Thanks to all who submitted 🙌🏼 We're busy reading subs now, will be open again next quarter.

3 days and counting... send us your stories by 15 April.

There is a you who’s still twenty-two and sunburnt, sharp knees and elbows in drawstring trousers and washed-out T shirts. Who rides the Himalayan Queen from Chandigarh Junction with a gap-year backpacker you met in Calcutta.

Oh man, check out @patiencemackarness.bsky.social in @nffr.bsky.social !

Submission Guidelines | New Flash Fiction Review

We are open! Send us your bold, weird, wonderful words.

Wordcount - 500 max, we love 100 word stories
Deadline - 15 April
No previous pubs
Sim subs are fine

Read past issues & award noms to get a sense of what we like. Be brave!

Submission Guidelines | NFFR share.google/iEJhTIUa1xIR...

The Potential of Radio and Rain | A Review

"Chang’s prose lets us float on the idea, and for a moment, breathe the world in and dream. Sometimes—maybe—it’s enough to touch the possibility of something more."

This review from Claudine Lit left me teary-eyed. Huge thanks to @claudineliterary.bsky.social ❤️

Off to read the rest of the issue!

SmokeLong Fitness — The Community Workshop - SmokeLong Quarterly In September 2022 SmokeLong launched a workshop environment/community christened SmokeLong Fitness. This community workshop is happening right now on our dedicated workshop site. If you choose to join...

It's sign-up time! If you'd like to start SmokeLong Fitness in April, we are inviting all new members to join the workshop on March 25th to do some onboarding. Come write with us! Monthly subscriptions are possible until the end of March, then again in August. www.smokelong.com/smokelong-fi...

The claw machine by Nadia Born | Issue #40 now offers babies for prizes. limited-edition grow-in-water ones that you can take home. no special instructions.

Hard to beat the first line by Nadia Born in @nffr.bsky.social

"The claw machine now offers babies for prizes. limited-edition grow-in-water ones that you can take home."

The claw machine by Nadia Born | New Flash Fiction Review share.google/1EMYxD70CKnB...

So good, isn't it? Thanks for sharing Rosaleen, and for your pillow talk tale ☺️

Delighted to see Train Man by @patiencemackarness.bsky.social from our last issue featured in @mattkendrick.bsky.social's #Mondettes newsletter. This month it was @mizuki-yama.bsky.social selecting the stories.

Do subscribe for great flash, insights from top writers & a few writing prompts.

Thanks for sharing this James!

Loved this one from the first line!

Agree Matt, the interweaving of the whale and this family crisis is so well done.

Thanks for sharing, Matt! Such a good title and affecting piece.

Thanks for sharing, Dan. It is a gem, isn't it?

Thanks for sharing this one, Dan. Love the way Rachel weaves whales into this story.

Thanks for sharing James. We love the atmosphere in this one, too.

It's so powerful, isn't it?

Thanks for sharing James 👍🏼

Rock, paper, scissors by Rob Walton | Issue #40 On Monday a large stone crashes through the window. It is wrapped in an abusive letter. Eva doesn’t know what to do.

"On Monday a large stone crashes through the window. It is wrapped in an abusive letter. Eva doesn’t know what to do. She worries. Is it a neighbour? Young people? Old people?"

An unexpected event goes in an unexpected direction in this story by Rob Walton.

newflashfiction.com/rock-paper-s...

About the Longevity of Labelling Bell Jars by Mandira Pattnaik | Issue #40 I do understand the way my loving husband labels the bell jars, even though I can see through the glass what they are filled-with—salt, sugar, biscuits, and flour.

"I do understand the way my loving husband labels the bell jars, even though I can see through the glass what they are filled-with—salt, sugar, biscuits, and flour."

Charming story about togetherness in grief and hope by @mandirapattnaik.bsky.social in Issue 40.

newflashfiction.com/about-the-lo...

Bamboo Canes by Tarmo Rajasaari | Issue #40 Yai is praying. She does that every evening around this time. Yai doesn't speak English.

"Yai is praying. She recites a prayer book where the verses are laid out in large print, ancient Sanskrit language. Yai disagrees with the Oncology team and says that the chanting will make Apinya recover."

Don't miss Bamboo Canes by Tarmo Rajasaari in Issue 40.

newflashfiction.com/bamboo-canes...

Train Man by Patience Mackarness | Issue #40 There is a you who still follows the tracks through India, photographing engines with names like Locomotive Sentinel and Last Star.

"Who still looks out from a moving carriage on tea plantations, holy rivers, red-dust fields and red-haze sunsets, not yet believing in your future."

Beautiful sweep through a life, nostalgia for India & all the what ifs, by @patiencemackarness.bsky.social

newflashfiction.com/train-man-by...

Bamboo Silk by Rosaleen Lynch | Issue #40 Pillow talk turns to silk; real or faux. In winter’s lowlight, smoke rises from the bedside ashtray, as the hotel window keeps the lunchtime city at bay.

"She tells him, real silk shimmers, warms in the hand. A shadow of cloud darkens the room’s margins, where earlier they’d cast-off their clothes."

Bamboo Silk by @rosaleenlynch.bsky.social deftly weaves in place, uses white space so well, doesn't waste a word.

newflashfiction.com/bamboo-silk-...

Rodeo, My Way by Tess Kelly | Issue #40 I watched that cowboy through the fog of spray-on sunscreen, sunscreen that oughta be outlawed –up, down and sideways–the way it fucks with oceans, with air, with the sea turtles lolling on the Maui b...

"I heard the laughter of his drunk-at-noon buddies, and watched that cowboy, watched him straddle a turtle, the largest of those who’d flippered across the sand to drowse in the sun..."

Great energy & rage in this story by Tess Kelly

newflashfiction.com/rodeo-my-way...

Beached by Rachel M. Hollis | Issue #40 “I’m a beached whale,” my mom says, tugging at her stomach in the mirror like she’s trying to peel it off.

“Beached means sick. Or hunted. Or lost. It means you drifted too far from home and couldn’t find the tide again."

A powerful tale from @rachelmhollis.bsky.social in Issue 40.

newflashfiction.com/beached-by-r...

Vishnu’s Navel: My Creation Myth by Sherry Duggal | Issue #40 My family friend’s dog tugs on my white frilled cotton dress—saves me from falling down the stairs. I am four years old. My mom says that it didn’t happen.

"My family friend’s dog tugs on my white frilled cotton dress—saves me from falling down the stairs. I am four years old. My mom says that it didn’t happen."

Effective use of fragments, mythology and an unverifiable past in this story by Sherry Duggal.

newflashfiction.com/vishnus-nave...

Exit Wound by Bethany Bruno | Issue #40 The night the sirens came, my mother was labeling leftovers. She used blue painter’s tape and a black marker that bled through plastic.

"The night the sirens came, my mother was labeling leftovers.

She used blue painter’s tape and a black marker that bled through plastic.

Rice-Monday. Chicken-Tuesday."

Brilliant use of external events and pauses in Exit Wounds by Bethany Bruno.

newflashfiction.com/exit-wounds-...

The claw machine by Nadia Born | Issue #40 now offers babies for prizes. limited-edition grow-in-water ones that you can take home. no special instructions.

"the claw machine now offers babies for prizes. limited-edition grow-in-water ones that you can take home."

Read The Claw Machine by @nadiaborn.com in Issue 40 of #NFFR. Wonderfully weird, beautifully written.

newflashfiction.com/the-claw-mac...

It's a very fine craft choice, Rachel!

Delighted that you trusted us with your words, Nadia. Those first two sentences! "the claw machine now offers babies for prizes. limited-edition grow-in-water ones that you can take home." 👏