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

Reading Riddley Walker and Fighting a Cold. Likely Not a Coincidence.

March 17, 2012

I’m fighting a cold. And losing. Viruses seem to attack at times that I otherwise have both time and motivation to write (fiction, that is, not a quick blog post). One day, I’ll write an entire collection of vignettes under the influence of TheraFlu. Until then, I’ll stick to complaining that my body apparently doesn’t want me to write fiction. Today’s bout comes at an especially bad time as I have two projects underway that I am damn excited about. One, I’ve hinted at a few times before (coded 4C until myself and the other writers involved come up with something better), which is about 80% complete. I can smell the maggots on the bloody horizon. The other, a project I haven’t much started but for sketching a few ideas and doing some homework reading, is already gnawing at me. The homework: read Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban. The assignment:…

Get a free print copy of I Didn’t Mean to be Kevin. Goodreads giveaway ends March 31st.

March 15, 2012

Goodreads Book Giveaway I Didn't Mean to Be Kevin by Caleb J. Ross Giveaway ends March 31, 2012. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win

New story, “The Lipidopterist,” read live at The Meshuggah Cafe, recorded by Booked Podcast

March 15, 2012

The fellows over at Booked Podcast are gents in the truest sense of the word. By that I mean they are whimsical placcards on the bathroom doors of bar restrooms. Also, they happen to be amazingly active participants in the podcast and reading communities, so much so that they are dedicating many future episodes of their podcast to live readings as recorded during the 2012 AWP Conference in Chicago, IL. Though my reading, done at The Meshuggah Cafe in St. Louis on February 28th, wasn't officially part of the AWP Conference (which started February 29th in Chicago), the entire week blends for me into a single mess of drink, friends, and drunk friends. This recording captures the first time I had read "The Lipidopterist" out loud in front of an audience. All-in-all, I think it worked. Have a listen, then check out Booked Podcast for more. Be sure to subscribe…

New short story available at Amazon.com, “The Lipidopterist.” Man collects human lips. Ex-wife wants half of his collection.

March 9, 2012

It has been a while since I've had a short story to whore out to the world. While I've been busy bombarding poor souls with news of my 3 recent book releases, I haven't had much to say in the way of short stories since...well, since September, if you can count my non-fiction piece "Denis Johnson Almost Drank My Pee" as a short story at Dark Sky (though "short story" implies fiction, and the Dark Sky piece isn't). Anyway, my story "The Lipidopterist" is now available as a Kindle story over at Amazon.com. I recently read this story in St. Louis at the Meshuggah Cafe. The reactions were quite good, I must say. I believe it is also part of the Kindle lending library thing, or at least will be shortly. Still, though, it's only $0.99. Fork over the coins! Available now from the fake publisher Viscera Irrational. Buy. Read.

Quotes from Flannery O’Connor’s “Some Aspects of the Grotesque in Southern Fiction”

February 26, 2012

In the world of grotesque fiction, Flannery O'Connor is the go-to mouth to voice what's worth our academic time and what's worth ignoring. Knowing my love of the grotesque and my respect for Flannery O'Connor, Richard Thomas passed along a copy of O'Connor's important "Some Aspects of the Grotesque in Southern Fiction" (1960) which somehow I had never read before. I'm glad I have now rectified that problem. Below are a few choice quotes, words I'm sure I will cite for the rest of my writing career, especially when citing my own grotesque fiction. On mystery as motivation ...if the writer believes that our life is and will remain essentially mysterious, if he looks upon us as beings existing in a created order to whose laws we freely respond, then what he sees on the surface will be of interest to him only as he can go through it into an experience of mystery…

What is the value of a Goodreads.com book Giveaway? 93% of entrants had never heard of me. 88% plan on reading my books.

February 25, 2012

Does giving away your books lead to more readers, and in turn, more fans? I’ve long read of the marketing effectiveness of giving away books using the Giveaways option at Goodreads.com. And though I’ve conducted one giveaway in the past (for Stranger Will) I’ve not yet been able to confidently attribute any gains in readership or sales due to that giveaway. With this attribution gap in mind, I set out to conduct a giveaway for As a Machine and Parts, that would allow me to more precisely measure the value of a Goodreads.com user. My conclusion: a Goodreads.com user stands a great chance of becoming a reader. The setup I listed a 2 copy giveaway for As a Machine and Parts to take place between 2/3/2012 and 2/15/2012. During this time the giveaway received a total of 398 entries. After the giveaway was closed for entries, I followed up with…

Family Guy does Stephen King, X3

February 16, 2012

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) Yet another Family Guy take on something Stephen King, this time with parodies of three movie adaptations of King works: Stand by Me (based on the novella The Body), Misery (based on the novel of the same name), and The Shawshank Redemption (based on the novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption). Peter: Hi, it's me, Peter. Your TV cartoon pal. You know, Lois has been bitching lately that I watch too much TV and don't read enough books. So I went to the library and picked up three books by the greatest author in the last thousand years: Stephen King, and tonight, I'd like to share them with you. Click over the the episode's IMDB page to see a clip.