Montana Voice

A short story first published in the literary journal Monkeybicycle. A teenage drifter falls for a store clerk who asks him to help her find a beach that may not exist. She warns him… Visit stevesaroff.substack.com for more information. 

A short story, originally published in the literary journal "Across The Margin." "...All the while, Missoula grew. Espresso bars, restaurants, music venues, and the pressing of strangers that follows consumption.Once, this place was the West, unknown and perfect. Now, there are miles of box stores on the town’s edge and daily flights to big cities. Once, there was Helen, who went to the river to kill herself, and then chose me to save her...."Visit stevesaroff.substack.com for more information. 

I had been thinking about rejection. The kind that comes when the world drifts away from what you hoped it would be, politically or culturally. And the kind that comes with losing friends. When we lose a friend, one of us has, in some way, rejected the other. The final rejection is death.  I’d also been thinking about the friends I’ve lost and had begun writing a little about each of them. Along the way, I stumbled across a literary journal called Rejection Letters. I sent them this piece about my lost friend, John Bruce Shoemaker.  They didn’t reject it. It became the fifth work of mine published in the past eight months — out of nine submissions...Visit stevesaroff.substack.com for more information. 

An easy-to-read, optimistic story, just published in "The Jewish Fiction Journal," which has also published writing by Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, along with many other literary luminaries.  You can listen to it here."... It's the young woman. The one who moved into the apartment next to mine, she has helped me remember what is important...." Visit stevesaroff.substack.com for more information. 

A story from 1982 set in Missoula, Montana, during the turmoil of the Cold War.  In the 1980s, the US government had a large civil defense strategy called "Crisis Relocation Planning." It was a Cold War program intended to move millions of people out of major cities into rural areas if nuclear war seemed imminent. Montana officials and county sheriffs knew the plan was impossible and was considered suicidal for many reasons. But counties still completed the required maps and capacity tables because FEMA funding depended on it. Crisis relocation planning was officially abandoned by 1990. For the transcript of this story, visit saroff.com/missoula-1982.htm.Visit stevesaroff.substack.com for more information. 

I was honored when “Circus” was accepted by The Examined Life Journal, a well-respected literary magazine published by the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. This story is about depression but ends on a hopeful note.Read the transcript of this story here: https://saroff.com/circus.htmlVisit stevesaroff.substack.com for more information. 

Another 30-second episode.Visit stevesaroff.substack.com for more information. 

After submitting “First Snow,” to Bull,  a literary journal which publishes unique stories I often like,  I received this, one of the best acceptance letters: "Man, there were so many reasons I wanted to reject this: ...  Usually not a big fan of stories about kids--especially not happy kids...  not quite the vibe I'm usually looking for... But this is so fucking beautiful and poetic without trying to sound pretty. The imagery feels like a short film that wins an Oscar. And the ending completely nailed it for me. Anyway, after I said all that, if you're still interested, I'd love to publish this here. What do you say?   Ben / Bull Lit "Transcript/web page of story here: https://saroff.com/first-snow.htmlVisit stevesaroff.substack.com for more information. 

A short story, originally published in the literary journal MonkeyBicycle. And some explanation about why it was submitted with Submittable.  Read the transcript of this recording here:  https://saroff.com/haunted.html Visit stevesaroff.substack.com for more information. 

Musings about pottery. "Solitude with no goal is no comfort, but aimed at the discovery of the mysterious, with observations of matters great and small, solitude is the cure for even the deepest sorrow. You can go out, then come back and say, 'Look. See what I have found.'  The right sort of solitude leads to the best sort of company..."Visit stevesaroff.substack.com for more information.