Caleb J. Ross's Blog, page 54
September 20, 2012
September 15, 2012
Video Review of The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson (Video Blog ep 027)
Click the image above to watch the video review
The Orphan Master’s Son is a remarkable book. I’ve been a fan of Adam Johnson’s work since his story collection Emporium (which I credit as being a primary impetus to my own fiction writing), and though both books are stellar, they are so in such different ways. It’s hard to believe that the man who wrote Emporium is the same guy who wrote The Orphan Master’s Son. Perhaps the two personalities are a Jun Do/Commander Ga thing (reference to the book).
In this video review you’ll suffer through my overt praise as well as my amazing Photoshop skills. Who knew Adam Johnson could so easily become Kim Jong Il?
September 13, 2012
Pregnancy Makes a Woman Crazy and Dilutes Her Sense of Humor
The second of my ?-many part column over at ManArchy Magazine, called This is My Father, The Internet is now live and ready for your sweat embrace. Click here to read the wonderfully titled “Pregnancy Makes a Woman Crazy and Dilutes Her Sense of Humor”.
Read all of the This Is My Father, The Internet articles here at ManArchy Magazine
September 11, 2012
The Internet Taught Me How to Tie a Tie
Today the first of my new column at ManArchy Magazine goes live. I’m quite proud of this one and look forward to many, many more installments.
The column: This is My Father, The Internet, will document my various forays into manhood sans a father to guide me. My father left when I was five, and I have seen him maybe four times since then. I’ve had to rely on a variety of mentors over the years, from my friends’ fathers, TV fathers, and of course, the Internet, to properly show me what it means to be a capital M Man. Obviously, hindsight allows me to realize that blindly following the lead of any male figure probably wasn’t the best way to traverse the world of testosterone. But it’s too late for me; my path has been set. Lucky for you, I’m here to spill what’s become of me.
September 8, 2012
Video Review of F*ckload of Shorts by Jedidiah Ayres (Video Blog ep 026)
Click the image above to watch the video review
This stories of Fuckload of Shorts by Jedidiah Ayres, which includes the stories that inspired the short film Fuckload of Scotch Tape, are the best kind of short stories. Each one takes an idea that, realistically should make for a horrible, shock-driven story, and instead delivers amazing noir fiction with beautifully rendered characters. Ejaculating a dead man? Yep. Selling corpses to a dog foot plant? Yep. In the hands of a lesser writer, these ideas would amount to nothing more than throwaway snuff fiction. But in the hands of Jedidiah Ayres, these ideas are simply climaxes of and catalysts for truly compelling stories.
This video book review examines one of those scenarios in-depth: how exactly, logistically speaking, can one ejaculate a dead man? Yes, there is a whiteboard and drawings included.
September 1, 2012
100 YouTube Subscriber Giveaway – Open Through September 30th
Click the image above to watch the video
100 subscribers! It’s a milestone, to be sure. The first milestone of what I hope to be many, many more. Thank you to everyone who has subscribed (and will subscribe, after getting a whiff of what’s being given away to celebrate this 100 subscriber achievement).
As a thank you to all subscribers of this book channel, I am giving away a one-of-a-kind, handmade, leather bound edition of Warmed and Bound, an anthology in which one of my stories appears. Warmed and Bound is a truly exceptional collection of dark, noir-inspired stories of sometimes dystopian, sometimes too-real-I-wish-it-were-dystopian fiction.
Authors include: Matt Bell, Blake Butler, Vincent Louis Carrella, Craig Clevenger, Brian Evenson, Stephen Graham Jones, Bradley Sands, Paul Tremblay, me, and many, many more, including a forward from Steve Erickson! Click here to watch a video trailer promoting the original Warmed and Bound anthology.
I warn you, I’m no professional book binder. In traditional homemade-Caleb fashion, this bound edition, though absolutely lovely, isn’t something you could sell on eBay for thousands of dollars, at least not until I’m dead…and not until shoddy craftsmanship goes for a premium on the black market for some reason.
Rules:
You MUST be a subscriber to my YouTube channel: http://www.calebjross.com/CalebjrossSubscribe
You MUST leave at least one comment at YouTube on the video that announces this giveaway (linked via the image at the top of this post). Feel free to leave as many comments as you want—the more conversation the better—but know that you will only have one entry into the giveaway no matter how many comments you leave
If you win the giveaway, you must be willing to send me your mailing address. Otherwise, how would you receive the amazing prize?
More meta:
Giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere in the world. I understand shipping costs may be crazy to some places, but I don’t care; I’ll just skip lunch for a few days.
Must be at least 18 years old
Giveaway is open for comments/submissions through September 30th
If you are reading this and haven’s subscribed, what the hell are you waiting for? Subscribe: http://www.calebjross.com/CalebjrossSubscribe
August 31, 2012
Who Wrote FCJR? Video Evidence from Laila
Though Laila may be too young to have penned FCJR, I have a feeling she was involved with the brainstorming sessions. She pretty much describes me perfectly in terms of my hatred for many, many things. You’re on my radar, Laila.
August 30, 2012
Who Wrote FCJR? Video Evidence from JR Harlan
JR Harlan, author and contributor to Warmed and Bound (and possibly FCJR?) takes some time out of his busy spider-holing schedule to alert the world to the “dangers” of Caleb J. Ross. Hey, if you consider physical shortness, slightly overweightness, and my thinning hair to be dangerous, then you probably deserve that spider hole.
August 29, 2012
Who Wrote FCJR? Video Evidence from Livius Nedin
I don’t know what Livius Nedin is talking about. He can’t read.
August 28, 2012
Day 4 and 5 of Does a Free Kindle Promotion Work?
(Sorry for the lack of an update yesterday. No excuses. I just forgot)
Some of you may have caught wind of the I Didn’t Mean to be Kevin free Kindle giveaway that is currently going on now through August 28th. What you may not know is that I am also planning to post details about the giveaway—details such as the giveaway totals and the tactics I used to make people aware of the giveaway—every evening here on my blog as part of my Book Marketing Tests and Studies category. This post serves as the fourth and fifth in the 5(ish) part series.
For full details about the test, see the first post here.
Day 4 tactics
10:57 am: Sent tweet using my personal account, and my literary news aggregator account.
12:03 pm: Sent tweet using my personal account, and my literary news aggregator account focusing on my daily documenting of this kindle giveaway (rather than the giveaway itself).
Day 5 tactics
12:08 pm: Sent tweet using my personal account, and my literary news aggregator account and for the first time, my personal Facebook account. I stressed that this is the LAST DAY to download for free.
Day 4/5 results
As of 8:52 pm, 8/28/12, the metrics are:
Total copies downloaded: 1,004
Daily highest rank (that I happen to screen-capture) in the free Kindle store: #1,168
Daily highest rank (that I happen to screen-capture) in the book’s category/genre (which is Fiction > Literary Fiction): #25 (though I actually saw it at #18 at one point, but failed to get a screenshot)
How am I feeling after this fifth day?
Great! I passed the 1,000 downloads goal. However, I’m pretty far away from the other three goals I had for myself (outlined here). All in all, I’m quite happy. Now, I hope that those who downloaded the book actually read it.
