Judy Darley
@judydarley.bsky.social
Writer & daydreamer living by the Somerset coast. Author of fiction collections #TheStairsAreASnowcappedMountain, #SkyLightRain (https://bit.ly/3zlfK7Q) & #RememberMeToTheBees. Workshop leader/journalism/brand engagement.
Must be cold outside. Th Christmas cactus living in our kitchen has declared the start of the festive season! 🥳❄️♥️
November 23, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Must be cold outside. Th Christmas cactus living in our kitchen has declared the start of the festive season! 🥳❄️♥️
Walking at the seafront I spied this oddity.
A prehistoric omelette? A death mask from an unknown civilisation?
No, a desiccated ray, complete with cavities where eyes once stared & a tail of spines.
What a marvel of evolution, and a fabulous #writingprompt. judydarley.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/w...
A prehistoric omelette? A death mask from an unknown civilisation?
No, a desiccated ray, complete with cavities where eyes once stared & a tail of spines.
What a marvel of evolution, and a fabulous #writingprompt. judydarley.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/w...
November 21, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Walking at the seafront I spied this oddity.
A prehistoric omelette? A death mask from an unknown civilisation?
No, a desiccated ray, complete with cavities where eyes once stared & a tail of spines.
What a marvel of evolution, and a fabulous #writingprompt. judydarley.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/w...
A prehistoric omelette? A death mask from an unknown civilisation?
No, a desiccated ray, complete with cavities where eyes once stared & a tail of spines.
What a marvel of evolution, and a fabulous #writingprompt. judydarley.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/w...
Some days we are the teddy bear in the cosy embrace of a loved one. Sometimes we are that same bear, lost and drenched, slumped on a park bench. Oh, I cannot think for the sound of rain 💧💧💧
November 14, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Some days we are the teddy bear in the cosy embrace of a loved one. Sometimes we are that same bear, lost and drenched, slumped on a park bench. Oh, I cannot think for the sound of rain 💧💧💧
Did you enter Clevedon LitFest's Flash Fiction Award? Or do you just love stories?
The award ceremony is at the #CelebrationOfTheBook, Sat11Oct, 12pm, Prince's Hall, Clevedon. It's open to the public free of charge, beside a hall full of books and more! www.clevedonlitfest.org.uk/celebration-...
The award ceremony is at the #CelebrationOfTheBook, Sat11Oct, 12pm, Prince's Hall, Clevedon. It's open to the public free of charge, beside a hall full of books and more! www.clevedonlitfest.org.uk/celebration-...
October 9, 2025 at 6:46 AM
Did you enter Clevedon LitFest's Flash Fiction Award? Or do you just love stories?
The award ceremony is at the #CelebrationOfTheBook, Sat11Oct, 12pm, Prince's Hall, Clevedon. It's open to the public free of charge, beside a hall full of books and more! www.clevedonlitfest.org.uk/celebration-...
The award ceremony is at the #CelebrationOfTheBook, Sat11Oct, 12pm, Prince's Hall, Clevedon. It's open to the public free of charge, beside a hall full of books and more! www.clevedonlitfest.org.uk/celebration-...
10 tips for writing winning poetry from Mslexia's editor Debbie Taylor. They work brilliantly for #flashfiction too 😉
Top tip: surprise your reader!
mslexia.co.uk/magazine/blo...
Top tip: surprise your reader!
mslexia.co.uk/magazine/blo...
October 8, 2025 at 7:15 AM
10 tips for writing winning poetry from Mslexia's editor Debbie Taylor. They work brilliantly for #flashfiction too 😉
Top tip: surprise your reader!
mslexia.co.uk/magazine/blo...
Top tip: surprise your reader!
mslexia.co.uk/magazine/blo...
Chuffed to have my story 'Dog Brother' featured in Querencia's Summer 2025 issue. TBH my twisted fairytale has more of an autumnal feel to it, making this the ideal time to read it! www.querenciapress.com
September 5, 2025 at 6:38 AM
Chuffed to have my story 'Dog Brother' featured in Querencia's Summer 2025 issue. TBH my twisted fairytale has more of an autumnal feel to it, making this the ideal time to read it! www.querenciapress.com
And here's a shot I took a few minutes before the rainfall photo... Clouds, yes, but so much sunshine! #writingprompt
September 4, 2025 at 6:20 AM
And here's a shot I took a few minutes before the rainfall photo... Clouds, yes, but so much sunshine! #writingprompt
Weather changes fast at the coast – I heard the raindrops rumble over Poets' Walk as I strolled beneath the first trees, Moments later damp teens surrounded me, seeking shelter.
A fraction earlier I was on that walkway surrounded by the Marine Lake's captured waves.
A fraction earlier I was on that walkway surrounded by the Marine Lake's captured waves.
September 4, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Weather changes fast at the coast – I heard the raindrops rumble over Poets' Walk as I strolled beneath the first trees, Moments later damp teens surrounded me, seeking shelter.
A fraction earlier I was on that walkway surrounded by the Marine Lake's captured waves.
A fraction earlier I was on that walkway surrounded by the Marine Lake's captured waves.
Very happy to have my story 'A Haircut is a Poem' included in the first issue of dif writers' dif megazine. It's on sale for £12.50, which includes free UK shipping: www.bedif.org/product-page...
August 16, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Very happy to have my story 'A Haircut is a Poem' included in the first issue of dif writers' dif megazine. It's on sale for £12.50, which includes free UK shipping: www.bedif.org/product-page...
Look at this beautiful #bookpost from @troutiemcfish.bsky.social via @northodoxpress.bsky.social. What an enticing cover! Can't wait to dive into 'The Blue of You' 😀
August 7, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Look at this beautiful #bookpost from @troutiemcfish.bsky.social via @northodoxpress.bsky.social. What an enticing cover! Can't wait to dive into 'The Blue of You' 😀
What a beautiful weekend at the @flashficfestuk.bsky.social, at Trinity College, Bristol, reuniting with old friends and making new ones, listening to the forest (and the karaoke!), and being inspired to write write write. Thanks to @judehiggins.bsky.social and the team ♥️
July 21, 2025 at 7:43 AM
What a beautiful weekend at the @flashficfestuk.bsky.social, at Trinity College, Bristol, reuniting with old friends and making new ones, listening to the forest (and the karaoke!), and being inspired to write write write. Thanks to @judehiggins.bsky.social and the team ♥️
The perfect piece of #bookpost arrived for me ahead of my Fairy Tale Toolkit workshop at the @flashficfestuk.bsky.social next weekend. Thanks to @judehwriter2.bsky.social for inviting me to teach this session again. This year it's darker and may feature smooshed faeries 😀🧚❤️
July 12, 2025 at 8:51 AM
The perfect piece of #bookpost arrived for me ahead of my Fairy Tale Toolkit workshop at the @flashficfestuk.bsky.social next weekend. Thanks to @judehwriter2.bsky.social for inviting me to teach this session again. This year it's darker and may feature smooshed faeries 😀🧚❤️
#Writers! Green Stories opens for entries to their Epiphanies Competition on 21st July! They're seeking #flashfiction (under 500 words) exploring 'moments of green transformation or revelation'.
There are £1k worth of prizes. Deadline = 27 August. www.greenstories.org.uk/flash-fictio...
There are £1k worth of prizes. Deadline = 27 August. www.greenstories.org.uk/flash-fictio...
July 9, 2025 at 6:58 AM
#Writers! Green Stories opens for entries to their Epiphanies Competition on 21st July! They're seeking #flashfiction (under 500 words) exploring 'moments of green transformation or revelation'.
There are £1k worth of prizes. Deadline = 27 August. www.greenstories.org.uk/flash-fictio...
There are £1k worth of prizes. Deadline = 27 August. www.greenstories.org.uk/flash-fictio...
Lovely to take part in the launch of the Poets' Walk book & app last night. I read my poem 'Low Tide at Poets' Walk.' A great start to Clevedon Lit Fest 😃
You can buy the book here: www.bristolbooks.org/shop/poets-w...
Book for Clevedon Lit Fest events here: www.clevedonlitfest.org.uk
You can buy the book here: www.bristolbooks.org/shop/poets-w...
Book for Clevedon Lit Fest events here: www.clevedonlitfest.org.uk
June 3, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Lovely to take part in the launch of the Poets' Walk book & app last night. I read my poem 'Low Tide at Poets' Walk.' A great start to Clevedon Lit Fest 😃
You can buy the book here: www.bristolbooks.org/shop/poets-w...
Book for Clevedon Lit Fest events here: www.clevedonlitfest.org.uk
You can buy the book here: www.bristolbooks.org/shop/poets-w...
Book for Clevedon Lit Fest events here: www.clevedonlitfest.org.uk
I'm running a session for @flashficfestuk.bsky.social all about harnessing the power of fairy tales in modern flash stories. Which flash fiction fairy tales have caught your attention recently? Please share links if you can! 😀📚
May 27, 2025 at 6:36 PM
I'm running a session for @flashficfestuk.bsky.social all about harnessing the power of fairy tales in modern flash stories. Which flash fiction fairy tales have caught your attention recently? Please share links if you can! 😀📚
Pleased to have a CNF tale in the anthology 'To Lay Sun Into a Forest' from Sidhe Press. My piece, 'An Absence of Towering Leaves', is excerpted from my hybrid work-in-progress about loss & solace.
'Ash trees are daubed with paint splodges as vibrant as marigolds.'
www.sidhe-press.eu/books/to-lay...
'Ash trees are daubed with paint splodges as vibrant as marigolds.'
www.sidhe-press.eu/books/to-lay...
May 4, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Pleased to have a CNF tale in the anthology 'To Lay Sun Into a Forest' from Sidhe Press. My piece, 'An Absence of Towering Leaves', is excerpted from my hybrid work-in-progress about loss & solace.
'Ash trees are daubed with paint splodges as vibrant as marigolds.'
www.sidhe-press.eu/books/to-lay...
'Ash trees are daubed with paint splodges as vibrant as marigolds.'
www.sidhe-press.eu/books/to-lay...
Recent writing has featured a huge dog, an elderly cat called Stan (pictured) and sunlight as a pet. I think of this as 'comfort writing'.
April 14, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Recent writing has featured a huge dog, an elderly cat called Stan (pictured) and sunlight as a pet. I think of this as 'comfort writing'.
Yesterday I met this beautiful beetle in a Somerset woodland. A bit of research told me it’s a rare violet oil beetle, and exudes poisonous oil from its joints when threatened. Now I’m thinking: folklore, fairytales and the mystery of nature. So many story prompts from one small creature!
April 13, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Yesterday I met this beautiful beetle in a Somerset woodland. A bit of research told me it’s a rare violet oil beetle, and exudes poisonous oil from its joints when threatened. Now I’m thinking: folklore, fairytales and the mystery of nature. So many story prompts from one small creature!
Woke up confused but contented after hybrid dreams of sun-infused pollen-laden peonies and bees. I might have been one of the bees. Wonder if I can write that into something...
April 10, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Woke up confused but contented after hybrid dreams of sun-infused pollen-laden peonies and bees. I might have been one of the bees. Wonder if I can write that into something...
Not overly enamoured with the whole ‘spring forward’ making it feel like 5am at 6am this morning but… at least I was treated to a beautiful slice of sunrise today 😍
March 31, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Not overly enamoured with the whole ‘spring forward’ making it feel like 5am at 6am this morning but… at least I was treated to a beautiful slice of sunrise today 😍
Don't forget to enter @fracturedlit.bsky.social's 2025 Ghosts Fables, & Fairy Tales Prize. The deadline's not for a while yet (13th April) , but I know how easy it is to get distracted! fracturedlit.com/2025-ghost-f...
February 21, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Don't forget to enter @fracturedlit.bsky.social's 2025 Ghosts Fables, & Fairy Tales Prize. The deadline's not for a while yet (13th April) , but I know how easy it is to get distracted! fracturedlit.com/2025-ghost-f...
A pearly-sky day at our North Somerset shore. Such a gorgeous walk, complete with sightings of a kestrel, young buzzard, lapwings, egrets, green finch, rock pipit, curlew and oystercatchers…
February 19, 2025 at 7:10 PM
A pearly-sky day at our North Somerset shore. Such a gorgeous walk, complete with sightings of a kestrel, young buzzard, lapwings, egrets, green finch, rock pipit, curlew and oystercatchers…
Writing a short story in which the protagonist goes on an adventure. I started out planning to write 2k words or so. Already 800 words in and they're still in next door's garden... Might end up being a smaller adventure, or a longer story, than I imagined.
February 7, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Writing a short story in which the protagonist goes on an adventure. I started out planning to write 2k words or so. Already 800 words in and they're still in next door's garden... Might end up being a smaller adventure, or a longer story, than I imagined.
You know when you wake in the night and scribble down reams of genius prose, then wake up to… this? I thought there’d be more, somehow.
February 4, 2025 at 2:34 PM
You know when you wake in the night and scribble down reams of genius prose, then wake up to… this? I thought there’d be more, somehow.
Hello! I'm new here. Any recommendations?
I'm particularly keen to connect with writers, readers & artists. Who should I follow? Is it even called 'following' here, or is it 'flutter after'?
Alt text: Large tortoiseshell butterfly resting on a pair of knickers on a washing line in sunshine...
I'm particularly keen to connect with writers, readers & artists. Who should I follow? Is it even called 'following' here, or is it 'flutter after'?
Alt text: Large tortoiseshell butterfly resting on a pair of knickers on a washing line in sunshine...
January 31, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Hello! I'm new here. Any recommendations?
I'm particularly keen to connect with writers, readers & artists. Who should I follow? Is it even called 'following' here, or is it 'flutter after'?
Alt text: Large tortoiseshell butterfly resting on a pair of knickers on a washing line in sunshine...
I'm particularly keen to connect with writers, readers & artists. Who should I follow? Is it even called 'following' here, or is it 'flutter after'?
Alt text: Large tortoiseshell butterfly resting on a pair of knickers on a washing line in sunshine...