S.A. McNaughton
@writermcnaughton.bsky.social
Short fiction writer, mom, and lover of words from Ypsilanti, MI.
http://writermcnaughton.wordpress.com
You can find this contest goblin on 11:59, Writing Battle, NYC Midnight, Not Quite Write, Globe Soup, and more...
https://linktr.ee/writermcnaughton
http://writermcnaughton.wordpress.com
You can find this contest goblin on 11:59, Writing Battle, NYC Midnight, Not Quite Write, Globe Soup, and more...
https://linktr.ee/writermcnaughton
#RhymingStoryChallenge: A week
To write six hundred words
I waited til I had six hours
To write the last two-thirds.
I could have used a bit more time
But I'd have frittered it away
At last my story's at an end
As so, too, is the day.
To write six hundred words
I waited til I had six hours
To write the last two-thirds.
I could have used a bit more time
But I'd have frittered it away
At last my story's at an end
As so, too, is the day.
September 14, 2025 at 3:40 AM
#RhymingStoryChallenge: A week
To write six hundred words
I waited til I had six hours
To write the last two-thirds.
I could have used a bit more time
But I'd have frittered it away
At last my story's at an end
As so, too, is the day.
To write six hundred words
I waited til I had six hours
To write the last two-thirds.
I could have used a bit more time
But I'd have frittered it away
At last my story's at an end
As so, too, is the day.
13th! My best finish yet in @twistinthetale.bsky.social #TwistedTournament!
Plus:
1x Best Last Line 🎭
1x Most Heartfelt 💔
4x Funniest 😂
1x Best Title 📖
(I shared anonymously and don't seem to be able to change that setting - it's called The Dread Tootling.)
Plus:
1x Best Last Line 🎭
1x Most Heartfelt 💔
4x Funniest 😂
1x Best Title 📖
(I shared anonymously and don't seem to be able to change that setting - it's called The Dread Tootling.)
September 9, 2025 at 12:49 PM
13th! My best finish yet in @twistinthetale.bsky.social #TwistedTournament!
Plus:
1x Best Last Line 🎭
1x Most Heartfelt 💔
4x Funniest 😂
1x Best Title 📖
(I shared anonymously and don't seem to be able to change that setting - it's called The Dread Tootling.)
Plus:
1x Best Last Line 🎭
1x Most Heartfelt 💔
4x Funniest 😂
1x Best Title 📖
(I shared anonymously and don't seem to be able to change that setting - it's called The Dread Tootling.)
I’m really excited to have made it to the next round in the #FlashFictionChallenge2025, much less gotten my first @nycmidnight.bsky.social 1st place finish!!!!!!
July 31, 2025 at 3:01 AM
I’m really excited to have made it to the next round in the #FlashFictionChallenge2025, much less gotten my first @nycmidnight.bsky.social 1st place finish!!!!!!
I haven't finished anything in nearly two months, so it's a relief to have written this.
500 words is not a lot! I started out with an idea that was too big for the word count and had to simplify a lot. I wasn't shooting for GOOD, but I'm really glad to have it DONE.
500 words is not a lot! I started out with an idea that was too big for the word count and had to simplify a lot. I wasn't shooting for GOOD, but I'm really glad to have it DONE.
July 27, 2025 at 1:01 PM
I haven't finished anything in nearly two months, so it's a relief to have written this.
500 words is not a lot! I started out with an idea that was too big for the word count and had to simplify a lot. I wasn't shooting for GOOD, but I'm really glad to have it DONE.
500 words is not a lot! I started out with an idea that was too big for the word count and had to simplify a lot. I wasn't shooting for GOOD, but I'm really glad to have it DONE.
Done with my @notquitewrite.com story!
April 27, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Done with my @notquitewrite.com story!
Honorable mention in the @nycmidnight.bsky.social #ShortStoryChallenge2025
April 2, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Honorable mention in the @nycmidnight.bsky.social #ShortStoryChallenge2025
I’m so happy to have made it to the Sweet 16!!!
March 16, 2025 at 10:16 PM
I’m so happy to have made it to the Sweet 16!!!
Today I won:
1) 1st place in the @twistinthetale.bsky.social Feedback Festival mini-game!
2) A free registration for the #WritingBattle Fear Flash Fiction contest!
3) 7/10 of my #WritingBattle duels (my best score so far)!
4) Entry to the Winter Flash Fiction #WritingBattle Final Showdown!
1) 1st place in the @twistinthetale.bsky.social Feedback Festival mini-game!
2) A free registration for the #WritingBattle Fear Flash Fiction contest!
3) 7/10 of my #WritingBattle duels (my best score so far)!
4) Entry to the Winter Flash Fiction #WritingBattle Final Showdown!
March 14, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Today I won:
1) 1st place in the @twistinthetale.bsky.social Feedback Festival mini-game!
2) A free registration for the #WritingBattle Fear Flash Fiction contest!
3) 7/10 of my #WritingBattle duels (my best score so far)!
4) Entry to the Winter Flash Fiction #WritingBattle Final Showdown!
1) 1st place in the @twistinthetale.bsky.social Feedback Festival mini-game!
2) A free registration for the #WritingBattle Fear Flash Fiction contest!
3) 7/10 of my #WritingBattle duels (my best score so far)!
4) Entry to the Winter Flash Fiction #WritingBattle Final Showdown!
One of these times, I’m going to make the final showdown! But not today.
March 7, 2025 at 8:24 PM
One of these times, I’m going to make the final showdown! But not today.
I registered for @nycmidnight.bsky.social’s #ShortStoryChallenge2025 back in October, forgot about it for months, decided not to enter, then was surprised to wake up Saturday morning to prompts! I guess I’m doing the thing!
January 28, 2025 at 2:42 PM
I registered for @nycmidnight.bsky.social’s #ShortStoryChallenge2025 back in October, forgot about it for months, decided not to enter, then was surprised to wake up Saturday morning to prompts! I guess I’m doing the thing!
Welcome, all you new Bluesky #writingbattle Battle Ravens! And welcome to anyone else who'd like to join us! writingbattle.com
January 28, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Welcome, all you new Bluesky #writingbattle Battle Ravens! And welcome to anyone else who'd like to join us! writingbattle.com
8) A Buccaneer and His Parents’ Fear
Young Frederic seeks a life of adventure far away from his helicopter parents
#nycmidnight participants can read at: forums.nycmidnight.com/topic61986_p...
Young Frederic seeks a life of adventure far away from his helicopter parents
#nycmidnight participants can read at: forums.nycmidnight.com/topic61986_p...
November 23, 2024 at 12:17 AM
8) A Buccaneer and His Parents’ Fear
Young Frederic seeks a life of adventure far away from his helicopter parents
#nycmidnight participants can read at: forums.nycmidnight.com/topic61986_p...
Young Frederic seeks a life of adventure far away from his helicopter parents
#nycmidnight participants can read at: forums.nycmidnight.com/topic61986_p...
7) What (Is) the Dickens? [Comedy]
In which our author is visited by three spirits who teach her the true spirit of baseball, or something
(I wrote this ten years ago in a humor writing workshop, and it’s about me studying for #jeopardy)
writermcnaughton.wordpress.com/writing/what...
In which our author is visited by three spirits who teach her the true spirit of baseball, or something
(I wrote this ten years ago in a humor writing workshop, and it’s about me studying for #jeopardy)
writermcnaughton.wordpress.com/writing/what...
November 22, 2024 at 11:33 PM
7) What (Is) the Dickens? [Comedy]
In which our author is visited by three spirits who teach her the true spirit of baseball, or something
(I wrote this ten years ago in a humor writing workshop, and it’s about me studying for #jeopardy)
writermcnaughton.wordpress.com/writing/what...
In which our author is visited by three spirits who teach her the true spirit of baseball, or something
(I wrote this ten years ago in a humor writing workshop, and it’s about me studying for #jeopardy)
writermcnaughton.wordpress.com/writing/what...
6) Most Valuable Portal [Comedy]
A misunderstanding results in a college football quarterback and his fiancée being transported to the future
#NYCMidnight participants can read at: forums.nycmidnight.com/r1-g17-most-...
A misunderstanding results in a college football quarterback and his fiancée being transported to the future
#NYCMidnight participants can read at: forums.nycmidnight.com/r1-g17-most-...
November 22, 2024 at 9:24 PM
6) Most Valuable Portal [Comedy]
A misunderstanding results in a college football quarterback and his fiancée being transported to the future
#NYCMidnight participants can read at: forums.nycmidnight.com/r1-g17-most-...
A misunderstanding results in a college football quarterback and his fiancée being transported to the future
#NYCMidnight participants can read at: forums.nycmidnight.com/r1-g17-most-...
5) Here are some two sentence-horror stories that were semifinalists in @ypsilibrary.bsky.social's horror shorts contest last month:
November 22, 2024 at 9:14 PM
5) Here are some two sentence-horror stories that were semifinalists in @ypsilibrary.bsky.social's horror shorts contest last month:
In a New Light [Drama]
Deirdre learns how to appreciate a difficult library patron and discovers something about love along the way
Written for #Reedsy. Available to the public at: blog.reedsy.com/short-story/...
Deirdre learns how to appreciate a difficult library patron and discovers something about love along the way
Written for #Reedsy. Available to the public at: blog.reedsy.com/short-story/...
November 22, 2024 at 3:27 PM
In a New Light [Drama]
Deirdre learns how to appreciate a difficult library patron and discovers something about love along the way
Written for #Reedsy. Available to the public at: blog.reedsy.com/short-story/...
Deirdre learns how to appreciate a difficult library patron and discovers something about love along the way
Written for #Reedsy. Available to the public at: blog.reedsy.com/short-story/...
Stowaway [Thriller]
A disgruntled former employee survives a storm and is on the run for forty days and forty nights
#TwistintheTale participants can read at: twistinthetale.com/forum/thread...
A disgruntled former employee survives a storm and is on the run for forty days and forty nights
#TwistintheTale participants can read at: twistinthetale.com/forum/thread...
November 22, 2024 at 3:24 PM
Stowaway [Thriller]
A disgruntled former employee survives a storm and is on the run for forty days and forty nights
#TwistintheTale participants can read at: twistinthetale.com/forum/thread...
A disgruntled former employee survives a storm and is on the run for forty days and forty nights
#TwistintheTale participants can read at: twistinthetale.com/forum/thread...
Poison [Thriller]
Stranded at a hostel in a blizzard, a CIA agent lifts documents from a KGB courier and is helped out by an unexpected ally.
#WritingBattle participants can read at:
writingbattle.com/story/debrie...
Stranded at a hostel in a blizzard, a CIA agent lifts documents from a KGB courier and is helped out by an unexpected ally.
#WritingBattle participants can read at:
writingbattle.com/story/debrie...
November 22, 2024 at 3:08 PM
Poison [Thriller]
Stranded at a hostel in a blizzard, a CIA agent lifts documents from a KGB courier and is helped out by an unexpected ally.
#WritingBattle participants can read at:
writingbattle.com/story/debrie...
Stranded at a hostel in a blizzard, a CIA agent lifts documents from a KGB courier and is helped out by an unexpected ally.
#WritingBattle participants can read at:
writingbattle.com/story/debrie...
The Tale of Bouba and Kiki
If you dare to go out in the wood, you might meet a creature who’s up to no good. Read this story, before it’s too late – learn about Boubakiki and you might not get ate.
#NYCMidnight participants can read at: forums.nycmidnight.com/r2-g12-the-t...
If you dare to go out in the wood, you might meet a creature who’s up to no good. Read this story, before it’s too late – learn about Boubakiki and you might not get ate.
#NYCMidnight participants can read at: forums.nycmidnight.com/r2-g12-the-t...
November 22, 2024 at 11:59 AM
The Tale of Bouba and Kiki
If you dare to go out in the wood, you might meet a creature who’s up to no good. Read this story, before it’s too late – learn about Boubakiki and you might not get ate.
#NYCMidnight participants can read at: forums.nycmidnight.com/r2-g12-the-t...
If you dare to go out in the wood, you might meet a creature who’s up to no good. Read this story, before it’s too late – learn about Boubakiki and you might not get ate.
#NYCMidnight participants can read at: forums.nycmidnight.com/r2-g12-the-t...
Titles, synopses, and the graphics I created to go with them
November 22, 2024 at 11:00 AM
Titles, synopses, and the graphics I created to go with them
Here’s my writing shelf! In case this doesn’t make it obvious, I’m still trying to figure out my favorite genre(s).
November 19, 2024 at 4:41 PM
Here’s my writing shelf! In case this doesn’t make it obvious, I’m still trying to figure out my favorite genre(s).
November 15, 2024 at 7:54 PM
I’m going to have a busy weekend, with both #twistedtournament and #nycmidnight!
November 14, 2024 at 12:37 PM
I’m going to have a busy weekend, with both #twistedtournament and #nycmidnight!