short story – Andrew Careaga

New in ‘Burial Magazine’: ‘Señor Newton’

‘He stacks nine or ten of the cookies pyramid style on his plate, then turns, the tugboat reversing course, and steers toward his table…’

I’m hyped to have a short story out today in the legendary online literary publication Burial Magazine. Please give “Senõr Newton” a read!

Here’s what Burial editor Z.H. Gill (who previously was featured in a Friday Five on this site) has to say about the story:

new in burial: @andrewcareaga has been writing these vignettes about restaurants…they make me feel some kind of way. i’ve spent about a quarter of my life in buffets, so i felt this one was a natural fit in the mag. so come meet ‘señor newton’—you won’t soon forget him. read 👇!
— Z.H. (Burial Magazine – SUBMISSIONS CLOSED) (@BurialMagazine) July 13, 2026

Z.H. is wise. Listen to Z.H. Read the story.

Thank you.

Image via Pexels.

In case you missed ’em

Links to my latest published writings.

Over the past week I had three pieces published in various literary magazines:

“Weather Report” was published last Wednesday, April 15, in Flash Fiction Magazine. This flash fiction piece describes how an ordinary morning walk is disrupted by an extraordinary encounter. I’m grateful to Aishwarya Mishra for her helpful edits, which strengthened this piece.
“The Cat Says” was published last Friday in The Orange Rose Literary Magazine. This short story is about the dynamics between humans and their pets, with a bit of woo-woo psychic work thrown in. This piece was part of a special themed issue about pets called “Love You, Miss You,” created to honor the recently departed Biscotti, one of editor-in-chief Amber Budd‘s two cats that inspired the magazine’s name (Biscotti being the Orange). My thanks to Amber for including my piece in this issue.
“A Cure for Doomscrolling” was published Sunday, April 19, in an interesting literary message board called Some Words. My poem was one of the poems posted by Some Words in honor of National Poetry Month, which continues through April. Some Words creator and editor Justin Carter pours his heart and soul editing and curating this quirky lit thing, and you should visit to read some of the great works appearing there.

I have one other piece, a short story, that should be published sometime this spring, and the short story that will appear in the Warren Zevon-inspired anthology that comes out in July. Other than that, no other writings have been picked up lately. I hope that changes soon. Whether it does or it doesn’t, I plan to keep writing.

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.

Image of the cover of John Waddy Bullion's book of short stories, "This World Will Never Run Out of Strangers" — *This World Will Never Run Out of Strangers* was published in November 2025 by Cowboy Jamboree Press

New story in ‘The Orange Rose’

Read ‘Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott?’

My short story “Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott?” was just published in Issue 4 of The Orange Rose Literary Magazine. I hope you’ll give it a read.

You’d do it for Randolph Scott (video), wouldn’t you?

Clip from the Mel Brooks movie, “Blazing Saddles”

This is the second story of mine to appear in Orange Rose. The first one, “Shah Mat,” appeared in Issue 2. I’m grateful to editor-in-chief Amber Budd for including my work in both issues.

New holiday-themed flash fiction: ‘The Exchange’

I submitted the following flash fiction piece, “The Exchange,” to an online literary publication’s call for holiday-themed stories. Unfortunately, it didn’t make the cut due at least in part to some racial language that could be considered offensive. I understand and respect the editor’s concerns on that matter, but I thought the story was pretty good despite the potentially problematic language, so I’m sharing it here with the appropriate content warning.