." This is such a moving, aching story! @anniejowrites.bsky.social in Craft. www.craftliterary.com/2025/09/19/t...
Two Old Friends and a Ghost Walk into the Woods by Anna Vangala Jones - CRAFT
We’d agreed to never come back to this place yet here we are. The wind whispers through the trees and unsettles our hair, trying to remind us to leave. Why would we return to these woods? “I don’t car...
www.craftliterary.com
November 4, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Reposted by Anna Vangala Jones
pdforan.bsky.social
“‘She’s not a ghost,’ I say. ‘She’s our best friend.’”

@anniejowrites.bsky.social in Craft Literary www.craftliterary.com/2025/09/19/t...
Two Old Friends and a Ghost Walk into the Woods by Anna Vangala Jones - CRAFT
We’d agreed to never come back to this place yet here we are. The wind whispers through the trees and unsettles our hair, trying to remind us to leave. Why would we return to these woods? “I don’t car...
www.craftliterary.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:01 AM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild & precious extra hour
November 2, 2025 at 3:48 AM
Reposted by Anna Vangala Jones
anniejowrites.bsky.social
I have a new story in Craft Literary, “Two Old Friends and a Ghost Walk Into the Woods”, about the people & places that haunt us. would be so thrilled for you to read this one 👻 🌲 🤍 www.craftliterary.com/2025/09/19/t...
Two Old Friends and a Ghost Walk into the Woods by Anna Vangala Jones - CRAFT
We’d agreed to never come back to this place yet here we are. The wind whispers through the trees and unsettles our hair, trying to remind us to leave. Why would we return to these woods? “I don’t car...
www.craftliterary.com
September 19, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by Anna Vangala Jones
anniejowrites.bsky.social
I have a new short story in the wonderful Terrazzo Editions today called “Maybe Mary” & I’d be thrilled if you give it a read. so grateful to amazing editor Gina Nutt. you can find her interview with me here too www.terrazzoeditions.com/terrazzomag/...
title: Maybe Mary author: Anna Vangala Jones a mosaic pattern in blue, tan, and purple title: Maybe Mary author: Anna Vangala Jones a mosaic pattern in blue, tan, and purple quote from story: “She says she doesn’t want to talk about the disappearance. Anything but that is fine.”
October 1, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Reposted by Anna Vangala Jones
anniejowrites.bsky.social
I have a new tiny story in @havehashad.com today about fleeting connections. thanks as always to @aaronburch.bsky.social, one of the best editors around, & to all of you who read this one ♡ 💀 🪦 ♡ www.havehashad.com/hadposts/our...
At the top of the page is a drawing of a pile of skulls. Underneath is today’s date: September 4, 2025. Then the title of the story and the name of the author: Our second date was meant to be unconventional and unromantic by Anna Vangala Jones. Below that is the text of the story: —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 when he called to cancel, I worried I should have held onto my mystique a bit longer and not revealed the lazy mess lurking beneath my put together surface yet. "It's not that," he said. "I have to go to a funeral." 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." I appreciated the earnest vulnerability of his response that he could use the company so I said yes. My friends teased me that we'd only been on one date so maybe he was a serial killer and we would be going to my funeral. Weird how we cope with the possibility of being murdered every time we meet someone new by laughing about how hilarious it'll be if it happens, but it's preferable to being paralyzed by it. "He loves Bruce Springsteen, so he can't be that bad," I told them. The funeral was for his lifelong friend—they had first met at only five years old—so it was of course sad. We held hands as they lowered the casket. After everyone else left, we wandered the cemetery chatting about everything and nothing like we were at a coffee shop and he kissed me in front of a tombstone that read, "Beloved and remembered. Until we meet again." He ghosted me after that. When I listen to Bruce at the laundromat, I wonder why our first and last kiss happened amidst graves and death and almost write him to ask. But maybe it's better not to know.
September 4, 2025 at 3:48 PM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
if you see me scrolling through endless photos of autumn leaves that counts as writing
October 30, 2025 at 3:48 AM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
can’t wait for never finish my novel november to start. I will delete some pages of it every day until there are zero pages & words left
October 29, 2025 at 3:44 AM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
one of the best parts of writing fiction is sitting down at a desk & making things up for a while & becoming deeply invested in what will happen to these people that didn’t exist a few hours earlier
October 27, 2025 at 3:54 PM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
once I learn how to fall asleep when I’m tired I will be unstoppable
October 26, 2025 at 5:37 AM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
are you okay babe you’ve barely touched the novel your author bio says you’ve been working on for years
October 22, 2025 at 3:48 AM
Reposted by Anna Vangala Jones
aaronburch.bsky.social
Happy Best American Day to all who celebrate!
Lots of friends and writers throughout! Special shoutout to Short Story, Long authors @joshdenslow.bsky.social & Chase Dearinger for getting notabled in Best American Short Stories and Best American Mystery and Suspense, respectively!
The Best American Short Stories 2025, edited by Celeste Ng photo of "Other Distinguished Stories of 2024" page from Best American Short Stories, with circle around: Denslow, Josh, "Infinite Possibilities Outside the Screen" (Short Story, Long, January 23) The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2025, edited by Don Winslow photo of "Other Distinguished Mystery and Suspense of 2024" page from Best American Mystery and Suspense, with circle around: Chase Dearinger "What Happens at the End of the Fall" (Short Story, Long)
October 21, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Anna Vangala Jones
ladiwoods.bsky.social
Thank you @autumnhousepress.bsky.social!
autumnhousepress.bsky.social Autumn House Press @autumnhousepress.bsky.social · 20d
Pub day for The Great Grown-Up Game of Make-Believe by Lauren D. Woods (@ladiwoods.bsky.social)!

So proud to share this stunning debut collection with the world. 💖

#shortstory #fiction #indiepress
October 21, 2025 at 2:40 PM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
at the point in my life where I decline plans by saying no that’s my evening walk + quiet reflecting time
October 21, 2025 at 3:48 AM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
a horror movie but you’re being chased through a cornfield by all the story ideas in your notes app you never wrote
October 20, 2025 at 10:37 PM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
writing residency at a grocery store where you’re surrounded by food & drinks & people watching opportunities
October 16, 2025 at 3:48 AM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
I love reading and writing short stories so much. making me laugh, cry, think, wonder & want to reread immediately—like a song. my favorite art probably
October 15, 2025 at 3:48 PM
anniejowrites.bsky.social
listening to heavy rain on the roof and windows while reading a book from the giant stack beside your bed counts as writing this morning
October 14, 2025 at 2:34 PM