iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I feel so lucky to work with such amazing, smart, talented, big-hearted writers. And Shadowcliff Lodge is such a perfect place to rest, write, and commune with fellow artists who share the same passion for words. Always a magical experience. 🍂 Picture by Tyler DeLane Insta: @betheground

Group photo of participants in a writing retreat in Colorado. Fourteen smiling men and women standing before large windows in a log built chapel, with view of lake and sky behind them.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Hey friends, my new round of 3-in-90 live, generative workshops begins THIS Saturday (Sept. 26th)! Sign up for one, two, or all three! www.artofflashfiction.com/threein90

Moods, Memories, and Mishaps: Immersive Storytelling to Elevate Your Flash Fiction
Great flash fiction doesn't just tell a quick story. It conveys strong feeling and tone, goes deep with emotional history, and propels the reader irresistibly forward. In this three-part series of 90-minute workshops, we will explore three fundamental forces that will elevate your flash storytelling to the level of rich and resonant, unforgettable art.

These workshops offer a concentrated immersion into the art and craft of flash fiction, encouraging writers to take risks, write from the gut, and generate new work. Though centered on writing, sessions will also include some craft discussion, sharing of published examples, and writing tips.

Expect to generate new material in every session and leave with fresh drafts that surprise you.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Off to beautiful Grand Lake, Colorado to lead workshops at what has become an annual retreat there. There's something about that homey, rustic, serene space that brings out really deep writing for everyone involved. Can't wait. 💙

A view of Grand Lake, Colorado. Pine trees in the foreground, lake in the distance. A blue sky with some clouds, mountains in the distance.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Hey friends, there's a new journal in town, called The Menu, and I'm in their debut issue alongside some greats! Wouild love for you to read my weird micro and the whole issue. 💙 www.durtybeanz.com/kathy-fish

Distressed photographic image of a man in jeans and jacket seated on a chair holding a book up to his face. Text reads: Kathy Fish, and underneath it, "No Heft."

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Heads up, flash writers! I will be opening registrations for an all-new round of my popular 3-in-90 workshops on Monday! 🧡

Image of a woman wearing a yellow sweater sitting at a picnic table writing with overlaid text reading: Registrations Open! NEW 3-in-90 Flash Workshop Series: Moods, Memories & Mishaps with smaller text below reading: See Inside for the Early Bird Discount!

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Many thanks to editor Josh Russell for accepting my experimental, hybrid flash for the incredible new issue of Georgia State University's Five Points journal. To see my my piece facing the inimitable Stuart Dybek's story is just extra cool. Congratulations to all! I'm excited to read your work.

Image of Five Points literary journal open to show the top of Stuart Dybek's story, "A White Fire Escape," on the left and my piece, "A Red Paint Pagoda" on the right.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Arrived home yesterday from the Flash Fiction Festival, my 8th in a row, at Trinity College in Bristol, UK. Love the pure joy on the faces in this photo (credit David Swann). I’m waaaay in the back with my arms raised. If you write flash, I highly recommend this annual weekend gathering! ❤️

Photo of the 100 or so attendees of the Flash Fiction Festival. They are seated in three rows, smiling, clapping, raising their hands.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

The handwritten issue of Keyhole (2008) was especially cool...

Cover of Keyhole Magazine, Issue 5, Fall, 2008 Handwritten Issue with names of contributors: Steve Auscherman, Matt Bell, Aaron Burch, Blake Butler, Kim Chinquee, Elizabeth Ellen, Kathy Fish, Sherry Flick, Roseanne Griffith, Jenny Hanning, Juligh Howard-Hobson, Stephanie Johnson, Karen Lillis, Dennis Mahagin, Corey Mesler, Kevin Sampsell, Noel Sloboda, Claudia Smith, Kelly Spitzer, Beth Thomas, Laura Van Den Berg, William Walsh, Shellie Zacharia

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Organizing bookshelves (again, ha). Print places I've published in print. There are some oldies here! Night Train, Keyhole, Cranky, Sleepingfish, Staccato, Wild Strawberries, Quick Fiction. I see familiar names in those T of Cs. Great litmags. I miss them. 💙

Journal covers L - R, top: f(r)iction, Night Train, Newfound Journal, Indiana Review, Keyhole, Heavy Feather Review, Keyhole again, bottom: Sleepingfish, Cranky, New South, Yemassee Review, Staccato, Best of the Web anthology, ELJ, Wild Strawberries, Split Lip, Staccato again

Book & Journal covers L - R top: Past Ten anthology, Brink, Copper Nickel, Quick Fiction, Washington Square Review, Together We Can Bury It, The Norton Reader, Ploughshares, Short Form Creative Writing, Best Small Fictions, Smokelong Quarterly Ten Years, Quick Fiction again, Best Small Fictions again, bottom: A Peculiar Feeing of Restlessness, Quick Fiction again, Best Microfiction, Wild Life: Collected Works, New Micro, Flash Fiction America, Best American Nonrequired Reading, Advanced Creative Nonfiction, Critical Insights on Flash Fiction, Best Small Fictions again, Wild Life, Rift

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

A friend just reminded me that I’ll be teaching my three-hour workshop in England at the Flash Fiction Festival ONE WEEK FROM TODAY! I can’t wait to see everyone again! ❤️

Trinity College in Bristol, England. Beautiful brick facade amongst trees, green lawn in the foreground. Blue skies.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

My daughter's home from Portland for a few days and we celebrated her birthday last night with a cake that tasted much better than it looked. 😅 Have a wonderful, restful, fun long weekend, everyone. ❤️

Photo of my daughter and me taken outdoors in front of the Denver Art Museum.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Beautiful book mail: An exceptional collection by an extraordinary writer. Congratulations, @pdforan.bsky.social and to @alkratz.bsky.social for this wonderful debut title! 🌟

Photo of my hand holding "Songs from the Bilmp Ruins" by Pat Foran in front of my window looking out to my back yard. Cover features a simple drawing of a dark sun dripping yellow and a figure with arms raised and a heart on the chest. Title above and author's name below.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

My June newsletter. Hope you enjoy! open.substack.com/pub/artoffla...

1638 A.D. Baroque Painting from Spain: Moses holding the stone tablets on which are written the Ten Commandments

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

I'm rich in books! Excited to read / reread collections by Jared Yates Sexton, @stephanieaustin.bsky.social @sabrinahicks.bsky.social Leslie O'Connel, @luannecastle.bsky.social @gilloshaughnessy.bsky.social & poems by @lesliearchibald.bsky.social 💙 Congratulations, all!

Seven beautiful books laid out on a kitchen counter.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Update: There are now just TWO spaces open for this November's residential workshop in gorgeous West Viriginia! I'd love for you to join @joybaglio.bsky.social & Sarah Freligh & me. You will write LOTS! 🍁🍂

A Reason to Write presents a "Generative Flash Workshop with Kathy Fish Nov. 2-6, 2026 with black & white photos of Kathy Fish, Joy Deva Baglio, Sarah Freligh, & Ellen Weeren. Further info at https://areasontowrite.com/workshops/kathy-fish-2026-workshop/

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Happy Friday! I don't know which AWP Hobart was giving these away, but I have had this shot glass a very long time. @aaronburch.bsky.social

A shot glass containing gin, next to it is a tall glass filled with ice, tonic water, and a slice of lime on a kitchen counter. The shot glass says "Hobart" in large letters and "another literary journal" in small letters beneath it.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Hey guys, who is publishing the best flash chapbooks these days? I was rereading Sara Levine's 2011 chapbook Short Dark Oracles today and missing the amazing Caketrain Press.

cover of Sara Levine's 2011 chapbook, Short Dark Oracles. Artistic image of a woman whose head is full of colorful fruit and flowers on a dark background featuring title and author name at the top.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

This is the kind of nudge from an online retailer that I cannot abide...

Subject line of an email that reads, in all caps: HEY KATHY FISH, STILL THINKING ABOUT US?

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Hey friends, have you used poetic forms or devices in your flash fiction? I'm writing about this now and I'd LOVE to include some more published examples. Thanks!

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

I’m so touched and honored by this mention in this excellent survey of flash fiction by Gary Lippmann in Literary Hub. More here: lithub.com/micro-sudden...

"Anyone’s pantheon of fine short-short fictioneers would include Isaac Babel, Lydia Davis, Barry Yourgrau, Diane Williams, Thomas Bernhard in The Voice Imitator, Robert Walser, Mary Robison, and Czeslaw Milosz in Road Side Dog. To that, I’d add Jayne Anne Phillips, Yasunari Kawabata in his Palm-of-the-Hand tales, Kathy Fish, Etgar Keret, Sherrie Flick, Jamaica Kincaid with her luminescent “Girl,” Spencer Holst in The Zebra Storyteller (which features “On Hope,” one of the most enchanting stories I know), Pamela Painter, the Baudelaire of Paris Spleen, and Richard Brautigan, whose winsome Revenge of the Lawn is my most cherished short-short collection." Gary Lippmann

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Hey friends, if you’re signed up for THIS Saturday’s 3-in-90 workshop, you will have received your Webex link at the time of registration. Please locate it now and come ready to write at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday! If you can’t find it, let me know, and I will happily re-send it to you!

Basic stock image from overhead perspective of wooden table featuring a laptop, cup of coffee, spectacles, stack of books, woman's hands writing in a notebook.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Upcoming! My next Flash Immersion Extravaganza for paid subscribers begins THIS Monday, March 2nd. Twenty-Two days of writing and reading together with fun prompts & inspirations! I’d love to have you join us! 💙 artofflashfiction.substack.com/subscribe?pl...

Photo of Kathy Fish, seated and smiling, wearing teal colored top and large glasses. Text above: "Beauty in brevity: Flash Extravaganza - Day One." Text below: "The Art of Flash Fiction, artofflashfiction.substack.com

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

ATTN: Writers! TWO spaces left! Join us in beautiful Colorado in September! mailchi.mp/ac8585353954...

Thirteen happy writers (men and women of various ages) standing on the steps of a staircase outside a rustic log cabin in Colorado, Shadowcliff Lodge in Grand Lake. Stone chimney, blue sky, aspen tree in the background.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

I love pulling books off my shelves for stories to teach, then finding myself sitting on the floor and an hour's gone by...lost in this favorite from @robertlopez-bkln-1.bsky.social

Cover image of the novel, Kamby Bolongo Mean River" by the author Robert Lopez, featuring a gray green cover and image of a black telephone cord, title in black lettering, author name in white.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Thanks to all who've signed up for THIS SATURDAY'S 3-in-90 workshop! The session link was sent upon registration. Please locate it and come ready to write at 1:00 pm Eastern on the 24th. We're going to write up a storm! (Let me know if you can't find the link, I'll re-send. Still time to join us!)

Session Description for Originality of Language: Voice, Music, Risk: In this session, we’ll focus on our prose and the sentence itself: voice, diction, rhythm, and word choice. Through craft discussion and close readings, we’ll examine how writers create momentum and intensity, how sound and syntax shape meaning, and how risk at the sentence level opens new possibilities. You’ll write to three prompts designed to loosen habits, heighten attention, and encourage bold choices. This session is ideal for writers who want their prose to feel more alive, precise, and daring.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Well, congratulations to me. I’m 35 pounds lighter today than I was one year ago. This is largely due to walking three and a half miles every day with a fourteen pound pack on my back. Turns out, I walk REALLY fast when I’m mad. 💪

Selfie of me, bundled up in blue coat and faux fur cap, large blue glasses, with snowy Colorado scene in the background.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

FINAL DAY of the Early Bird Special for my upcoming 3-in-90 workshops! Would love for you to join us! 💙 www.artofflashfiction.com/threein90?ut...

Testimonial: “Appreciation post for Kathy Fish- the most incredible flash fiction teacher and all-round amazing human! You have inspired so many stories - and I have just finished your Flash in Motion: Writing with Power and Urgency workshop - and a whole story just poured out of me thanks to your prompts. WOW. You never cease to amaze me with your teaching and I am endlessly grateful!” ~Becs Pearson

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

New Classes! Jan. 24th, Feb. 21st, & March 21st. Register for all three this week and get a deep discount! Also offering a FREE bonus revision workshop from @litmatchcollective.com experts Steve Chang & Autumn Watts! 💙 www.artofflashfiction.com/threein90?ut...

About the Series
“Originality of Language, Form, and Content: A 3 in 90 Workshop Series” is a three-part series of 90-minute workshops offering a concentrated immersion into originality across craft, encouraging writers to take risks, experiment boldly, and generate new work. While each session can be taken independently, the series as a whole provides a layered, cumulative experience that deepens the overall freshness and verve of your writing.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

Heads up: I'll be announcing a new round of my popular 3-in-90 workshops on MONDAY (Jan, 5th). Will share all the info, along with a link to register. I'll be offering a VERY nice Early Bird Special that will include a discount and a surprise bonus workshop! Thanks! 💙

Photo of me, seated and smiling with my back to a window with sunshine streaming in. Long silver hair and ridiculously large glasses.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

So fascinating, going through very old stories to choose "selected" works for a new book. I'm actually having to type many of the stories into new documents and am editing/revising as I go. I'm surprised how much I like the very old pieces I'd passed over for my 2018 collection!

Five books by Kathy Fish: Wild Life, Rift (with Robert Vaughan), A Peculiar Feeling of Restlessness (containing her chapbook with three other writers'), Together We Can Bury It, and Wild Life: Collected works from 2003-2018.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

Good morning, friends! I'll shortly be speaking on Zoom with students at SUNY Adirondack as part of their Writers Project series. I'm excited to talk about flash fiction and have them write to a fun prompt I've created. Visiting classrooms in person or remotely is so damn much fun. ❤

Me, seated and smiling in my study wearing glasses and a blue and white striped shirt with photos and books and a plant in the background. Sun steaming through the window behind me.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

I have slowly but surely lost 32 pounds since March (without any Ozempic or Ozempic like injections, just exercise and managing blood sugar). All my "numbers" have vastly improved. I feel wonderful. Now I'm having to replace all my clothes. I won't lie, this is an awfully nice problem to have! 💙

Sunny outdoor selfie of me: a sixty-five year old woman with long gray hair and glasses, wearing a white sun visor, sleeveless tee, and blue weighted vest. Sidewalk, grass, and road behind me.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Pretty and unusual for Colorado!

Pink and purple Northern Lights low in the sky over pine trees in the foreground.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Hey friends, if one were to--say--pull together a collection of "new and selected" stories, who does the selecting of the "selecteds"? The writer or an editor / publisher or a trusted reader? Asking for myself. 😄 (This is a photo of the last time I pulled together a collection, too long ago.)

A long dining table covered in printed out story pages.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Hey, a spot just became open for this! Join us outside beautiful Harper’s Ferry, WV later this month for a wonderful few days of writing, rest, walking, reading, and more writing! A one on one consultation with me is also included in deal.

Flyer describing a residential workshop with Kathy Fish from October 20-24th in Charles Town, West Virginia. Sarah Freligh and Andrew Bertaina are also guest teaching workshops. For more information, email Ellen Weeren at ellen@areasontowrite.com

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

Hey, I'm leading a two-hour generative writing session on Sunday, Sept. 28th through wonderful Cleaver Magazine! Would love to see you there. I have fun things planned! cleavermagazine.submittable.com/submit/32754...

KATHY FISH: READY! SET! WRITE! September 28, 2025

READY! SET! WRITE!

Instructor: Kathy Fish

Date: Sept 28, 2025, 2-4 PM ET on Zoom

Cost: $60

Have you found yourself terrified and intimidated by the dreaded blank page? It’s a common problem for writers! Choreographer and dancer Twyla Tharp says, “in order to be creative, you have to know how to prepare to be creative.” As a big believer in the value of pre-writing, I have developed several exercises and activities aimed at immersion and deep work before we begin the joyful task of creating new art. The result? Fresh, original drafts of surprising depth and beauty. In this engaging, interactive two-hour session we will begin with a series of fun and interesting activities and prompts that will prime our brains for creative expression.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

My September newsletter, on stillness & white space, in which I highly recommend Han Kang's The White Book...

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

To those of you who signed up for THIS Saturday’s (the 13th) 3-in-90 workshop, you should have received your email with LINK to the session by now. Please locate it and be ready to write at 1:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. If you’re not seeing the email, check spam or promotions folders. Thanks! 💙💙💙

How Does It Feel? Writing Emotion from The Inside Out
Before we can effectively and powerfully render emotion on the page, we must first understand how emotion is experienced. Drawing on the sensory-based approach of Robert Olen Butler and the Stanislavski acting method, I’ll guide you through techniques for conveying powerful emotion in the very limited space of flash fiction. Through a series of prompts and timed exercises, you’ll write from memory and the body, channeling feeling through visceral detail and immersive storytelling. Expect to come away from this workshop with three deeply moving flash drafts in hand.

💲
$60.00
📅
Saturday, September 13, 2025

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

He follows me all over the internet and I keep snubbing him....😢

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Still time to join us, friends! Next Saturday, the 13th: "Writing Emotion from the Inside Out," my 3-in-90 workshop! Go here for info & to register: www.fastflashworkshops.com 💙

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Beautiful day! My husband and I hiked to the top of Devil's Head fire station lookout this morning. 1.4 miles each way, 866 ft. elevation change, 143 stairs to the lookout platform. A challenging hike, but worth it. This is the point where I thought we were "almost there." We were not. 😂

Kathy's husband hiking up a steep path between trees and large rock formations, under a blue sky.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Everything is such a mess. Have a good, restful, restorative long weekend if you can, friends. Here's a bit of beauty for your Friday (my daughter's cat, Lilah):

A Siamese / Snowshoe mix cat sitting on the edge of a floral rug with white paws extended, looking to the camera with very blue eyes.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 24/08/2025

I miss each and every one of these amazing humans. What a powerful and rewarwding experience for me as a teacher. I love facilitating workshops at Shadowcliff Lodge. 🫎🌲⛰️🦅📚

Thirteen men and women writers, participants in a writing retreat, standing on steps leading from a rustic log cabin chapel on a cliffside in the mountains. A blue sky with white clouds and pine and aspen trees also in the photo.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

We're having our workshops in this non-denominational cliffside chapel. A peaceful, inspiring space despite the terrible view.

A rustic non-denominational chapel interior with stained glass and large window looking out to a lake, mountains, trees in Grand Lake, Colorado. Two women writers standing before the windows, looking out.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

All the "fancy" of this retreat is supplied by nature and the wonderful folks gathered. Summer camp for adults in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. My first workshop is in the books and wow, what an amazing collection of hearts and minds. I'm having a blast. 💙

View of Grand Lake, Colorado. Trees and town in foreground, lake in the background, mountain with pine trees to the left. Big, fluffy clouds in a blue sky.

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

My August newsletter! open.substack.com/pub/artoffla...

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Kathy Fish @kathyfish.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

ICYMI friends, I’m taking registrations for my upcoming round of 3-in-90 workshops (Aug. 16th, Sept. 13th, Oct. 11th). The 3 session package ($180 value) is offered for $125 through Monday, August 4th! Don’t miss out! I’d love to have you join us! fastflashworkshops.com 💙

A bullet list:
In these 90 minute live sessions (on Webex, similar to Zoom) you will:
Learn new concepts in flash fiction

Acquire new flash writing skills & tools

Be inspired by the best exemplars of published flash fiction

Write to prompts aimed at breaking through writing blocks

Innovate with the flash form - Be prepared to surprise yourself!

Have a blast writing in a safe and supportive environment

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