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Guest Post – Compelling and Inspiring Short Fiction Writers by Nadia Jones

November 30, 2011

This is a guest post by Nadia Jones who blogs at accredited online colleges about education, college, student, teacher, money saving, movie related topics. You can reach her at nadia.jones5 @ gmail.com. I consider myself an indiscriminant and voracious consumer of fiction. While I mostly read novels, occasionally I find myself balking at the prospect of beginning yet another huge work of fiction, too exhausted by a previous book to dive into the new world of the next one. In these moments of reader fatigue, I take great solace in the numerous gifted short fiction authors writing today. I could go on about the classics (Carver, O’Conner, Hemingway, etc.) but I think current short fiction authors are much more fascinating reads, partly because their work is so immersed in the present. Jennifer Egan Jennifer Egan is a writer currently working out of Brooklyn, most recently recognized for her Pulitzer-Prize winning novel A Visit from…

A selection of my strangest gifts ever given

November 29, 2011

I write domestic grotesque fiction, which is a term I think I made up, but is quite suiting to the themes and content of my stories and books. The most famous short story that I think would fit into the domestic grotesque genre is “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Conner (visualized quite creepily in this short film from the 1960s and quite cheesily in this student clip). Take a family situation—usually some sort of broken family dynamic—mix in something grotesque—possibly morbid but not necessarily—and you’ve probably got domestic grotesque. As you can imagine, Christmas is a fun time for my family. I’ve given quite a few quirky gifts. Though none could be tagged as grotesque, they are representative of the type of mind that would write a domestic grotesque story, I think. Tis the season and all that, so I figured I would share a few that I’ve so graciously…

Episode 012: November is NaNoWriNo. December is UhOhWriLess.

November 26, 2011

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/calebjross/status/138063727013527552"] NaNoWriMo is a month-long event in which writers of all experience levels attempt to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. Sounds good, right? There is a sense of accomplishment for accomplishment's sake with vomiting so many words, with setting and meeting a goal. However, I'm not so couch-therapy optimistic about it. Send any comments on this episode, or any writing and publishing related questions to caleb [at] calebjross.com. I will answer them in a future episode. Show Notes and Mentions National Novel Writing Month official website Follow comedian Doug Wilson at @idigthedoug

Preorders are now being accepted for As a Machine and Parts. Preorders will be SIGNED.

November 25, 2011

I am so incredibly thrilled to announce that my newest book, As a Machine and Parts, is now available for preorder. Simply click over to the Aqueous Books website to order. ALL PREORDERS WILL BE SIGNED. Unfortunately, they will be signed by me. I tried to reanimate Christopher Reeves or get Stephen Hawking here to do the signing--as that would not only be incredible, but would play nicely into the man/machine hybrid themes of the book--but for some reason I couldn't get their people to connect with my people. Maybe their people are dead and/or paralyzed, too. There are a few amazing deals going on that make preordering even more worth your time and money. If you preorder As a Machine and Parts (or buy any of my books, actually) you will get a copy of my newest short story collection, Murmurs: Gathered Stories Vol. One for FREE! Click here…

Neil Gaiman on The Simpsons, tween lit lovers rejoice and/or get depressed

November 21, 2011

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) Yesterday (11-20-2011) The Simpsons continued its legacy of literary references with an episode featuring Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods, Anansi Boys, and many others . The episode, "The Book Job" (season 23, episode 6), explores the culture of tween lit, specifically stories featuring vampires and magicians, using an Ocean's Eleven-style heist as the plot backdrop. Though the episode speaks primarily to the idea that tween lit may be hugely factory produced for market consumption rather than intellectual stimulation, the optimistic take-away is that even in a world where television and the internet dominate as means of entertainment and information distribution, books seem to be making a resurgence. This, my hope anyway, will seed these tween literateurs with a life-long love of reading. About "The Book Job": Lisa becomes disheartened when she learns the shocking truth behind the "tween lit" industry and her beloved fantasy novel…

The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs vs. The Catcher in the Rye

November 20, 2011

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) I briefly mentioned this Unexpected Literary Reference way back on the first official post of this series, but this one certainly deserves some special attention. The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs (Season 14, Episode 2) is an episode of South Park that speaks directly to the idea that historically banned books, placed in the context of modern media, simply don't have the power that they once may have. The is called out for being a poor commentary on contemporary teenage angst. About The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs (taken from Wikipedia): The students at South Park Elementary are assigned to read The Catcher in the Rye, and grow excited when Mr. Garrison tells them that the book has caused so much controversy, it has been banned frompublic schools in the past. However, after reading the book, Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny are angry to find the content completely inoffensive, and feel the school has "tricked" them…

Two Looney Tunes literary references (well, one literary and one drama)

November 19, 2011

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) It has been quite a number of years since I woke early to watch Saturday morning cartoons. People of my age (late 20s) will remember that Saturday morning was often reserved for a solid 3-4 hour block of cartoon watching. But since the introduction of all-cartoon networks like Cartoon Network and even Nick Jr. (as a stand-alone network, not as a day-time block on Nickelodeon), the idea that cartoons are something to be packaged and presented only once per week has become a bit of a foreign concept. So, you can imagine my glee when I brought my son (2 1/2) into the living room this morning, turned on the TV, and found not only cartoons, but the very Looney Tunes cartoons I watched as a child (and as a hungover college student). Looney Tunes always had a reputation for mixing the…