

Discover more from Salena’s Monthly Writing Update
Grab your favorite chair and settle in
Welcome! Thanks for subscribing! Given the first month of 2023 is still wrapping up, I thought there’d be no better way to begin this substack than with a look back on 2022. It was the best year for writing I’ve had in decades - with my first pushcart nomination since 2015. Interestingly enough, that 2015 piece was about my grandmother and the second, born in the first month of 2022, was about her husband, my grandfather. Grateful to them for the interesting lives they lived (shoutout to Tina & Lorenzo). I was also lucky to receive my first nominations for Best of the Net and Best Small Fictions.
Below, you’ll find published stories from the past year by yours truly organized by favorites, length, & general genre. There’s 23 in total so no pressure to read them at all but they’re here if you are inclined! I’d love to hear about ones you enjoyed, so feel free to reach out if you feel so moved.
Happy Reading!
Best of 2022
So, starting off with my FAVORITE pieces of the year.
This is not a story about my grandfather - FlashBack Fiction
Nominations: Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions
One day, my chest will be Sag Harbor - Pithead Chapel
They Called It Fever - Full Mood Mag (as a part of their “Melomania” issue)
Perspective - Club Plum Literary (Horror Issue)
Love is - Variety Pack
Nomination: Best Small Fictions
Micro-fiction: <500 words
On Landing - The Red Lemon Review
I Knew an Eggshell - The Centifictionist Review
Cancer as a sky crab - CLOVES Literary
Benjamin Moore on Diagnosis - Full Mood Mag (as a part of their “Yellow” issue)
Don’t Go Looking - Soor Ploom Press
An Irish Goodbye - Boston 100 Words
Sara Winchester and the Mystery House (story fragment, incomplete but published as a part of Roi Faieants unfinished “Petites” series)
Flash Fiction: <1,000 words
The Birdfeeder - Typishly
What Chloe does in the Metaverse without you is about you - Idle Ink
what we are to each other and what we are not - Bending Genres
Consider this my resignation - Rejection Letters
Short Stories <5,000 words
Dairy Ain’t Free - Daily Drunk Magazine How Can I Help You? Issue
Self Portrait - Londemere Lit
When you find yourself at the bottom of the stairs, think of Diderot - Sixfold
Creative Nonfiction:
This is how I dink whiskey in the morning - Scrawl Place
Recovery, Run - CLOVES Literary (TW: references to sexual assault)
Poetry:
body of work - JAKe
Medicine Cabinet Contents of a married couple, 2022 - Unstamtic Magazine
Interviews (I know, cringe):
Five Questions with Salena Casha at FlashBack Fiction
Microinterview with Salena Casha at The Centifictionist
Whew okay, that was a lot. Kudos to you if you’ve got to the end. All the ones to come will be much shorter, I promise. Until next time!