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

UPDATED: TWO Brand new Stranger Will video book reviewS

September 7, 2013

I was incredibly happy to see this wonderful video book review posted today by YouTuber/BookTuber MartheBozart. Not only did she enjoy the book, she also noted a couple of specific parts of the book that I myself am particularly proud of. Very little in this world feels as nice as the rush of pride that comes over an author when a book works as intended. Thank you MartheBozart for reading and for the wonderful review (and for liking Stranger Will enough to pass along the book to a friend!). Watch the review below. Also, be sure to check out MartheBozart's channel and other social profiles via the links below. After all that, you'll probably want to buy Stranger Will, right? I've made it easy for you. Just click over to Amazon (or your online book site of choice) now. MartheBozart Twitter MartheBozart YouTube MartheBozart Goodreads And just when I thought…

Author Seeks Publisher for Romantic Relationship. Handcuffs optional.

August 7, 2013

Me: Author of 5 books of fiction, creator of funny video content, Twitter following cultivator, YouTube personality, crowd pleaser, book seller, and proponent of the Oxford comma. You: Publisher looking for an author who knows all about platform building, book selling, and people pleasing. Dollar signs turn you on. Command of the English language turns you on more. Lovely to meet you, publisher. Up front, I must admit to a bit of a situation. My publisher and I recently separated. Please, don’t assume this split is indicative of our relationship. We had a lovely relationship, actually. Unfortunately, due to matters beyond our control, the publisher has closed its doors completely. As of September 12, 2013 I am officially single. This leaves my novel, I Didn’t Mean to be Kevin, unattached as well. Thus, this literary courtship. I know, you’re wondering, “why should I take a chance with you?” It’s a…

A collection of stories by some of the most talented new and established writers. You need to buy this one.

July 22, 2013

July 22nd, the release of the long awaited The Booked. Anthology, compiled by the minds behind The Booked Podcast. Consider this collection a primer for the names you'll need to know if you plan on being cool at any dark, alt-literature party. Also, if you know of any dark, alt-lit parties happening let me know. As far as I know they are Sasquatch-level myth. We're talking stories from Chris Deal, Christopher J. Dwyer, Michael Paul Gonzalez, Amanda Gowin, Seth Harwood, Gordon Highland, David James Keaton, Nik Korpon, Axel Taiari, Paul Tremblay, Fred Venturini, Craig Wallwork, and many more . And even more amazing, ALL of these stories are NEVER BEFORE SEEN. That's right. Nothing previously published. You're getting the new shit this time. Click over to the The Booked. Anthology page for a full list of contributors along with a variety of purchase options. Or, go straight to Amazon, because…

James M. Cain’s “Pastorale” vs. Chuck Palahniuk’s “Guts”

July 17, 2013

A few nights ago, when reading the James M. Cain short story “Pastorale,” I was struck by a scene that seemed very Chuck Palahniuk-ian[1]. A dead man is pulled out of a frozen lake; the man fell through the thin ice atop the lake when trying to retrieve the severed head of a man he helped kill earlier in the story. But unlike a Chuck Palahniuk story, “Pastorale” kept going. The shock was not the climax. I’m not sure why I immediately forced a comparison to Chuck Palahniuk. The writers, and their work, are completely different. I suppose the use of shock, which I consider a very Palahniuk thing, was used in “Pastorale” in a way that I wasn’t ready for. It’s important to state up front that I love Chuck Palahniuk’s writing. I’ll read every novel he writes, even if they continue to be as bad as his last…

Banging the Berlin Wall

July 11, 2013

You probably don’t know this, because I rarely talk about it here on this blog, but my novella As a Machine and Parts has been re-released. You probably also don’t know that bitches be crazy. Case in point: Eija-Riitta Berliner-Mauer loves the Berlin wall. And I don’t mean loves as in respects it because it represents Cold War oppression (which would be a weird thing to respect, I agree). I mean loves as in wants to fuck it because it represents Cold War oppression. To be fair, I don’t know if that’s why she loves the wall. Maybe she’s a WWII era East Germany sympathizer. Maybe she’s a synesthete who associates the rough texture of concrete with her father’s hug. But again, of course, let’s not rule out that she’s possibly an aforementioned bitch who be aforedescribed crazy. No matter what issues she has, the relationship between a person and…

Porking the Eiffel Tower

July 6, 2013

I wrote this book, a short novella called As a Machine and Parts, about a man who finds himself slowly changing into a machine, a la Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis but with fewer traveling salesmen and cockroaches. The As a Machine and Parts titular machine is concerned that as he becomes more metal and less human, he will eventually lose his ability to love his girlfriend (“awwwww” is the correct response to that plot). At some point before the start of my story the Machine, before he went full toaster, was 100% human, and therefore entered into mutual relationship with his human girlfriend. However, with real-life inter-thing relationships, mutual consent isn't always a priority. A lifestyle called object sexuality forces literally 10s of buildings, rollercoasters, and concrete walls into unhealthy relationships with crazy people every day. Object sexuality is a real thing, apparently, and is defined as “a pronounced emotional…

Google Honors Franz Kafka (and me, by proxy…)

July 3, 2013

Okay, the title of this post is a bit misleading. Google isn't honoring me by proxy or by anything. Google is honoring Franz Kafka, specifically his novella The Metamorphosis. This strange story, about a man who turns into a cockroach, was a huge influence for my novella As a Machine and Parts. Why is The Metamorphosis Google-doodle worthy? I'm sure there are plenty of cultural and literary reasons, many of which are beyond my contemporary, America-centric grasp. The story of a human man—a traveling salesman—changing into the most reviled household insect pest ever is certainly a commentary on something. More important to me, though, is how The Metamorphosis affected my reading and writing aesthetic. Specifically, the idea of an un-acknowledged—and in this case, origin-less—change. There's something magical (Magical Realist, some might say, others might not) about a surreal event that garners the level of non-reaction it does in The Metamorphosis.…