The Kickstarter Letters. Katzman. CCLaP Publishing. Now. Yes. Thank you.

So please do it hit that. Those? Something. Feels good, right? Like it just might change your life or something? Yes. We know. Enjoy.

These CCLaP Books Will Change Your Life - solo/down by Lauryn Allison Lewis and Famous Drownings in Literary History by Kevin Haworth.

We are certainly as CCLaP completist as anyone, which is less to speak to some unique position we may hold as readers in the independent lit firmament and more about our desire to look at the themes or tropes that CCLaP is drawn to as it picks the work it wants to share with the world. Over the years CCLaP's has leaned towards journeys and self-discovery, small towns and coping. Themes we love, and are endlessly drawn to as readers and writers, and yes CCLaP authors, ourselves. So, with solo/down by Lauryn Allison Lewis and Famous Drownings in Literary History by Kevin Haworth, we have to ask ourselves whether and how these books might fit into what CCLaP has done so well to build an established identity. In one regard CCLaP has done some things with these books to mine some of the sub-themes they've hit before, science fiction with solo/down and nonfiction with Haworth, and this is important, because to build something is to expand what you do even as you stay true to your vision of yourself. 

That said, something else is going on here as well, and even with solo/down's sci fi bent, and Famous Drownings overt shout-outs to that which it means to be Jewish and the impact of literature on our lives, all of our lives, and how we live, both books speak to a theme CCLaP has only somewhat focused on in the past, parenting, and predominantly, not exclusively, but predominantly, on the fears and panic that grip us as our children grow-up and grow away from us. Whether its the parents in solo/down who have created children they cannot protect, control, or hope to understand, despite their genius for science and grasp of what makes the universe tick, or Famous Drownings, where we are faced with raising, protecting, and controlling children we don't quite understand in a world we don't quite understand, even when we have a culture to draw on, literature, or our ability to save people from drowning. And this of course is parenting, never quite knowing what's right, or how to get from here to there, you hope and you try and you push. Which in this way, parenting is like publishing, certainly small press publishing. Pushing, hoping, building, and regardless of how things are going, panicking, always panicking, even as your changing lives, yours, your readers, and yes, on good days, maybe even those of your children.          

We are The New York Stories Tour 2012 Day Three. We are also Ryan W. Bradley. His mad Chip Kiddian skills. And 1970's era Penguin paperbacks-inspired alternative cover New York Stories love.

Word. Day Three. And the Ryan W. Bradley talking covers, alternate and otherwise. Big thanks handsome.

These Books Will Change Your Life - Get Up Tim: Stories by Sally Weigel and Have You See Me - A Novella by Katherine Scott Nelson.

So this is like not travel read. Because we have not been travel, but we have been read. We assume it has something to do with timing, things get done and there is space to read. There is also excitement about what is suddenly sitting in front of us. And of course there is obsessiveness, or mania, we get reading on the brain, and we can't let go, it has seemed untended, lost briefly to the ebb and flow of the day, week, month, and it must be reclaimed. And this weekend it was all of this, or maybe none of this, but we did read, both Get Up Tim by Sally Weigel and Have You Seen Me by Katherine Scott Nelson, both from our good friends at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography, and both of which continue CCLaP's mission to find ways to tell old stories from fresh perspectives and from fresh voices, capturing small town lives and perspectives, told with urgency and spareness. With Get Up Tim we are presented with a collection of stories, including It's Hard to Say, which originally ran in This Zine Will Change Your Life, word, love that, that is as fresh in voice as any we've read recently in part because of who the stories are primarily about, and how they tell the tale, young women stumbling in and out of relationships, beds and family, and populating narratives that conclude in ways that are not so hopeful, even if the characters themselves seem to hold out hope for something different, maybe better, but definitely different, and burnished with realism and actual storytelling, something refreshing in and of itself. 

Similar language applies when trying to capture what Nelson has set out to do in taking the small town coming of age story in Have You Seen Me and then twisting and bending it in ways that rarely get traction in any space remotely mainstream or popular. It is the tale of a young gay male also wanting something different and better as tries to find his way. In terms of actual escape he barely gets outside of his own head, but he is none-the-less in continual contact with his best friend who's run away and who in most tales would be the story, not the mirror or foil. It is a book then that is indeed fresh, and yes, we are using that word again, gladly, but it is also more than that as well, urgent, desperate, and ultimately a reading experience that leaves us hopeful for places literature may yet go in an ever-bending new world order, literary and otherwise.         

Get Up Tim. Weigel. CCLaP. Sweetness.

It's true. There is new Weigel. And we are most geeked indeed.

"I continuously found myself lulled into the natural cadence of his writing, only to come to the end where I would find myself helplessly sitting in a pot of boiling water, unable to jump out." So Different Now gets some love from the Jason Fisk. And likes it. A lot.

We love the Jason Fisk. He is a wonderful, sensitive and incisive writer attuned to the ebbs and flows of small town life and intimate relationships how our roles in these kinds of things can almost sometimes maybe work. He is also a This Zine Will Change Your Life contributor and This Podcast Will Change Your Life podcastee. And we say all this in part, because when writers like the Fisk like what we do, it can be more exciting and moving, and sometimes crushing in its way, than any positive or thoughtful reaction we might receive otherwise. All of which is to say, thanks brother, it means a ton, drinks on us when next we meet, and now for some excerpt.

"I am drawn to Tanzer’s writing for the same reasons I enjoy getting a beer with him: there is a charm, in both his manner and his writing, which is simply entertaining, yet hints at a much more complex, sometimes dark, psychological underpinning. While reading this collection I continuously found myself lulled into the natural cadence of his writing, only to come to the end where I would find myself helplessly sitting in a pot of boiling water, unable to jump out." 

"It's refreshing just as it is in film when life is told as it is and not put in a neat package." So Different Now gets The Local Tourist'd. And likes it. A lot.

Quite appreciating The Fem Geek Tiff Tate and The Local Tourist for their most kind words about So Different Now. Big thanks that. And drinks on us for sure when next we meet. Now, how about some excerpt? Sweet.

"Right from the beginning I was able to place myself in every situation. I was able to put faces to each character and had a sense I may have not been far off with my assessment. The stories are very straight forward and not formulaic like so many short stories that aim hard to give you what they believe you want, a moral story where everyone wins. I'm not saying that this is bad and I'm not saying these stories are not giving a moral stance but it's refreshing just as it is in film when life is told as it is and not put in a neat package. Tanzer just gives us what life has thrown at each character...like I said REALITY."

So Different Now. Goodreads. Yes.

Add it. Read it. Rate it. Review it. Love it. Won't you? Thanks. You may do so right here.

Hyping the So Different Now/The New York Stories hype in the most hypeful manner possible.

It's true. We are hyping the hype. Feels good. So, with that said, big thanks to the Pete  Lit, Necessary Fiction and TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog for the So Different Now/The New York Stories hype. Much appreciated. Much love. Much hype. 

The New York Stories. Read. Rejoice. Re-post.

More here.

So Different Now. Read. Rejoice. Re-post.

More here.

It's coming.

More The New York Stories sneak peak roll-out teaser action. And more details here.

More The New York Stories roll-out. Szumowski. And Spiderman. In a suit. Sweetness.

Have You Seen Me. Is release. And much cool stuff.

Very excited we are for CCLaP's newest release Have You Seen Me by Katherine Scott Nelson. Please do hit this because we are most certain it just might change your life. As usual there is much cool stuff rolling out at the same time as the release, podcasts, torch passing, parties, and on and on, so please do check-out this stuff as well, here, and here, here as well, and even here. Cool? Word.

There is hypermodern paper 99 Problems. And there is happiness.

More here. Much more.

"Honest and real." 99 Problems gets some Ludlow Goodreads love.

Indeed. There is a most generous review of 99 Problems at the Goodreads from author Lavinia Ludlow and we are most appreciative. Drinks on us for sure whenever, and wherever, we finally meet.

"It’s every writer’s goal to become such a fantastical storyteller that the reader dissolves into the narration and lives through the story. Tanzer has managed to perfect that in his stories such as those found in 99 Problems. His narration is honest and real, relate-able. Certainly a great publication from Tanzer and CCLaP. Definitely worth checking out now."

This Book Will Change Your Life - Life After Sleep by Mark Brand.

Life After Sleep is the new novella by TBWCLY, Inc. favorite and This Podcast Will Change Your Life podcastee Mark R. Brand. It is also the new joint from CCLaP Publishing, which means, first, that 99 Problems is officially archived, which we're okay with, really, because not only has it been a good run, but we are quite geeked about Life After Sleep, which we are certain will change your life; and second, that the brain trust at CCLaP has asked our team here to write a "Passing the Torch" essay for the CCLaP site as they seek a gentle transition from one book to the next. We in turn would like to share a slightly tweaked version of the essay here as well, which we hope is cool with you? Great.

There is the belief that we should temper our reaction to things, that caveats are required, and biases should be identified, that it's okay to love something as long as we explain how and why that love may be impacted by the personal, by history and preferences. But we would rather not take that approach to things. We suppose this eliminates any hope we have of being perceived as any kind of legitimate critic, but being a critic has never been the goal. In fact our primary goal is to embrace the sheer fanboyness of our day to day existence and not be so embarrassed by our exuberance for the things we love and that which we have any kind of personal association with.

Which brings us to Life After the Sleep, the new book by Mark Brand which is being released by the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography. Mark Brand is a friend. We have read together and edited one another's work. Mark Brand is also quite attractive, and we, like you are drawn to attractive people, that's just evolution so please don't fault us for that. Mark Brand writes science fiction, love the science fiction, always have, and that's not changing.

Further, CCLaP has released two joints of ours and we are indebted to them for that. CCLaP's director Jason Pettus and TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer have also drank any number of beers together and we greatly appreciate his discerning and critical eye, even when we disagree, which isn't often, but it happens.

Hello, Requiem for a Dream. What the fuck?

But we digress.

We are also drawn to any author that matures with his work and grows more nuanced as his vision expands, as well as, any publisher who understands what he likes, yet continues to try and capture that like in as many disparate ways as possible.

Which also brings us to Life After Sleep, a book by a maturing, and yes, dammit, attractive writer, being published by an ever evolving publisher, and our unabashed excitement by all facets of this project, none of which should diminish the work itself, a comment on who we are now and where we might be, but still remains grounded in all things recognizable as real, work stress, PTSD, family dynamics, and mostly, finally, sleep, how we get it, why we need it, and what happens when we can't find it, something else I am terribly biased about, but as we said, we are not critics, we're are fanboys, and we are all fan when it comes to this book and all it represents.

A very cool CCLaP Call for Artists: "American Wasteland: Bleak Tales of the Future on the Tenth Anniversary of 9/11."

This will be coolness. Take a look. Submit. Change your life. And others. Cool? Yes. Way. Done.

99 Problems Imago advert awesomeness.

The collective minds at CCLaP Publishing will soon be launching a "hipster" photography magazine titled Imago and as part of the debut issue are including a full page ad for 99 Problems which is full of lovely comments from an array of sources that doesn't even include our mothers, wives or sisters. We are, as always, thrilled and embarrassed about this kind of thing, but not so embarrassed that we won't mention it here, or encourage you to hit the CCLaP link if you prefer to see it in all its "full-sized" awesomeness.

This Book Will Change Your Life - Cardboard Gods by Josh Wilker.

When Jason Pettus at CCLaP expressed interest in publishing 99 Problems he said he was particularly struck by how many writers were also runners. As we read Cardboard Gods by Josh Wilker what we were initially struck by was how many writers seemed to have offbeat, if not outright strained childhoods, filled with all sorts of funky family dynamics, struggles with self-confidence and the inability to find their way, both as a writer and in life. But then we thought, maybe that's everybody in some form or another, and what we're really encountering here is the writer's ability to translate that pain and strife into words and image and narrative that transcend mere description and turn them into something powerful, engaging and even beautiful. Which then got us thinking that if any of this is remotely true, the real challenge may be how the writer accomplishes this in a way that sounds vibrant and different and brings new perspective and language to the discussion, continuing an ongoing dialogue in fresh and exciting new ways. Which brings us back to Cardboard Gods and Josh Wilker's moving exploration of his childhood, pop culture, the last third of the last century, and the start of the new one, rooting for the Boston Red Sox and the birth of the writer through his youthful obsession with all things baseball card, the players, both obscure and star, their stats and back stories, and the endless hopes, needs, and anxieties we can project onto an object of desire. Why do all writers seem to know pain, because we all do, everyone, but writers labor to describe it, because they, we, have no other choice.

We would add here, that as part of TBWCYL, Inc.'s 2010 Top Ten Book List, we wrote about the morass of books that have landed here at headquarters during the past several months, and our inability to read them at the rate we prefer to due to the endless end of the year responsibilities that come with running a massive, yet faux, media empire. That said, we have taken some vacation time, a new year of work travel is rapidly approaching, and we are pleased to announce that Cardboard Gods represents the first book to be scratched off of the list. Next up, Sophomoric Philosophy by Victor David Giron. Nice.