My story “Agnes Unvirgin” has been posted on Fiction on the Web. It's my first illustrated publication. I find it oddly both surprising and predictable. What do you folks think?
www.fictionontheweb.co.uk/2025/11/agne...
📚💙 @charliefish.bsky.social
. . . . It's written with an elegant, confident voice, and the crisp characterization gives Agnes a vivid presence in the story.” - Charlie Fish, Editor-in-Chief, Fiction on the Web
“In a fictionalised version of medieval Ireland, scruffy and absent-minded Agnes consults some curiously clairvoyant locals about how to become a saint. This felt very original, self-aware, and funny . . . .
On Nov 14, 2025, my piece "Agnes Unvirgin" will be story of the day on the UK website Fiction on the Web. This will be my first literary publication since 2003.
📚💙
www.fictionontheweb.co.uk
No hard feelings: Indoors, white and grey patterned carpet. Blurred image of cat circling in on still mouse.
Doing: Find 5 lies. Array them.
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#FoundLies #writingcommunity #5lines #booksky
5/5
No hard feelings.
Blocks all harmful rays.
Either way is fine with me.
We will give the utmost consideration to all suggestions.
Easy to insert.
I agree. This repetition doesn't seem to serve any literary purpose.
Cat sitting atop a pile of several unopened Ikea boxes in an otherwise unfurnished room. Cat's head is bowed, and he appears to be reading a label on the top box.
Doing: Find 5 lies. Array them.
📚💙
#FoundLies #writingcommunity #5lines #booksky
4/5
Offer good anytime.
We do it all for you.
Easy-to-follow instructions included.
The minister accepts the recommendations of the commission and will immediately proceed with implementation.
Never rusts.
Lush forest in foreground. Tall dead tree extending high above trees. Ocean can be seen in the distance, then another expanse of forested land.
Doing: Find 5 lies. Array them as a quintain, AKA pentastich.
📚💙
#FoundLies #poetrychallenge #writingcommunity #5lines #booksky
3/5
One size fits all.
Comments will be kept confidential.
Bracket C will slide smoothly into Slot 6.
We only have your best interests at heart.
Overlooking beach.
Door is open to small space with one large pipe and pieces of metal. Very dirty floor. "You know my door is always open."
Doing: Find 5 lies. Array them as a quintain. Pentastich, if you prefer your etymology Greek.
📚💙
#FoundLies #poetrychallenge #writingcommunity #5lines #booksky
2/5
No side effects.
Gets out the toughest stains.
You know my door is always open.
This breed of cat never needs grooming.
Fully loaded.
Beautiful
Photo: Cat under wooden furniture. Only face and paws visible. I only have eyes for you.
Find 5 lies. Array them as a quintain. Pentastich, if you prefer your etymology Greek.
📚💙
#FoundLies #poetrychallenge #writingcommunity #5lines
Never needs ironing.
I only have eyes for you.
We explained all this when we hired you.
Softens and shines while leaving hair manageable.
Safety first.
Book Cover: Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley
Photo: Timothy Findley with cat
🌷 Doing: 20 books that have stayed with me or influenced me.
One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order.
No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
20/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
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Photo: Ami McKay
Book cover: Half Spent Was the Night by Ami McKay
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20/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
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It was also one of Scott's favourites.
Cover: A Bird in the House by Margaret Laurence
Photo: Margaret Laurence
Choose 20 female authors whose work you admire. One author per day for 20 days, in no particular order.
19/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
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Book cover: The Antiquary by Sir Walter Scott
Painting of Sir Walter Scott
🌷 Doing: 20 books that have stayed with me or influenced me.
One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order.
No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
19/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
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Book cover: The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich
Photo: Louise Erdrich
🌷 Doing: 20 books that have stayed with me or influenced me.
One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order.
No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
18/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
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Book cover: Accordion Crimes by Annie Proulx
Photo: Annie Proulx
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18/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
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Book cover: The Greenlanders A novel by Jane Smiley
Photo: Jane Smiley
Choose 20 female authors whose work you admire. One author per day for 20 days, in no particular order.
17/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
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Book cover: Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling Illustrated by the Author
Photo: Rudyard Kipling
🌷 Doing: 20 books that have stayed with me or influenced me.
One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order.
No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
17/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
#booksky
#bookchallenge
#writingcommunity #writing #amwriting
Book cover: Varina by Charles Frazier
Photo: Charles Frazier
🌷 Doing: 20 books that have stayed with me or influenced me.
One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order.
No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
16/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
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Book cover: Hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie reading a newspaper
Choose 20 female authors whose work you admire. One author per day for 20 days, in no particular order.
16/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
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Book cover: Scenes of Clerical Life by George Eliot
George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)
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15/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
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George Eliot was the pen name of Mary Ann Evans.
Book cover: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Photo: Chinua Achebe
🌷 Doing: 20 books that have stayed with me or influenced me.
One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order.
No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
15/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
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#bookchallenge
#writingcommunity #writing #amwriting
Book cover: Letters to Alice: On First Reading Jane Austen by Fay Weldon
Fay Weldon
Choose 20 female authors whose work you admire. One author per day for 20 days, in no particular order.
14/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
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Book cover: We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy by Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak
🌷 Doing: 20 books that have stayed with me or influenced me.
One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order.
No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
14/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
#booksky
#bookchallenge
#writingcommunity #writing #amwriting
Book cover: Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Nothup
Solomon Northup with his violin
🌷 Doing: 20 books that have stayed with me or influenced me.
One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order.
No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
13/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
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Ethel Wilson
Book cover: Mrs. Golightly and Other Stories by Ethel Wilson
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13/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
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Book cover: The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood
Photo of Margaret Atwood
Choose 20 female authors whose work you admire. One author per day for 20 days, in no particular order.
12/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
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Book cover: Dubliners by James Joyce
Photograph: James Joyce
🌷 Doing: 20 books that have stayed with me or influenced me.
One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order.
No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
12/20 (My days are not consecutive!)
#booksky
#bookchallenge
#writingcommunity #writing #amwriting