Okay.
Three days to write a 1750 word romance.
Again.
As I have said in the past, romance is far from my wheelhouse. But I *think* I have an idea that might make this more palatable for myself, and may make for a pretty fun story, too.
#shortstorychallenge2026
Made it to the second round in @nycmidnight.bsky.social 's
#shortstorychallenge2026 !
So proud and honored!
Now I just have to write this second story.. 😬
Got feedback on my short story "Lines of Demarcation" from the 1st Round judges at @nycmidnight.bsky.social's #ShortStoryChallenge2026, and all three had praise for the world building of Cibus City.
But that's because I've been to that methane-drowned town before.
It's starting to feel like home.
Unsurprisingly didn't make the cut for the #ShortStoryChallenge2026 round 2, however! This judge's feedback cracked me up (because SAME):
"After I got over my initial horror that Y2K fit the definition of historic fiction"
(I didn't make the rules, only followed them 😭)
Yes! "Lines of Demarcation," my first round entry for the @nycmidnight.bsky.social #ShortStoryChallenge2026 (and sequel to "The Stuff Legends are Made Of) earned 2nd place in my group!
Round 2, later this week!
Welp, after a freak, brief power outage that made me see that MS Office has changed how they do autosave, causing me to lose a shit ton of words & reconstruct it all, I managed to turn in my @nycmidnight.bsky.social #ShortStoryChallenge2026 with a little over an hour to spare. Boo & yah!
Thanks @nycmidnight for the #ShortStoryChallenge2026. A tough one, but I got it done.
It’s a story about two gay hockey players who fall in love and oh crap.
Submitted!
I still don’t think there’s enough romance in my romance story, but it is what it is.
And considering this is the first thing I’ve written since January 2025, I’m pretty happy with what I got done.
#NYCMidnight #ShortStoryChallenge2026
My @nycmidnight.bsky.social #ShortStoryChallenge2026 crime caper story has been submitted at EXACTLY 2000 words!
Now the truly hard part...
Waiting until April 7th for the results!
Good luck to all the other 5,003 participating authors!
White background congratulations you have successfully uploaded your story for the Short Story Challenge 2026!
Wrote something last Sunday, one beta reader, and just a wee bit of tinkering before submitting. A first for confidence in my tale, or was it stubbornness? Time and results will tell.
Good Luck to all!
#shortstorychallenge2026 @nycmidnight.bsky.social
#ShortStoryChallenge2026 story complete a day early (I got the deadline wrong), IVDD dog all medicated and resting, ill wife also tucked in for the night.
Time for a comfort movie (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back), and some hockey equipment repair work.
#starwars
Despite the stress of the week, this short story has a deadline of midnight tonight, and I've got to cut the word count down by 33%.
Time to kill some darlings.
#amwriting #shortstory #writer #shortstorychallenge2026
I'm on draft 3 but more full of 😱😱😭😱😭😱😭😱😱 with every step forward. How much mixing is too much to not feel grounded in historical? It's hysterical, ha ha HA... 🤡
🎵 Somebody saAA—ve me— (name the show 😂)
#ShortStoryChallenge2026
Brainstorming for my second kick at #shortstorychallenge2026 .
To trust your intuition at the risk of being disqualified or write unlike yourself to be safe?
Guess which one is winning 🤓
Now I just have to figure out what the heck happens in the middle to get to the end 😂
#ShortStoryChallenge2026 #writerproblems #writerslife
The first round of the #ShortStoryChallenge2026 just kicked off, and of course I had to be assigned a genre I've never written anything in.
... welp, definitely a threat this time 😭
#ShortStoryChallenge2026
Okay, okay.
This has potential.
Brainstorming/outlining beings in the morning!
#amwriting #ShortStoryChallenge2026
I think the @nycmidnight.bsky.social #ShortStoryChallenge2026 might be just the writing boost I need to get back into that headspace. This will be the 4th year in a row I have participated.
Will I finally break through the wall and make it to the 3rd round?
🤞🤞🤞
🧵2/2
