Caleb J. Ross's Blog, page 98

Today, I do a double-header. Not only do I offer my Charactered Pieces playlist at Justin Holt's blog, but the Emerging Writers Network blog has been kind enough to post my holiday gift list.  EWN was recently named one of OnlineDegree's top 50 lit blogs. And let's be honest, if you are waiting until today to do your holiday shopping, you likely need this list. Thank me later. Over a beer.

See all the rest of the Blog Orgy Tour stops here.

Music enhances most experiences, even writing. Today, I deliver my Charactered Pieces playlist at Justin Holt's blog. See, there's music; don't you feel more like a real groupie now?

See all of the rest of the stops here.

I might get a tattoo. Read about at Nik Korpon's blog, you filthy, filthy groupie.

Then read about other skin deformities (sesame sauce-blistered skin, for example) in my chapbook, Charactered Pieces. Only $6 for a print copy, or $2 for a PDF eBook version.

See all of the rest of the stops here.

Today at Mel Bosworth's blog I post about the power of a single story to open up an author's entire catalog. Prove you're a good groupie and head over now.

See all of the rest of the stops here.

The folks at Oxyfication.net just keep getting kinder. Jason Kane has written an absolutely stunning review of Charactered Pieces. My hope, of course, is that reading this review will make you want to read Charactered Pieces. But in the least, I hope it motivates you to check out more reviews from their site.

Also, don't forget to check out their forum, where for the month of December, Charactered Pieces is their book club pick. I'll be poking in all month to add to the discussion. You...

This post is part of my Blog Orgy Tour in support of Charactered Pieces, which is currently available from OW Press (or Amazon.com ). This post appears simultaneously at Pela Via's blog.

I've known Pela Via only a short time, but when a person becomes part of the pack as quickly as she did, you're forced to either embrace the new face, or find a different crowd. Luckily, I didn't have to be forced at all to take to her. Her fiction aside (which is great, by the way) she has a willingness to...

The wonderful Oxyfication.net has chosen my chapbook, Charactered Pieces, as the book club discussion pick. Past books include Kristopher Young's Click, Don DeLillo's Underworld, Gordon Highland's Major Inversions, and Cormac McCarthy's No Country For Old Men.

Please, if you have any thoughts or questions on the book, head over to the forum and offer a few words. I'll be poking in all month to answer questions. Don't be shy. Books will die unless we talk about them.

Tune up your virtual groupie van. I'm hitting the wwwD.O.T for a blog tour to promote Charactered Pieces: stories.

promises to be a beautiful bastardization of legitimate blog posts and self-serving salesy talk, the likes of which will leave you itchy and raw.

What is a blog tour? It's a way for authors with no actual-tour budget to use the term "tour" when describing their marketing plans.

Why a blog tour? The concept seems fun. I'm going to make stops at various...

Tom Waits stands as one of the most innovative artists alive, mixing crooner piano tunes, industrial percussion, and all the styles between in a way that compliments, though dissonantly, his abrasive voice. Woven throughout his catalog, there's hip hop, too, from when hip hop was beat poetry. Take 1978's "Step Right Up" from his Small Change album:

Step Right Up

Then, as Waits fell in with (helped create?) the garbage clank-boom crowd, he upped the percussion, giving his hip hop styles more...

The Blank und Questions series is now two-interviews strong; though, incestuous they may be [1.) I interview Gordon Highland, 2.) He interviews me:]. I'm looking to spread the influence. I've got a few more lined up, and I hope to add many conversations to the series at next year's AWP Conference in Denver, CO. Will you be there?

Gordon, author of Major Inversions, was kind enough to sit down with me and wax the ol' ego at my favorite Kansas City dive-bar, The Newsroom. This visit, I met a...