Caitlin Cacciatore won first prize in Bacopa Literary Review
2020 for the poem “Sacrament,” was long-listed for the international
erbacce-prize in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and was nominated for 2024's 'Best of
the Net' Anthology with the poem "Still Life with Roses."
BAM: Where are you currently located?
Caitlin: Arverne by the Sea, New York City
BAM: Where’s your writing space?
Caitlin: My living room desk, surrounded by my wax
seals (I keep an extensive correspondence with various pen pals, literary and
otherwise), washi tape, my sticker collection, and no less than five open books
at any given time.
BAM: Do you have a writer circle?
Caitlin: I have been fortunate to have many mentors
and literary friends who uplift me when times are tumultuous, critique my work
when I ask, and provide advice and pass along their wisdom if ever I find
myself at a crossroads. The constellation of writers I surround myself with
includes authors in all stages of their careers and at all levels of success,
from those who are just beginning to make a name for themselves to people who
are internationally recognized for their efforts in the literary world. We share
a thirst for excellence, a deep and enduring love of the English language, and
a wish to leave our mark upon the literary canon. All the writers I keep
company with are shining jewels, guiding lights by which I might set my
compass. Whenever I think of them, I am overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude
for everyone who believed in me, even when I didn’t quite believe in myself.
BAM: You mentioned individuals who are recognized for
their effort. Well, who do you write to when you picture your reader, or who is
your target audience?
Caitlin: I picture my target audience as anyone who
is lonely or bereaved, heartbroken and in need of a way by which to feel truly
seen. I suppose that in some ways, I am still writing for the lonely little
girl inside of myself. I picture my reader curled around my book with a
steaming cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate, or apple cider, with the wind
howling outside, a blizzard rolling in from the mountains, but she is safe and
warm and secure. Perhaps she has a dog or a cat nestled in the space between
her legs, and another in her lap. I picture someone who will take great comfort
from my words – who will be so engaged in my story that the wind will cease,
and the snow will stop and when she looks up from my book, the storm will have
passed.
BAM: Very poetic. Tell me, what’s the best way to
write?
Caitlin: The best – although far from the only – way
to write is passionately. Write like your life depends on it, or better
yet, write like your legacy rides upon it. Write when you’re not supposed to be
writing. (Please do not attempt this advice in a vehicle or vessel you are
commanding.) Write as if you’re the only one in the entire universe who can
tell this story – because chances are that no one else in the world can tell
your story in the vibrant detail it deserves. No matter when or why or what or even
how much you write, remember that your words hold weight: the power of creation
is a heady one to wield, so channel your writing – all that fire, all that fury
– into something that makes you feel alive.
BAM: I can relate. So, Caitlin, when did you realize
you liked writing?
Caitlin: The moment I fully understood the magic and
the alchemy of putting words together on a page to form sentences, paragraphs,
and entire stories that were more than the sum of their individual parts, I was
hooked. Words fascinate me; they always have. I am entranced by the way they
come together and by their ability to tease apart the deeper meaning of life. I
wrote my first book at the age of 3 or 4, dictated to my wonderful mom and
diligently bound by her. We still have it.
BAM: Sounds like you have a wonderful and supportive
mother. Speaking of inspiration, what inspires you to write?
Caitlin: Writing is central to my identity. At heart,
I’m a poet. At the bottom of the hour, at the end of the day, I know I can turn
to the keyboard and find solace. I write because I have so many stories to
tell, so many I fear that some of them will go untold.
BAM: What do you mean?
Caitlin: For me, writing is an act of seeking – I am
always in search of great and lasting truths to tell in my poetry: messages
that are vital and speak to the human condition today, tomorrow, and – if we
are so fortunate – a thousand years from now. What is central to our humanity
has not changed since the rise of literature and the beginning of the written
record. There are universal truths about what it means to be human. I often
take ancient themes and motifs off the shelf and dust them off for generations
to come. I recognize how difficult it is to walk the line between being fresh,
new and innovative – and also pay homage to the literary and cultural heritages
of the world. My work draws heavily upon themes of classical antiquity.
BAM: What else?
Caitlin: I take great pleasure in finding precise words, a
pithy turn of phrase, a beautiful new metaphor, an unexpected motif. I write to
be surprised – I’m a discovery writer, after all.
BAM: Could you tell me more about that discovery?
Caitlin: Ultimately, I write as an act of rebellion –
for all of my foremothers who grew up in a world where women’s education and
literacy were limited. My ancestors were mostly self-educated. I come from a
long line of brave, brilliant women. In Italian, they call us strega. I
write for the same reason my great-great-grandmother ran a black market for
medicine in fascist Italy, and for the same reason her husband wore a yarmulke
in solidarity with the Jewish population during WWII.
BAM: Very brave.
Caitlin: I also write for my grandmother – who had
all the best stories and who was a skilled orator both in English and Italian
yet lacked the education to write them all down.
BAM: I'd love to read some of that work. On that
note, tell me about your writing goals.
Caitlin: I’m working on editing a climate fiction
novel about the world’s last library, set 250 years in a future very much
informed by the book bannings of today. My goal is to be a successful novelist
– to move people with my stories and make a living writing.
BAM: Really? How so?
Caitlin: I break my more short-term writing goals
into weekly units. I set ambitious goals, so I don’t always meet word-count or
page-count goals – but I’ve still beaten my annual word-count total three years
in a row.
BAM: What are you up to now?
Caitlin: My current writing projects include
compiling, rearranging, and editing various chapbooks – one on romantic themes,
one addressing ecological themes; another relatively obscure one about obols. I
am trying to find an agent for my poetry and have recently started sending out
queries. I’ve gotten into songwriting and am collaborating with a friend who is
a brilliant, award-winning pianist to put music to our first single.
BAM: Wow. And as for your current goals?
Caitlin: My loftier goals include becoming a Poet
Laureate, whether of my state or of the nation – and when I am older, perhaps
joining those vaulted ranks of Nobel Prize Winners in Literature.
A few notes regarding the anthology. 42 Stories Anthology Presents: Book of 422 has
reached its goal.
The chapters have Story of Excellence Award winners. All authors of the anthology have been notified of its
completion. What’s next? If all goes according to plan, the book will be published by
2024. We are trying to obtain chapter introductions from chapter
award winners. The authors are voting for a book cover from now until
January 22, 2023, 11:59pm GMT either via email (42anthologysubs@gmail.com) or through the Facebook group.
If you have a story in the anthology and are interested in voting for the book cover through the group, you can join by requesting a
link via email. If you want to vote on the book cover without joining the group, you can ask me for a link to the
covers and email your vote in directly.
There will be a special blog spot for each chapter where the winners answer interview questions. If you have time, look up the winners, as they're very talented authors. Any winners mentioned above, contact the anthology team (here: 42anthologysubs@gmail.com) if you didn't receive an email announcement.
There's also Runner-Up Award Winners. Here is who's been contacted so far. If you see your name below and have not replied to an email, please contact the anthology team.
Runner Up Award Winners:
Alternate Reality: Roger Hammons
Apocalyptic: Dr. Thomas Reed Willemain
Clown: Sharon Kretschmer
Craft of Writing: No Award
Crime: Anthony Knott
Culture: William McCann
Dystopia/Utopia: Alexis Gkantiragas
Escape: Gania Barlow
Fairy Tale: Sandra Simmer
Fantasy: Art Lasky
Fight: Ava Jean Wetzel
HGH: Glenna Anne Turnbull
Horror: Andy Betz
Humor: Elizabeth Barton
Impairment: Stephen Ground
Indigenous: Matias F. Travieso-Diaz
Macabre & Morbid: Christy Lynch
Monster: Bunny Haschen
Mystery: Tejaswinee Roychowdhury
Mythopoeia: Becky Benishek
Noir: Amy Cotler
oDDbALL: Faustine Guerrero
Outer Space: Ethan Shaskan
Paranormal: John H. Dromey
Parents: Travis Garner
Poetic Prose: D. I. Jolly
Romance: Lindy Greaves
Satire: Louise Mae Moises
Science Fiction: Harley McEvoy
Siblings: Nikki J. Davison
Sports: Nicole Ortiz
Steampunk: Madison Marshall
Sword & Sorcery: Ej Sidle
Thriller/Suspense: Suzanne Baginskie
Tragedy: Hibah Shabkhez
Trapped: Sheryl Loeffler
Travel: Adelaide B. Shaw
Vampire: Voting in progress
War: Amber Winter
Werewolf: James Lang
Western: Donald Winzer
Zombie: Ben Mimmack
Note: Some judges select "Honorable Mention" stories. They are optional awards given at the judge's discretion, and not every chapter has one. Honorable mention award-winners will be named in future blogs.
The theme of this anthology is to have 1,764 stories by 1,764
writers of different names, which is 42 x 42 by 42 x 42 writers. Multi-subs are
okay as long as you use a pen name for each story (max of 4 stories per writer).
If you have to ask why the need of a pen name, kindly reread the first sentence
again.
Story rules:
Each story needs a title with approximately 42 characters
(between 40 and 44).
All stories need to be exactly 42 words.
All bios are in 3rd person and exactly 42 words
long.
Note: Hyphens count as a word as do ellipsis so be careful.
The subject line of an email should include 42subs, the category,
and your initials. Examples:
42subs_mystery_bam
42SUB_mys_BM
Your middle initial will help differentiate you from others.
There are 42 categories, and the subject line helps us know which category’s
readers to send your work to, so please remember this part.
Each chapter has a cover. All of the covers have been
selected except for the Crime, Fight, and
book cover. If you are interested
in drawing one, email me: 42anthologysubs@gmail.com
The publication date is TBA, but once published, a token
amount will be donated to United Through Reading. Also, the 42 chapters have a
Story of Excellence Award. Award winners receive:
$0.42, which can be added to the anthology charity.
Story podcasts and read on YouTube by the author or possibly
an actor
A 42 Anthology Story of Excellence certificate
Writing the introduction to their chapter
Possibly more
We need about 300 stories to reach our goal. Please send us
something for consideration. Keep the guidelines in mind.
Pay: This anthology will come out in all possible formats. Unfortunately,
payment for all authors cannot be guaranteed. At this time, we have no plan to
pay authors aside from award winners mentioned and authors of the Craft of Writing category. We will, however, consider
paying authors if it is possible.
When you send us a story, you agree to the terms of the anthology
and to your work being published in the Project 42 Stories Anthology. The terms and submission link are here:
A 2: Great question. Short: It's the answer to the universe. Long: In my teens, a friend recommended I watch the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy miniseries from 1981. I'd never laughed so hard and decided to read all of the books while recovering from my first three of eight back operations.
The Steampunk and impairment categories were inspired by the fact that I have metal holding my back together and fought to walk again twice. Don't feel bad for me. The latter surgeries in my 20s made me faster and stronger than ever before.
Then, in my 30s, I decided to gather a galaxy of voices, honoring my favorite writer and at the same time helping other authors find publication in this universe of rejection.
Your writing has value and I want to share it through your 42 words. Side note: I live in Japan where 42 is viewed as an unlucky number.
A lot of bloggers and Pod-casters have strict rules and anthologies don't usually make the cut. Ask/post away. Let me know you helped promote the book and I'll figure out a way to thank you.
Q 5: In 42 words and third person, who are you?
A 5:B. A. Mullin, or
Bam's a PhD student of linguistics at Temple in Osaka, MA in teaching &
BA in English, concentration in creative writing. Taught craft of
writing/editing for several years, English in Costa Rica, now teaching SLA in
Japan.
Q 6: In 42 words, who else is working on the anthology?
A 6: It would take more than 42 words to name everyone. 8 editors and 9 readers are voting on all of the submissions. One is the main editor. One is also the publisher. 10 voting contributors. 10 artists. Also, there are 5 promoters.
Q 7: Why won't you let me submit multiple stories under the same name?
A 7: Because the theme is 42 and a multiple of 42 by itself is 1,764, so we will have 1,764 names and stories in the book. That said, submit each story believing it might get accepted with pen names included under the title and in the bio. Otherwise, voters would wonder why you sent us a piece you thought would get rejected.
More. The original plan was: accept one story by different authors. We decided for time sake four stories per writer was okay under the rule each work would have a different pen name. This way writers could send multiple submissions and we still followed the theme of the book.
Q 8: Do I have to use a pseudonym (pen name) if I only sent one story?
A 8: Nope. Pseudonyms are for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th submissions. Make sure every story you sent uses a different name and you're good on the name front.
Q 9: My story is a good fit for a bunch of your categories. How do I submit the story and follow the subject line guideline?
A 9: Write one category in the subject line, such as PP or Poetic Prose. In your email message, note which categories the piece fits. Two bonus points on this question:
P1: Please avoid putting more than one category in the subject line. That is merely our method of finding and organizing your story.
P2: Be careful when abbreviating. If you only write C in the subject line, your story could accidentally be categorized in Culture when you meant Clown or Thriller when you meant Tragedy and only wrote T.
Don't mistake the above two points for guidelines, they're suggestions to help you when submitting a story for the anthology.
Q 10: Do you still need artists?
A 10: All of the artists have been assigned for the book. However, a cover artist hasn't been assigned, so if you want to do a cover, front and back, for the book you can query us at the submission email.
Q 11: Can I send multiple submissions in a bulk email?
A 11: Please don't. In the guidelines, it has specific instructions about the subject line. Part of that guideline lists a category. This is so I know which of the editors and readers to send your work to, so no, you can't send multiple submissions in a bulk email. Doing so makes it extremely difficult on our end.
Send each submission separately.
Further, if you emailed rather than used Submittable, the acceptance or rejection email will be in response to your submission. How will you know which story was accepted or rejected if you sent us a bulk email of four submissions?
Q 12: Do I have to include my bio in every submission even if I'm sending multiple stories?
A 12: All submissions are separate, so please send a bio with every submission, especially so your pen name fits. Otherwise, it's going to be difficult to find your bio and you'll be making the editor's job harder. Also, don't try to cheat the pen name guideline by sneaking your real name into your bio. That defeats the purpose of having a pen name and isn't following guidelines requiring multi-submissions to have different names.
Q 13: When will you respond to my submission?
A 13: Within six months. Please avoid querying before six months. If you've waited longer than six months, email a query about your story with the subject line of your submission included within your email.
Q 14: What's the Craft of Writing Category?
A 14: It's a special guest writer category. Not stories, rather interviews from writers. The people in this chapter will be the judges for the Story of Excellence. If you feel you have what it takes to enter this category, please email me. However, there's a 1% chance of acceptance into this category.
Q 15: Are you still accepting stories for this anthology?
A 15: Yes. We have not reached our goal of 1,764 stories after two years of our call for submissions. The book is halfway there however. We'll reach the mark as a team.
Please relay the submission call to your writer friends so we can get the book out faster: call link.
Q 16: Why are your guidelines so cryptic?
A 16: I'm not some old angry guy with a lit cigar glaring at a screen. Many people work with me to vote on the stories for the anthology, so structure, professionalism, and organization is important. Also, there's only five guidelines repeated in different ways with detailed examples of exactly what to send. The editors help when writers make mistakes rather than shoot back a standard rejection without a reason. If that's cryptic, by all means, send your story somewhere else.
Q 17: Does the title really have to be 42 characters?
A 17: It has to be between 40 and 44 characters long, so about 42 characters, including spaces and double-checked at wordcounter.net. Don't physically count the characters. Just use the site we recommend and we will too, matching numbers.
There was an instance a writer sent a title that was seven characters long. My email requested that the author follow guidelines and I explained the title part was important in order to match the theme of the book. The author's response was, "My title is long enough." A rejection was sent and the story was never read. Please follow the guidelines, or your story will not be considered by us.
Q 18: Which categories receive the least submissions?
A 18: Indigenous, Sword & Sorcery, Steampunk, Thriller/Suspense, and Mystery respectively.
Q 19: How can I help my writer friends get their story accepted?
A 19: Refer them to the guidelines and example story. Tell them to format their work correctly. Getting everything right doesn't mean we'll accept the work, but the process is usually much faster when someone follows guidelines. Authors submitting can simply copy the way the example story looks and their story will appear as if it's ready to be added to the book.
Which do you think an anthology publisher will like more at first glance, a story that looks like it's ready to be added to their book, or a story in a random format within an email?
Q 20: How will I know my story was accepted?
A 20: Three steps.
1) You'll receive an email of congratulations or notice through Submittable depending on how you submitted your work. Recommendation: Check your spam folder twice a month. You might miss an acceptance from us or someone else.
2) It's important that you reply and accept terms or your story will not be accepted. After about three months of the author not responding to an acceptance invitation the story is considered rejected. However, there is a lot of leeway if they respond later.
3) Step three is here for comedic purposes only and doesn't count. There are two steps.
Q 21: How will the Story of Excellence be announced?
A 21: After the special guest judge selects the Story of Excellence, the winner will be emailed, boasted about in a blog, and social media platforms. The winner's story will be highlighted as the featured piece for their respective chapter in the anthology. To save time, it is likely all 42 winners will be announced in one blog. Bonus announcement: There will probably be a video of the winners' stories being read. No confirmation at this time.
Q 22: My first story was rejected by your voters. Why should I bother sending another story?
A 22: Okay, I completely made this question up, but there are 42 categories. If your first story is turned down, just try writing a new one and sending it to a different category. We want to share your words with the universe, so don't give up over a rejection.
You know what I do? When my stories gets rejected, I reread the work and make changes, then send the piece elsewhere. That's gotten me over one hundred publications. I'm not bragging, just saying you shouldn't give up. Keep trying. A lot of stories rejected by this anthology have been accepted by other publishers after the person who submitted a story took my advice: revising and sending the story somewhere else. I hope in addition to sending the rejected story somewhere, you'll give our anthology another go with something new, but if you don't we understand.
Q 23: If I make a mistake when submitting, does that mean my story will be rejected?
A 23: No. It means you'll get an email from me or an editor asking you to make a revision. We all make mistakes and it's no big deal. The only reason you'll get rejected over guidelines is if you're rude about it when we email you for a revision, or don't reply.
Q 24: BAM, are you the publisher of the 42 Stories Anthology?
A 24: MacKENZIE Publishing has stepped in and taken on that role, helping me avoid a lot of red tape so to focus on compiling the anthology and submissions. They offer editorial and proofreading services too.
Q 25: Which charity is the pot for?
A 25:United Through Reading. The editors, artists, and voters of the 42 Stories Anthology selected this charity.
From their website:
For our military families, the mission of United Through Reading is crucial. The ability to maintain a sense of family unity while they are separated is paramount to their succeeding and thriving. UTR builds resiliency and strength in military families.
Q 26: Why do you send such a nice rejection? Is it a standardized rejection or am I special?
A 26: 3-part answer
P1: It's nice because although hundreds of my stories have been accepted, I've received over 1,000 rejections. The emails that stuck out were rejections encouraging me to submit something else or try another submission call, so I pay the kindness forward to you. The publishers I recommend are places that have accepted and rejected my work and I've built friendships with the editors.
P2: Yes. 99% of the time I send a standardized rejection message, but I spent over a week thinking of the right words to say and often change a bit depending on the writer.
P3: Yes, you are special.
Q 27: Are email attachments okay?
A 27: Your story won't get rejected if you send an email attachment, but it adds more trouble on my end when we get submissions via attachment, so no attachments are preferable.
Q 28: How should I format my story?
A 28: There's an example story in the guidelines of exactly how to format your story. Please follow that. Notice the title is capitalized, "by" after the name is lower cased and only the B in "Bio" is capitalized without a colon after it? It'll really help the editing process if you follow the way the example looks rather than making up your own submission method. Your story will look like it was made for the anthology and is ready to be added to the draft. Great first impression.
Q 29: Submittable or email submissions?
A 29: Submittable is faster. Either way is okay though.
Q 30: You must like sports, having a sports category. Which one is your favorite? Baseball?
A 30: I get it, because Jackie Robinson was number 42. Actually, I like watching basketball the most and doing martial arts: with over twenty years experience in four styles, mostly Tai Chi, hence the inspiration for the fight category.
Q 31: Which category is your favorite?
A 31:Indigenous. The indigenous voices of the world aren't heard enough in writing and many of their languages and cultures are going to be lost one day (a topic I'm passionate about in my linguistic research). Maybe we can preserve some of who they are through literature?
A 32: This question has come up a few times surprisingly. Rather than advertise here, readers are free to look up my writing or email me for recommendations. Happy to read more of your words, too, when time allows and in some cases already have seen your work.
Q 33: After you ask for revisions, how long should I take to get back with you?
A 33: 3-month window, but you can send an email just in case you missed it.
Q 34: So, this anthology doesn't pay everyone and the people it does pay only get 42 cents. Why bother?
A 34: I see this kind of comment on Facebook almost every time a call for submissions is posted. It's very negative. However, valid. Also valid: Many anthologies, journals, etc are charging writers fees. Paying 1,764 people from a one-volume anthology is a great idea, but unrealistic. All of the money put into the book so far is from my pocket too. 42 Stories Anthology is not going to make millions of dollars and maybe not even thousands. Most of the money earned for the book is going to the editors, readers, advertisements, promotions, publishing costs, and charity. Sure, I'm on a high horse here . . .
Yet, instead of looking at money as the only gain in writing, I ask you to consider how readers are going to see a sample of your work and might possibly buy one of your books because of what you have in this anthology. You could get a lifelong fan, which is worth more than 42 cents.
42 Stories Anthology is not a money pit.
The idea of this project is to help writers and artists get their work out there to new eyes. If you think money is the only gain in writing, than I don't want you to submit to this anthology and I also ask that you keep your negative comments to yourself.
For everyone else, if this book makes millions of dollars through magic, which is the only way, I'll be happy to share the income with every writer involved. For now, I hope you don't mind just having fun with the theme, name recognition, and practicing craft.
As someone with microfiction published from journals such as the Oxford Comma Review, Fifty Word Stories, and Flash Fiction Magazine, to name a few, I know for a fact that the publications have gotten me noticed in the writing world by other publishers and they added to my writer portfolio significantly. Editors have emailed me in the past requesting microfiction for their anthology based on what they had read. It does help your chances of getting published elsewhere.
Q 35: Is there a Facebook group for the anthology?
A 35: There's a private group for authors whose stories have been accepted so they can keep up with the project's progress and stay in touch. No need to worry about an invitation. Soon after a chapter (category) is filled, I'm going to email the authors a link to the group. If you're in a hurry to join, and your story was accepted, please feel free to email me a request for a link and include the byline to your accepted piece(s) in the email. This group has only been available since around August 1, 2020. There's also a like page on Facebook and email list for everyone.
Q 36: Was Jackie Robinson an inspiration for this anthology?
A 36: Coincidence. I like how some writers who have submitted stories were inspired by the connection.
Q 37: Is there a way to keep up with how many stories are accepted?
A 37: I try to update this blog with anthology numbers bimonthly.
Q 38: If a different version of my story is accepted by a different publication, will you still read/accept what I've submitted?
A 38: By changing the story, you've made a new piece. As long as it doesn't violate terms of the other publisher, you're welcomed to submit the new work for consideration. However, the words you send us can only be sent to the 42 Stories Anthology Project.
Q 39: Will the writers of the book get free copies?
A 39: Not sure yet. I'm working on a method to allocate free online copies for the authors and artists involved. More information later.
Q 40: Is your favorite number 42?
A 40: No. It's ten digits and starts with a zero. Only two people on the planet aside from me know it.
Q 41: Can I add my forthcoming information into my bio?
A 41: A timeless 42-word third-person bio is recommended. Actually, you should arguably always write a timeless bio. I suggest not putting something like "Such and Such will be released in 2020." You never know when someone will read your story. Include your website in the bio, if you have one, so readers know where to find your work and updates about forthcoming works. Need help writing a bio? Here is a blog on the topic.
Q 42: Do you have any advice for those submitting stories?
A 42: 3-part answer
P1: Definitely follow the guidelines. Also, if you missed something and are asked to revise, don't be rude and please respond in a timely manner.
P2: Check your spam folder often.
P3: Remember that a rejected story is just that. Never take one personal.
Please note: These answers are not set in stone and subject to change. Thanks for reading. Please share the information, let me know if I missed your question, and feel free to ask your friends to send a 42-word story before we accept 1,764. Submittable link here and blog link here.
