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

I did it. I have an official author Facebook page now. Changes coming.

March 28, 2012

I did it. I broke down and created an official Caleb J. Ross author page on Facebook. I've been averse to doing this for a while, primarily because I want to avoid perceived ego as much as possible (well, as much as a guy with a self-titled website can do), but also because I don't want to bombard people with duplicate content posts. The logic being that until the official author page gains traction, I would have to post updates to both the author page and my personal page in order to curb anybody missing out on my genius (see, no ego there). Nobody needs double Caleb. So, here's what I propose: If you are currently a Facebook friend via my personal page, but you ONLY WANT TO RECEIVE AUTHOR TYPE UPDATES, then un-friend my personal page and Like my author page. You can actually do this by clicking this…

Put this one on your radar. Psychosis, an Anthology

March 24, 2012

This one has been in development for awhile and is getting closer and closer to seeing print. I hope, anyway. While I wasn't able to put something together to contribute to the collection (the editor approached me; I originally intended to, but life got crazy so I couldn't do it...not literally crazy, not crazy enough to be appropriate fodder for this anthology...just metaphorically crazy). Add this to your RSS reader and keep an eye out for it. Based on the website, it appears we've got writing from the following authors to look forward to: Bryan Howie, Rebecca Jones-Howe, Dakota Taylor, Jessica Taylor, Kenneth Goldman, Liana V., Nicholas Wilczynski, Josef Van L., Richard Thomas, Renee Asher, DWG, Bradley Sands, Rachel Cohen, Sam Jackson, Martin Garrity, Cristiana Zanelli, and Sarah Davenport with Traci Foust, author of Nowhere Near Normal: A Memoir of OCD, writing the introduction. I don't know most of these authors, but I soon will.

Ryan W. Bradley Fails the Internet: The Code for Failure blog tour.

March 24, 2012

When I told Ryan that for the blog tour stop here I would write a bit about my own strange affection for convenience stores/gas stations he, in more eloquent words, told me I was crazy. Well, perhaps I misrepresented him. His actual words: “I like the nostalgia factor. I like the smell of gas but I'll tell ya, the nostalgia goes away when you work there.” Perhaps so. But if the work experience is anything like that of Code for Failure’s narrator, then I’d say nostalgia is but one type of memory you’ll come away with. This guy gets laid like a disembarking Hawaii tourist. The novel is less a single, cohesive story and more a collection of vignettes all related to the narrator’s job as a gas station attendant cum oil changer, or gas station attendant cum to married women and teenage girls, as the case may be. Back…

Kristin Fouquet offers some beautiful words about As a Machine and Parts: “I will continue thinking about this book for some time.”

March 22, 2012

The always wonderful Kristin Fouquet offers some kind words about As a Machine and Parts over at La Salon Annex: Reminiscent of Metamorphosis and Flowers for Algernon, Caleb J. Ross takes us inside the mind of a man who is transforming. This man, Mitchell, experiences a slide from human to machine. This transformation coincides with the deterioration of his relationship with a much older lover, Marsha...Although I place As a Machine and Parts on the shelf alongside Charactered Pieces and Stranger Will, I will continue thinking about this book for some time. But perhaps my favorite line, just because I'm glad this particular referent story hit home with another writer: As writers, we must always wonder what is derivative and how many words we can truly call our own. Read the full review. Then, buy As a Machine and Parts. And while you are at it, round out that Amazon free shipping deal and grab Fouquet's incredible, Twenty…

Does posting purchase links in social network comments lead to book sales?

March 20, 2012

It’s been only two days since I started my Annoying Links test, and though I originally intended to stretch the test for a full week, I am going to cut it short. Why? A couple of reasons. One, I simply feel dirty posting links everywhere (even though I stated very explicitly up-front that the links were for study purposes only). Two, though only two days have gone by, the test isn’t looking too positive. The abbreviated results Will posting self-promotional links in social network comments lead to book sales? Maybe. But is feeling like a dirty sales person worth it? No. The process Over the course of 2 days, I posted a total of 42 comment replies on Facebook and Google+, each containing two links at the end of the post. The posts themselves were genuine responses to comments, things I would have posted even if I weren’t conducting a…

More Stephen King Family Guy references. Surprised? You shouldn’t be.

March 19, 2012

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) An old episode, and honestly one of my least favorites. Not sure why, but this one just never did it for me. These two references come from the season two episode titled "A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Bucks" in which Chris becomes a hot-shot New York artist. First, an evil stuffed clown at a carnival: Stewie: “Ooooo how deliciously evil looking! It's like something out of Stephen King” The evil clown doll may be a reference to King's character “Pennywise the Clown” from his novel“IT!” (catch credit goes to TVRage.com) The above aside then leads directly into the second Stephen King gag, a more direct reference in which King (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) sells his publisher (or agent) on a terrible idea for a book. The publisher, of course, buys it. Stephen King: Okay, for my 307th book .. this couple is attacked by a... uh... A lamp monster! ..…

You may notice some really annoying links out there during the next week

March 17, 2012

UPDATE: The results of this annoying link test can be found by clicking here (If you got to this page via an annoying social media or blog comment link, keep reading. This is all for the sake of science.) I’m a data nerd. I’ve gone record stating such, and I’ll go on record again. Something about seeing charts and graphs and trending lines and mapping the effect of X to Y and…let me pause to catch my breath a bit. I am fresh off a really successful Goodreads.com user study thing, so I’m itching to get back to the spreadsheets. So why tell you this? I am going to conduct a week-long test of sorts that will probably be a bit more intrusive than most of my other studies. I’ve noticed a lot of incessant product whoring on forums, blog post comments, and social status updates. You know the kind:…