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Andrew Careaga (writer)

@andrewcareaga.bsky.social
624 followers 682 following 441 posts

Writer of fiction and creative (?) nonfiction. Pocho. Half-assed guitarist. Retired #highered marketing/PR guy (Missouri S&T). Writing about writing and my WIPs at andrewcareaga.com. No DMs. #writingcommunity

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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I don’t have Netflix so I won’t be able to watch the latest adaptation of John Steinbeck’s classic EAST OF EDEN. So I’m reading it for the first time ever. Almost halfway through, I found this snippet to share. #writingcommunity
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Roi Fainéant Press SUBS ARE OPEN, BAYBEE! @rfpress.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
What would you do if you knew the exact moment of the foretold Rapture? And would your behavior in your last days on this earth change your eternal outcome? Thoughts to ponder as you read "Out of Office" by @andrewcareaga.bsky.social in issue 100. www.roifaineantpress.com/post/out-of-...
NOW, IF YOU'RE WITH THE COMPANY, THIS OUT-OF-OFFICE MESSAGE MAY COME AS A SHOCK, SINCE I DIDN'T GIVE NOTICE. WHY SHOULD I TIP THEM OFF?
THEY'D ONLY THINK I'M NUTSO. BUT THEY'LL LEARN THE TRUTH SOON ENOUGH. I'M SURE EVERYONE IN HR AND ACCOUNTING IS STRANDED ON THIS LITERALLY BUT TEMPORARILY GODFORSAKEN PLANET (HI, EVELYN! HI, MAX!)
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
On this date in 2017, the final royalty statement received from the publisher of two of my books (published in 2001 and 2003). Never made it to that “substantial amount.” Can anyone relate? #Writinglife #WritingCommunity
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
@unlikely-stories.bsky.social hello! I keep getting bouncebacks on my recent emails to you.
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Happy to have a demented—and possibly blasphemous —story in the 100th edition of @rfpress.bsky.social today! Here’s “Out of Office” www.roifaineantpress.com/post/out-of-... #writingcommunity
roifaineantpress.com
"Out of Office" by Andrew Careaga
Hey, there. Thanks for the email! If you’re reading this auto-response, then you’re probably aware of what happened. Yes, it’s true. After many false and misleading claims over the years about our Glo...
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Coming your way this Sunday, 9/27! 👇🏼 #writingcommunity
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Here’s a poem for the autumnal equinox: “Eden in the Ozarks,” originally published in @theargylelitmag.bsky.social last April. #WritingCommunity andrewcareaga.com/2026/09/22/a...
andrewcareaga.com
A poem for autumn
It was a drizzly September morning a year ago, on the autumnal equinox. I was taking my morning walk along a nearby walking trail and absorbing the sights and sounds and smells of nature around me …
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Michael Downing @kmwriter01.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
We’re checking out @andrewcareaga.bsky.social ‘s story "The Doctor's Version" At SIDE B today. Told with chilling wit & razor-sharp irony, it explores power, manipulation, exploitation & the ease with which evil disguises itself as care. At the St**K: michaeldowning3.substack.com/p/side-b-915...
michaeldowning3.substack.com
Side B
Editor’s Notes From Inside the Pages of Bad Intentions
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Today's Friday Five features Scott Laudati, a multi-talented writer of poetry and prose, painter, musician, and overall bon vivant. Be sure to check out what he has to say about his new collection of poems, RAINBOW ROAD, and much more. andrewcareaga.com/2026/09/18/f... #WritingCommunity
andrewcareaga.com
Friday Five: ‘Rainbow Road’ author/road warrior Scott Laudati
‘As soon as I decided to just be exactly me, and stop playing other people’s games, this whole sea parted.’
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Finally finished a (very) rough draft of a short story I’ve been carrying around in my head for over a year now, and it hasn’t turned out at all the way I first imagined it. Changed POV from third- to first-person plus a lot more. Who knows how it’ll end up? #writingcommunity
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Today’s blog post: a brief backstory about my latest creative nonfiction piece #WritingCommunity andrewcareaga.com/2026/09/16/n...
andrewcareaga.com
New essay: ‘Secondhand Guitar’
A 500-word micro-essay published in Pittsburgh Review of Books
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Grateful to @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social for publishing my tiny essay “Secondhand Guitar” today! #writingcommunity pghrev.com/secondhand-g...
pghrev.com
Secondhand Guitar - Pittsburgh Review of Books
If I hadn’t been so hellbent on learning how to play the intro to “Stairway to Heaven,” I would have grabbed my first secondhand guitar by the neck and
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serious-lit @seriouslitmag.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
New story by @andrewcareaga.bsky.social, 'The Strong One.'
serious-lit.com
Andrew Careaga | serious-lit
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Literary Garage @literarygarage.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
A quick submissions update: Literary Garage is pausing general submissions for the next few weeks while we put together a special themed feature. Details coming soon. Please hold your work until submissions reopen—anything sent during the pause won't be read or considered. Yeah....it'll be cool.
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Check out my review of @juscarts.com's new collection of sports-themed poetry, LATERALS: andrewcareaga.com/2026/09/02/j... #writingcommunity
andrewcareaga.com
Justin Carter’s ‘Laterals’: the poetry of sport
Evocative meditations on life viewed through the lens of athletics: futility, desperation, heartbreak, and–most importantly–hope
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Today’s Friday Five features one of my favorite short story writers, @charliekondek.bsky.social. Read his thoughts on writing, how his marketing and PR background has influenced his work, and more. andrewcareaga.com/2026/08/21/f... #WritingCommunity
andrewcareaga.com
Friday Five: short story writer Charlie Kondek
‘… in advertising I was a strategist, and I think I bring a strategist’s approach to writing.’
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I hope you enjoy this short story of mine, published today in Serious Lit!
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Writers: take note!
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Vantage Point with Eli Amdur @vpeli.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Love that Sue Monk Kidd's questions push writers to dig past surface traits. Asking what a character wants right now often unlocks the rest. Enjoy your Friday, even if it's short one question.
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Today’s Friday Five (a Friday Four, actually) offers some good advice from Sue Monk Kidd on developing your novel or short story characters. Ask yourself four questions. andrewcareaga.com/2026/08/07/f...
andrewcareaga.com
Friday Five (minus one): on creating well-rounded characters
Expounding on advice from Sue Monk Kidd’s craft book/memoir ‘Writing Creativity and Soul’
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Proud to have a short story in this! Download your free copy below. #writingcommunity
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Katherine Argent @katherineargent.com · 05/08/2026
The amazing @nathanpettigrew.bsky.social was the first to publish my fiction in @mythicpicnic.bsky.social. Go read what he has to say!
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Today's Friday Five features @nathanpettigrew.bsky.social , a writer and editor of the @mythicpicnic.bsky.social literary magazine. Read what Nathan has to say at andrewcareaga.com/2026/07/31/f... #FridayFive #WritingCommunity
andrewcareaga.com
Friday Five: ‘Mythic Picnic’ editor Nathan Pettigrew
‘I’ve spent most of my life writing stories in memo pads, notebooks, and endless Word docs.’
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
“Forget your personal tragedy. … you’re not a tragic character. Neither am I. All we are is writers and what we should do is write.” Hemingway, in a letter to Fitzgerald via Junot Diaz on Substack. #writingcommunity
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Frank Vatel @frankvatel312.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
It stands at less than four-hundred words, but I defy anyone to tell me there isn’t a tequila-soaked adventure novel in this story.
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Literary Garage @literarygarage.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Today at the St**k, we go behind the story with @andrewcareaga.bsky.social, , author of “The Doctor’s Version,” inspired by Zevon’s “Charlie’s Medicine.” He discusses writing a narrator who sees himself as a savior, even as the truth tells a far darker story. open.substack.com/pub/literary...
open.substack.com
Behind The Story
Get to know Andrew Careaga
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Grateful to @literarygarage.bsky.social for interviewing me about my short story in the Warren Zevon-inspired crime anthology, BAD INTENTIONS. literarygarage.substack.com/p/behind-the... #WritingCommunity
literarygarage.substack.com
Behind The Story
Get to know Andrew Careaga
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Christopher Stevenson @chrisstevenson.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
This piece by @andrewcareaga.bsky.social in @cowboyjamboree.bsky.social If you've not yet read "How to Fish" give it a looksy. We all know a dude who peaked in HS but had more in him. I love this story and the friendship between Jerry and College Boy. www.cowboyjamboreemagazine.com/how-to-fish....
cowboyjamboreemagazine.com
How to Fish
How to Fish                                                                              by Andrew Careaga   Author's Note: I would describe "How to Fish" as...
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
I have a flash piece up in the new little mag Sunday Morning published—when else?—this Sunday morning. Proud to be the first contributor to this project! #writingcommunity sundaymorningmag.neocities.org/stories/pancho
sundaymorningmag.neocities.org
PANCHO VILLA’S REVENGE — Sunday Morning Magazine
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
My latest blog post is about how I'm doing S*bS*ack all wrong. (Is that how I'm supposed to abbreviate the site that rhymes with grubstack?) #WritingCommunity andrewcareaga.com/2026/07/22/s...
andrewcareaga.com
Substack and me
Take note: it’s complicated
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Today's Friday Five features Mr. Mucky Mondays himself, Shawn Scott Smith @luckycreature.bsky.social . Check out what he has to say about writing, editing a weekly online literary magazine, and pinball at andrewcareaga.com/2026/07/17/f... #WritingCommunity
andrewcareaga.com
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.’
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Hey, my writing friends: here's a terrific video about creativity--not just in writing, but in many areas, but I think much of it applies to our craft. It's from David Epstein, author of RANGE. youtu.be/VP4uRJtIQEM?... #WritingCommunity #video #YouTube
youtu.be
Why Creative People Can't Stick To One Thing
YouTube video by David Epstein
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Hola, BluerSkyers in the #WritingCommunity! Proud to share a have a new short story out in @burialmagazine.bsky.social today. Please give "Senõr Newton" a read! burialmagazine.neocities.org/senornewton
burialmagazine.neocities.org
Señor Newton
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
I really enjoyed this story!
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
For today's Friday Five, we talk to Ukrainian writer Iryna Somkina about her writing life and the launch of her literary magazine, Sunday Morning. andrewcareaga.com/2026/07/10/f... #WritingCommunity
andrewcareaga.com
Friday Five: Ukrainian writer and ‘Sunday Morning’ creator Iryna Somkina
‘The single most valuable asset you possess is your own unique view and your unrepeatable experience’
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Nathan Pettigrew @nathanpettigrew.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Bad Intentions from @literarygarage.bsky.social has launched! Features my story "Milton," along with bangers from @keithroysdon.bsky.social, @zimwrites.bsky.social, @andrewcareaga.bsky.social & @jessebinger.bsky.social among others! a.co/d/0gG2WpNd
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Something I wrote a year ago, inspired by the declaration of my homeland's founders: "A writer's declaration of independence": andrewcareaga.com/2025/07/04/a... #WritingCommunity
andrewcareaga.com
A writer’s declaration of independence
‘I hold these truths to be self-evident…’
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
#WritingCommunity writers, take note!
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Tom Snarsky @tomsnarsky.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Buck Downs
on a day
like today
we’ll try
tomorrow
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Literary Garage @literarygarage.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Check out this Q & A with our Bad Intentions editor @kmwriter01.bsky.social at Friday Five. Some great insight into what was involved in putting together the stories in the anthology as well as his thoughts on Zevon, writing, and his own writing.
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
In today's Friday Five, we talk to one of the masterminds behind the Warren Zevon-inspired 'Bad Intentions' anthology (coming 7/7, pre-order now), @kmwriter01.bsky.social Read the back story to this anthology and learn abt Michael's other writing andrewcareaga.com/2026/06/26/f... #WritingCommunity
andrewcareaga.com
Friday Five: ‘Saints of the Asphalt’ author and ‘Bad Intentions’ editor Michael Downing
‘I’m interested in what happens when people find themselves at a crossroads and have to make difficult choices’
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Literary Garage @literarygarage.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
A beautiful woman walks into a private eye's office with an unusual request: Kill my husband. A rain-soaked tale of murder, greed, double-crosses & a detective even more dangerous than the people hiring him. Zevon w/a touch of Chandler by Nathan Poole-Shannon: literarygarage.com/snake-eyes
literarygarage.com
Snake Eyes | Literary Garage
A story that feels inspired by "Mr. Bad Example" if it had been written by Raymond Chandler.
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darkwinterlitmag @darkwinterlitmag.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
DarkWinter Press is thrilled to announce the Kindle version of Little River Bridge, the incredible new novel by DorothyJane Kavanaugh, with a cover blurb by the esteemed author Nino Ricci, is now on pre-sale. Paperback out on July 3rd! Pre-order the Kindle version here!: a-fwd.com/asin=B0H6N5Q...
a-fwd.com
Little River Bridge
Amazon.com: Little River Bridge eBook : Kavanaugh, DorothyJane: Books
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Happy Friday, #Writingcommunity! We're on the verge of summer here in the northern hemisphere, so what better time to feature SCUMBAG SUMMER author @jillianluft.bsky.social in this week's Friday Five? Read what she has to say about her novel, writing, and scumbags. andrewcareaga.com/2026/06/19/f...
andrewcareaga.com
Friday Five: ‘Scumbag Summer’ author Jillian Luft
‘One of my goals, when writing, is to bring music to the page.’
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
My short story “An Earthquake in China” was published today by The Leafline Magazine! I’d be honored if you’d give it a read. theleaflinemag.wordpress.com/2026/06/18/a... #writingcommunity
theleaflinemag.wordpress.com
“An Earthquake in China” short story by Andrew Careaga
It was that earthquake in China that started it all. Eight-point-something on the Richter Scale, thousands killed, entire villages destroyed. Mudslides, aftershocks. The whole bit.That earthquake’s…
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Looking for a bit of darkness for these long, light-filled days? Maybe read my latest flash fiction, “The Sixth Pallbearer,” out today in @darkwinterlitmag.bsky.social www.darkwinterlit.com/post/the-six... #writingcommunity
darkwinterlit.com
The Sixth Pallbearer by Andrew Careaga
Where’s number six, the funeral director asks the young men before him. They shrug in unison. He’s always running late, one says. [...]
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
My flash nonfiction piece, “Killing Machine,” is in the latest issue of The Itch! Go scratch around over at www.theitchlit.com/non-fiction/... #writingcommunity
theitchlit.com
Killing Machine. — The Itch Lit
by Andrew Careaga “OVER 400 GUNS IN STOCK” says the sign outside my town’s only pawn shop. I go there sometimes, whenever I’m in the mood to browse and perhaps purchase a gently used fascist-killer....
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Happy Friday, Blueskyers! Today's Friday Five features a Q&A with Karina Longo, who talks about the inspiration for her lit mag La Rotonde Review, writers who inspire her, and more. Please give it a read! andrewcareaga.com/2026/06/12/f... #Writingdcommunity
andrewcareaga.com
Friday Five: Karina Longo, editor of La Rotonde Review
‘I wanted to build a space that balanced curation with inclusion.’
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Stanchion @stanchion.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Sometimes landing that agent, getting that big book deal & trying incredibly hard to make something a success ends up with you feeling like an abject failure. Anyway, here's me w/ @andrewcareaga.bsky.social talking about something I haven't yet had the guts to say andrewcareaga.com/2026/06/05/f...
andrewcareaga.com
Friday Five: Stanchion founder/editor Jeff Bogle on publishing, lit mag fees, and street cats
‘I just want to keep doing, and creating, and moving forward. I’m also never really satisfied.’
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Andrew Careaga (writer) @andrewcareaga.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
And by “Firday,” I mean “Friday.” Or since there’s a picture of a cat in this post, maybe I mean “Furday”?
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