writing life – Page 10 – Andrew Careaga

New micro fiction in ‘Mythic Picnic’

‘Devin Found a Flash Drive’ included in MICRO MAYHEM v5 (Sci-Fi and Horror)

I’m happy as a creature feature fanatic to have my warped little micro story, “Devin Found a Flash Drive,” in the latest edition of the X/Twitter-only literary magazine, Mythic Picnic: MICRO MAYHEM v5 (Sci-Fi and Horror edition).

Since Mythic Picnic exists only on X/Twitter, I can’t link directly to my story, but click on the link above and scroll for a bit and you’ll find it. It’s the third piece from the top. But don’t skip the other micros in this issue; they’re all bangers, as the kids say.

Here’s a teaser for my story:

DEVIN FOUND A FLASH DRIVE by Andrew Careaga @andrewcareaga

It was on the sidewalk at his bus stop. Devin grabbed it—maybe it’ll have some games on it, he thought, or better yet, porn—and when he got home, plugged it into his laptop.

But the only file he found was called “readme.txt.” He opened it and read.

“Dear stranger,” it began. “I need your help. Desperately.”

Devin read on.

Follow Mythic Picnic on X/Twitter at @MythicPicnic.

Allison Field Bell’s expansive and intimate poetry collection, ‘All That Blue’

‘… the word blue encompasses both the mental and physical spaces we inhabit.’

There’s something beautifully expansive about multi-genre writer Allison Field Bell‘s new poetry collection, All That Blue (now available from Finishing Line Press). The title itself evokes images of expansiveness: an unending dome of blue sky above, the glimmering cobalt of the ocean, the pristine turquoise of a county pond.

Juxtaposing these visions of expansiveness, though, are raw, intimate, and up-close expressions of life in all its messiness and unpredictability–the teeming life bubbling up from beneath. The 43 free-verse poems of All That Blue, Allison’s first collection of poetry, present this juxtaposition brilliantly.

Friday Five: ‘Hang Time’ author Brendan Gillen

‘… what really interests me in sports, and in life in general, really, is the in-between moments.’

Brendan Gillen’s short story collection, *Hang Time*, came out in December 2025.

As the Winter Olympics get into full swing, it’s as good a time as any to share this interview with Brendan Gillen, whose collection of short stories, Hang Time. The wide world of sports–from Little League and golf to college basketball, monster truck rallies, and more–serves as a backdrop for many of these yarns, but as author John Brandon notes in his blurb, “there’s LSD in the Gatorade.” Because the stories in this collection, published in December 2025, are about much more than sports. They reveal what Brendan calls “the in-between moments” that turn relatable, everyday experiences into surreal yet believable and very enjoyable tales of love, life, and heartbreak.

Based in Brooklyn, New York, Brendan’s work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best Small Fictions, and appears in Electric Lit, Write or Die, Sundog, the Florida Review, Wigleaf, X-R-A-Y, and elsewhere. He is also the author of a novel, Static, which came out in 2024, and an award-winning creative director who has developed, written, and created content for a broad range of brands, including ESPN, NASCAR, and Anheuser-Busch.

New flash non-fiction: ‘Livin’ la Vida Pocha’

Some thoughts about cultural identity and assimilation into the Great American Melting Pot

For years, I’ve had a fascination with my Mexican-American heritage and how little I am connected to it–how there is little more to that heritage now than the surname, Careaga. Some thirty years ago, when I first learned there was a term for people like me, pocho, or pocha in the feminine (see more about the terms below), I started writing short pieces, mostly non-fiction or maybe autofiction, about coming to terms with this lost identity and claiming this pocho identity. “Livin’ la Vida Pocha,” published in Issue 4 of the outstanding literary magazine In Short: A Journal of Flash Nonfiction, is the first of these pieces I’ve had published. I’m working on others, so stay tuned.

My attempt with this piece is to express my mixed feelings about my cultural identity and assimilation into the Great American Melting Pot in a direct, deeply personal style. I hope you like it. Many thanks to In Short founder and editor-in-chief Steph Liberatore for her support of this piece and for her edits, which improved the piece greatly.

Friday Five: writer John Waddy Bullion and his ‘Strangers’ thing

‘“Fun” has become very important to me when I write—in fact, it might be the most important thing.’

I started reading John Waddy Bullion‘s exceptional short story collection This World Will Never Run Out of Strangers in late December, after I’d already posted my year-end roundup of favorite books. I was only a few stories into this book, which came out from Cowboy Jamboree in November 2025, when I wished I’d either a.) read it sooner so I could’ve included it in my year-end list or b.) waited until I finished reading it to run that post so I could’ve included …Strangers, even if it meant delaying my 2025 list until 2026. It is just that good. To atone for this omission, I reached out to Jack (that’s what he goes by “Jack” in everyday life) and asked to feature him in this, the first Friday Five Q&A of 2026.