Peatsmoke Journal

Bodies in Bags: Stories Stories

It's alive!!

BODIES IN BAGS is out there in the world. With another kickass cover from @egallagher.bsky.social

It's not going to be for everyone, but if you're into dark, gritty crime fiction, I hope you'll check it out.

bookshop.org/p/books/bodi...

Blue flier with I’M THE UNDERTOW fun fact: IN THE NOVEL, THERE IS A SCENE IN BARNES & NOBLE. I DIDN'T WORK AT B&N, BUT IN COLLEGE, I WORKED AT BORDERS BOOKSTORE IN SANTA BARBARA WHERE I MET A SLEW OF CELEBRITIES, MOST NOTABLY: JEFF BRIDGES, JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS, TROY AIKMAN, MARCUS ALLEN, JENNIE GARTH, AND MY FAVORITE: KATHY BATES.

8⃣ Tuesdays til launch!

🌊I'M THE UNDERTOW Fun Fact Countdown!

"He looks tired but peaceful, like a man who has finally found something to hold."
Read "Good Grief, Florida Man" by Bethany Bruno to find out what's behind the headline.
Art: “Even the Ocean Has Ears” by Carella Keil (originally published in The Storms Issue 2)

"Although both truth and utility change over time. In both directions."
Dilemmas. Read "Central Time" by J. M. C. Kane
Art: “Full Moon Over the Dom” by Nuala McEvoy

"So, together, she and the new boyfriend, they just weren’t “baby” type people, it seemed, or at least not earnest baby type people."
Read "Baby" by Marie Buck and ponder your baby-ality.
Art: "忠孝東路 Loyalty and Filial Piety East Road" by @acadialogue.bsky.social

"You feel hands that are not there, cold and clammy and pink, crawling up your thighs, spreading and pinching where your armor is not strong enough to protect you."
Suit up in your armor and read "This Is How to Burn a Witch" by Aeka V. Joshi.
Art: “Selene’s Horses” by Audrey Holmes

"I'll Be Waiting" by Ani King chosen for the Monarch Queer Literary Awards! "...I wanted to touch your hand that was touching your collar, I wanted to touch your collar that was touching your neck, I wanted to touch your neck." -Excerpt from "I'll Be Waiting", published in our Spring 2025 Issue

We'd like to extend our sincerest congratulations to @aniking.bsky.social for being chosen for the Monarch Queer Literary Awards!

In case you have missed it: we are OPEN for submissions!

This one feels extra special and thanks so much to @psmokejournal.bsky.social for publishing and nominating “I’ll Be Waiting” 🫶🫶🫶

🧣"忠孝東路 Loyalty and Filial Piety East Road" by Lilith Acadia Bluesky: @acadialogue.bsky.social
🧣“Around the Riverbend” by David Summerfield
🧣“Even the Ocean Has Ears” by Carella Keil

ART
🧣 BANNER: “Selene’s Horses” by Audrey Holmes
🧣 “In Pursuit of Eurydice” by Haley Cole
🧣“Atleast Once A Year” by Shanmukh Gollu
🧣Full Moon Over the Dom” by Nuala McEvoy
🧣“Perch” by Lauren Suchenski

FICTION
🧣“URGENT: New Home Needed” by Jess Peng
🧣“Mother Talk” by Camille Pirtle
🧣“The Doge of Flatbush” by Trent Lewin
🧣“Nothing Ever Happens” by Edie Patterson

Snowed in? Good - our winter 2026 issue just dropped!
FLASH
🧣“This Is How to Burn a Witch” by Aeka V. Joshi i
🧣“Baby” by Marie Buck
🧣“Central Time” by J.M.C.Kane
🧣“Good Grief, Florida Man” by Bethany Bruno

"...the title you decide to give your work may take the form of an imperative, but you then run the risk of your audience interpreting it as such; you risk their obedience."
Read "LOOK AWAY! LOOK AWAY! LOOK AWAY!" by Samir de Leon!
Art: "Chalice" by Pranav Prakash

"I’ll know that great power almost always succeeds over the reality of what has been lived; hope seems to eternally lag behind."
All bets are off if you fail to read "Eighth Place" by Sarai Abram
Art: "The Autistic Phoenix" by Anum Farooq

New Volume Collects 60+ Col. Darron L. Wright Award-winning Stories & Poems Editors of Chicago-based non-profit literary journal Line of Advance  ( www.LineOfAdvance.org ) have announced a new, second volume collecti...

Publication day! Two of my prize-winning stories are included in #OurBestWarStories. Brilliant works by lives impacted by war—on the battlefront & at home. Thanks to #LineofAdvance and #MiddleWestPress. Thanks to the editing team & congrats to all included!

www.middlewestpress.com/2025/09/new-...

I’m so excited, working with Mason Jar has already been amazing!

"The stacks shivering like a forest as I walk through them."
Read "Sad Library Things" by @eileentomarchio.bsky.social for a glimpse into the repository!
Art: "Distorted Room" by Lindy Giusta

The Landing — Peatsmoke Jamey Gallagher It was while the conference organizers were giving their thank yous and preparatory speeches that she looked at her phone and saw the alert about the aliens landing.

In April, @psmokejournal.bsky.social published my story "The Landing"

www.peatsmokejournal.com/spring-2025-...

"Words I had to explain to you and for you made the past a cornucopia dream, one you try to capture at night, like a firefly trying to catch the light."
Before the skeeto bites, read "Dead Bodies of Water" by @rosaleenlynch.bsky.social !
Art: "Broken" by Carolyn Adams

Announcement: We are OPEN for art submissions until December 15th! What's up your sleeve?

"'If they know someone cares, they might bring it back.'"
Read "Orange Juice" by @dfcohen.bsky.social on our website! Are you feeling fresh and alive?

Art: "Flow" by Carolyn Adams

Orange Juice — Peatsmoke Daniel Cohen She was thirty-four and still lived with a roommate. The roommate was a singer, too, but she was a decade younger and still had hope.

Catching up on bookmarks and LOVE this ingeniously structured flash stunner by Daniel Cohen in the latest @psmokejournal.bsky.social

www.peatsmokejournal.com/2025-flash-c...

We are pleased to announce Peatsmoke is now paying contributors!

We are pleased to announce that Peatsmoke is now paying contributors! Contributors will receive $10 per piece (though we wish it was one million because that's how much we love you)!

We are thrilled to announce our PEN/Robert J. Dau Emerging Writer Nominations!
🌟"Where to Look" by Brian Lynch
🌟"The Blue Jays Are Imported" by Peter Alsante
🌟"Terminal Break" by Emily Drew
🌟"Eighth Place" by Sarai Abram

"I kept the tooth in my pocket all night, feeling it through the fabric while I watched my parents orbit each other like two planets that forgot they were supposed to share gravity."
Read "Teeth in All the Wrong Places" by Emely Taveras!
Art: “Ya Big Baboon” by Matthew Fertel

Not a trick, but rather a treat! We will be open for ALL genres October 30-31st!

"If he was the egg. Or the frying pan. Or the man he was, or could have been. All I know is this: he scrambled it anyway."
Read the full "The Odds" by Emily Portillo on our website!
Art: “Spring’s Coming” by Yan Jiang

🍁"Bodice of Nature" by Sarah Jane Walker
🍁"Blood Draw" and "Broken" and "Flow" by Carolyn Adams
🍁"Nutshell" by Taylor Carson
🍁"Ya Big Baboon" by Matthew Fertel
🍁"Old Friends-NC" by E.A. Midnight
🍁"Mind, Wonders" by Ton'yah MaHogany Davis
🍁"Distorted Room" by Lindy Giusta

Art
🍁"Face" and "Chalice" by Pranav Prakash
🍁"Toil" by Sam Spring
🍁"lobelia erinus cyclone in black and white" by Robert Fleming
🍁"Spring's Coming" by Yan Jiang
🍁"The Autistic Phoenix" by Anum Farooq
🍁"Vision of Blue: 01" by Jacelyn Yap