literary magazines – Page 11

Friday Five: ‘All Our Tomorrows’ author Amy DeBellis

‘Don’t be afraid to write stuff that’s mediocre. If you don’t write the mediocre, you can’t build up to the good and the great.’

For Amy DeBellis, “writing is a way to express negative emotions: fear, grief, rage,” she says. “I also find that makes for more interesting stories.”

To call Amy’s stories interesting is like calling Stephen King’s novel Christine a book about an old clunker. Her short stories may glimmer on the surface, but beneath that veneer, the gruesome and bizarre are exposed, but not in an overt, obvious horror-genre way. She also sets many of her writings in a dystopian near future–one not so far off from our current world and circumstances, just enough to help us imagine what those current circumstances can lead to.

Amy’s astounding debut novel, All Our Tomorrows (CLASH Books, 2025), explores the lives of three Gen Z women navigating late-stage capitalism in a near-future New York City.

Published in Painted Pebble Lit Mag

My micro fiction story “Spindled” is in the latest issue of Painted Pebble Lit Mag, a publication devoted to short-form writing. I would be honored if you took a few minutes of your day to read it. (You can also listen to me reading it if you prefer.)

Dad was a computer programmer. While other kids’ dads brought home stacks of clean white office paper for them to draw on, ours came home with stacks of manila-colored, rectangular cards with tiny rectangular holes punched through them. Do not fold, spindle, or mutilate, warned the fine print of the cards.

From “Spindled,” by Andrew Careaga

Friday Five: Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar

‘Modify your story, make it real, make it whole, but don’t give up if you believe in the tale you are trying to tell.’

Portrait photo of writer Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar — Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar

The author of two books and numerous flash fiction and micro fiction stories, Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar is an Indian American writer based in Columbus, Ohio. Her flash fiction and microfiction, including her debut collection Morsels of Purple, explore the nuances of womanhood across cultural and geographic boundaries. Her novel Skin Over Milk tells the story of three girls “who bear the weight of being unwanted daughters in 1990s India.” Sara’s writings have appeared in several print and online literary journals, including Ghost Parachute, SmokeLong Quarterly, Reflex Press, and Flash Fiction Online, and have earned nominations for Pushcart and Best of the Net awards. She also is a submissions editor at SmokeLong Quarterly.

In addition to her writing, Sara is a mother, wife, and IT leader who holds an electronics engineer degree and an MBA. Read on to learn how she balances the many facets of her life to consistently create wonderful stories.

Friday Five: selections from ‘Best Small Fictions 2025’

A sampling from this year’s recently selected stories and prose poems

Alternating Current Press recently announced the selections for the 2025 edition of The Best Small Fictions anthology, and there are some great ones you can read online, right now. Here are five I enjoyed that were published in some literary magazines I try to read regularly.

“At Once,” by Sarah Freligh, published in Ghost Parachute.
“Based on a True Story,” by Epiphany Ferrell, published in the (unfortunately now closed) Witcraft.
“They fired up the laser,” by Timothy C. Goodwin, published in Dishsoap Quarterly.
“Finding the Water to Cry,” by Jacqueline Goyette, published in Stanchion.
“Splinter,” by Didi Wood, published in Fractured Lit.

Have a good weekend.

Friday Five: writer Kristin Kozlowski

‘Like a lot of writers, I am trying to understand the world around me.’

Today’s Friday Five Q&A features a writer I only recently discovered, Kristin Kozlowski.

It was a serendipitous discovery. I was researching literary magazines to submit to when I stumbled across her quirky and delightful flash fiction piece, “My Neighbor Posts a Sign in His Yard,” in Fish Barrel Review. After that read, I knew I had to check out more of her writings, and the more I read, the more I was curious about what inspires and motivates her. So I reached out to ask if she would be interested in being a part of this feature. Fortunately for all of us, she agreed.

Photograph of writer Kristin Kozlowski — Kristin Kozlowski