Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #shortstory, aggregated by home.social.
In a world where every moment is monitored, what happens when one little girl starts answering questions before they're asked?
Read "The After Question" by Mathew Alfes the latest issue of Perseid Prophecies.
https://perseidprophecies.ca/issue-11-autumn-2026/the-after-question/
Warning to Authors: Two New Scams Targeting You
#bookmarketingscam #writingcommunity #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #shortstory #authors #amediting #fiction #booksky
writerbeware.blog/2026/01/30/...
Two New Impersonation Scams to...
Marketing scams aimed at writers via email are rampant. Here’s the latest list of scammers:
[email protected]
[email protected]
#bookmarketingscam #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #amediting #fiction #authors #shortstory #booksky
Marketing scams aimed at writers via email are rampant. Here’s the latest list of scammers:
[email protected]
[email protected]
#bookmarketingscam #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #amediting #fiction #authors #shortstory #booksky
My Name Is Joe and I Write Stories
Leonardi identifies primarily as a storyteller rather than a formal academic, emphasizing raw, narrative-driven impact over rigid grammatical structures. His personal website and bibliography can be explored via his Amazon Author Profile. About the Author Doc Joe an author who frequently writes about heavy psychological, emotional, and health-related themes. His other self-published works in The Damaged and Broken Collection and his broader catalog include: The books is widely available […]https://shortstoryscribe.wordpress.com/2026/10/14/my-name-is-joe-and-i-write-stories/
Took a break from the 1245 page book, to read this little ol' 65 pager.
"Mestra," by Madeline Miller, is a short story recently published as a standalone.
This fable regards the twin evils of greed and arrogance. I had never heard the story before and was glad that I knew nothing going in. 4 ⭐️
Marketing scams aimed at writers via email are rampant. Here’s the latest list of scammers:
[email protected]
[email protected]
#bookmarketingscam #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #amediting #fiction #authors #shortstory #booksky
Marketing scams aimed at writers via email are rampant. Here’s the latest list of scammers: Empyron <[email protected]> [email protected] #bookmarketingscam #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #amediting #fiction #authors #shortstory #booksky
Warning to Authors: Fixing Google SEO Scam Targeting You
#bookmarketingscam #writingcommunity #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #shortstory #authors #amediting #fiction #booksky
www.seroundtable.com/seo-scam...
Google SEO Scam - Pay Google T...
Marketing scams aimed at writers via email are rampant. Here’s the latest list of scammers:
[email protected]
[email protected]
#bookmarketingscam #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #amediting #fiction #authors #shortstory #booksky
Warning to Authors: Web design scammers targeting authors
#bookmarketingscam #writingcommunity #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #shortstory #authors #amediting #fiction #booksky
fraud.org/web_dev_scam
Marketing scams aimed at writers via email are rampant. Here’s the latest list of scammers: Laura Moses <[email protected]> [email protected] #bookmarketingscam #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #amediting #fiction #authors #shortstory #booksky
My Latest Newsletter Is Out! Incorporate Imagery into Your Story
#writingcommunity #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #shortstory #authors #amediting #fiction #booksky
inventingrealityediting.com/2...
Incorporate Imagery into Your ...
Warning to Authors: Beware of Marketing Scammers Targeting You
#bookmarketingscam #writingcommunity #authors #fiction #author #writing #amwriting #amediting #writer #booksky #writerslife #indieauthor #shortstory
writerbeware.blog/2026/08/28/...
Production Companies, Literary...
Warning to Authors: Beware of Marketing Scammers Targeting You
#bookmarketingscam #writingcommunity #authors #fiction #author #writing #amwriting #amediting #writer #booksky #writerslife #indieauthor #shortstory
writersweekly.com/angela-desk...
"Angela, check out this fake e...
Marketing scams aimed at writers via email are rampant. Here’s the latest list of scammers:
[email protected]
[email protected]
#bookmarketingscam #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #amediting #fiction #authors #shortstory #booksky
Marketing scams aimed at writers via email are rampant. Here’s the latest list of scammers: Laura Moses <[email protected]> [email protected] #bookmarketingscam #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #amediting #fiction #authors #shortstory #booksky
How to Stop Receiving Messages from Scammers
#bookmarketingscam #writingcommunity #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #shortstory #authors #amediting #fiction #booksky
inventingrealityediting.com/2...
How to Stop Receiving Messages...
What to Do – and Not to Do – When a Book Scammer Approaches You
#bookmarketingscam #writingcommunity #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #shortstory #authors #amediting #fiction #booksky
inventingrealityediting.com/2...
What to Do – and Not to Do – W...
M. Pax Tales / Poetic Greed
Human Written and Read
“I wouldn’t put them down until I had their replacements.”
Dr. Kantriss is celebrated as a hero who saved the world from a deadly pandemic. But behind her public image lies a history of deception, greed, and choices that cost her everything she loved. https://youtu.be/5KBIjH2NZus
#YouTube #audiobook #videobook #scifi #shortstory #books #sciencefiction
If you follow me, you have a sense of humour. If you're reading this, you're a reader. I’ve put this story online, free, gratis and for nothing, it's a twelve minute read. If you like it, maybe you’ll be curious enough to risk 99p for one of my short story collections. Maybe you’ll be smart enough to save some money by buying a compilation. Maybe you’ll be brave enough to buy my novel. Whatever happens, I hope you enjoy ‘Vincent'. http://aarondavid.co.uk/Vincent.html #freeread #shortstory #funny #pleaseboost
If you follow me, you have a sense of humour. If you're reading this, you're a reader. I’ve put this story online, free, gratis and for nothing, it's a twelve minute read. If you like it, maybe you’ll be curious enough to risk 99p for one of my short story collections. Maybe you’ll be smart enough to save some money by buying a compilation. Maybe you’ll be brave enough to buy my novel. Whatever happens, I hope you enjoy ‘Vincent'. http://aarondavid.co.uk/Vincent.html #freeread #shortstory #funny #pleaseboost
Steve thought he was going for a pleasant walk in the woods. He never expected the sexual experience that would change his life.
https://www.inkitt.com/stories/1384840
#romanticerotica #NSFW #fantasy #dryad #shortstory
My Latest Newsletter Is Out! Incorporate Imagery into Your Story
#writingcommunity #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #shortstory #authors #amediting #fiction #booksky
inventingrealityediting.com/2026/10/13/t...
Incorporate Imagery into Your ...
Live in BCS #467, Eighteenth Anniversary Double-Issue: "Every Force Evolves a Form" by Tom Marcinko.
"the Nursery: our garden, our graveyard. Here strange and wonderful growths emerge from the buried hearts of criminals who kept their silence unto death. Unspoken sins must make themselves known. They force their way up into the light when they are ready. They take years to ripen. Then we make good use of the poisons they yield."
https://beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/every-force-evolves-a-form/
#fantasy #sff #shortstory
What to Do if You’ve Been Scammed
#bookmarketingscam #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #amediting #fiction #authors #shortstory #booksky
inventingrealityediting.com/2...
Ebook: https://books2read.com/TheMostPowerfulWords
Audiobook: https://owentyme.bandcamp.com/album/short-of-tyme-the-most-powerful-words
Hungry and hunting alone, a goblin boy meets a bouncing, blue slime and assumes it will be dinner. Naturally, the slime has other ideas, and the boy gets his hind-end handed to him by what’s supposed to be one of the weakest monsters of the forest.
@bookstodon
#author #indieauthor #writing #fantasy #fiction #goblin #shortstory #audiobook #prejudice
Marketing scams aimed at writers via email are rampant. Here’s the latest list of scammers: brian expert <[email protected]> meya pearson <[email protected]> #bookmarketingscam #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #amediting #fiction #authors #shortstory #booksky
"Ossen had to cut its trip around the block short. The rover was getting too warm in direct sunlight," Reggie said.
Ossen, the AI, was making its first excursion in the big wide world, but was thwarted by thermodynamics.
>Things were definitely atop-firing
"Ossen, do you mean 'overheating'?" Maggie asked.
>Yes, thank you. I will update my files
"What about adding more cooling fins?" Reggie asked.
"That might work for the rover, but I don't think it'll do anything to prevent Ossen's thesaurus from overheating," Antonio mused.
#MicroFiction #FlashFiction #TootFic #ShortStory #SciFi #ScienceFiction
If you follow me, you have a sense of humour. If you're reading this, you're a reader. I’ve put this story online, free, gratis and for nothing, it's a twelve minute read. If you like it, maybe you’ll be curious enough to risk 99p for one of my short story collections. Maybe you’ll be smart enough to save some money by buying a compilation. Maybe you’ll be brave enough to buy my novel. Whatever happens, I hope you enjoy ‘Vincent'. http://aarondavid.co.uk/Vincent.html #freeread #shortstory #funny #pleaseboost
If you follow me, you have a sense of humour. If you're reading this, you're a reader. I’ve put this story online, free, gratis and for nothing, it's a twelve minute read. If you like it, maybe you’ll be curious enough to risk 99p for one of my short story collections. Maybe you’ll be smart enough to save some money by buying a compilation. Maybe you’ll be brave enough to buy my novel. Whatever happens, I hope you enjoy ‘Vincent'. http://aarondavid.co.uk/Vincent.html #freeread #shortstory #funny #pleaseboost
The Old Ways: Chapter 34–Discovery
#fantasy #grimdarkfantasy #fantasy fiction Aftermath of the storm leads to an unwelcome discoveryhttps://gregcmillerauthor.blog/2026/10/12/the-old-ways-chapter-34-discovery/
Writer Beware: Book club scam targeting writers
#bookmarketingscam #writingcommunity #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #shortstory #authors #amediting #fiction #booksky
jasonsanford.substack.com/p/g...
Marketing scams aimed at writers via email are rampant. Here’s the latest list of scammers: brian expert <[email protected]> meya pearson <[email protected]> #bookmarketingscam #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #amediting #fiction #authors #shortstory #booksky
Inside Book Scammers: Why Scammers Target Authors
#bookmarketingscam #writingcommunity #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #shortstory #authors #amediting #fiction #booksky
inventingrealityediting.com/2...
Why Scammers Target Authors
How to Stop Receiving Messages from Scammers
#bookmarketingscam #writingcommunity #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #shortstory #authors #amediting #fiction #booksky
inventingrealityediting.com/2...
How to Stop Receiving Messages...
Marketing scams aimed at writers via email are rampant. Here’s the latest list of scammers: Cherokee Reese <[email protected]> Clue Sarah <[email protected]> #bookmarketingscam #author #writing #amwriting #writer #writerslife #indieauthor #amediting #fiction #authors #shortstory #booksky
Anyone for Pizza?
(1200 words)
I parked my moped by the huge black gates and looked down the moonlit drive at the enormous edifice of Humber House. I checked my phone. Yes, it was definitely the correct address. There was no bell push visible, so I tried the gates. Then I noticed a huge rusty padlock and chain holding them shut.
Dave at The Pizza Place had laughed. Oh, Maggie, Humber House, yes, it’s a bit scary, but they’re OK. A bit odd but friendly enough. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”
Now, I began to wonder if Dave had ever actually been here as I unpacked my pizza bag. To the right of the gates there was a narrow door in a high wire fence that ran around the estate. I turned the handle, and to my surprise, it opened.
As I walked down the drive, the moon was a bright silver disc hanging in the sky, casting an eerie light on the potholes and long grass at the edges of the old Edwardian asphalt. It was a long way to the house, perhaps a hundred metres. On either side of the drive, extensive lawns with sporadic trees, black silhouettes in the moonlight.
As I walked along the cracked and decaying driveway, clouds crossed the moon, turning a dark amber, making it hard to see where I was going. Thankfully, I could see a glimmer of light from a first-floor window. The inhabitants hadn’t left a phone number, so I was unable to alert them, but the delivery was on time. They ought to be expecting me. Suddenly, as the moon came out once more, bathing the silent lawns with its sinister silver light, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye.
Perhaps fifty metres away, a man, or something like a man, was running across the lawn, very fast and with no sound at all. The figure was completely black. I could see only the shape, like a dense shadow, even though now in full moonlight. I watched the figure run to one side of the house and disappear.
I admit I felt spooked by that as I reached the huge front door. To my surprise, it was ajar, so I plucked up my courage and went into the house. Inside it was cold and damp, and there was an aura of unlived-in-ness. “Hello, pizza delivery,” I called. “Hello, hello,” my voice reverberated in the long dark hallway. Ahead of me I saw a crack of light at a doorway. “Hello, pizza, hello!”
I entered a room with high bookcases against the walls, full of dusty volumes. Light came from a candelabra high above, where only about half of the bulbs were lit. I pulled a book out at random. Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie, complete with the dust jacket showing a wide, flat-bottomed glass containing yellow liquid, presumably sparkling wine or champagne. Behind it, on a black background, was a large green skull. And it still had the price in the corner – 4/6d. I checked the publishing information. ‘The Crime Club. 1945.’ Hmm, a first edition. From my days at Horton’s Antiquarian Books, I recognised it would be a valuable book, save for its mouldy condition. True, I was more of a dogsbody there, making tea and typing invoices, but I’d squirrelled away bits of information.
“Hello, is anybody here?” I called once more. Just then, I was startled by an enormous crash, like a pile of plates being dropped onto a stone floor from several feet. My heart pounded in my chest, and I felt clammy with a cold sweat. I put the pizza bag down and walked through a doorway and into a corridor in the direction of the crash. At the end was another door, slightly open, with light showing through it. “Hello, pizza delivery from The Pizza Place, hello!” I called, trying to steady my nerves. After all, they had ordered pizza. I had every right to be there. Unless I’d made a terrible mistake, of course, and this wasn’t the right house. I felt breathless at the thought. Maybe I should just go?
In the grand kitchen, bare surfaces, a few pots and pans on a stand. I opened a cupboard. Inside, a small pile of ancient dinner plates with cracked glaze and an intricate floral pattern. But no sign of what could have made the enormous crashing sound I’d heard. That was enough. I was off! I found my pizza bag and ran down the drive, praying that the little door in the fence would still be open. If not? Don’t think about it! Thankfully, it was, and my moped was still there, a dear old friend in the moonlight. I put the pizza bag in the tail box and put my helmet on, then I noticed something dark by the rear wheel. Like a small pool of something. I hoped to God it wasn’t a fuel leak. I bent down and touched a fingertip to it. By the light of my phone, it was something red and sticky. Yuk. At least it wasn’t petrol or oil, though. I wiped my fingers, started the moped up, and felt great relief as the machine roared off and carried me away from that horrible place.
There were no more deliveries, so I decided to have the pizza for tea. I’d be home in fifteen minutes, and it’d still be hot. If not, I’d pop it in the oven for a few minutes.
.
Back home, I put the oven on, having decided a quick reheat would do no harm. I headed to the fridge for some salad ingredients. I felt calmer. I didn’t know what it had been about. Perhaps I’d overreacted? Maybe they’d been called out at short notice. Thinking about it, I should have left the pizza on the kitchen table. Now, perhaps I’d get into trouble? I could imagine Dave and Trish at work: “They’d just popped out to buy some wine. They thought you’d leave it in the kitchen. Scaredy cat, scaredy cat!”
I tried not to think about it as I took a lemon and began to rub it on the grater. The tang of the citrus fruit stimulated my senses, reminding me of a wonderful holiday on the Italian island of Procida with Lawrence, a guy I was engaged to at the time. I remembered their limone pane – lemon bread – where the thick, sweet white pith is sliced right into fresh summer salads with red onion, chilli, mint, and, of course, abundant olio nuovo.
In an attempt to replicate that memory, I made a dressing with olive oil and the fresh lemon juice, together with some wine vinegar, and stirred them up in a small blue China jug with a little silver spoon before pouring it over an improvised salad: a mix of Romaine lettuce, watercress, sliced tomato, some grated red pepper, and olives from a jar at the back of a cupboard. Then I put on Steely Dan’s Aja, poured myself a large glass of nicely chilled Pinot Grigio, and went to the pizza box.
Inside was something I couldn’t quite comprehend at first. Then I began to scream, not so much at the severed hand but at the bloody, twitching fingers.
#AnyoneForPizza #FediverseWriters #flashfiction #Gore #horror #HorrorFiction #shortstory #spooky #UrbanLegend #WritersOfMastodon
[AI-generated image]
4 First in Line: Rubbing his nose, Bramble shuffled out of his den to find the berry bushes just beginning to bloom. For the first time ever, he had first pick - and he saved the biggest berry for the woodpecker.
Link in bio
#FairyTales #ChildrensStory #ShortStory #BedtimeStories #KidsBooks #KidsStory
[AI-generated image]
3 The Big Bonk: Months later, right on cue, a warm gust shook the branch. The pinecone tumbled down and bonked Bramble squarely on the nose, jolting him awake at the very first hint of spring.
Link in bio
#FairyTales #ChildrensStory #ShortStory #BedtimeStories #KidsBooks #KidsStory
[AI-generated image]
2 The Pinecone Plan: A clever woodpecker suggested tying a pinecone to a branch just above Bramble's den entrance, rigged so the first warm breeze of spring would knock it loose and drop it on his nose.
Link in bio
#FairyTales #ChildrensStory #ShortStory #BedtimeStories #KidsBooks #KidsStory
[AI-generated image]
The Sleepy Bear's Alarm Clock
1 One Winter Too Long: Bramble the bear always slept through the first weeks of spring, missing the best berries every single year. His friends were tired of saving him a smaller and smaller share.
Link in bio
#FairyTales #ChildrensStory #ShortStory #BedtimeStories #KidsBooks #KidsStory
A lesson in why one should never womanify an object.
https://www.inkitt.com/stories/1392636/chapters/1
#horror #scifiHorror #scifi #AI #android #gynoid #shortStory #scienceFiction
