Thanks to everyone who voted for the cover of Stranger Will. The winner is... I won't lie; this isn't the cover I was pulling for. But that doesn't mean that I don't really, really like it. Hell, I really, really liked them all.
Posts By Caleb J. Ross
Caleb 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.
I'm open for suggestions on a better name than "Author Photo Comics."
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>…
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…
Hard to believe that the Oprah Read This site has been live for almost a full year. Harder to believe that in just 29 days it will be gone forever. Check out the site now, or you'll forever be denied such wonder stories as... Bleaching Bills with Henry Miller, Jockey Extraordinaire by Mel Bosworth Chinaski’s Nirvana by Chris Deal I Fucked Jane Austen by Christopher Dwyer Is That You, Kurt Vonnegut? by Paul Eckert Untitled Stephenie Meyer Novel by Gordon Highland Dexter Morgan, Marriage Counselor by Nik Korpon Sarah Palin, 12, strikes for workers by Caleb J Ross Mary Gaitskill Makes Shitty Cupcakes by Kevin Sampsell Stephen King Ate My Brain by Richard Thomas I Dreamed I Fucked Stephen King While We Were Both on Vacation in the Cayman Islands With Our Spouses by xTx
(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) Last night I went with a few friends to the Chambers of Edgar Allan Poe Haunted House in the 12th street West Bottoms area of Kansas City. This has become a bit of a tradition for us, going to the haunted houses, which many people consider to be the best in the nation. Being the literary nerd that I am, the Chambers of Edgar Allan Poe house was especially intriguing to me. This is not to discredit the others (The Beast, The Edge of Hell, and Macabre Cinema - this last one is designed to replicate famous horror movie scenes; I'm looking at you Stephen Graham Jones). They are all great, but being able to experience Poe's stories in full round simply meant more to me. This was the first year for the Chambers of Edgar Allan Poe house, and in being so,…