I’m a free-lance writer and editor as well as a stay-at-home Dad who cooks decent food, watches too much tennis, bikes around town, listens to a lot of jazz, and reads everything I can get my hands on.
After spending more than 30 years writing and editing for newspapers and magazines, much of my focus is now on fiction. My 2021 debut novel, Voodoo Hideaway, is published by Atmosphere Press and available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, IndieBound and the Atmosphere Press website. A short story collection titled Money, Love and Blood was published in 2017 and is available on Amazon. You can learn more about these and other books in the “Books n’ Things” section, and in individual blog posts.
Two of my flash fiction pieces — “Black Sky” and “Five Minus 4 = Uno” — are included in With One Eye on the Cows, an anthology of short stories published in December 2019 by Ad Hoc Fiction. Another flash fiction piece, “The Whole Bird,” is included in the anthology Restore to Factory Settings, which was published by Ad Hoc Fiction in December 2020. Both books feature stories that placed high in the Bath Flash Fiction Awards, which are held three times a year in Bath, England. The contests draw thousands of entrants from around the world each year. About 130 flash fiction pieces are included in the anthologies.
I’m available to help out with your writing, proofreading and editing needs at very competitive rates! So don’t be shy.
As a newspaper reporter my work won numerous awards from the North Carolina Working Press Association. In addition, a lengthy investigative series I wrote about US Airways’ monopoly at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport was a finalist for the Green Eyeshade Awards handed out by the Society of Professional Journalists.
I still write and edit for various websites and industry publications to make some extra money and sharpen my skills. A few of those websites are The Business Download, The Business Download Clean Energy, Garden & Health, Market Values, and GOBankingRates.
My fiction has received various awards and recognitions, including the following:
- Second Place in the 2019 Writer’s Digest Short Short Story competition for “Saint Christopher”
- Long List Finalist in the February 2022 Bath Flash Fiction Award competition for “Every Third Wednesday”
- Semifinalist in the 2021 ScreenCraft Cinematic Short Story Competition for “The Thickness of Blood”
- Short List Finalist in the June 2020 Bath Flash Fiction Award competition for “The Whole Bird”
- Finalist in the 2019 ScreenCraft Cinematic Short Story contest for “Friendly Fire”
- Short List Finalist in the June 2019 Bath Flash Fiction Award competition for “Black Sky”
- Long List Finalist in the October 2019 Bath Flash Fiction Award competition for “Five Minus 4 = Uno”
- Semifinalist in the 2017 ScreenCraft Cinematic Short Story contest for “Quick Study,” a novella
- First Place in Creative Loafing’s 2015 Flash Fiction contest for “A Slight Difference of Opinion”
I currently live in London with my family after previous stops in Charlotte, New York City, Connecticut and Los Angeles. My wife Susan designed this site’s snazzy logo and took many of the cool black-and-white photos you see here. I can also be followed on Facebook (Vance Cariaga author page) and LinkedIn (Vance Cariaga). Email me at VncCariaga@yahoo.com.
Vance Cariaga 