Stop reading this and order the book, dammit! Preorder now. Releases December 16th. Hard Cover: $26.95 Paperback: $14.95
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.
In the land of The Kindle, we all have the same size wiener.
Episode #008 of The Velvet Podcast is now live! You don't have my handsome voice to fluff your ear chubs this time, but I promise you won't be disappointed by the talent here. Featuring three brand new voices to The Velvet Podcast. Make them feel welcome. Writers Richard Thomas (Transubstantiate), Nik Korpon (Stay God), Pela Via and Nic Young grind out the topic of sex and violence in fiction and their complex relationship to sadistic bedfellows, love and shock.. Please, give it a listen. Subscribe via Feedburner, Podcast Alley, or iTunes.
Mr. Gordon Highland and I took in a Jonathan Franzen reading this evening at the Kansas City Unity Temple (presented by Rainy Day Books). Franzen read from the same stage on which I met (re: awkwardly shook hands with) Chuck Palahniuk a few years ago. I bring these two authors together here not just because of their temporal-turned-spacial bond, but because the association allowed me to ponder their very different approaches to the live author reading. Via a video posted on August 14th, Franzen noted his “profound discomfort” in having to make promotional author videos, basically, to me, implying that any promotional discussion taken place off the page stands in contrast to the intimate nature of a novel… I get that. In fact, I may even sometimes agree with that. So I was glad when one of the audience members during the night’s reading asked a question that allowed Franzen…
Or is it meta-non-fiction? Is all non-fiction meta? Are there any examples of non-meta-non-fiction? If we were introduced to an author who wrote a historical account of Indian bread and Greek cheese that constantly pulled from the text to state bluntly, "I am no expert. This history is just my opinion," would we have met a non-meta-feta-naan-non-fiction author? Okay, that last one was dumb.
It has been a long time coming, but one well worth the wait. Tim Hall's book press-turned-lit mag is now live and looking amazing. I respect Tim Hall, both as a writer and a person, at a level that few others have been able to reach. Not that I'm picky about whom I worship, but of all the gods in my life, Tim is one of the platinums. I met Tim through the Outsider Writers Collective a couple years ago. As a newbie to the site, I was embraced immediately by everyone there, but Tim seemed to reach out just a little further. He's taught me so much about book promotion, relationship building, and being cool (though I've got a lot to learn about that last item). Everyone should abandon this blog post right now and head over to the revamped Undie Press site. I plan on spending some time…
Quick, before they are outlawed. Inhale, inject, and/or read these recently-legalized vices el pronto: A Mel Bosworth is worth a follow-up story chapbook called Grease Stains, Kismet, and Maternal Wisdom. Street date of NOW! Mine is on my way. Based on Mel’s previous work, I can expect some glorious toilet time in the near future. 1 Ben Tanzer will run you 99 Problems (that was an easy conversion). This book is a collection of essays about running. I’m no runner. Write a book called 99 Pastries, and I’m all over it (though I am all over 99 Problems, too; I finally bought a copy today). Want a taste? Meet a guy named Jason Behrends over at the Orange Alert Podcast, episode 27. Tell him “Compulsions” sent you. Word is Craig Wallwork will net a cool collection of recent blog posts. You ever tried Pela Via? What about Plagiarism? Ease into…