Montana Voice: Recent Episodes
Steve Saroff
Fiction that leans against the truth, told from a Montana vantage. Season 3 is a reading from 'Paper Targets - art can be murder' (Now published by Flooding Press and available on Amazon). --- A runaway involved in global computer crime, and a stalker who confesses through her art to murder, have their paths collide while both are struggling to understand past failures in love. Earlier seasons are readings of short fiction and love stories, published originally in Redbook and other national magazines.
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...."
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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...
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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...."
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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.
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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.html
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Another 30-second episode.
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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.html
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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
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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..."
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A memory from 1977 in Missoula, Montana. Words and music by Steve Saroff
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A four-minute memory prompted by a question.
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Remembering Greg Bechle, when he lived in Missoula, Montana.
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Short readings from a few popular social media posts, as well as sections from the novel Paper Targets, are set to music.
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Flute and Didgeridoo, by Steve Saroff and Mandela Van Eeden.
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The second of several short readings, some from the book, The Long Line of Elk, by Steve S. Saroff
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The first of several short readings, most from the book, The Long Line of Elk, by Steve S. Saroff
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Steve Saroff having a discussion with Peggy Berryhill, the owner of KGUA on January 23rd, 2024, about 'Paper Targets', growing up, life, and coastal waves.
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Enzi waits for Mr. 'XX' with a loaded .45 and a bag of potato chips. The conclusion of The Aether and the Lie, a story of greed, art, and murder.
Enzi makes a decision and buys a brick from Pascal. The Aether and the Lie is a story of greed, art, and murder. 1911 is a name for a handgun.
The Aether and the Lie is a story of greed, art, and murder. How many deaths does it take to re-open a back door? Enzi asks Pascal for help. Iteration means to repeat and repeat and ...
The thin detective looks for connections, while Enzi finds one between Tsai and his Chinese ancestors who died in Butte. The Aether and the Lie is a story of murder, greed, and math.
Another murder, another bag of money, a change of plans. The Aether and the Lie: A billion-dollar data heist, a jilted artist, a double murder, and a drifting math genius.
Pascal tells a story about a drunk ballerina and an arsonist, and Luke's bar in Missoula. Enzi realizes that he is also going down a bad road. Then Enzi visits Kaori in jail.
Enzi's hack of the SLAM network is discovered, and he wants to give the money back. The Aether and the Lie is a story of greed, loneliness, murders, and the motivations behind the crimes.
Kaori's art did not lie: Pascal, the bondsman, does not believe Enzie, but then he makes a grim discovery. The Aether and the Lie is a story of greed, failure, and the past.
In Seattle, Kaori shows that she too is hiding something. Kaori confesses through her art and Enzi bleeds. The Aether and the Lie is a story of art and science gone wrong.
How to manipulate and control a meeting of techies. Enzi and Kaori travel to Seattle, where Enzi meets with SLAM programmers who have noticed 'something odd' in Enzi's code. The Aether and the Lie is a story of greed, art, murder, and failed love.
Instructions on how to make a treasure map. Enzi buries half a million dollars in the Rattlesnake mountains .
The Aether and the Lie is a story about heartbreak, art, murder, and motivations. Inspired by the true story of the multi-billion-dollar fraud and collapse of WorldCom. A lot of money is involved.
The Aether and the Lie is a story about heartbreak, art, murder, and what can motivate crimes. Enzi saves a life.
The Aether and the The Lie, is a story inspired by the collapse of WorldCom. A story about heartbreak, art, murder, a billion-dollar heist, and the motivations behind the crimes. Enzi and Kaori are in New York City and find high places.
The Aether and the Lie is a story about heartbreak, art, murder, a billion-dollar heist, and the motivations behind the crimes. Enzi's past experience of a robbery in the winter oil fields starts to shape his life.
Told by Enzi, a runaway and laborer who becomes an entrepreneur and a criminal, “The Aether and the Lie” tells the tale of Kaori, an artist from Tokyo who stalks and kills her ‘one love,’ and then confesses through her art. It is also Enzi’s story, tracing his drifting past and comparing his own failed ‘one love’ to his strange relationship with the artist from Tokyo. It is a story of murders, money buried in the mountains of Montana, a wise bail-bondsman who lives in the back of his truck, revenge, and a thin detective who studied to be an architect but now only draws lines between incorrect assumptions. However, it is not just crime, as the story is infused with nature and solitude, and unwraps the motivations for doing bad things.
If you want to understand people, look at ants with sugar. Everything is connected. Two Bandits is part of the story, Absurd and Vast.
A story about a teacher, a student, and how it is never too late to learn or to start over.
Where Enzi came from... A runaway’s story of love and loss. “I find her most in solitary places, along the Blackfoot river in autumn, where red river rocks sparkle in the low water and dark trout pretend to be shadows.”
A true story about a murder that happened in a Missoula 4B's restaurant 30 years ago, a hungry visitor, a stolen truck, and some advise about listening to whispered advise.
Walker sees the ocean for the first time, and he meets two children who see snow for their first time.
Another Montana love story. Originally Published in Redbook magazine as "Letter To My Daughter." It was spring. Snow in the mornings, rain in the afternoon, stars at night. You must see a Montana spring someday. The valleys turn green while the mountains are still white. The rivers become loud with fast water. The blossoming cottonwoods, the wildflowers -- all the smells -- infect the air with a good madness.
What happens when a young drifter, who has just gotten out of jail, walks along the Rio Grande and meets a troubled rancher.