The News from Gridleyville

[Scroll down for a long, boring list of Sam’s publications and links to the ones available online.]

Sam Gridley is a Philadelphia-based author of fiction and satire. He started this site, years ago, because his agent told him that, to be a successful author, one must have a blog. The conversation went something like this:

Agent: Look, everybody’s blogging now. You have to do this to promote your new book.

Sam: Isn’t that the publisher’s job?

Agent: Yes and no. Publishers always need the author’s help.

Sam: But I don’t know anything about promotion.

Agent: That doesn’t matter. Just blog about what you’re expert in.

Sam: OK, I’m expert in walking my dog, picking up his—

Agent: I mean, on the subject of fiction or literature in general. Maybe advice for young authors, that kind of—

Sam (interrupting): My advice for young authors is simple: Get a real job.

Agent: —or, for instance, your ideas about the future of the novel, e-book trends, that kind of thing. Your reflections on the literary scene. Just put down your daily thoughts.

Sam: Daily thoughts? I’m lucky if I have one thought a month.

Agent: Well, that’s probably true of most people, but when has it ever stopped a blogger?

Sam: I see your point.

Agent: And once you get the blog up and running, you should do social media. Build up a few thousand followers. Become an influencer. Plus, if there’s any chance your book will be used in a college course, we’ll need an online instructor’s manual, a customizable test bank, multimedia slides, video clips, interactive study tools …

Sam: How about a cookbook?

Agent: Cookbook?

Sam: As an online supplement, 100 One-Handed Recipes for Novel Readers, so people can make dinner without putting down my book.

Agent: Great idea! See, you’re a natural at this!

Thus encouraged, Sam began this blog, but so far he has failed to deliver any recipes. He’s also been a laggard at social media.

For the dog and whoever else is interested, here’s a list of Sam’s published works and undeserved awards, with links when available.

Novels

The Shame of What We Are (Philadelphia: New Door Books, 2010)

The Big Happiness (Philadelphia: P. M. Gordon Associates, 2006, 2015)

Novella

The Bourgeois Anarchist (Georgetown, KY: Finishing Line Press, 2021)

Stories

“Ghost on the Wall,” The Summerset Review, Spring 2023.

“Immigrants,” The Del Sol Review 26 (February 2023).

“A Topic Too Distressing to Mention,” The Bangalore Review, Volume X, Issue 3 (August 2022).

“Crabs,” in The Best Short Stories of Philadelphia 2021, ed. Quinn D. Eli and Matthew M. Perez (Philadelphia: Toho Publishing, 2021), pp. 50–56; previously in Wilderness House Literary Review, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Summer 2017), http://www.whlreview.com/no-12.2/fiction/SamGridley.pdf.

“Wonderland Stories,” Beloit Fiction Journal, Vol. 34 (Spring 2021), pp. 70–79.

“Will’s Power,” South 85 Journal, Fall/Winter 2020, http://south85journal.com/issues/fall-winter-2020/wills-power/

“Blue Light,” Coal Hill Review, Issue 25 (Summer 2020), https://coalhillreview.com/blue-light/

“The Goodbye Dog,” Cagibi, Issue 10 (April 2020); online at https://cagibilit.com/the-goodbye-dog/

“The Magic Ball,” in Onward! (Wordrunner eChapbooks, April 2020),  pp. 11–28; online at http://echapbook.com/anthology/2020/magicball.html

“A Narrow Gate,” Storgy Magazine, November 4, 2019, https://storgy.com/2019/11/04/a-narrow-gate-by-sam-gridley/.

“A Silent Breeze,” Pithead Chapel, Vol. 8, No. 1 (January 2019), https://pitheadchapel.com/a-silent-breeze/

“Sirens,” in Adelaide Literary Award Anthology 2018: Short Stories, Vol. Two, ed. Stevan V. Nikolic (New York: Adelaide Books LLC), 2018), pp. 77–81. http://anyflip.com/fypa/nifd or  http://online.anyflip.com/fypa/nifd/mobile/index.html

“Survivors,” The Piker Press, http://www.pikerpress.com/, published in three installments: May 28, June 4, and June 11, 2018. First installment: http://www.pikerpress.com/article.php?aID=7014; second installment: http://www.pikerpress.com/article.php?aID=7019; third installment: http://www.pikerpress.com/article.php?aID=7028

“Minus the Angels,” Pif Magazine, Issue No. 253 (June 2018), http://www.pifmagazine.com/2018/06/minus-the-angels/.

“March Around the Field,” Adelaide Literary Magazine, Year III, No. 12, April 2018, http://adelaidemagazine.org/2018/04/18/march-around-the-field-by-sam-gridley/

“Return of the Walrus,” Fixional, June 30, 2017, https://fixional.co/return-of-the-walrus/.

“Al’s Wormhole,” Serving House: A Journal of Literary Arts, Issue 16 (Spring 2017), http://www.servinghousejournal.com/Issue16/GridleyWormhole.aspx.

“The Usual,” Literary Orphans, Issue 28: Tesla, February 28, 2017, http://www.literaryorphans.org/playdb/literary-orphans-issue-28-tesla/.

“Dogs Welcome,” Change Seven, January 25, 2017, https://changesevenmag.com/2017/01/25/dogs-welcome-by-sam-gridley/.

“Deep End,” Valparaiso Fiction Review, Vol. 6, issue 1 (Winter 2016). pp. 96–130, http://scholar.valpo.edu/vfr/vol6/iss1/.

“The Genuine Article,” Hawai‘i Review, issue 84 (Summer 2016), pp. 63–86, http://hawaiireview.org/fiction/2016/7/15/sam-gridley-the-genuine-article.

“How I Found God in the Laundromat,” Mud Season Review, issue #18, http://mudseasonreview.com/2016/03/fiction-issue-18/, posted March 20, 2016.

“An Early Call,” Flash Fiction Magazine, posted December 31, 2014.

“The Upper Mahoney at Dawn,” Turk’s Head Review, posted December 21, 2014.

“Commitment,” Rathalla Review, Fall 2014, pp. 7–21; reprinted in Rathalla Review 2014 Annual Issue (Rosemont, PA: Rosemont College, 2015), pp. 34–50.

“A Little Girl’s Mouth,” Tethered by Letters, No. 9 (Fall 2014), pp. 52–53.

“Whispering,” Red Savina Review, Volume 2, Issue 2 (Fall 2014), posted September 30, 2014.

“Portrait of a Marriage,” Valparaiso Fiction Review, Volume 3, Issue 2 (Summer 2014), pp. 58–92, posted May 12, 2014.

“Procession,” Northwind, Fall 2013, posted October 15, 2013.

“End of the Ride,” The Piker Press, published in four weekly installments beginning January 23, 2012.

“MG Repairs,” Carve Magazine, Vol. 11, Issue 1 (Fall 2010), posted October 16, 2010; reprinted in Carve Magazine 2009–2010 Anthology, ed. Matthew Limpede (Dallas, TX: Carve Magazine, 2012), pp. 85–97.

“What Bubba Saw,” Prick of the Spindle, Vol. 4.3 (September 2010), posted September 2010.

“Something Might’ve Happened,” Paradigm, Issue 14 (The Holden Issue), posted May 16, 2010; apparently no longer online.

“SoTender,” The Piker Press, published in three weekly installments beginning February 22, 2010.

“Two Departures,” decomP: A Literary Magazine, July 2009, posted July 3, 2009.

“Ranger Ringo,” Superstition Review, Issue 2 (Fall 2008), posted November 21, 2008.

“Dennison of the Deep,” Amarillo Bay, Vol. 10, No. 4 (November 2008).

“Stupid Things,” Quay: A Journal of the Arts, Vol. 2, Issue 2 (July–December 2008), posted July 8, 2008; apparently no longer online but available in print.

“A Hole in the Sidewalk, Avoided,”Prick of the Spindle, Vol. 2.2 (June 2008), posted June 2008.

“Lightheaded,” Juked (December 2007).

“The Shame of What We Are,” Amarillo Bay, Vol. 9, No. 2 (May 2007).

“A Glutton for Pain,” The Writing Site (January 2005); apparently no longer online.

“A Modified Whammy,” Passages North, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Winter/Spring 2003), pp. 122–133.

“Weed Lake,” The Cream City Review, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Fall 2002), pp. 34–46.

“A Plain Ordinary Picture,” The Long Story, No. 19 (2001), pp. 57–69.

“A Man of Passion,” Whelks Walk Review, Vol. II, No. 2 (August 1999), pp. 109–116.

“After the War,” Other Voices, No. 29 (Fall/Winter 1998), pp. 72–83.

“The Airman Remembers,” Huckleberry Press, Vol. 1, No. 2 (1997), pp. 18–30.

“A Special Night with Johnny,” The Alembic, Spring 1997, pp. 166–179.

“The Sound of Commas,” American Short Fiction, Vol. 6, No. 23 (Fall 1996), pp. 69–89.

“The Animal Nature,” in A Hundred and One Nights (Philadelphia: Working Writers Group, 1994), pp. 8–23; earlier version in Great Stream Review, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Fall 1989), pp. 9–29.

“The Farmer’s Tale,” Calapooya Collage 15 (August 1991), p. 9; reprinted in Dan River Anthology, 1991, ed. Richard S. Danbury, III (South Thomaston, ME: Dan River Press, 1991), pp. 104–108.

“Household Repairs,” in Free Parking, ed. M. Sklar (New York: The Spirit That Moves Us Press, 1990), pp. 74–97.

“The Witching Age,” Cimarron Review, No. 87 (April 1989), pp. 7–20.

“Martin’s Return,” WIND Magazine, Vol. 16, No. 58 (1986), pp. 48–57.

“Reunion,” Cottonwood, No. 36 (Fall 1985), pp. 55–65.

“Coulter’s Clearing,” South Dakota Review, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Spring 1985), pp. 75–88.

“A Child’s Affair,” Epoch, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Fall–Winter 1982), pp. 48–62.

“Randolph Hurd,” South Dakota Review, Vol. 17, No. 1 (Spring 1979), pp. 64–81.

Miscellaneous Stuff Related to Fiction

Interview: “Moral Ambiguities in Everyday Life,” Mud Season Review, issue #18, http://mudseasonreview.com/2016/03/moral-ambiguities-in-everyday-life/, posted March 28, 2016.

Audio: “Authors Talk by Sam Gridley,” audio clip for Superstition Review blog, December 13, 2016 (http://blog.superstitionreview.asu.edu/2016/12/13/authors-talk-sam-gridley/; https://clyp.it/dutuwwzm)

Humor, Satire, Commentary

“Shocked,” guest blog post at Change Seven magazine, posted February 18, 2017.

“Guns and Cheesesteaks: The Case for ISEP,” guest post on s[r] blog (the blog for Superstition Review), posted November 21, 2015.

“Literature and the Season of Depression,” guest post on s[r] blog (the blog for Superstition Review), posted February 9, 2014.

“A History of Accidents,” a post from this blog, September 24, 2013, reposted as a “Featured Blog” at The Piker Press, October 7, 2013.

“A Liberal’s Critique of Gay Marriage,” The Ethical Spectacle, posted November 2, 2006.

“Onimods Defended,” The Cynic Online Magazine, posted May 5, 2006.

“FAT: A Realistic Approach to Urban Violence,” U.S. Press News, posted December 14, 2004.

“The Art of Being Rejected,” Small Press Review, Vol. 33, Nos. 7 & 8 (July–August 2001), pp. 3–4.

“Public Art and the Homeless: A Civic Improvement Project,” Satire, posted May 25, 1999; reprinted on this blog, December 23, 2013.

“A Modest Proposition,” Affair of the Mind, Vol. 2, Issue 2 (1998), Part Two.

Awards, Fellowships, Etc.

(not counting affectionate licks from the dog)

Best of the Net 2021 nomination

The Best Short Stories of Philadelphia 2021

Honorable Mention, 2019 Fiction Collections, Wordrunner eChapbooks

Finalist, Larry Brown Short Story Award, Pithead Chapel, 2018

Finalist, Adelaide Literary Award Contest for Best Short Story, 2018

Honorable Mention, 42nd New Millennium Award for Fiction, New Millennium Writings, 2016

First Place, Fiction, Ian MacMillan Writing Awards, Hawai‘i Review, 2016

Semifinalist, William Faulkner–William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition (short story), Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society, 2015

Winner, Flash Fiction Contest, Tethered by Letters Quarterly Literary Journal, 2014

Third Prize, 2013 Story Contest, Northwind

Third Place, Arthur Edelstein Prize for Short Fiction, The Writing Site, 2004

Honorable Mention, Wassmode Fiction Contest, Passages North, 2002

Fiction Contest Winner, The Cream City Review, 2001

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Literature Fellowships, 1993 and 1997

Finalist, Raymond Carver Short Story Contest, Toyon, 1993

Finalist, Patrick T. T. Bradshaw Award, Amelia, 1989

Honorable Mention, Alice Carter Awards, Cottonwood, 1986

Milton Glick Award for Fiction, South Dakota Review, 1979–1980

Wallace Stegner Fellowship in Creative Writing (Fiction), Stanford University, 1970–1971