Caleb J. Ross's Blog, page 88

Meta-fiction for babies.

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Or is it meta-non-fiction? Is all non-fiction meta? Are there any examples of non-meta-non-fiction? If we were introduced to an author who wrote a historical account of Indian bread and Greek cheese that constantly pulled from the text to state bluntly, "I am no expert. This history is just my opinion," would we have met a non-meta-feta-naan-non-fiction author? Okay, that last one was dumb.

Undie Press relaunch

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It has been a long time coming, but one well worth the wait. Tim Hall's book press-turned-lit mag is now live and looking amazing.

I respect Tim Hall, both as a writer and a person, at a level that few others have been able to reach. Not that I'm picky about whom I worship, but of all the gods in my life, Tim is one of the platinums.

I met Tim through the Outsider Writers Collective a couple years ago. As a newbie to the site, I was embraced immediately by everyone there, but...

I know the street value of authors

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Quick, before they are outlawed. Inhale, inject, and/or read these recently-legal addictions el pronto:

A Mel Bosworth is worth a follow-up story chapbook called Grease Stains, Kismet, and Maternal Wisdom . Street date of NOW! Mine is on my way. Based on Mel's previous work, I can expect some glorious toilet time in the near future.1 Ben Tanzer will run you 99 Problems (that was an easy conversion). This book is a collection of essays about running. I'm no runner. Write a book...

Mind effed: Serpent Box says written poetry can suck it

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Baxter once said that a man in the woods was about the purest thing there was in the world, and the closest he could come to knowing God. A man can never buy with money this thing that the Lord gave him for free, he said. That sense of awe and respect one derives from the trees and the earth and all things that dwell in between them. He told Jacob that poetry was all around him, in the grass and on the surface of the leaves, and that the Bible was full of good words designed...

EXCLUSIVE: Mix-a-Lot flip flops stance on badonkadonk

I present part two of my however-many-it-takes part series to get a book deal based on my amazing, 100(ish)% true exploits as a hobbyist blame-taker.

However, instead of being only an instigator in big news, I want to report it. Below is my first official Blame Caleb Exclusive!

[image error](BCE)–Gluteal aficionado reverses his long-held controversial stance on large asses. Says Mr. A-Lot: "They just aren't exotic anymore."

Sir Mix-A-Lot became famous after the 1992 release of his pro-butt...

White covers and isolated imagery: Why the trend?

I have noticed that over the past decade readers have been subjected to a trend in non-fiction book cover design. I am referring to the use of a white background to frame a single, striking element. For example:

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I understand the appeal from a marketing perspective. As online book buying grows in popularity, the book spine is becoming less important to shoppers. Instead, the idea with white-framed covers is to create as much visual distance and isolation with a book so as to...

Coming early 2011: Stranger Will (the book, not the creepy old man)

Just when you thought you had over a year before getting offended by a book from me (I Didn't Mean to Be Kevin, November 2011), I go and do something crazy like sign with another publisher to release a novel in March 2011. Stranger Will, a noir story of apathy and abortion, is coming early next year from Otherworld Publications.

Otherworld Publications is a young publisher, but one with an impressive drive to promote its authors. This fact is not the sole reason I signed w...

Fry eReads; should I too?

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The newest episode of Futurama featured a suspiciously eReader-esque device, which got me thinking, yet again, about my inevitable adoption of an eReader.

I've held off so far for two main reasons:

I simply like having books. Yes, possibly just to show off for my two friends who would be impressed by a bookshelf, but also because I feel that the nurtured associations of a book–the smell, the feel of the pages, the statement of class–are part of the reading experience and...

Kansas City Reading Coves – Cigar & Tabac, Ltd.

I bring you #4 of a hopefully long-lived series: Kansas City Reading Coves.

When I can, I like my coves like my burning crosses: smokey and offensive to most .

Today's cove: Cigar & Tabac, Ltd – 6898 West 105th Street, Overland Park, KS 66212-1801

I have purchased many a cigar in this place over the last year or so, each time bypassing the giant leather couches for the equally giant walk-in humidor stationed along this small shop's north wall. I envied the old men each time...

The future of burning books

Below is the list of the top ten most frequently challenged books of 2009 as gathered from the American Library Association website. I completely understand the low priority some place upon books compared to other forms of media. However, I don't understand why books would need to be burned. Think of it this way, if I had two children, I would probably like one more than the other. That doesn't mean I should burn one (I'll let the sun do that, when I allow my least...