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Charactered Pieces gets Ben Tanzered

May 26, 2011

I have long known that Ben Tanzer is a fan of my story "An Optimist is the Human Personification of Spring" from my Charactered Pieces chapbook. Ben has been kind enough to tell me that very fact, saying to me that it is one of the most affecting stories he has read recently (even telling the world on his podcast). Simply stated, he likes the story, and his enthusiasm and praise is exactly the reason I write. So, when he posted some more praise at Matt Bell's blog, I once again felt the rush of what it means to truly be a writer. I can't think this man enough (and Matt Bell for hosting the post). "As the story unfolded, I knew it would go wrong, had to go wrong, and when it did, it took everything I had not to cry in the middle of the Red line "L" during the…

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

April 8, 2011

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…

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

March 11, 2011

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…

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

February 26, 2011

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…

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

February 14, 2011

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

February 6, 2011

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…

Blogging, Tweeting, and YouTubing from AWP all this week

February 1, 2011

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)…