Fiona McKay
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fionamckay.bsky.social
Fiona McKay
@fionamckay.bsky.social
3.1K followers 4.2K following 1.1K posts
Writer | THE TOP ROAD (AdHoc Fiction 2023) | DRAWN AND QUARTERED (Alien Buddha Press 2023) | THE LIVES OF THE DEAD (AdHoc Fiction July 2025) | Words in places | Autistic + ADHD

Ally to 🏳️‍🌈 and 🏳️‍⚧️

Free 🇵🇸 and slava 🇺🇦
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fionamckay.bsky.social
I’ve just finished reading this @travisflatt.bsky.social chapbook from @sandandgravelpress.bsky.social and my only complaint is that there are ONLY FIVE STORIES AND I WANT MORE!!!
November 11, 2025 at 12:11 PM
fionamckay.bsky.social
@dilyswt.bsky.social look what I got as a souvenir!! (Avoided the Biscoff!!)
Jar of Speculoos spread
September 15, 2025 at 10:23 AM
fionamckay.bsky.social
Thank you so much for the lovely review @madeleinewrite.bsky.social ❤️😍❤️

The final line is just gorgeous - ‘I devoured it with tears in my eyes’ 🥹🥹🥹
Reviews Miss Madeleine Armstrong Verified Purchase Powerful & magical Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 31, 2025 The Lives of the Dead is a novella-in-flash about Kate, trapped in a controlling marriage, first yearning for a child, then struggling with her new baby. The story is powerful in itself, and McKay has really captured the bleakness of new motherhood - but what makes it even fresher is the way the narrative is interwoven with reworked fairytales, which gives it extra poignancy. I devoured it with tears in my eyes.
September 3, 2025 at 7:42 PM
fionamckay.bsky.social
📚Three lovely reviews for The Lives of the Dead on Amazon and in Goodreads - thanks so much to @anchalastudio.bsky.social @bronwengriffiths.bsky.social and @lmbayley.bsky.social 📚
Cover of The Lives of the Dead Anne Anthony A Woman's Search for Herself Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2025 Fiona McKay's narrator, Kate, in her novella in flash, The Lives of the Dead is a woman in search of herself. Whether it's reading between the lines of fractured fairytales or random queries in an internet search engine, readers are witness to the unraveling of Kate's wants, her desires, her life as she'd planned. Written as a series of flash stories, McKay expertly weaves together the threads of Kate's life even as it unspools. Wholeheartedly recommend!! THE LIVES OFTHE DEAD The Lives of the Dead by Fiona McKay Fora Makay Bronwen's review • 8 Aug 2025 I have read a number of books in succession which have dealt with women struggling against the patriachy, and this is another. If that sounds like sour grapes, it is not! All these books have been exceptional, including this one. Kate is married, and although she has some good times with her husband, he is a controlling individual who denies Kate's need for agency. Ultimately Kate must find a way to forge her own path in life. The 'day-to-day' chapters - Kate's relationship with John and his mother, Kate's pregnancy and early motherhood, are interspersed with re-workings of fairy tales which add real emotional depth to this novella-in-flash. Read from: Aug 03, 2025 - Aug 08, 2025 Shelved as: read THE LIVES OF THE DEAD The Lives of the Dead by Fiona McKay Fora Matay Linda's review 17 Aug 2025 The Lives of the Dead is about the life of Kate as she navigates through becoming engaged, getting married, and having a child with a man who doesn't really see her as anything other than a means to his own ends. John ends so many discussions with "Kate, we discussed this! We agreed!" and it's clear that Kate does not have the option of changing her mind or speaking up for herself. These pieces of Kate's life would be compelling on their own, but Fiona McKay intersperses them with reworked fairy tales and "screen shots" of search histories that show us Kate's desperation on an entirely different level. Taken all together, this novella-in-flash is a remarkable piece of literature, and I'm glad I read it. Outstanding, and highly recommended. Read from: Aug 08, 2025 - Aug 17, 2025 Shelved as: read, novella-in-flash
August 17, 2025 at 9:51 PM
fionamckay.bsky.social
Many thanks to @bronwengriffiths.bsky.social for the lovely review of The Lives of the Dead over on Goodreads ❤️❤️❤️
Review of The Lives of the Dead - day ago THE UVES DE THE DEAD The Lives of the Dead by Fiona McKay (Goodreads Author) I have read a number of books in succession which have dealt with women struggling against the patriachy, and this is another. If that sounds like sour grapes, it is not! All these books have been exceptional, including this one. Kate is married, and although she has some good times with her husband, he is a controlling individual who denies Kate's need for agency. Ultimately Kate must find a way to forge her own path in life. The 'day-to-day' chapters - Kate's relationship with John and his mother, Kate's pregnancy and early motherhood, are interspersed with re-workings of fairy tales which add real emotional depth to this novella-in-flash.
August 9, 2025 at 7:21 PM
fionamckay.bsky.social
Cover of The Lives of the Dead by Fiona McKay. It depicts a woman’s head filled with fairytale imagery
July 29, 2025 at 10:43 AM
fionamckay.bsky.social
Just finished this gorgeous ekphrastic Novella in Flash by @karjon.bsky.social ❤️😍❤️
Cover of Burn it all Down by Karen Jones
May 4, 2025 at 4:26 PM
fionamckay.bsky.social
Delighted that my copy of best Small Fictions 2024 finally arrived 😍

Thanks to series editor Nathan Leslie and @altcurrent.bsky.social and @nffr.bsky.social

❤️
Cover of Best Small Fictions 2024 Anthology Page of Best Small Fictions 2024 Anthology showing ‘Fulfilling’ by Fiona McKay, published by New Flash Fiction Review
April 29, 2025 at 8:18 PM
fionamckay.bsky.social
Hmmm, a new Pukka Pads project book… What could that mean? (A new novel idea, maybe?)
Floral hard-cover Pukka Pad B5 project book
April 24, 2025 at 1:16 PM
fionamckay.bsky.social
While it’s still March - for anyone who reads as Gaeilge, the lovely @gearoidinc.bsky.social translated a flash of mine into Irish for this month’s issue of Comhar magazine!
Comhar magazine March cover I nDiaidh an Anfa - translation of Aftermath Contents page Comhar magazine
March 31, 2025 at 10:59 AM
fionamckay.bsky.social
When my husband asked what I’d like for Mothers’ Day, I knew exactly what I wanted! Donate now to @unrwa.org and double your help

And, ceasefire now 🇵🇸
Information about Donation match for UNRWA
March 26, 2025 at 10:35 PM
fionamckay.bsky.social
📖 Bookpost!! Look what already arrived in Ireland, @marioaliberto3.bsky.social 📖

Straight to the top of the TBR pile!!
Cover of All the Dead we Have Yet to Bury by Mario Aliberto III with two dolls buried in grass
February 12, 2025 at 12:39 PM
fionamckay.bsky.social
Book post! The gorgeous @the4facedliar.bsky.social Issue 3. Thanks so much for publishing this piece of mine 😍

I wish I could make it to Cork tonight for the launch - have the best time and if any Bluesky friends are in Cork, go!!
Cover of Issue 3 of The Four Faced Liar showing a stylised art deco figure of a woman about to dive. It’s gorgeous!! Pale blue background with the figure in shades of rust and white swim cap. Burned by Fiona McKay Burned by Fiona McKay What's with all the fires?' Conor asks, putting a first pint in front of Kate, letting his hand linger on her shoulder as he sits - in a way she thrilled to, once, has forgotten over the years. Kate sniffs the air for fire, but there's no smoke. Toner's smells as it always has - stale beer, old carpet, used frying oil - at least since the smoking ban brought an end to cigarette smoke blotting everything else out. The pub is as it always was. These may be the same stools they sat on as college students - the leather only slightly less scuffed and torn back then - and the same dark brown wood tables, thickly varnished and slightly sticky to the touch then too. 'Not a fire in here,' he says. 'The ones all over the country. I'm doing a piece on it. Wasn't there one near where you live? In some old hotel to be used for accommodating immigrants?'
January 14, 2025 at 2:29 PM
fionamckay.bsky.social
Wishing all my writing friends a great 2025.

Wishing for a better world for 2025 too
A white firework going off
December 31, 2024 at 11:09 PM
fionamckay.bsky.social
Festive wishes to all my friends here ❤️🎄❤️
Picture of a Christmas pudding and the words Merry Christmas in red script
December 24, 2024 at 7:57 PM
fionamckay.bsky.social
Cake!! And it was delicious…
Yellow plate with delicious, crumbly orange and spice cake with sweet vanilla cream
November 24, 2024 at 6:20 PM
fionamckay.bsky.social
Does anyone else stand by the coffee machine in the morning and just sniff the aroma of that first coffee of the day? (Technically, this is the second. First coffee essential for brain function)
Green mug with coffee on a blue and white coaster
November 18, 2024 at 9:56 AM
fionamckay.bsky.social
Writers in Ireland - look out for The Irish Writers Handbook with lots of advice on lots of topics!!
November 10, 2023 at 4:24 PM
fionamckay.bsky.social
Playing Rejection Letter Erasure Poetry over on the other place… thought it might catch on here?
November 2, 2023 at 11:01 AM
fionamckay.bsky.social
Had the best night celebrating this! 25th Wedding Anniversary - where did the years go??
September 3, 2023 at 12:09 PM
fionamckay.bsky.social
Really lovely Amazon review for my Novella in Flash - The Top Road ❤️❤️❤️
September 2, 2023 at 10:35 AM
fionamckay.bsky.social
Some more nice words about The Top Road 🥰 Thank you so much, Mairead ❤️❤️❤️ It makes me so happy when my writing connects with people 🥹
Photo of The Top Road by Fiona McKay with a positive review
August 22, 2023 at 11:52 AM
fionamckay.bsky.social
Some lovely words about my Novella-in-Flash over on the other place today!
Picture of The Top Road by Fiona McKay
August 20, 2023 at 9:16 PM
fionamckay.bsky.social
So, it’s beginning to feel a bit more like home here.

Time to harass people into buying my books, I guess!

There’s this one - Drawn and Quartered (flash collection)

Or this one - The Top Road (novella-in-flash)

See? Something for everyone!!

Links below ⬇️⬇️⬇️
August 14, 2023 at 12:20 PM