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Aaron Burch

@aaronburch.bsky.social
3.3K followers 785 following 5.9K posts

Author: TACOMA; A KIND OF IN-BETWEEN; YEAR OF THE BUFFALO; STEPHEN KING'S THE BODY; BACKSWING Editor: HAD; Short Story, Long (on Substack) linktr.ee/aaronburch

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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 3h
“It is worth noting what Anders did not remember, given what he did remember.”
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
kinda a spoiler, I guess, but this is such a great little mini-lesson in revision. try to make as much as possible (everything) more active, more intentional. close the distance around the tension and conflict.
In earlier drafts of the story, the father didn’t come on the road trip. He was unable to face it, in the same way he was unable to face his wife’s death, and again he off-loaded the burden to his daughter. In that version, he is simply on the phone with the narrator when she makes the decision to release Claudia. Early readers gave the feedback that a phone call was not enough—he needed to be in that car and he needed to see the release of Claudia happen. They were absolutely right. It brought so much more energy into the ending and underscored the parallels between the mother and Claudia.
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Really dug this Sarah Anderson story in this week's NYer.
newyorker.com
“Dark Horse,” by Sarah Anderson
At least once a day I press the Thought like a bruise, and if I don’t it eventually starts to play anyway.
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Planning on opening up Short Story, Long submissions mid-October. (Probably the 15th? But maybe a skosh earlier. And then they'll stay open thru the end of the year.) If you’ve got a killer 3k–8k word story, get ‘er ready! (I'll also be in need of a couple submission readers; hmu if interested!)
ashortstorylong.substack.com
Short Story, Long | Aaron Burch | Substack
Longer short stories, published biweekly. Click to read Short Story, Long, by Aaron Burch, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This story does this narrative move ~halfway through that I found really interesting and really liked. Kinda grabbed and shook me up while reading, an experience I really enjoy while reading a short story.
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
SO excited to feature this new @nickreesgardner.bsky.social on Short Story, Long today. It's my fave story I've read in a bit. "I’ve been working twelves since I finished clinicals and was hired full time, but my shift at MedMark’s dragged on over fifteen hours when the snakebite victims come in."
ashortstorylong.substack.com
“Believer” by Nick Rees Gardner
“It’s not like I’m calling this a miracle because the real miracle is not being bit.”
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Joey Hedger @joeyhedger.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Nick's short stories never fail to blow me away. This one's, unsurprisingly, fantastic!
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
SO excited to feature this new @nickreesgardner.bsky.social on Short Story, Long today. It's my fave story I've read in a bit. "I’ve been working twelves since I finished clinicals and was hired full time, but my shift at MedMark’s dragged on over fifteen hours when the snakebite victims come in."
ashortstorylong.substack.com
“Believer” by Nick Rees Gardner
“It’s not like I’m calling this a miracle because the real miracle is not being bit.”
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Yall think Mark from Home Improvement is stoked about Aaron Turner joining Neurosis?
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I am a very good, smart teacher, who does deep, thoughtful prep for classes...
photo of the margin of a short story ("Cinema" by Amy Stuber") where I have drawn two exclamation points and a crying frowny emoticon
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
DTF ST. LOUIS!! (Almost no one else I know really loved it as much as I did, but together with Widow's Bay, it was my fave of the year)
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Abby Olcese @abbyolcese.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Get it girl.
Katie Dippold in her Babadook costume
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I ask this every year or three, but… often find myself curious: fave lit journals for short stories? (Not flash, 3k words and longer.)
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Dark Wizard is the best thing I've seen in a while, and also I'm not sure I should be watching it.
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Holy shit, Reacher just pulled a dude’s head through jail bars. Reacher Is so dumb, and so the best.
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Been a couple weeks since it was published. If you haven’t already, I recommend you spend a little time this weekend reading my newest short story.
doric-literary.com
Executives
I’d never heard the phrase before—nostalgia tour—but I knew what he meant. I’d been on a few myself.
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Austin Ross @austinross.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
tfw you publish a new story online
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Sarp Sozdinler @sarpsozdinler.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Working with @aaronburch.bsky.social is always a big cheer and I'm stoked to be able to do that again with this new story of mine in his wonderful SSL project. I’d be really happy if you read & shared "Bad Samaritans," a story about…exploding spouses and grief counseling at Applebee's. 🔗 below.
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Really excited to see this one out in the world today, with such a great home at @doricliterary.bsky.social. Wrote the first draft of this a few years ago. Still feels like it’s one of the best stories I’ve written.
doric-literary.com
Executives
I’d never heard the phrase before—nostalgia tour—but I knew what he meant. I’d been on a few myself.
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Stephanie Austin @stephanieaustin.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Why is this the most perfect line? "'I bet you have a habit of falling for women who have a habit of falling for you on their breaks from falling for guys who need to be saved,' Summer said, shaking me out of feeling like a judgmental asshole."
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Doric Literary @doricliterary.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
"The groom-to-be was gone by the time the rest of us woke up" With "Executives" @aaronburch.bsky.social becomes the 1st writer with 2 stories on Doric Literary! His nostalgic, male-bonding romp mixes marijuana with caffeine & golf-& shows exactly what can go right! doric-literary.com/2026/09/01/e...
doric-literary.com
Executives
I’d never heard the phrase before—nostalgia tour—but I knew what he meant. I’d been on a few myself.
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Love this one, Kristine!! "One afternoon, Emily and I see the episode about the ultra-Christian couple who’ve never kissed each other. We can’t get over how the girl could date this guy for three years and is ready to marry him without ever having kissed him. What if he sucks at kissing?"
forget.cool
Girls in White Dresses – Mahler
Girls in White Dresses by Kristine Langley Mahler The summer that we’ll turn sixteen, my best friend Emily and I seem put-on-pause, drooped over her living room couches, dreaming of our future husb…
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
🚨 new @stephanieaustin.bsky.social! 🚨 "I was in my chaos phase, so I cut off all my hair and showed up to our second class a new person. My family was mortified, and my friends had mixed reactions, but not Ben. Ben said he liked girls with short hair." forget.cool/issue-1/issu...
forget.cool
Crash – Austin
CRASH by Stephanie Austin I met Ben in a night class. Humor Writing 101. I needed a final elective, and I thought humor writing was about essays but instead it was about crafting late night jokes. …
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Really excited to see this one out in the world today, with such a great home at @doricliterary.bsky.social. Wrote the first draft of this a few years ago. Still feels like it’s one of the best stories I’ve written.
doric-literary.com
Executives
I’d never heard the phrase before—nostalgia tour—but I knew what he meant. I’d been on a few myself.
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Great new @mmkaufman.bsky.social story on @doricliterary.bsky.social today! Fun POV, all culminating in a really effective, beautiful ending. "This movie stub is a memory from my first kiss. That dirty menu is the best burger I ever had in my entire life. That book—well, that’s just a great read."
doric-literary.com
How to Hold a Memory in Your Hands
It’s silly but I think it’s important we make up lore for our own lives. Our own mythologies, folk tales, origin stories, what have you. If you don’t romanticize your own life, who the hell will?…
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Really excited to see this one get released out into the world tomorrow and get to share it! "...a story about nostalgia, male-bonding... and experiencing a sheer stroke of magic" is 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 "back on my bullshit" shit, but also maybe the best version of that I've written yet?
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
11 acts you’ve seen as support acts Artie Lange (Norm Macdonald) Mitch Hedburg (Jon Stewart) Botch (Neurosis) Converge (Botch) Full of Hell (Converge) Blood Incantation (Full of Hell) Blink 182 (Voodoo Glow Skulls) The Roots (Rage Against the Machine) RAtM (U2) Beck (Neil Young) Rihanna (Eminem)
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Doric Literary @doricliterary.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
September is going to be awesome because it will begin with two brand new stories, each one filled with magic and memories, by two of the best writers out there: @aaronburch.bsky.social & @mmkaufman.bsky.social
Photo shows two blue and white promo cards with quotes from two new stories.
"Executives" by Aaron Burch: "I’d never heard the phrase before—nostalgia tour—but I knew what he meant. I’d been on a few myself."
And "How to Hold a Memory in Your Hands" by M.M. Kaufman: "It’s silly but I think it’s important we make up lore for our own lives. Our own mythologies, folk tales, origin stories, what have you. If you don’t romanticize your own life, who the hell will?"
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
An important part of handwriting first drafts: identifying for your future self bad ideas for possible titles.
photo of handwritten page in legal pad, which the phrase “praise or kindness or grace” underlined and an arrow drawn to “TITLE?” written in the margin
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
New on Short Story, Long today. "My wife told me in bed this morning that she had dreamed she was having an affair with an actor. Which was strange. Not for her to dream but for her to say. Because I have it on good authority that she is in fact having an affair with an actor." —Michael O’Brien
ashortstorylong.substack.com
“Labyrinth” by Michael O'Brien
“I haven’t always enjoyed this degree of honesty, but it beats secrecy.”
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
“I’d certainly never do it again. But, somehow, there are still parts I miss.” — Tyler Dempsey somewords.boards.net/thread/161/t...
somewords.boards.net
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Ben Niespodziany 📚🎪 @neonpajamas.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
email your heroes
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
here’s the dumb, goofy, fun story we launched the site with, 6 years ago today
havehashad.com
Interrobang by Aaron Burch
“Why would you do that, question mark exclamation point.” Kelly did that sometimes—she speech-to-texted so often that sometimes it slipped into her regular speech. Comma, period, lol, question mark...
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
forgot I added this to my google calendar as a reminder to myself, just got the notification reminder email
HAD anniversary
Friday Aug 21, 2026
Organizer
Aaron Burch
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Like 12 minutes into Reacher s4 and immediately remembering what a total treat this dumb show it. And Kevin Carrigan on it is too good for me to have even dreamcast.
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
(re)read this Tyler Dempsey essay last night. it's such a banger. farewelltransmission.net/2025/07/loca...
farewelltransmission.net
Locating By Tyler Dempsey - Farewell Transmission
Tyler Dempsey is the author of four books and the host of Another Fucking Writing Podcast. He lives in Utah with his wife and dogs.
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
had a dumb idea, spent a little too long this morning making it...
image of t-shirt design template mocked up to look like a 90s hardcore shirt, with a black and white image of crowd screaming along with a hardcore singer, above which the text, in "college" style block letter font reads, "Largesse of the Sea Maiden" and under the image, in typewriter font, is the sentence, "This morning I was assailed by such sadness at the velocity of life—the distance I’ve travelled from my own youth, the persistence of the old regrets, the new regrets, the ability of failure to freshen itself in novel forms—that I almost crashed the car."
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
“American movies will cheerfully spend millions of dollars on explosions and chases to avoid those moments when people are talking seriously and honestly to one another. After all, writing good dialogue takes some intelligence.” — Roger Ebert on About Last Night (1986)
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
bsky sucks compared to peak twitter for crowdsourcing like this, but... any fave recent(ish) NYTimes Modern Love essays? and/or "personal pop culture" essays (define as you see fit)?
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Elizabeth Fletcher @esfletcher.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Sprawled on a beach towel with waves lapping 10 feet away & the ambient noise of young beachgoers storing up vitamin D for the lean days & reading Tacoma by @aaronburch.bsky.social as a lone pelican pierces the blue sky & I can’t help but appreciate magic & beauty & wonder.
Cover of Aaron Burch’s Tacoma in foreground with pink floaty flamingo & beach & green bay & blue sky in the background
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
After taking the summer off, we've got a new short story on SSL today. A really great one. A fun one! Out first graphic/comic story!! "Lake of the Gulfs" by Nathan Holic
ashortstorylong.substack.com
“Lake of the Gulfs” by Nathan Holic
"It's a story that's been told a thousand times. Daddy leaves early morning, goes out to the pier. Spends the day fishing with his buddies..."
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Listened to this interview with Matt Johnson like 5 months ago, and loved it, then finally saw Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie a couple weeks ago and so relistened to the interview just now and loved it even more. Would love to listen to some more great interview with Johnson. Any faves?
podcasts.apple.com
Paramount Wins Warner Bros. Now What? Plus: ‘Scream 7,’ Heat 2,’ and ‘Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie’ With Matt Johnson!
Podcast Episode · The Big Picture · February 27 · 2h 12m
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Finally saw The Odyssey, *mostly* just so I could listen to all these podcasts eps about it that have been stockpiling on my drive to WriterCamp in a couple days...
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
love this rave for @jsavrankelly.bsky.social's great story! ashortstorylong.substack.com/p/man-next-d...
Something about a Short Story, Long story

I've been a sucker for blow-up doll related content since Lars and the Real Girl, so of course I found "Man Next Door" by Jennifer Savran Kelly delightful. My favorite metaphors explain a concept perfectly while also being a little bit odd, so I enjoyed the inflatable dad and the outdated ways he represents. The quick turn from something cute and quirky to something more sinister was also really well done. Then there's the final image: a frightened Paul clinging to the deflated dad (even while wanting to escape his influence) while an emboldened Maddie grips the broken wine bottle. Nailed it.

OK to share your above response?

Sure!
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
friendfiction: the hottest, most fun genre goin'! loved this piece. not only because “I” pop in for a kind of cameo, tho that certainly helps
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
READ
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
New Short Story, Long tagline just dropped! "Tell your friends! Some wonderful tales and 'hidden gems,' as they say!"
https://ashortstorylong.submittable.com/submissions/54421866?page=10&tab=activity
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
have been in Tacoma for ~48 hours and phone camera roll is approximately 120 photos of Mount Rainier, the Puget Sound, and the Olympics
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Aaron Burch @aaronburch.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Me, about the short stories and essays I’ve published:
BEN AFFLECK ON HIS OWN FILMOGRAPHY: 'I HAVE 12
MOVIES I TRULY LOVE, 25
WHERE I LIKE THIS OR THAT, AND ABOUT 10 OR 12 THAT ARE FUCKING SHIT
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