Ben Tanzer's Blog, page 108

New joint. Lost Boy. From the Artistically Declined Press.

In fact, Lost Boy is at the Amazon. And free no less through Friday. It is also from a collection titled I AM that we are doing with the ADP in 2014. Yes, we know that's far away, so for now please do enjoy some Lost Boy and please do share some of that Lost Boy freeness with your friends, neighbors, family, lovers, co-workers, and strangers on the street. Cool? Word. Excerpt? Yes. Done.

"Dude, look at this mess, leaves all over the place and beer bottles everywhere, a used condom. So fucked-up bro, and not cool, so not cool, who treats a grave like this? It’s like a desecration or whatever. Anyway, I will make sure someone starts taking care of this, soon, promise."

So coming so soon. Part II. Sad Robot Stories by the Mason Johnson.

So coming so soon. Part I. The Hill William by Scott McClanahan.

This Book Will Change Your Life - Why God Why by Matt Rowan.

Matt Rowan is the Metro Man of indie lit. He is also a former contributor to This Zine Will Change Your Life and a This Podcast Will Change Your Life podcastee. We recently had the chance to blurb his new collection Why God Why from Love Symbol Press and we are fairly certain it changed our life. We think it will change your life as well. So do go get it now and then let us know how that turns out. Cool? Cool. And blurb? Cool. More.

"Why God Why is fluid absurdities run asunder. Eschewing chaff or fat, it is fraught with deft wordplay and wonder, and I suggest that you read it now, right now, there you go, thank you."  

This Podcast Will Change Your Life, Episode Sixty-Three - Words Fail, starring the Peter Schwartz.

So Schwartz we are. So podcast too. We are also Old Man Skivork's, quite Jewey, and full of amazing grace. So do hit it. Thank you. It just might change your life.

This. Happening. Massive Coolness.

More here. Much more.

This Book Will Change Your Life - All The Roads That Lead From Home by Anne Leigh Parrish.

There is a short story writer we like, love, something, who's work reminds us of Raymond Carver in its despair and evocative use of place, place as character and tone. And this might be lazy thinking, or unimaginative on our part. An inability to articulate how we feel about our experience of reading their work without the crutch of referencing someone else's work. Raymond Carver's no less. Yes, that Ramond Carver. We say all this, because when we met said writer, we mentioned this, and said writer said, don't compare me to Raymond Carver, to which we replied, you don't like Carver, to which they said, don't compare me to anyone. To which we say, nice, okay, got it. We also say this, however, because with All The Roads That Lead From Home, Anne Leigh Parrish has been compared to Raymond Carver, and we get that, we do, but we are now way too self-conscious to say so. Which is not to say there isn't a sense of decay in Parrish's work that is not in fact reminiscent of Carver. Because there is in the oozy, gray trickle of despair washing over the damaged women in these stories as they try to make sense of their not quite functioning relationships, and the relationship between these relationships and their boozy, absent, alcohol-drenched fathers. All of which is to say, that All The Road That Lead From Home may or may not remind you of Raymond Carver, but it will certainly change your life. If only momentarily at that.     

Eight points. Nine seconds. Eighteen years. Still not beautious never no.

Happy Birthday.

"I have an unfortunate personality." Orson Welles

Announcement. Call for Submissions. Thumbnail 5. Guest Editor we are.

Quite pleased we are to Guest Editor for Thumbnail 5. And quite pleased we will be when you submit something for our consideration. So, from now until August 31st, Thumbnail will be accepting submissions of your endlessly stellar and life-changing flash fiction of 600 words or less, and black and white comics, and passing them along to TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer and the This Zine Will Change Your Life team for review. Please note, that we are accepting submissions on a rolling basis, we will be soliciting work, and we are most definitely looking to This Zine Will Change Your Life this issue as much as possible, so please also note what we like in our submissions, see below, and then submit here, or here, and definitely here, now, don't stop, perfect, you. And yes, you know who you are.  


What we like.

We like it funny, and dark, some times inappropriate, always sparse, and not so experimental or speculative, not that we're sure what the latter means.