micro fiction – Page 3 – Andrew Careaga

Friday Five: writer, editor, and Lit Mag News creator Becky Tuch

‘I wanted to create a literary space that is informative yet also entertaining’

If you want to keep up on what’s happening in the world of literary magazines, you should be reading Becky Tuch‘s Substack newsletter, Lit Mag News. This bi-weekly newsletter lives up to its billing as “a resource for all things lit mag,” and in a sector awash in newsletters about the writing craft, Lit Mag News is a must-read.

Portrait of Becky Tuch, writer, editor, and creator of Lit Mag News. — Author and Lit Mag News creator Becky Tuch

Each issue features “the latest goings-on in the world of literary magazines,” Becky explains on her about page. Those goings-on include information about new magazines, calls for submissions, contests, job and fellowship opportunities, grant opportunities, trends in lit mag publishing, and “controversies, scams, and the occasional smidge of lit mag gossip.” The writing is always conversational, often entertaining, and delivered in a breezy and easily digestible manner.

How do we make reading fun again?

Reading for pleasure is down. What’s a writer to do?

As a kid growing up in the ’60s and ’70s, I remember public service announcements interrupting my Saturday-morning cartoon time to tell me about an organization called Reading Is Fundamental. RIF is still around, and still working to promote literary among children in the U.S., but judging from a recent study of American’s reading habits, fewer people in this country are reading for pleasure than they were two decades ago.

A PSA for Reading Is Fundamental

According to this study, “reading for pleasure in the United States has declined by more than 40% over the last 20 years–raising urgent questions about the cultural, educational and health consequences of a nation reading less.”

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: 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