Roy M. Griffis

Roy M. Griffis

Storyteller

About Me

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I decided I wanted to be a writer when I was ten, and I’ve never looked back.

Along the way, I’ve done all the usual starving writer jobs:  waiter, janitor, worked in a bookstore.  In between that and college, I became the 62nd Aviation Rescue Swimmer in the US Coast Guard.

But I’ve always written.  In the broom closet or the ship’s galley underway, in the barracks and at my cubicle over lunchtime.  Short stories, poetry, plays, screenplays (one of them winning “The John Milius Screenwriting Award” in 2018), and novels.

My current novels include my “By the Hands of Men” series, the globe-circling saga of a passionate, enduring love that begins in World War One and concludes in America in the 1930s.  Concurrently, I have written a series journeying through a contemporary, post-apocalypse American shattered by attacks from within and without (“The Lonesome George Chronicles”).

Regardless of the subject or the setting, I deliver gripping, emotionally immersive work that transports the reader to another time and place.  At least, that’s what my readers have said on Amazon.

I now live in a small town in Texas with my very smart and pretty wife, along with my son, three rescue dogs, and two rescue cats. I’m  hard at work on two new novel series.

Thanks for stopping by!

9 thoughts on “About Me”

  1. Hello, Mr. Griffis,

    My name is Ann Sterzinger; I’m a book reviewer (see the website link or Google me) and I love your work on Liberty Island. Can you please contact me at [email protected]? I’d like to make sure I get a review copy or PDF in advance when your book comes out.

    Thanks in advance,
    Ann

  2. Adrienne Perry

    Just finished the 3rd book of the “By the Hands of Men” quadrillogy. I loved all three & am hoping for news of book 4 soon!

    1. Roy "Griff" Griffis

      Gentle Reader:
      Comments like yours are fuel to my creative fire. I’ve said this before (and I should write it down as a post, in my oodles of spare time), but I thought writing the novel was hard. There’s the entire process of dreaming it up and having the stamina/discipline/nay, self-delusion to keep going. Because you hope it’s good. You hope you’re not fooling yourself. And you get the book done…and then you have to figure out how to let people know it exists. All the while, there’s that tiny voice of doubt that whispers “Hey, maybe it’s crap and you need to brush up on your barista skills.”

      So, thank you. I’m pleased you enjoyed the books as you did, and I promise you I’m hard at work (research right now, with some writing alongside).

      All the best,

  3. Martin Meier (from Altendorf, Switzerland)

    Dear Mr. Griffis
    My English is not good, but I hope you will although understand me. I have published this springtime a novel in German called “Die Rebellin Gottes” – God’s Rebel Woman. It is about a strong Southern Lady during the War Between The States:

    Volume 1:Paula Duchêne is the dream of all men and makes wondering the old latin teacher. She likes to become a strong woman – no easy thing in rural Virginia in the middle of the 19th century, especially because she is often falling between two stools: Lesbian and truly catholic, patriotic Southerner and opposing slavery and racism, bold commander and humble nun – how can she bring all those different things under one heading? Faithful in herself and much more in God, intelligent and humorous she takes up the challenges and being defeated she never yields until victory is won! Volume 2: Paula has changed her uniforme: The gray of the Southern Army has been replaced by the light blue of the Sacred Heart Sisters. But under the monastic habit a brave and rebel heart is still beating, too, and sister Mary Joan of Arc – this is Paula’s new name – becomes the terror as well of the Ku Klux Klan as of the envious vicar general of Savannah. For her schoolgirls and for the rebuilding of her destroyed country she does (almost) every thing. So, adventures will not wait for a long time!

    Maybe in Paula’s own country my book will be read more often than in good old Europe! But therefore I need a translator. Can you help me?

    Sincerly, yours Martin

    1. Roy "Griff" Griffis

      Martin:
      Let me first congratulate you on finishing a novel at all. It’s an accomplishment a lot of people dream of but never achieve.

      I can’t translate it for you, but I could let some folks know you are looking for help. If you email your contact information (and a link to your books) to me at [email protected], I’ll spread the word.

      Again,well-done on finishing the novels!

  4. Hello Mr. Griffis,

    My name is Noah Ryan and I am a senior at Deerfield High School. Our English class is doing a class project individually in which we can choose any topic of our choice and connect it to science fiction. I chose politics and am exploring the idea of conservatism and science fiction. My question to you is do you believe it is rarer to find science fiction novels with conservative viewpoints and if so why do you think this? Thank you for your time!

    -Noah

    1. Roy "Griff" Griffis

      Great topic, Noah, but pretty broad to discuss in the comments section. I’ll be emailing you shortly (and if you don’t see it, hit me up at “[email protected]”) and we’ll dive deeper into it. But here’s my question to you, so you can mull it over when we kick off our more lengthy discussion: how do you define “conservative?” I want to be sure that we are using a common vocabulary. Anyway, look for my email today! Thanks for stopping by.

  5. Nelle Fairchild Rote

    Dear Griff, Do you still have longhorn steer on your horizon? I am always grateful to learn what you are writing about now. I have been thrilled’ with your writing in the past, and will never forget the time I read in an early book of yours that you named the cat, Nell. My email has stayed the same, but I have moved to Illinois, to my own little house across from a golf course, near my delightful daughter. Stay well. I’ll keep in touch. Nelle

    1. Miss Nelle!! Always a delight to hear from you! So pleased you are doing well…and it is great to live near the kids. My son and step-son now live about ten miles from me in either direction.

      Thank you for checking in. I’ll keep you updated on…stuff.

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