I’m judging this year’s @clmporg.bsky.social Firecracker Award for Fiction. Publishers, get your entries in!
D. Carreira Ching, PhD
@mistahdonald.bsky.social
Award-winning writer, tenured professor, occasional editor, and avid gamer. I share info on literary agents etc. Querying 80k grounded cli-fi novel. Winner of the CMLP 2026 Firecracker Award in Fiction. www.donaldcarreiraching.com
Looking for your next favorite book? We recommend BLOOD WORK AND OTHER STORIES by Donald A. Carreira Ching, winner of the 2026 #FirecrackerAward in Fiction! #SummerReading @bambooridge.bsky.social www.bambooridge.org/bookstore/bl...
Blood Work and Other Stories - Bamboo Ridge Press
What we carry. What we inherit. What we leave behind. Seventeen stories of connection and survival in a place caught between what’s sacred and what’s sold. On the Windward side...
bambooridge.org
Mahalo to everyone for supporting Blood Work last month (and over the last year)! @bookmobile-itasca.bsky.social @clmporg.bsky.social @bambooridge.bsky.social
Querying one manuscript. Starting on two more. Writing is a disease.
At last month’s Oʻahu Indie Book Festival pop-up, Cass Kim asked Shay Kauwe, CL Walters, and me, “If there was one moment you could go back and relive during your writing and publishing journey, what would it be?” Read my response here: substack.com/home/post/p-... #writerslife #writingaboutwriting
Lessons from my Second Book's First Year
or What I Wish I Knew for My First Book
substack.com
Congratulations to THE CHOREIC PERIOD: POEMS by Latif Askia Ba, published by @milkweededitions.bsky.social, the winner of the 2026 #FirecrackerAward in Poetry! 🧨 milkweed.org/book/the-cho...
If you attended yesterday, you’ll probably know how shocked and stunned I was when they announced this award. Thank you to CLMP and to the judges. Thank you my wife. Thank you to Craig Howes and Kristiana Kahakauwila. Thank you to Bamboo Ridge. Thank you to the many writers here in Hawai‘i.
Community of Literary Magazines & Presses (CLMP)@clmporg.bsky.social · 4mo agoCongratulations to BLOOD WORK AND OTHER STORIES by Donald A. Carreira Ching, published by @bambooridge.bsky.social, the winner of the 2026 #FirecrackerAward in Fiction! 🧨 www.bambooridge.org/bookstore/bl...
Congratulations to Elastic, the winner of the 2026 #FirecrackerAward in Magazines/Best Debut! 🧨 www.elasticmag.com
Tomorrow is the @clmporg.bsky.social award ceremony for the Firecracker awards. Super anxious and excited to find out the results. Congratulations to all the finalists. To even have Blood Work be considered with such amazing work and authors is a win.
Excited to be leading a fiction workshop on writing characters with “intimacy and grace” at the O‘ahu Writers Retreat next week.
This is just to say I’m done with the first chapter. 5,000 words down, 75k to go, 500 words a day. Aiming to be done by the end of the summer.
D. Carreira Ching, PhD@mistahdonald.bsky.social · 7mo agoThe first chapter is always the test. If I can finish writing the chapter without losing energy, interest, or motivation and see the shape of the rest of the narrative, I know the story has potential.
The first chapter is always the test. If I can finish writing the chapter without losing energy, interest, or motivation and see the shape of the rest of the narrative, I know the story has potential.
Still querying my cli-fi manuscript and just started on a speculative novel about trauma and time travel. You’d think I’d know better by now.
Join me Friday, March 27th from 1:00 to 2:00 PM at @uhhilo, Campus Center Room 301! I'll be talking 'Blood Work' and the challenges and joys of writing fiction about life in contemporary Hawai'i. bambooridge.org/bookstore/blood-work-and-other-stories/ #hawaiibooks #litmag #smallpress #readlocal
If you're in the #querytrenches and not getting any requests or offers, keep in mind that Robert Olen Butler, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, just got rejected by 36 agents after submitting to AWP's Writer to Agent program.
Been writing for close two decades and every year I’m like, maybe I’m pau already. Then, you know, I get back to writing.
New year means new opportunities to engage and put yourself out there. Querying again feels good even when it doesn’t. Lots of events lined up. Blessed that my toddler is toddling and causing chaos.
Hey, y’all. I’ve been closed to new queries for a while now. But I’ll be reopening from Feb 9th to Feb 15th for one week only. To see what I’m looking for, check out my MSWL at erniechiara.com/mswl!
MSWL ⟡ Manuscript Wish List for Ernie Chiara
Check out Ernie's Manuscript Wishlist to find out more about what he's looking for.
erniechiara.com
Writing goals always shine brightest in January ✍️✨ Let me help you meet yours! @bambooridge.bsky.social One entry per person. No cash value. #writinggoals #writinglife
ICYMI: here's my interview on HPR about Blood Work www.hawaiipublicradio.org/the-conversa...
Making ends meet in Hawaiʻi is the theme of these new short stories
Donald A. Carreira Ching spoke to HPR’s DW Gibson about his new collection of short stories, “Blood Work and Other Stories.”
hawaiipublicradio.org
New post + details on Thursday’s big event: www.bambooridge.org/article/the-...
The Bones of Blood Work: "Da Kine but Different" - Bamboo Ridge Press
Donald Carreira Ching shares some backstory behind "Da Kine but Different," one of the pieces in his collection: Blood Work and Other Stories.
bambooridge.org
weekly talk story about @bambooridge.bsky.social's Virtual Pop-Up on Saturday for @mistahdonald.bsky.social and Bitter Over Sweet's book launch on November 7 (@sfwp.bsky.social)... www.melissallanesbrownlee.com/talk-story/2...
Come Hangout with Some Hawaii Writers and Don't Forget to Register For My Book Launch — Melissa Llanes Brownlee
I hope your week is going well and that you have given yourself space and grace (advice I need to take for myself). I have not been writing or submitting because I have been too stressed out to focus ...
melissallanesbrownlee.com
Join me and some of my favorite writers. It’s going to be an amazing event. RSVP: www.eventbrite.com/e/br-virtual...
weekly talk story about @bambooridge.bsky.social Pop-Up hosted by @mistahdonald.bsky.social and @expositionreview.bsky.social's FLASH 405 announcement coming this Friday... www.melissallanesbrownlee.com/talk-story/2...
Online Pop-Up For Blood Work and Keep Your Eyes Peeled For The FLASH 405 Winners — Melissa Llanes Brownlee
I don’t know how everyone is doing out there but I hope you are okay and giving yourself space. Hugs. I wanted to let you know that I was invited to be a part of Bamboo Ridge’s Pop-Up Reading to cele...
melissallanesbrownlee.com
