Video Games are Real

Tag: other writers

  • Wow. Wowy wow wow. Stranger Will love from Bob Pastorella

    Wow. Wowy wow wow. Stranger Will love from Bob Pastorella

    Bob Pastorella, keeper of the enviably-titled Obscuradrome blog, just posted a pants-tinglingly beautiful review of Stranger Will. Some excerpts:

    Saying Stranger Will is compelling is the understatement of the year.

    Quality fiction is both compelling and unpredictable. It’s also dangerous, which is why we read it. Ross writes with all of these factors in mind. From the first pages, he takes you by the hand, leading you down dark corridors where you really don’t want to go, but you’re unable to turn away. And when you look back at him, and he gives you that sly grin, you know that you have to walk the path, there is no turning back because you’re in too deep. Fiction 101 dictates we know our characters, and it’s obvious Caleb has spent a lot of time with his story people. Readers seek out this intimacy and relish the thrill when they find it. Consider yourselves warned. Caleb writes with an intelligence and depth far beyond his years, and his words will scar your heart forever.

    And a bit about me, not the book, but something that made me feel extra special:

    …behind Caleb’s witty commentary and massive amount of intelligence, he is also extremely serious about his writing.

  • Talking the author performance with 4 other writers who know how to perform

    Talking the author performance with 4 other writers who know how to perform

    Fresh from our own live readings, me, Ben Tanzer (You Can Make Him Like You), Ryan W. Bradley (publisher, Artistically Declined Press), Nik Korpon (Stay God), and Brandon Tietz (Out of Touch) have a sit down at Bourbon in Washington DC to discuss the hows and whys of author performance.

    Performance is part of the author’s life. Many of us may prefer the romance of the hermit writer to the reality of the performing writing, but as the culture shifts to a system of ever-spilling minutia (Twitter) and increasingly fragmented media distribution channels (hundreds of TV channels, YouTube, Hulu, and on and on), the author is expected to play an active role in selling both his book and himself. Performance—live author readings—offers a unique opportunity to do both.

    Listen to the full discussion over at The Velvet Podcast. Or you can subscribe to The Velvet Podcast via Feedburner, Podcast Alley, or iTunes.

  • The Velvet Podcast, interview with Jane Friedman, social media expert

    The Velvet Podcast, interview with Jane Friedman, social media expert

    Over the past few weeks, Jane Friedman and I have gotten to know each other almost entirely by way of Twitter. With online social media playing such an important role in our introduction and ultimate in-person meeting it made sense that we should take a few moments during the recent AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Projects) conference in Washington DC to discuss the role of social media in the author’s life.

    Jane’s passion for the world of e-media is evident. She is the former publisher and editorial director of Writer’s Digest, has spoken at 36 billion writing events since 2001 (give or take a few), and is known within the publishing industry as an innovator, cited by sources such as Publishers Weekly, GalleyCat, PBS online, and Mr. Media. Jane currently serves as a visiting professor of e-media at the University of Cincinnati, and is a contributing editor to Writer’s Digest.

    Playing the role of the tech-deficiant, Nik Korpon (Stay God) joins us for this hallway conversation (please, pardon the background noise).

    Head to The Velvet Podcast to hear the interview. While there, subscribe via Feedburner, Podcast Alley, or iTunes.

  • Guess who paid to be one of 65 authors included in No Colony’s Pushcorpse project.

    Guess who paid to be one of 65 authors included in No Colony’s Pushcorpse project.

    A single story? 65 authors? Yes. Who? These:

    Shya Scanlon, Christian Ochoa, Brian Spears, David Erlewine, Christopher Higgs, Alan Horn, Jason Cook, Matt Kirkpatrick, Amy Letter, Gene Morgan, Vaughan Simons, David Peak, Brian Carr, Claire Kohne, Caleb J. Ross, Michael Jauchen, Alec Niedenthal, Christopher Heavener, Jac Jemc, Peter Rawlings, Joseph Goosey, Darby Larson, Nathan Tyree, Michael Inscoe, Roxane Gay, Jonny Kelly, Alan S. Carl, Aaron Gilbreath, Travis Kurowski, Caitlyn Dibble, Jackie Corley, J.A. Tyler, Andrew Borgstrom, Christopher Newgent, Phoebe North, Laurence Wilhelm Lillvik, Jonathan Keeperman, Christian Smith, Meredith Turits, Audri Sousa, Barry Graham, Matt Jasper, Danny Barron, Matthew Savoca, Josh Kleinberg, Robert Alan Wendeborn, David Naimon, Benjamin Spivey, Hassen Taiari, Christopher Stokes, Josh Maday, Bradley Billey, Christopher Deal, Elizabeth Ellen, Alexander Fletcher, Nik Korpon, Richard Thomas, Christopher J. Dwyer, Kellie Walsh, Kasey Carpenter, D. Hammer, Timmy Waldron, Angi Becker Stevens, Erin Flaherty, Ryan Call

    Want to own? Buy here.

  • The Velvet reads at the appropriately named The Velvet Lounge in Washington D.C

    The Velvet reads at the appropriately named The Velvet Lounge in Washington D.C

    Only one day back from Washington DC and already I miss it. The city was wonderful, of course, but what really impressed me was how nice the citizens were. Everyone from CVS counter workers to street repair people went out of their way to smile and offer a hello. And I definitely don’t project a aura of respectability, so these people couldn’t have feared I was in a position to fire them.

    One of the high points for me was definitely the Thursday night reading at The Velvet Lounge. So many friends, old and new, came out to read. The gathering and venue was small and intimate in the best way. Brandon Tietz, Nik Korpon, Michael Sonbert, Caleb J Ross (me), Jillian Weise, and Jesus Angel Garcia showed up, each with entourages and accumulated curiosities in tow, ready to make this event a memorable one. And that they did.

    Click here to go to The Velvet Podcast where each of the readings are available to download.

  • Blogging, Tweeting, and YouTubing from AWP all this week

    Blogging, Tweeting, and YouTubing from AWP all this week

    Between February 2nd and 5th I will be attending the AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) Conference in Washington DC. During this time I’ll be temporarily relocated.

    Check often at the following places, where I (and a team of writers) will be reporting on the happenings at the conference all week. Be sure to subscribe to the blog, YouTube channel, and Podcast feed, and follow the Twitter stream.

    My AWP Blog (www.calebjross.com/awpblog)

    Expect summaries of panels and daily roundups of general goings-on

    AWPtweets (http://twitter.com/awptweets)

    As the majesty of Twitter has allowed and encouraged, expect disposable minutia here

    AWP Channel (www.youtube.com/awpchannel)

    While I would love to upload videos of every reading and panel discussion I attend, I assume AWP would have some copyright issues with that. So, expect instead videos of selected readings and perhaps a few quick interviews from the book fair floor. We’ll see.

    The Velvet Podcast (www.thevelvetpodcast.com)

    Because The Velvet Podcast isn’t something reserved specifically for AWP (as the above mediums are), expect interviews and discussions that cross from the academic focus of AWP to the noir-lit yet still intelligent focus of the Welcome to the Velvet forums. At least that is the plan. The Velvet Podcast tends to be pretty receptive of almost anything, so, I guess, expect almost anything.

  • Treat every book like The Bible

    Treat every book like The Bible

    Can you talk about a single book for one hour every week? Ministers/Priests/Pastors/Reverends/Etc. do. Why shouldn’t more books get the attention that religion texts do?

    Okay, most books don’t have a centuries-long history, a following (even a lukewarm one), or a cultivated lifestyle (excluding the Twilights and Harry Potters). What most books do have in common with religion texts is an industry infrastructure built to support their messages and the text itself; compelling narrative for the ultimate goal of better understand the human condition.

    But week after week after week…how? Religious clergy have the amazing ability to use a single book as a point of reflection for EVERYTHING, from  contemporary world events to domestic irritants. Natural disaster? War? Impoverished country? Acne? Grab a Bible, right? Why not grab The Confederacy of Dunces or House of Leaves? Each has interesting characters. Each depends on the reader’s own moral scope for impact. Each is a reflection of a life possibility, a Theory of Mind playground. Theory of Mind “…it is a term used by cognitive psychologists…to describe our ability to explain people’s behavior in terms of their thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and desires” (Lisa Zunshine, Why We Read Fiction, pg 15).

    Basically, Theory of Mind means that by reading about fictional characters in books, whether Johnny Truant, Ignatius J. Reilly, or Job, we implicate ourselves in their positions. This is the heart and magic of narrative. Sure, religion texts have the benefit of worldwide reach and passionate (sometimes vehemently so) devotees, but those aspects alone don’t reserve for the books a singular position as the only texts worth preaching.

    So claim a street corner and tell everyone why Ignatius J. Reilly is so repugnant yet simultaneously endearing.