flash-fiction – Page 4 – Andrew Careaga

The obligatory end-of-year wrap-up post you’ve been waiting for

The year in writing, recognition, loss, and life

If nothing else, 2024 for me was a year of transition and disruption. And — I hope — a year I learned to be more grateful and empathetic.

After 40 years of full-time work, much of it in academia, I entered a new phase of life last January. Some call it retirement, but it has hardly been that. My pursuit of creative writing and some freelance work has kept me busy enough. In addition, my wife and I and our cat had a couple of health scares that made us reevaluate our values and gave us greater insight into the workings of the U.S. health care system, the good, bad, and ugly of it. We also mourned the passing of a few friends from our church family and continue to honor their memory.

In other words, a lot of life happened in 2024. Here are some highlights from the year:

Friday Five: Q&A with writer/’Art of Flash Fiction’ Substacker Kathy Fish

‘I sort of fell into flash writing before I knew there was such a thing.’

Although the Thanksgiving holiday is now behind us and we in the USA are deep into the throes of the holiday season, I’d like to extend Thanksgiving’s sense of gratitude just a bit longer with today’s Friday Five Q&A with writer Kathy Fish. Like many writers, I am grateful to Kathy for her example, her teaching, and her generosity of spirit.

Author and ‘Art of Flash Fiction’ creator Kathy Fish.

Kathy’s work can be found in a vast array of literary magazines and anthologies. She’s even in The Norton Reader! Her works also appear in Ploughshares, Waxwing Magazine, Denver Quarterly, Mississippi Review online, Wigleaf, Best American Nonrequired Reading 2018, W. W. Norton’s New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction, and Flash Fiction America (W. W. Norton). Visit her Publications & Awards webpage for a more complete list.

In addition to being an exceptional writer of flash fiction and longer works, Kathy encourages many of her fellow writers through her Substack/newsletter, Art of Flash Fiction. Any writer wanting to become better at the craft — whether flash or otherwise — ought to read this newsletter. Through it, Kathy shares her perspectives on writing with an emphasis on flash fiction. In addition, she offers writing workshops, online and in person.

Read on for a brief — but longer than flash — look into Kathy’s perspective on writing, her influences, and advice for other writers.

Two bits of good news

About a recent short story publication and an online interview

We interrupt this month of writing-focused activity to bring you a couple of happy updates from my weekend:

My short story “Lower Strata” was published by the literary magazine Spillwords. This story, which went live Sunday (November 17, 2024), was something I’d written 25 years ago, probably, and shoved away after a few revisions. I reworked it over the summer a few times then sent it on to Spillwords, and last month they let me know they were going to publish it. This was one of those rare occasions in which the one and only litmag I’d submitted a story to accepted it. Like a lot of writers, especially unknowns like me, our stories encounter many rejections before they find a home. (It’s part of the gig. There are a lot of very good writers out there, and only so many places for our work.) So I guess this one hit a responsive chord with an editor or two there. I hope you also like it. I’d love for you to give it a read and share your thoughts. I’m always looking for ways to improve!
I was “spotlighted” by another literary magazine, Bulb Culture Collective. This litmag specializes in republishing pieces that have been published previously by magazines that are no longer in operation. Such was the case with my flash fiction piece, “Baseball 1971,” which I’ve discussed here previously. BCC also selects writers for their “Shine a Light” series of features, and they reached out to me a couple of months ago inviting me to be a part of it. Their e-interview with me went live also Sunday, November 17, 2024.

So that’s the news from these-here parts. If you’re interested in reading some good stuff, I recommend you add Spillwords and Bulb Culture Collective to your reading list.

Image via Spillwords.

Friday Five: Q&A with crime fiction writer Casey Stegman

‘I’ve always been fascinated in the subject of conflict and power.’

Photo of writer Casey Stegman — *Casey Stegman*

If you’re into crime fiction with a dash of noir and grit lit, you ought to check out the writings of Casey Stegman. Not only does Casey write some of the genre’s most captivating short stories and flash fiction around, he also dives into the genre through a monthly column for MysteryTribune called Murder in the First. That’s where Casey introduces readers to “debuts within the genres of crime, mystery, grit-lit, and all things dark.”

Coming soon: you’ll find one of Casey’s short stories in At the Edge of Darkness, a special crime/horror anthology that comes out October 29, just in time for Halloween.

What literary magazines are open for submission? That Book Chikka has the answer

Stop spending hours researching #litmags that are open for submissions! Here's a list of 95 publications that want your work. Follow me to get this list every week and check out the blog here 👇🏻https://t.co/GLjVTkHPJa #writingcommunity #writerslift
— Jessica Kusisto (@ThatBookChikka) October 13, 2024

Like a lot of writers who seek to get their work published in literary magazines, I go to several sources for intel, including Duosuma, Poets & Writers‘ list, Submittable, and of course my own, ever-expanding compilation of literary magazines on X/Twitter, Litmags, etc. (now up to 314 different litmags and litmag-adjacent accounts).

But my go-to source lately has become Jessica Kusisto’s weekly compilation of literary magazines that are open for submission.