Julia Strayer
@juliastrayer.bsky.social
Writer. Animal lover. Not afraid of math.
Wigleaf Top 50/Best Small Fictions
Submissions Ed: SmokeLongQuarterly Stories at Glimmer Train, Kenyon Review online, Jellyfish Review, Atticus Review, Cincinnati Review, and others
https://juliastrayer.com/
Wigleaf Top 50/Best Small Fictions
Submissions Ed: SmokeLongQuarterly Stories at Glimmer Train, Kenyon Review online, Jellyfish Review, Atticus Review, Cincinnati Review, and others
https://juliastrayer.com/
So thankful to @brettpribble.bsky.social for selecting my story for the Ninth Anniversary issue of Ghost Parachute! And I love Brett J Barr’s art 🦊🐈
Read "Everywhere for Answers" written by @juliastrayer.bsky.social and illustrated by Brett J Barr.
"He wears a wolf mask, and that’s okay. I’m fairly forgiving."
tinyurl.com/57w6rsde
"He wears a wolf mask, and that’s okay. I’m fairly forgiving."
tinyurl.com/57w6rsde
Everywhere for Answers — Ghost Parachute
He wears a wolf mask, and that’s okay. I’m fairly forgiving. I find him standing in full sun on a patch of grass across from our hotel, watching the city unroll itself. He left our room that morning w...
tinyurl.com
October 5, 2025 at 4:13 PM
So thankful to @brettpribble.bsky.social for selecting my story for the Ninth Anniversary issue of Ghost Parachute! And I love Brett J Barr’s art 🦊🐈
Thrilled to have “Mama Wanted” up at @trampset.bsky.social today! Thanks to @jedwardkruft.bsky.social and the other editors for saying yes. And thanks to @megpokrass.bsky.social for the inspiration. trampset.org/mama-wanted-...
Mama Wanted
by Julia Strayer
trampset.org
September 26, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Thrilled to have “Mama Wanted” up at @trampset.bsky.social today! Thanks to @jedwardkruft.bsky.social and the other editors for saying yes. And thanks to @megpokrass.bsky.social for the inspiration. trampset.org/mama-wanted-...
Such an amazing story @smokelong.bsky.social
"I still very much and thoroughly consider myself a fiction writer. But sometimes something of life presents itself directly for writing, and that was this." Our first featured author of Issue 89 is Aimee Bender @aimee-bender.bsky.social. Read her interview here: www.smokelong.com/interviews/s...
Smoke Signals with Aimee Bender - SmokeLong Quarterly
You have three threads woven together here—the story of your father, of the taxed sump pump, and of Joni Mitchell making music—and it’s all seamless and brilliant. Are you on the lookout for events li...
www.smokelong.com
September 26, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Such an amazing story @smokelong.bsky.social
Reposted by Julia Strayer
"Mama wanted a house, so she stole one she found abandoned on the corner of Sycamore and Grant"
@juliastrayer.bsky.social's "Mama Wanted"
trampset.org/mama-wanted-...
@juliastrayer.bsky.social's "Mama Wanted"
trampset.org/mama-wanted-...
Mama Wanted
by Julia Strayer
trampset.org
September 26, 2025 at 12:29 PM
"Mama wanted a house, so she stole one she found abandoned on the corner of Sycamore and Grant"
@juliastrayer.bsky.social's "Mama Wanted"
trampset.org/mama-wanted-...
@juliastrayer.bsky.social's "Mama Wanted"
trampset.org/mama-wanted-...
Reposted by Julia Strayer
The rejections come in…the submissions go out…The rejections come in…the submissions go out…The rejections come in…the submissions go out…sometimes you cry…The rejections come in…the submissions go out…The rejections come in…the submissions go out…The rejections come in…the submissions go out…
July 5, 2025 at 6:54 PM
The rejections come in…the submissions go out…The rejections come in…the submissions go out…The rejections come in…the submissions go out…sometimes you cry…The rejections come in…the submissions go out…The rejections come in…the submissions go out…The rejections come in…the submissions go out…
I love when an older story is discovered 🥰
"Maybe I'm not one of those natural talkers. Did she ever think of that?"
This surreal little piece by @juliastrayer.bsky.social in '17 @wigleaf.bsky.social deftly blends magic and melancholy.
@smokelong.bsky.social #ArchiveChallenge Day 6
wigleaf.com/201709thimbl...
This surreal little piece by @juliastrayer.bsky.social in '17 @wigleaf.bsky.social deftly blends magic and melancholy.
@smokelong.bsky.social #ArchiveChallenge Day 6
wigleaf.com/201709thimbl...
Strayer: 'Thimble People'
Fiction by Julia Strayer
wigleaf.com
July 5, 2025 at 3:06 PM
I love when an older story is discovered 🥰
Thrilled to have a story at @fracturedlit.bsky.social
Thanks to @tommydeanwriter.bsky.social
🎳🧺
fracturedlit.com/a-perfect-pa...
Thanks to @tommydeanwriter.bsky.social
🎳🧺
fracturedlit.com/a-perfect-pa...
A Perfect Pair - Fractured
My husband has this idea to marry a laundromat and a bowling alley. “A perfect pair,” he says. “Like us.” He’s an idiot. Who’d want that? “Think about it. Now they wait for free, but we could clean up...
fracturedlit.com
June 24, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Thrilled to have a story at @fracturedlit.bsky.social
Thanks to @tommydeanwriter.bsky.social
🎳🧺
fracturedlit.com/a-perfect-pa...
Thanks to @tommydeanwriter.bsky.social
🎳🧺
fracturedlit.com/a-perfect-pa...
Congratulations to the winners and finalists! 🎉
The results are in! The winners of The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction 2025 are...
www.smokelong.com/the-smokelon...
www.smokelong.com/the-smokelon...
The SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction — The Winners - SmokeLong Quarterly
I know I probably say this every year, but narrowing down the top 25 entries to the group of stories we’d eventually end up publishing was such a difficult task. Once an entry reached the second stage...
www.smokelong.com
June 8, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Congratulations to the winners and finalists! 🎉
So excited to be in @havehashad.com!
Thanks to @aaronburch.bsky.social for saying yes and to @megpokrass.bsky.social for the workshop that gave this piece its start.
Thanks to @aaronburch.bsky.social for saying yes and to @megpokrass.bsky.social for the workshop that gave this piece its start.
idk if it says more about last call's batch of subs or me as their reader, but a string of heartfelt, heartbreaking, heartwarming pieces lately
a real beauty today from Julia Strayer
"She only knows who I am because I always say, Hi Mom, when I call."
https://www.havehashad.com/66dqs
a real beauty today from Julia Strayer
"She only knows who I am because I always say, Hi Mom, when I call."
https://www.havehashad.com/66dqs
Small, Ambiguous Moments by Julia Strayer
I dial the phone. “Hi Mom, you know what today is?” “No.” “August thirtieth.” “So?” “Dad’s birthday.” “Dad’s birthday?” “My dad. Your husband.” “I wonder how he’s doing.” “He died.” “Right.” “A long…
www.havehashad.com
June 7, 2025 at 4:47 PM
So excited to be in @havehashad.com!
Thanks to @aaronburch.bsky.social for saying yes and to @megpokrass.bsky.social for the workshop that gave this piece its start.
Thanks to @aaronburch.bsky.social for saying yes and to @megpokrass.bsky.social for the workshop that gave this piece its start.
I stopped writing flash for a few years while I worked on a longer project. I started again because it feels like coming home. I’m thrilled to have a story at @flashfrog.bsky.social Thanks @ericscottryon.bsky.social for choosing it and Alaina Hammond for the great art!
flash-frog.com/2025/06/02/c...
flash-frog.com/2025/06/02/c...
Come on Down! by Julia Strayer
My ex doesn’t know he’s my ex. I just packed and left. Headed east for an hour. It’s close to midnight and I’m cruising through a one-light town in his old Crown Vic on the way from nowhere to some…
flash-frog.com
June 2, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I stopped writing flash for a few years while I worked on a longer project. I started again because it feels like coming home. I’m thrilled to have a story at @flashfrog.bsky.social Thanks @ericscottryon.bsky.social for choosing it and Alaina Hammond for the great art!
flash-frog.com/2025/06/02/c...
flash-frog.com/2025/06/02/c...
Thrilled to be on this list by @finnwritesstuff.bsky.social Grateful to @smokelong.bsky.social for publishing this story and @mattkendrick.bsky.social for Mondettes 🥰
This month's #Mondettes picked by @finnwritesstuff.bsky.social
⚡️Ten wonderful flash fictions
🔍Ten splashes of analysis as to why Finnian made these brilliant picks
💡Three great prompts
mondettes.substack.com/p/january-2025
⚡️Ten wonderful flash fictions
🔍Ten splashes of analysis as to why Finnian made these brilliant picks
💡Three great prompts
mondettes.substack.com/p/january-2025
January 2025
Ten stories picked by Finnian Burnett
mondettes.substack.com
January 23, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Thrilled to be on this list by @finnwritesstuff.bsky.social Grateful to @smokelong.bsky.social for publishing this story and @mattkendrick.bsky.social for Mondettes 🥰
Reposted by Julia Strayer
Have you nominated a writer to receive $300 from SmokeLong this FlashGiving? We'll announce the winner on Thanksgiving.
www.smokelong.com/flashgiving-...
www.smokelong.com/flashgiving-...
FlashGiving 2024 - SmokeLong Quarterly
Each year, the editors of SmokeLong put their heads together to come up with something good to do for someone in the community during the season of giving. Over the years we’ve given away books, suppo...
www.smokelong.com
November 18, 2024 at 4:06 PM
Have you nominated a writer to receive $300 from SmokeLong this FlashGiving? We'll announce the winner on Thanksgiving.
www.smokelong.com/flashgiving-...
www.smokelong.com/flashgiving-...
Reposted by Julia Strayer
Writing about Family in Creative Nonfiction with Shasta Grant, a SmokeLong webinar/peer-review/feedback event. Book now. Live webinar 9/30, with peer-review workshop following. https://www.smokelong.com/product/writing-about-family-in-creative-nonfiction-with-shasta-grant/
Writing about Family in Creative Nonfiction with Shasta Grant - SmokeLong Quarterly
How can you balance the considerations and privacy of the actual people you’re writing about while also fully developing characters on the page? What is more important: fact or emotional truth? What...
www.smokelong.com
September 20, 2023 at 9:02 AM
Writing about Family in Creative Nonfiction with Shasta Grant, a SmokeLong webinar/peer-review/feedback event. Book now. Live webinar 9/30, with peer-review workshop following. https://www.smokelong.com/product/writing-about-family-in-creative-nonfiction-with-shasta-grant/
Another great issue!! ❤️ these writers and their words.
Issue 81 is live. Read these 12 amazing stories, including five of the best from all those we loved in A SmokeLong Summer. Thank you to everyone who makes this possible. https://www.smokelong.com/issue-eighty-one/
September 20, 2023 at 11:03 PM
Another great issue!! ❤️ these writers and their words.
Reposted by Julia Strayer
We said, Hey. What’s goin’ on? Well, quite a few things, really:
The Mikey is open for flash fiction and cnf, including previously published and translations, up to 400 words
EIC Christopher Allen’s generative 2-hour webinar/workshop is August 12
Afterglow is coming to make the summer SmokeLonger
The Mikey is open for flash fiction and cnf, including previously published and translations, up to 400 words
EIC Christopher Allen’s generative 2-hour webinar/workshop is August 12
Afterglow is coming to make the summer SmokeLonger
August 5, 2023 at 9:15 AM
We said, Hey. What’s goin’ on? Well, quite a few things, really:
The Mikey is open for flash fiction and cnf, including previously published and translations, up to 400 words
EIC Christopher Allen’s generative 2-hour webinar/workshop is August 12
Afterglow is coming to make the summer SmokeLonger
The Mikey is open for flash fiction and cnf, including previously published and translations, up to 400 words
EIC Christopher Allen’s generative 2-hour webinar/workshop is August 12
Afterglow is coming to make the summer SmokeLonger
Wrangling a ghost story into shape. The ghost is fine, but the still-alive humans are causing trouble. 👻
July 24, 2023 at 11:45 PM
Wrangling a ghost story into shape. The ghost is fine, but the still-alive humans are causing trouble. 👻
What I’m doing instead of writing.
July 4, 2023 at 10:32 PM
What I’m doing instead of writing.
Researching Montana grasslands for a flash I’m writing when I should be editing the novel.
July 4, 2023 at 6:18 PM
Researching Montana grasslands for a flash I’m writing when I should be editing the novel.