literary magazine – Andrew Careaga

Friday Five: author and ‘Mucky Mondays’ maestro Shawn Scott Smith

‘Community has always been a thing for me, and I saw a chance to give back to some of the writers I admired.’

Ever had a case of the Mondays? Of course you have. But thanks to Shawn Scott Smith, a writer, editor, and pinball aficionado from North Carolina, you can get your week off to a better start by reading a poem or flash fiction piece selected and curated by Shawn via his online literary presence, Mucky Mondays.

Shawn launched the project earlier this year, and it didn’t take long for him to fill his calendar for 2026. (I’m one of the lucky mucks to be included in Scott’s publication this year. Check out “Scenes from a Chinese Restaurant,” which Scott kindly nominated for a Best of the Net award.) He will solicit submissions for the 2027 lineup beginning in November.

An accomplished writer in his own right, Shawn’s first collection of poetry and short stories, Telemetry: Poems and Shorts 2014-2017, was published in 2018. His newest book, Atomic Number, contains 117 poems, each one titled after an element of the periodic table. (Check out a couple of poems from the collection.) He’s also been published in a bunch of literary magazines, including Alien Buddha, BULL, Burial Magazine, Dodo Eraser, and Hawkeye.

Read on to learn more about Shawn’s writing journey, the origin of Mucky Mondays, his pinball obsession, and more.

New fiction, ‘Serenity Security Solutions,’ published in MoonLit Getaway

Ever worry about getting locked out of your house?

It’s a fear I’ve had for ages. What better way to overcome a fear like that than to write about it?

That is, unless what you end up writing is along the lines of the one I wrote recently, “Serenity Security Solutions.” It was published today (Monday, February 10, 2025) in the literary journal MoonLit Getaway.

My thanks to editor Brandon Nadeau for selecting this story for his wonderful litmag. Please check out all the other amazing fiction, poetry, and artwork Brandon and his team have to offer.

As always, you can access this and other works of fiction and nonfiction here.

Friday Five: Q&A with ‘Short Story, Long’ founder Aaron Burch

‘ I often feel happiest and most fulfilled when I read a submission and fall in love with it …’

You might call Aaron Burch a serial literary magazine founder.

His journey into the litmag world began in 2001, when he founded Hobart. He spent over two decades editing that journal, and toward the end of his tenure there he co-founded HAD, an online journal focused on publishing microfiction. Soon after that, he founded Words & Sports Quarterly, a sports-oriented literary magazine that is currently on hiatus.

Two years ago this spring, he launched his latest literary project, Short Story, Long, as a place for longer fiction — stories in the 2,000- to 8,000-word range, although stories of 3,000 to 5,000 words hit the publication’s “sweet spot.” (Read more about the publication and submission guidelines.)

Friday Five: Q&A with After Dinner Conversation founder Kolby Granville

‘Great books … (are) about helping me understand the human condition through story examples.’

To call After Dinner Conversation an atypical literary magazine would be an understatement as well as a disservice to this multi-faceted media operation. Founder and editor-in-chief Kolby Granville (@kolbyg on X/Twitter) set out to create a magazine that used the art of fiction to delve into weighty ethical and philosophical issues, and he’s accomplished just that.

After Dinner Conversation Philosophy | Ethics Short Story Magazine is published monthly to offer, in the words of its website, “intriguing, thought-provoking conversations about ethics, philosophy, and social issues.” But After Dinner Conversation is more than a litmag. It includes podcasts, books, teaching aids, and more.

In addition to his busy work as a publisher, Kolby is also a practicing defense attorney. He took some time out of his hectic schedule to tell us a bit about After Dinner Conversation.