Here's a quick one for the Unexpected Literary References list. From American Dad, Season 2 : Ep. 14: An Apocalypse to Remember Hayley: There's no such thing as mutants because the world didn't end. Steve: You lied to us, Dad? Stan: Oh, I tell a great story and I'm a liar, but Harry Potter does it, and he's your favorite writer.
There’s a rule when it comes to search engine optimization: Content is King. Basically, this means that above everything else—all the link building, code tweaking, and social networking—the most important factor of any well-optimized web presence is the content itself. What good is your website without compelling content? And without compelling content, how can you expect other websites to link back to yours? I would go so far as to suggest the rule should be Content is God, but then we lose out on the lovely alliteration. But the Content is King rule governs everything, not just your website or social profiles. Your books themselves actually contain Kingable Content that can be tweaked and optimized for marketing benefits. I’m not suggesting that you to manipulate your book’s words for the sake of search engines; that would be [keyword]ing+<h1>stupid</h1>. Rather, I’m here to clue you in to an area of underutilized…
Bucket lists are generally grandiose compilations of big events with universal appear. So, you want to swim with the dolphins and go cave spelunking in Chile? Well, who the hell doesn’t want to do those things? Big events do not a compelling character make. I believe I’ve taken the bucket list concept to a much more satisfying place, one that celebrates happenstance and relative minutiae rather than expensive plane tickets and vacation photo fodder. For a long time, I’ve been paying attention to the unique moments of my life, ones that more often than not seem to materialize without any provocation, but that are nonetheless sources of pride. Here are a few examples of the accomplishments on my bucket list: Free alcohol drinks on an airplane (described here) Witness a light bulb burning out Make a day-stranger friend in an unfamiliar city (adapted to the non-fiction piece “A Chinese Gemini”…
Earlier this afternoon Pablo D’Stair, as he is apt to do, asked some questions that made me evaluate my writing in way that I haven’t before. Not deeper, necessarily. Just different. I won’t copy the questions and answers verbatim here—as I believe Pablo has something planned for the full discussion—but I don’t think he’ll mind if I mull over a few of the topics for a bit. Literary and Genre Do you think of what you do as “genre” writing and if so or if not, do you see a difference (and what is it) between writing termed genre and writing termed literary? In common use “genre” equates fiction created to entertain while “literary” refers to fiction created to enlighten. Here’s where the dispute originates, in that the differences are with intent rather than the end product. When something cannot be judged 100% objectively, there’s going to be disagreement. Hell,…
Wow, the future is a crazy place. Word on the cyber-spacial street is that this blog, The World's First Author Blog, is now available as a subscription via your Kindle. While you are at it, plug into the Outsider Writers Collective blog, too. Click here to subscribe to www.CalebJRoss.com Click here to subscribe to www.outsiderwriters.org
Logically, grotesque noir can be defined by a mashup of the traits that define grotesque and noir separately, so perhaps we can best define the combined term by investigating the individual components. What is noir fiction? Noir fiction is not so much a genre as it is an overlay to existing genres. Most people probably think of early black and white detective films as representative of noir, and while those films may represent some of the overlay's qualities, in truth film noir can generally be more accurately (more specifically) categorized as detective noir or mystery noir. So what exactly is this mysterious noir overlay? There are a few fantastic attempts at definition out there. A couple of the most important, I think, are: From Noir Fiction Is About Losers, Not Private Eyes by Otto Penzler: Noir is about losers. The characters in these existential, nihilistic tales are doomed. They may…
Goodreads Book Giveaway As a Machine and Parts by Caleb J. Ross Giveaway ends February 15, 2012. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win