Steph Grossman

“Hey there Grossman”

#043: Lincoln Michel - "Metallic Realms" and "The Body Scout", Author; Teacher

Had a great time chatting with @austinrwilson.bsky.social about novel writing, interiority, and what I’ve called “TV brain” prose. Give it a listen here:

open.spotify.com/show/474sxmQ...

Ughpdate: We are now at 9 rejections--7 form, 2 slightly tiered. Still a long way to go to see how this turns out lol.

Lit mags and Substackers--I know the summer can be slow, but please keep posting and publishing cool shit in the summer! I never have time to read freaking anything during the school year, so summer is where it's at for most teachers & profs. At least for this prof.

"The Lottery" 1969 Short Film (ENGLISH + PORTUGUESE SUBTITLES) YouTube video by Inglês Essencial

AMAZING! Lol. I need to read “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”!

We actually watched a tv adaptation of “The Lottery” too from 1969, and after it ended, I felt compelled to say—loudly and proudly, might I add—“and that’s American Literature for you, folks!” youtu.be/ihqT9kmprDk?...

This past week we covered “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor, “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin, and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson.

The more contemporary we get, the darker American stories get.

Rufi Thorpe’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles wins this year’s Clark Fiction Prize. The 2026 L.D. and LaVerne Harrell Clark Fiction Prize has been awarded to Rufi Thorpe’s novel Margo’s Got Money Troubles, a funny novel about a dissatisfied and underemployed young woman who …

The 2026 L.D. and LaVerne Harrell Clark Fiction Prize has been awarded to Rufi Thorpe’s novel Margo’s Got Money Troubles, a novel about a dissatisfied and underemployed woman who decides to keep a baby, let her estranged pro-wrestler father move in with her, and start an OnlyFans.

On Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House Though the Lens of Childrearing Once upon a time, Shirley Jackson lived in a shambling Vermont house and between sandwiches and screaming, baths, diapers, and stories, she wrote. Shirley Jackson walked around her neighborhood fee…

“What is it about motherhood and ghosts?” @equitation.bsky.social looks at The Haunting of Hill House through the lens of raising children.

Scheduled some pitches to email out tomorrow morning while I sleep ✌️

On to some Lost Generation writing this week with "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway, as well as the Southern Gothic (my favorite) with "A Rose For Emily" by William Faulkner. Was going to do "The Chrysanthemums," John Steinbeck's only short story, but no time!

Writers, readers--what are you favorite sites and/or magazines to read author interviews? I have the chance to interview a certain famous author soon and am in the process of pitching so would love some suggestions! #booksky #writingcommunity

PSA for those who watch true crime before bedtime: early episodes of Forensic Files show actual dead bodies :-/

I like my murder lullabies sanitized, please.

Def send reading lists when you get a moment! I’d be interested in checking them out!

Have you seen this tweet from 2022? Lol x.com/meaghano/sta...

Oh theme is kind of cool though! What sort of themes do you guys teach?

On to naturalism with “To Build a Fire” by Jack London next week, plus some modernism with Robert Frost, Marianne Moore, Ezra Pound, and T.S. Eliot.

On to "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman this week, as well as W.E.B. Du Bois and Paul Lawrence Dunbar.

Stuff like this is why my novel-in-progress and the Basement Girls podcast has been on intermittent hiatus :-P

A** US Lit...lol

Teaching an US Lit Since 1865 class for the 1st time this semester; worked all last week/weekend on presentations about postbellum history and Walt Whitman; now working on presentations about Emily Dickinson, Louisa May Alcott, and Kate Chopin. So. Much. Work. But rewarding.

Damn it, just got another form rejection from a place that has previously sent me quite glowing tiered/encouraging rejections. UUGGHHHH

Been submitting a voicey gothic coming-of-age story I really believe in. I know it's early in the process (my avg. # of rejections on a story is ~45 before an acceptance) but I've recieved 3 form rejections so far and I can't help but despair it's a sign the story isn't working.

Uncanny—in just one of my classes (of 20 students) I have two Kealy’s, two Destiny’s, and two Sophia’s!

My baby was just diagnosed with RSV & a double ear infection, &, why yes, there IS less than a week before the beginning of the spring semester, the week in which I’d been planning to prep all of my materials for a new course I’m teaching, plus my three other classes. Pray for her…Pray for me…😅

What are your favorite lit mags and magazines to read interviews with authors? Would love some suggestions because I'm planning on pitching something soon!

"In 2024, Barnes & Noble opened more new bookstores in a single year than it had in the whole decade from 2009 to 2019."

Thank you Booktok!

www.usatoday.com/story/money/...

“I’m a pusher, Cady. I’m a pusher.” When they were telling me to push.

The first step to a great reading year is buying far too many books while you’re Christmas shopping, right? . . . right?

I care much more about the why than the what.

If you get why I’m posting this, I want to be your friend.