Ben Tanzer's Blog, page 194

52,678.

Can't stop. Won't stop.

79,438.

Still obsessing. Still cyber-stalking selves. Ought to be more self-conscious.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. Full of Frog. And Moore.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. Full of frog. And Moore. We have a new story Frog-a-Rama by Gary Moore, which we are way excited about, and, (almost) as always, photo action from Adam Lawrence, music curation from Jason Behrends and surging jobs numbers prose love from Pete Anderson. We hope you enjoy this edition and we appreciate all shout-outs and links. Finally, please note, we are hoping more of you will submit comix, and music, and art, and video, yes, video, and combinations there of. And most finally, play ball.

Hi My Name Is: Buck.

There is Artistically Declined antlered bird name and it is Buck. Sweet. Big props to TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Ray Charbonneau for the winning submission and the free, signed copy of You Can Make Him Like You that comes with it.

Tell Me A Story. The Intern. TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog coolness.

There is new story, "The Intern." It is part of the very cool TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog "Tell Me A Story" original story series, as well as, a much appreciated tie-in to the forthcoming release of You Can Make Him Like You. Big thanks to Lori Hettler and her crew for the invitation, the ongoing interest, all of it. How about some excerpt? Cool.

"It is a book reading. The intern is there. She isn't really your intern any more, hasn't been, but she will always be the intern to you. She was the first. She is your favorite. She was so young then, awkward, terrific. You were protective of her. Paternal. Careful too. Always appropriate. Had to be. Others would come and go. Many were fantastic, smart, and only one turned out to be a stalker of sorts. But she is the reference point, always will be, like your first girlfriend or first born."

111,494.

New compulsion.

Thunderclap. Issue Cinco. Chicago joint.

Digging this. We have a new joint, "He's Gone," in the new issue of Thunderclap, which is most filled with killer writers, and we are most appreciative. "He's Gone" is part of a group of Chicago stories we've been working on, some of which have already been picked-up including "Taking Flight" in Metazen, "Smiling to Himself" at Atticus Books, and "Apply Some Pressure" in the debut issue of Curbside Splendor, and some of which are still to come, we think, hope, all of it, we'll see.

"It will propel him onto his largest stage to date." You Can Make Him Like You gets Baby Got Books'd. And likes it. A lot.

Ridiculously much appreciated thanks to old friends and supporters Baby Got Books for their most wonderful review of You Can Make Him Like You. Drinks, maybe many, and craft brews at that, when next we're in the Atlanta.

"If you recognize that the book takes its name from a song by The Hold Steady, a small indie rock band that is HUGE among a certain demographic, then this book is definitely up your alley. If you frequently ask yourself what you want to be when you grow up, even though that question should have been answered a decade or more ago, then you'll find yourself nodding and laughing along with parts of this book and wriggling in discomfort at others that may hit a little too close to home. Or maybe I'm projecting. This is a genuinely great story, and I recommend you check it out."

Who deserves more recognition? Apparently we do. Big thanks to TNBBC's The Next Best Book Club.

So nice to stumble into the Ten Authors Who Deserve More Recognition list at the always wonderful and supportive TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog and see TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer coming in at number three and keeping company with among others the Joshua Mohr and Michael Kimball both TBWCYL, Inc. favorites and authors we are big fans of. We were also taken with the fact that we didn't recognize everyone on the list, hence the recognition thing, which us got thinking, that we can, should, need to read more, learn more and support more writers everywhere, and maybe, maybe we can encourage you to as well, because it just might change your life, and it will very likely change theirs.

"This guy right here is one of the most active, interactive authors out there right now. He runs a blog, online 'zine, podcast page, guest posts, tweets, raises his kids, and runs...! Phew! How does he manage to write as much as he does with a schedule like that? In novels like You Can Make Him Like You and Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine, Tanzer rips open the heads and hearts of his male characters so you can see what's really going on in there. His novels also have this comfortable retro-90's feel to them, which I adore."

We totally need your help picking a new author photo. Really. And totally.

Totally. Its pretentious we know. And yet, if you could help us pick 2-3 possibilities from this album, yes this one, or that one, which is this one, we would be quite geeked. Quite. Geeked. And appreciative. So, what do you say, will you help? Killer. And big thanks to Jacob S. Knabb as well for his most wonderful, and yes, mad, photography skills.