Caleb J. Ross, author of novels and surfer of internets

Colored Chalk #9 now live. Heaven or Hell? We’re taking a vote.

August 2, 2009

Hard to believe we are already at issue #9. And the stories just keep getting better. This new issue is all about Heaven and Hell. From Richard Thomas, #9’s editor, and Colored Chalk staple: IS IT YOUR IDEAL HEAVEN OR UNBEARABLE HELL? One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor. One man’s trappings are another man’s freedom. What is heaven and hell to you? Is it brimstone and hooves opposing angels floating on ethereal clouds? Is it merely the eternal battle of dark vs. light, good vs. evil, right vs. wrong? Is it pushing a boulder up a hill day after day to no avail or having your liver eaten for eternity, each new dawn awakening to this horrible echo? Is it just a quiet moment of peace, that subtle bliss as you fall asleep or waking next to those you love? The writers in this issue of Colored Chalk all…

David Blaine’s new chapbook…and I helped!

July 15, 2009

Over at Outsider Writers, Pat King, etiquette aficionado and all-around glorious specimen, is heading up an OW Chapbook Series, designed to paper and bind voices of the otherwise electronically chained OWC editors. So, what the hell does this have to do with me? How can I wring the appropriate ego from this post? Two ways: I am an OWC editor, meaning that a fiction chapbook of my own waits in the pipeline. More on this in the future, you can be sure. For now, let this description suffice: Mitchell, a twenty-something Cougar Cub with a midlife girlfriend named Marsha, wakes each morning, slightly more machine, slightly less human. As his condition progresses he looses his capacity for human emotion, and potentially with it Marsha. “As a Machine and Parts” (working title) is a story of Mitchell’s struggle to find out which assembly line he belongs to. Pat asked me to…

“A Trench…” now available (again) in the new issue of Cause & Effect

June 27, 2009

Last year I spit out a filthy little story called “A Trench is No Place for God,” reappropriated, for a good cause, from one of my novels-in-progress. The cause: the 2008 Nefarious Muse short fiction contest. And although this heavy little taste of that novel did not win, I am proud to say the good folks over at Cause & Effect recognized something redeeming and accepted it for their issue 12. Author’s note: This story fits snugly in a war-themed novel that I am working on, inspired by the Tom Waits song “Hoist that Rag.” During a 2007 writing intensive with the brilliant Craig Clevenger (The Contortionist’s Handbook, Dermaphoria, and upcoming-not-soon-enough, Saint Heretic) I reached back into this novel for a chuck I could modify as a stand-alone story. “A Trench…” was that chunk. The best part, Clevenger had some positive things to say (“I love the exchange, a "priest"…

New story up at Full of Crow

June 15, 2009

I have known Lynn Alexander and Aleathia Drehmer for a few months, just long enough to realize how much they truly care about art in all its forms. Both women have been past editors over at Outsider Writers Collective (where I met them), but have moved over to head the online lit zine, Full of Crow. My story, “Globe Valve,” is now live as part of their Summer 2009 flash fiction supplement, MiCrow (get it? Micro…). When Lynn approached me about submitting a story, I jumped at the chance. I have rarely worked with a more passionate editor. Author’s Note: I wrote this story specifically for Full of Crow, but intend to leverage it for an upcoming project (more on that in the coming months). On the surface, “Globe Valve,” seems a straightforward vignette involving two people who witness a jumper suicide from the balcony of a downtown condo. But…

Broken Clocks but a fully functioning new issue of Colored Chalk

June 1, 2009

Extree, extree! The new issue of Colored Chalk sits ready for consumption amid worthy virtual newsstands/host servers! Also, corruption within the Govna's office! Read all about it! Will I ever be disappointed with an issue of Colored Chalk? No. No, is the answer to that question. How best to describe the issue 8 theme, Broken Clocks? How about a some text from the minds behind the pages: It's the human condition to lick the wounds of our mistakes and pick at scabs of regret. from the original theme by Alex J. Martin Be it misery or reverie, we mutate with our memories, traversing private histories, with critical eyes, and an editor's pen. issue 8 editor, Jason M. Heim Issue 8 contains fine work from Nik Korpon, Justin Holt, Derek Ivan Webster, Richard Thomas, Elizabeth Kate Switaj, Carol Stone, Stephen Graham Jones, Rebecca Gaffron, Alan Frackelton, Linda G. White, Tait McKenzie…

Waits and Bukowski Fistfight on eBay

May 28, 2009

With all the talk of dwindling advances, shrinking sales, and too many scribblers willing to saturate the bookshelves with crap, Writers (with the admittedly douchey capital "W") must become more creative in monetizing their efforts. I anticipate the recent Amazon Kindle decision to open its interface to the blogosphere at large will ultimately impact blog-structured web zines like Literary Saloon and The Elegant Variation, acting in much the same way traditional door delivery currently works. But until a collective schism happens, what are those of us who produce longer, less blog-friendly works supposed to do? Jeremy C. Shipp, author of Vacation, Sheep and Wolves, and the forthcoming Cursed (Raw Dog Screaming Press) recently adopted the subscription model for some of his own short fiction, a venture dubbed Bizarro Bytes. Quite simply, a subscription to Bizarro Bytes guarantees 12 previously unpublished short stories, delivered one per month. Interesting idea, to say…

Colored Chalk: Issue 7 – MacGuffins for Hire

April 1, 2009

Colored Chalk issue 7, MacGuffins for Hire, is now live. This thing keeps getting better. First time editor Colin McKay Miller, with the design help of Jason Heim, has delivered a stellar collection of fiction and poetry. Each day my pride as a parent swells. This issue features poetry by Michael S. Harper, Meg Kearney, and Howie Good, with fiction by Mary Jo Campbell, Michael Paul Gonzalez, Nicholas Merlin Karpuk, Nik Korpon, M. Kilbain Lazer, Alex J. Martin, K. Curran Mayer, Devin Strauch, and Axel Taiari. Also, Melanie Gillman contributed an unofficial web comic supplement As always, we promote legal theft as a downloadable and distributable .pdf file. Go to the Issue 7 page for details, printing instructions, and visual over-stimulation.