Laura Besley
@laurabesley.bsky.social
Lover of coffee, chocolate, reading & writing
Pinned
"After we sign the divorce papers, my soon-to-be ex-husband and I decide to go for lunch." Love (a journey) by Laura Besley @laurabesley.bsky.social #flashfiction #readingcommunity #writingcommunity. Please click on the link and enjoy fictivedream.com/2025/11/07/l...
fictivedream.com
I am absolutely delighted to have a new story out - Love (a journey) - with Fictive Dream. Huge thanks to editor Laura whose dedication to short fiction is phenomenal.
#fiction #flashfiction #amwriting #writingcommunity
#fiction #flashfiction #amwriting #writingcommunity
Reposted by Laura Besley
‘He chooses a brie baguette (I have a dairy intolerance) and I order a bacon cob (he’s a vegetarian).’
A writer in total command of her craft; @laurabesley.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social 🫖
fictivedream.com/2025/11/07/l...
A writer in total command of her craft; @laurabesley.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social 🫖
fictivedream.com/2025/11/07/l...
Love (a journey)
by Laura Besley AFTER WE SIGN the divorce papers, my soon-to-be ex-husband and I decide to go for lunch. We’re in an unfamiliar neighbourhood, but we spot a café across the road from the lawyer’s o…
fictivedream.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:32 PM
‘He chooses a brie baguette (I have a dairy intolerance) and I order a bacon cob (he’s a vegetarian).’
A writer in total command of her craft; @laurabesley.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social 🫖
fictivedream.com/2025/11/07/l...
A writer in total command of her craft; @laurabesley.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social 🫖
fictivedream.com/2025/11/07/l...
It was wonderful to have Diane Simmons take part in this month's NIFTY Book Club to talk about her novella-in-flash, William Prichard & Co. It's always fascinating to hear an author talk about their work.
#fiction #flashfiction #writingcommunity #novellainflash
#fiction #flashfiction #writingcommunity #novellainflash
I’m excited/nervous that my NIF ‘William Prichard & Co’ will feature on @laurabesley.bsky.social ‘s NIFTY book club this evening. I’ll be popping in later to answer questions 😊
November 11, 2025 at 6:50 AM
It was wonderful to have Diane Simmons take part in this month's NIFTY Book Club to talk about her novella-in-flash, William Prichard & Co. It's always fascinating to hear an author talk about their work.
#fiction #flashfiction #writingcommunity #novellainflash
#fiction #flashfiction #writingcommunity #novellainflash
Reposted by Laura Besley
‘Feels less like reading a novel and more like sitting in a car beside a dear friend. . . a profoundly moving experience.’ Ann Patchett
The Rest of Our Lives is shortlisted for the Booker Prize - we're looking forward to finding out the winner this evening ✨
www.faber.co.uk/book/9780571...
The Rest of Our Lives is shortlisted for the Booker Prize - we're looking forward to finding out the winner this evening ✨
www.faber.co.uk/book/9780571...
November 10, 2025 at 11:01 AM
‘Feels less like reading a novel and more like sitting in a car beside a dear friend. . . a profoundly moving experience.’ Ann Patchett
The Rest of Our Lives is shortlisted for the Booker Prize - we're looking forward to finding out the winner this evening ✨
www.faber.co.uk/book/9780571...
The Rest of Our Lives is shortlisted for the Booker Prize - we're looking forward to finding out the winner this evening ✨
www.faber.co.uk/book/9780571...
Reposted by Laura Besley
ICYMI today we're featuring Love (a journey) by Laura Besley @laurabesley.bsky.social #flashfiction #readingcommunity #writingcommunity. Please click on the link and enjoy fictivedream.com/2025/11/07/l...
November 7, 2025 at 6:30 PM
ICYMI today we're featuring Love (a journey) by Laura Besley @laurabesley.bsky.social #flashfiction #readingcommunity #writingcommunity. Please click on the link and enjoy fictivedream.com/2025/11/07/l...
I am absolutely delighted to have a new story out - Love (a journey) - with Fictive Dream. Huge thanks to editor Laura whose dedication to short fiction is phenomenal.
#fiction #flashfiction #amwriting #writingcommunity
#fiction #flashfiction #amwriting #writingcommunity
"After we sign the divorce papers, my soon-to-be ex-husband and I decide to go for lunch." Love (a journey) by Laura Besley @laurabesley.bsky.social #flashfiction #readingcommunity #writingcommunity. Please click on the link and enjoy fictivedream.com/2025/11/07/l...
fictivedream.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:01 PM
I am absolutely delighted to have a new story out - Love (a journey) - with Fictive Dream. Huge thanks to editor Laura whose dedication to short fiction is phenomenal.
#fiction #flashfiction #amwriting #writingcommunity
#fiction #flashfiction #amwriting #writingcommunity
'for the rain to stop
for our favourite song to play on the radio'
Such power and tenderness in this list story by @susmitab.bsky.social @welkinprize.bsky.social
#fiction #microfiction #writingcommunity #WelkinWindbackWednesday
for our favourite song to play on the radio'
Such power and tenderness in this list story by @susmitab.bsky.social @welkinprize.bsky.social
#fiction #microfiction #writingcommunity #WelkinWindbackWednesday
November 6, 2025 at 6:47 AM
'for the rain to stop
for our favourite song to play on the radio'
Such power and tenderness in this list story by @susmitab.bsky.social @welkinprize.bsky.social
#fiction #microfiction #writingcommunity #WelkinWindbackWednesday
for our favourite song to play on the radio'
Such power and tenderness in this list story by @susmitab.bsky.social @welkinprize.bsky.social
#fiction #microfiction #writingcommunity #WelkinWindbackWednesday
'I Sang to the loom, the day my mother died.'
This beautiful lyrical piece is a like a song with its near-repeated refrain.
#fiction #flashfiction
This beautiful lyrical piece is a like a song with its near-repeated refrain.
#fiction #flashfiction
NEW STORY: @worldanvil.bsky.social delivers a poetic meditation on loss in her new flash fiction story "Song of the Loom"!
www.dreamtheory.media/song-of-the-...
www.dreamtheory.media/song-of-the-...
Song of the Loom
by Janet Forbes
I Sang to the loom, the day my mother died.
My hands were an echo of hers. Heavy with grief, they wove eight hundred threads onto the frame, a hundred for each string of her Lyra. ...
www.dreamtheory.media
November 5, 2025 at 3:18 PM
'I Sang to the loom, the day my mother died.'
This beautiful lyrical piece is a like a song with its near-repeated refrain.
#fiction #flashfiction
This beautiful lyrical piece is a like a song with its near-repeated refrain.
#fiction #flashfiction
Reposted by Laura Besley
Of course. Can't not have the Welkin. I've even been updating the Welkin website 😀 Had to find a solution to my website having too many pages without deleting stories 😬
November 1, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Of course. Can't not have the Welkin. I've even been updating the Welkin website 😀 Had to find a solution to my website having too many pages without deleting stories 😬
Reposted by Laura Besley
We hope your pumpkins are full of treatsies 🦝🎃
Here are some strange tales from our archive for the season...
1/5
Here are some strange tales from our archive for the season...
1/5
October 31, 2025 at 10:49 AM
We hope your pumpkins are full of treatsies 🦝🎃
Here are some strange tales from our archive for the season...
1/5
Here are some strange tales from our archive for the season...
1/5
I'm beyond thrilled that my story, 'Like a memory, or maybe only a dream' has been nominated for this year's Pushcart Prize ✨ Huge thanks to Matt for this nomination & everything he does for the writing community.
#fiction #microcfiction #WelkinWritingPrize
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-prize...
#fiction #microcfiction #WelkinWritingPrize
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-prize...
October 27, 2025 at 6:38 PM
I'm beyond thrilled that my story, 'Like a memory, or maybe only a dream' has been nominated for this year's Pushcart Prize ✨ Huge thanks to Matt for this nomination & everything he does for the writing community.
#fiction #microcfiction #WelkinWritingPrize
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-prize...
#fiction #microcfiction #WelkinWritingPrize
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-prize...
Fantastic piece of historical flash by @nomad-sw18.bsky.social @doesithavepockets.bsky.social
#flash #historical
www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/cole...
#flash #historical
www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/cole...
Cole Beauchamp — Does It Have Pockets
1989: Every day is the same in East Berlin, until it’s not
www.doesithavepockets.com
October 27, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Fantastic piece of historical flash by @nomad-sw18.bsky.social @doesithavepockets.bsky.social
#flash #historical
www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/cole...
#flash #historical
www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/cole...
Reposted by Laura Besley
Lots of news -- including Substack and editor news, and a round-up of this year's V. Press Prize for Poetry, reviews, new releases, events and coming soon...
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com
@laurabesley.bsky.social
@sarahleavesley.bsky.social
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com
@laurabesley.bsky.social
@sarahleavesley.bsky.social
October 9, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Lots of news -- including Substack and editor news, and a round-up of this year's V. Press Prize for Poetry, reviews, new releases, events and coming soon...
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com
@laurabesley.bsky.social
@sarahleavesley.bsky.social
vpresspoetry.blogspot.com
@laurabesley.bsky.social
@sarahleavesley.bsky.social
Reposted by Laura Besley
Mother Mary Comes To Me by Arundhati Roy centres around her grief and the enduring legacy of her remarkable mother.
Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy review – words of wisdom
www.bigissue.com
October 3, 2025 at 5:50 AM
Mother Mary Comes To Me by Arundhati Roy centres around her grief and the enduring legacy of her remarkable mother.
Reposted by Laura Besley
"Imagine you’re forty-something and you’re kinda okay about who you are these days and although you never thought you would be"
Wow, a stunner of a one-sentence piece from @laurabesley.bsky.social - love the rhythm and use of reptetition and how it builds from beginning to end
Wow, a stunner of a one-sentence piece from @laurabesley.bsky.social - love the rhythm and use of reptetition and how it builds from beginning to end
I'm absolutely delighted that my piece, 'These days you're kinda okay', has found such a loving home with @lit-namjooning.bsky.social 💜 Many thanks to editors, Hema, Lakshmi & Melissa.
#amwriting #writingcommunity #fiction #flashfiction
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
#amwriting #writingcommunity #fiction #flashfiction
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
These Days You’re Kinda Okay by Laura Besley
Imagine you’re forty-something and you’re kinda okay about who you are these days andalthough you never thought you would be, you are, and decide the reason you’re kinda okaythese days is because you’...
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com
September 26, 2025 at 5:08 PM
"Imagine you’re forty-something and you’re kinda okay about who you are these days and although you never thought you would be"
Wow, a stunner of a one-sentence piece from @laurabesley.bsky.social - love the rhythm and use of reptetition and how it builds from beginning to end
Wow, a stunner of a one-sentence piece from @laurabesley.bsky.social - love the rhythm and use of reptetition and how it builds from beginning to end
Reposted by Laura Besley
You can now check out our Food Poetry subcategory on our page! Find writers like Sreelekha Chatterjee @sreelekha2024.bsky.social under this section 🥘🥮
September 16, 2025 at 1:14 AM
You can now check out our Food Poetry subcategory on our page! Find writers like Sreelekha Chatterjee @sreelekha2024.bsky.social under this section 🥘🥮
Reposted by Laura Besley
I’m proud of how political @thebrokenspine.co.uk is. We don’t just “represent” — we think about it. Everyone publishes women. But how do they platform them?
@karenpgonzalez.bsky.social made #NotJustPretty her own. This won’t be mainstream. Who fucking cares? It matters too much to sanitise.
@karenpgonzalez.bsky.social made #NotJustPretty her own. This won’t be mainstream. Who fucking cares? It matters too much to sanitise.
#NotJustPretty — we don’t platform women to show them. We publish them to hear them.
Poetry. Art. Defiance.
Read it: thebrokenspine.co.uk/2025/09/14/notjustpretty-womens-voices-womens-power/
@karenpgonzalez.bsky.social
@jenwithwords.bsky.social
@petitecreature1.bsky.social
Poetry. Art. Defiance.
Read it: thebrokenspine.co.uk/2025/09/14/notjustpretty-womens-voices-womens-power/
@karenpgonzalez.bsky.social
@jenwithwords.bsky.social
@petitecreature1.bsky.social
#NotJustPretty: Meet the Artists Leading the Charge - The Broken Spine
On October 4, 2025, we’ll be launching #NotJustPretty — a new series that celebrates artists who identify as women. For us, this project is about refusing to
thebrokenspine.co.uk
September 14, 2025 at 11:01 AM
I’m proud of how political @thebrokenspine.co.uk is. We don’t just “represent” — we think about it. Everyone publishes women. But how do they platform them?
@karenpgonzalez.bsky.social made #NotJustPretty her own. This won’t be mainstream. Who fucking cares? It matters too much to sanitise.
@karenpgonzalez.bsky.social made #NotJustPretty her own. This won’t be mainstream. Who fucking cares? It matters too much to sanitise.
Reposted by Laura Besley
#NotJustPretty — we don’t platform women to show them. We publish them to hear them.
Poetry. Art. Defiance.
Read it: thebrokenspine.co.uk/2025/09/14/notjustpretty-womens-voices-womens-power/
@karenpgonzalez.bsky.social
@jenwithwords.bsky.social
@petitecreature1.bsky.social
Poetry. Art. Defiance.
Read it: thebrokenspine.co.uk/2025/09/14/notjustpretty-womens-voices-womens-power/
@karenpgonzalez.bsky.social
@jenwithwords.bsky.social
@petitecreature1.bsky.social
#NotJustPretty: Meet the Artists Leading the Charge - The Broken Spine
On October 4, 2025, we’ll be launching #NotJustPretty — a new series that celebrates artists who identify as women. For us, this project is about refusing to
thebrokenspine.co.uk
September 14, 2025 at 10:48 AM
#NotJustPretty — we don’t platform women to show them. We publish them to hear them.
Poetry. Art. Defiance.
Read it: thebrokenspine.co.uk/2025/09/14/notjustpretty-womens-voices-womens-power/
@karenpgonzalez.bsky.social
@jenwithwords.bsky.social
@petitecreature1.bsky.social
Poetry. Art. Defiance.
Read it: thebrokenspine.co.uk/2025/09/14/notjustpretty-womens-voices-womens-power/
@karenpgonzalez.bsky.social
@jenwithwords.bsky.social
@petitecreature1.bsky.social
'And in this dream, the same stone could tour through all the oceans of the world, never stopping once to sink...'
Touching blend of imagination & reality by Matt Leibel @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
#fiction #flashfiction
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
Touching blend of imagination & reality by Matt Leibel @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
#fiction #flashfiction
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
How to Skip a Rock Across the Pacific by Matt Leibel
Imagine the platonic ideal of the perfect skip. It’s a dream I had the first time I ever stepped foot on a Southern California beach as a kid: a stone I could skim off the sunglossed surface, that wou...
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com
September 14, 2025 at 5:56 AM
'And in this dream, the same stone could tour through all the oceans of the world, never stopping once to sink...'
Touching blend of imagination & reality by Matt Leibel @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
#fiction #flashfiction
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
Touching blend of imagination & reality by Matt Leibel @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
#fiction #flashfiction
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
'As the bottom of the hills came into view ... Maya savored the final twists and turns ... a tight holding on before letting go. Just like her marriage.'
Excellent weaving of the physical & emotional by Divya Durgadas @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
Excellent weaving of the physical & emotional by Divya Durgadas @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
Up and Down by Divya Durgadas
If you close your eyes and listen to snow falling, you will hear a crinkling softness, almost likethe sound of burning wood. If not for your other senses, it is uncanny how you can mistake one for the...
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com
September 14, 2025 at 5:41 AM
'As the bottom of the hills came into view ... Maya savored the final twists and turns ... a tight holding on before letting go. Just like her marriage.'
Excellent weaving of the physical & emotional by Divya Durgadas @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
Excellent weaving of the physical & emotional by Divya Durgadas @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
'And even then, the sea will still be there. Of course, the sea doesn’t just go away. Place your hand here and listen.'
Wonderful reminder to stop & listen to nature & your heart in this piece by Mizuki Yamagen @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
#fiction
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
Wonderful reminder to stop & listen to nature & your heart in this piece by Mizuki Yamagen @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
#fiction
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
Beyond the Chattering Flush by Mizuki Yamagen
Here’s how you do it. Sit on the ledge, where the ivy climbs, threading dark green rivulets over the old stone wall. Place your hand here where the slate is firm and constant. See the little dip, wher...
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com
September 14, 2025 at 5:33 AM
'And even then, the sea will still be there. Of course, the sea doesn’t just go away. Place your hand here and listen.'
Wonderful reminder to stop & listen to nature & your heart in this piece by Mizuki Yamagen @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
#fiction
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
Wonderful reminder to stop & listen to nature & your heart in this piece by Mizuki Yamagen @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
#fiction
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
'I think I prefer the sunshine, the way I think I prefer chocolate to vanilla and parties to rest but then the mist rolls in and I am reminded.'
Lovely piece by @thorntonforreal.bsky.social @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
Lovely piece by @thorntonforreal.bsky.social @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
This One Comes With its own set of Obstacles, Said the Real Estate Agent by Lisa Thornton
When it’s misty, you’re likely to spot deer in the cemetery. The sound of the train travels through the air and arrives at your windows louder, amplitudes leaping on water molecules, I guess. I think ...
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com
September 14, 2025 at 5:21 AM
'I think I prefer the sunshine, the way I think I prefer chocolate to vanilla and parties to rest but then the mist rolls in and I am reminded.'
Lovely piece by @thorntonforreal.bsky.social @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
Lovely piece by @thorntonforreal.bsky.social @lit-namjooning.bsky.social
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
Reposted by Laura Besley
Submit your work here! jmww.submittable.com/Submit
JMWW Submission Manager
jmww is a literary journal publishing fiction, flash, poetry, essays, interviews, book reviews, and other miscellany weekly. We are happy you found us!We want to see your work, but don't be all stalke...
jmww.submittable.com
January 16, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Submit your work here! jmww.submittable.com/Submit
Reposted by Laura Besley
Reposted by Laura Besley
As Chosen by Judge Amy Photiou
www.linkedin.com/in/amy-photiou
FFF Competition Twenty-Nine Shortlisted:
On The Wind
by Karen Arnold
#FlashFiction
#writingcommunity
#flashfiction
freeflashfiction.com/fiction/comp...
www.linkedin.com/in/amy-photiou
FFF Competition Twenty-Nine Shortlisted:
On The Wind
by Karen Arnold
#FlashFiction
#writingcommunity
#flashfiction
freeflashfiction.com/fiction/comp...
Competition Twenty-Nine Shortlisted: On The Wind – Free Flash Fiction
She cut her hair yesterday. Knotted her fingers into it, hacked at it with kitchen scissors that were too blunt for the job and the unwanted lengths fell to the bathroom floor like shed snakeskin, dry...
freeflashfiction.com
September 13, 2025 at 9:41 AM
As Chosen by Judge Amy Photiou
www.linkedin.com/in/amy-photiou
FFF Competition Twenty-Nine Shortlisted:
On The Wind
by Karen Arnold
#FlashFiction
#writingcommunity
#flashfiction
freeflashfiction.com/fiction/comp...
www.linkedin.com/in/amy-photiou
FFF Competition Twenty-Nine Shortlisted:
On The Wind
by Karen Arnold
#FlashFiction
#writingcommunity
#flashfiction
freeflashfiction.com/fiction/comp...
I'm absolutely delighted that my piece, 'These days you're kinda okay', has found such a loving home with @lit-namjooning.bsky.social 💜 Many thanks to editors, Hema, Lakshmi & Melissa.
#amwriting #writingcommunity #fiction #flashfiction
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
#amwriting #writingcommunity #fiction #flashfiction
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
These Days You’re Kinda Okay by Laura Besley
Imagine you’re forty-something and you’re kinda okay about who you are these days andalthough you never thought you would be, you are, and decide the reason you’re kinda okaythese days is because you’...
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com
September 13, 2025 at 9:04 AM
I'm absolutely delighted that my piece, 'These days you're kinda okay', has found such a loving home with @lit-namjooning.bsky.social 💜 Many thanks to editors, Hema, Lakshmi & Melissa.
#amwriting #writingcommunity #fiction #flashfiction
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...
#amwriting #writingcommunity #fiction #flashfiction
literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/...