Author: Caleb J. Ross

Roxane Gay comes clean about her approval of dirty money over at HTML Giant. She forces me to ask similar questions of my own moral aversion to sponsorship dollars. Historically, when presented with the opportunity to accept money by way of advertising, sponsorship, etc. I’ve justified the decision by passing the dollars along to those who I feel it rightfully belongs to (authors, editors, etc.). I’ve never kept any for myself. But Gay makes me ask: why not?

For me, the decision comes down to a basic function of economics. Authors need time to write. Money buys time. The moral ambiguity part comes into play when an author is offered money before the author has something worth writing about. Then it becomes an issue of monetary motivation, which I think, kills the idea of art. <meta>Unless the intention of the art is to comment on the monetization of art. </meta>

Of course, this one-sided conversation of mine hinges on the highly unlikely problem of being offered sponsorship dollars enough to feel morally conflicted.

What are your thoughts on money and art?

Jason Behrends over at Orange Alert once frequently posted what he called Tweet Reviews, which are basically collections of <=140 character reviews of each track on a single album. Really cool idea. I don’t think he ever actually tweeting the reviews though. So, I am going to steal/borrow…sterrow…his idea, and take it to the logical next level.

I’ll be focusing on books, specifically books which are organized in a way conducive to individual tweets. This would be short story collections, literary journals, online zines, anything comprised of individual works.

Perhaps the best way to explain this would be by way of example.

Twitter Review: #ITMT In The Mean Time by Paul Tremblay @paulGtremblay http://bit.ly/bfWKjw

#ITMT story1: The ticking clock is a child’s impending pain. Incredible suspense. I suffered an entire life during this story.

#ITMT story2: Does simple psychosis explain the girl’s 2nd head? Her mother’s unhealthy support of the condition tears me apart.

#ITMT story3: like a scary retelling of Barthleme’s The Balloon through the meta lens of academic legacy.Starts simply clever but ends deep.

#ITMT story4: Procreation, like hunger, is instinctual and ultimately insatiable. One character grows a child. The other eats dirt.

#ITMT story5: Sketches map a metamorphosis plague. Evenson-esque imagery with all the Tremblay emotion I am coming to love.

#ITMT story6: Plant-like growths overtake the world. Two sisters watch it steal their parents. The life cycle through magical realism.

#ITMT story7: Secret-eating spiders wait patiently for food. A lighter story in terms of theme, but no less creepy than the rest.

#ITMT story8: the Jewish aspect feels forced but otherwise a truly haunting tale. Nothing sadder than a caste teased with hope.

#ITMT story9: One brother escapes a childhood he remembers by billboard advertisements. Too short of a story. I want more pages.

#ITMT story10: Blog comments document a recent string of aneurysm deaths. The juxtaposition of casual banter and the serious epidemic works.

#ITMT story11: An isolated neighborhood feels like an unreal limbo. Residential expansion means personal implosion.

#ITMT story12: 2 people literally trapped between the floors of a multi-storied building. Are the floors meant to be heaven and hell?

#ITMT story13: A border patrol agent confiscates a child’s tooth. The stolen sentiment tears him apart. Meant to be a novel, @paulGtremblay

#ITMT story14: A comparatively traditional story. A family trying to hide its poverty from the kids. Probably better if I wasn’t drunk.

#ITMT story15: surviving an apocalypse in an amusement park. Like trying to end the collection on a happy note, but still fitting blood in.

#ITMT review: At times Aimee Bender minus the domesticity, add humor, mix with welcomed introspection. I’ll be reading more @paulGtremblay