Julia Ridley Smith

Things get messy—in the best possible ways—in @juliatrifles.bsky.social Sex Romp Gone Wrong.
Sharp, smart, and funny this collection dives into the chaos of desire, identity, and the tangled webs we weave when we’re trying really hard not to feel too much.
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www.youtube.com/live/mGhlbj3...

A graphic for a Substack post, showing the book cover of Sex Romp Gone Wrong and part of a headshot of Julia where my face is bisected but at least you get the hair which was actually styled that day.

My Substack is so infrequent that by the time you get the next one, you'll have forgotten you subscribed. Sign up!

juliaridleysmith.substack.com/p/book-bante...

Beyond excited to welcome Julia Ridley Smith to Book Banter this week!
Her latest book, Sex Romp Gone Wrong is a brilliant short story collection. But don't take our word for it...
Book Banter with @juliatrifles.bsky.social
Thurs, 5/1 @ 5pm central
www.youtube.com/live/mGhlbj3...

@bullcitypress.com publishes nonfiction chapbooks

"You make me feel so seen," she said excitedly.

dropping stomachs down stairs while chuckling and grinning and also dead

much cooler than grins

Thank you!

Thank you so much!

Bring by the constant lighting of cigarettes that I used to make all my characters do in stories

A Review of Paraic O’Donnell’s The Naming of the Birds - The Adroit Journal Poor Gideon Bliss and his dicky tummy. Whenever Bliss ventures into an odiferous area of London or casts his eyes upon a mutilated corpse—both unavoidable and regular occurrences for this London Metro...

I reviewed Paraic O'Donnell's engrossing and atmospheric late-Victorian murder-mystery novel THE NAMING OF THE BIRDS (Tin House 2025) over at Adroit Journal. @adroitjournal.bsky.social @tinhouse.bsky.social theadroitjournal.org/2025/02/05/a...

Cover of Missouri Review showing the full silhouette of a dark-coated person's back and a tree on a hill overlooking a town at dusk with the windows lit up.

Proud to have a new story, "Mrs. Foxfur," in the Missouri Review. Big thanks to the editors and readers there. This story started out as a fairy tale retelling and kind of morphed into I don't know what. missourireview.com/article/mrs-...

I am very powerful.

Did I make you do with it my virtue signaling?

Thanks @schmittpod.bsky.social! <3

Hope so! So far I appreciate the lack of ads.

Same. It's like you're at a party and have gone into a different room to see what's going on in there, but you're already tired and kind of want to leave already, but you also hope that maybe somebody will start dancing and the party will get fun, so you decide to stay a little longer.

THE SUM OF TRIFLES is a memoir about cleaning out my antique-dealer parents' house, grief, and what the objects we live with mean to us. If you've ever had to--or ever will have to--clean out a loved one's house, and you have a lot of feelings about it, this book is for you. <3

SEX ROMP GONE WRONG is a collection of short stories about women and girls navigating desire, sex, love, and relationships. It is fiction. Kevin Wilson was kind enough to call it "dazzlingly inventive."

A photo of a stack of books and two books standing up facing outward. The Sex Romp Gone Wrong book cover features hot pink lettering and a black and white photo of a woman blowing out cigarette smoke that obscures part of her face. The Sum of Trifles has a white book cover picturing a vaguely hourglass shaped porcelain object made of a laser-cut teacup set atop an upside-down teacup. This object is an artwork by Elizabeth Alexander.

Introducing myself here. My books are SEX ROMP GONE WRONG (Blair 2024), and THE SUM OF TRIFLES (UGAP 2021). I love coffee, cheese, long walks, and costume dramas. Don't post a lot but I like connecting with fellow writers and readers who have a wry sense of humor and a compassionate sensibility.

🥳 💃

I'm here now. Hello.