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Posts By Caleb J. Ross

began writing his sophomore year of undergrad study when, tired of the formal art education then being taught, he abandoned the pursuit in the middle of a compositional drawing class. Major-less and fearful of losing his financial aid, he signed up to seek a degree in English Literature for no other reason than his lengthy history with the language. Coincidentally, this decision not only introduced him to writing but to reading as well. Prior this transition he had read three books. One of which he understood.

Social media is a natural fit for authors. Tip your readers!

When I’m not authoring mind explosions, I spend part of my time professionally involved with social media. One of the items my company stresses with our clients is that social media is not about pushing a message of product, product, product. It’s about engaging with customers and potential customers on a personal level. This means breaking the traditional advertising bullhorn approach of “BUY THIS NOW” with quips about the weather or TV shows, for example (though perhaps still tangentially related to the company’s product line). For most companies, dialog sans advertising is a foreign concept. For authors, this should be easy. Authors are their books Authors are inextricably linked to their products in a way that traditional companies are not. Denis Dutton in The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, & Human Evolution explores the idea that fiction always concerns and navigates three persons, one of whom is the author. “There is…

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American Dad fandangles Dr. Seuss’ red fish typewriter blue fish

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) Season 1, episode 15 ("Star Trek"), of the always entertaining "American Dad" plots the sudden rise of Steve Smith as a children's book author. This premise, of course, is perfect for literary nods. Strange, though, that I only caught two. See the entire episode here: Additional hilarious photo (I paused the embedded video at just the right/wrong time):

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Literary critics aren’t dying, but they are threatening suicide…again.

The December 31st, 2010 episode of the New York Times Review of Books podcast focused on a conversation on the relevance of professional literary criticism, especially in respects to the ‘everyone does it’ mentality associated with Amazon book reviews, Facebook statuses, and amateur lit crit blogs. Though the entire conversation was extremely interesting, the following point was especially intriguing. Said Katie Roiphe, a professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, about the current position of a critic in relation to what so many people want to call today’s death of literature (slightly paraphrased; dates are my insertions): It is tempting to say that we live in this dangerous death of literature, but the critic has always said that. If you go back to Matthew Arnold (1822-1888), if you go back to Dwight Macdonald (1906-1982), Randall Jarrell (1914-1965) and their generation. There is something romantic for…

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The top 5 most popular blog posts of 2010

During 2010 I went from a seldom-posting recluse to an annoying gnat. But apparently some people like being bothered by insects, because a few of my posts actually rose out of the white noise to become respectable accidental meant-to-search-for-porn landing pages. #1 | Great Unexpected Literary References (posted in June) Top entrance keywords: literary references, literature references in family guy, south park literary references, simpsons literary references, family guy brian great expectations reference #2 | Peter Griffin does porn and literature Top entrance keywords: peter griffin porn, griffin porn, caleb porn, porn in literature, porn literature #3 | My 2010 Lit Midget list of forthcoming small press books Top entrance keywords: midget list, noah cicero the insurgent, "noah cicero", "termite parade", "letter machine" #4 | You decide what I wear; voting for the Stranger Will cover Top entrance keywords: stranger vote 2010 nov, stranger vote november 2010 (most of the…

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Ideas I’ve had (probably while drinking): bottle stories

The beer bottle label is grossly misappropriated real estate. When sold as a six- or twelve-pack, the bottle label is hidden by the outside packaging. And nobody buys a single bottle of beer. So why not use the label for something more than null-advertising? We drink for the morning after stories over greasy breakfast, so why not pull those stories back by a few hours and give them when drinking? The content of the stories could be anything from true life tales of drunken debauchery, to short fictions that somehow involve drinking, to short bios of famous authors (and their drunken exploits), to stories that incorporate the unique canvas (stories about glassblowers or, if drinking a red ale, vampires). For those advertising traditionalists, the label facade could be left intact, reserving a hidden underside for the story. Think the way cigarette cartoons often display coupons. Attention investors: money please!

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Kansas City Reading Coves – Outlaw Cigar (south)

I bring you #5 of a hopefully long-lived series: Kansas City Reading Coves. When I can, I like my coves like my vaginas: humid and labyrinthine. Today’s cove: Outlaw Cigar (south) - 13700 Metcalf, Overland Park, KS 66223 I've avoided this place for two reasons: 1) it's a 30 minute or so drive from my house, and 2) the cigars are crazy expensive. The only time I came in here prior to today's visit was a few months ago. That visit allowed me to not only witness the aforementioned crazy expensive cigars first hand, but also to glimpse the cigar lounge. From my vantage near the cash register I saw only a few leather couches and a TV mounted to the wall. Nice enough, but not nice enough to pay more than twice the standard going rate for a cigar. I left, planning never to return. Then today, I had…

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