"I Am Richard Simmons" gets some Short Story Month 2011 love.

Big thanks to TBWCYL, Inc. favorite, This Zine Will Change Your Life contributor and This Podcast Will Change Your Life podcastee BL Pawelek for showing "I Am Richard Simmons" some Short Story Month 2011 review love. Big thanks as well to the Matt Bell for the orchestration and to J.A. Tyler and the ml press for first giving this piece life. And now some excerpt.

"Richard Simmons was me? It was a radical thought which took me a few months to accept. For the same reasons of hope, love, transformation to something better… I thought I was Henry Rollins. Maybe I can be both. Maybe I can be Ben Tanzer too."

"It reads almost like a meditation, or maybe a prose poem – a reflection perhaps." I Am Richard Simmons gets Baby Got Books'd. And likes it. A lot.

It is most cool to see Tim Frederick and the crew at the terrific Baby Got Books not only give a quite kind shout-out to I Am Richard Simmons, but riff on the existential nature of chapbooks in general. For some excerpt please see below and many thanks to Tim, et. al., drinks on us for sure when next we decamp to the Atlanta.

"Nothing left to do but read. And what is I Am Richard Simmons exactly? It’s not a short story, and it’s not poem. It reads almost like a meditation, or maybe a prose poem – a reflection perhaps – on the existential idea of Richard Simmons-ness. Who is Richard Simmons? Why is he like that? What is his deal anyway? Tanzer shows us that these are merely rhetorical questions:

…you know who, & what Richard Simmons really is; Richard Simmons is you.

Damn straight.

So what have we learned? Chapbooks are the punk-rock-7″-singles-that-are-pressed-in-that-one-dude’s-basement-and-passed-around-from-friend-to-friend of the literary world. Chapbooks reflect the DIY ethos of people creating for the love and not for the money. (Where do I buy my Corporate Literature Sucks t-shirt?) Chapbooks are bad ass. But then you knew that already. I was the one who didn’t know what was going on."

Richard Simmons Goodreads love.

Quite excited and most appreciative to see that J.A. Tyler and his crew at Mud Luscious Press have added I Am Richard Simmons to the Goodreads. Thanks dude, drinks on us for sure when next we meet.

How about a Deckfight Bosworth Ross mash-up with a nice dollop of love for I Am Richard Simmons? Well that, and a ml press {first year} shout-out?

We thought this might be your cup of tea. And here's what we have. The most excellent Deckfight gave the always well bearded Mel Bosworth a the chance to riff on the five best things he has recently read. He not only gave a very generous shout-out to our ml press chapbook I Am Richard Simmons - feel free to read the below excerpt - but to the quite fine and recently blurbed here Charactered Pieces by Caleb J. Ross as well. We are quite appreciative. We also think Mel has quite good taste. We would add, that you may also be interested in one, re-reading TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer's five best recently things read list, and if you are enjoy, and two, we want to let you know that we just received our copy of the ml press {first year} anthology and it is lovely, really lovely, and something we think you might want to order because we are fairly confident that it just might change your life. A lot.

"I carried this MLP chapbook in my pocket for a while to whip out whenever I ran into anyone. I may have scared a person or two, rummaging around in my front pocket, saying things like, “You’ve gotta see this!” but overall things went well. No face slaps."

"A pocket sized chapbook that carries a big punch." I Am Richard Simmons gets Eddie Socko'd. And likes it. A lot.

Many thanks to Mel Bosworth and his crew at No More Hot Lunches for Eddie Socko for their kind words about I Am Richard Simmons. We think that Mel just might have a little bit of Richard Simmons in him as well. Huh, that didn't sound right, we better run that by legal before we post this. In the meantime though please feel free to enjoy the below excerpt.

"B-Tanz (I hope he doesn't mind me calling him that) delivers with speed, deftness, humor, and heart."

"Swooned all over again." I am Richard Simmons gets Pete Lit'd. And likes it a lot.

We cannot say that we don't expect, even hope, that the fine crew at Pete Lit, will be somewhat biased when it comes to our work, but we still very much appreciate the kind words they recently had say about our new ml press chapbook I Am Richard Simmons. Many thanks, and drinks for us, for sure, when next we meet. For the rest of you an excerpt:

"The story's eponymous narrator projects the energy and mania and exuberance and positivity and, yes, also the veiled desperation and sadness and heartbreak that seems to underlie all of that celebrity's public appearances."

Update: We also want to thank the BL Pawelek for some additional Richard Simmons love. Much, much, appreciated.

I Am Richard Simmons.

We should begin by saying that TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer's ml press chapbook I am richard simmons has arrived here at headquarters along with more introductions to a book I will never finish by mark baumer and boots walking in america found a trophy by krammer abrahams. We should add that despite the fact that we did not receive a new chapbook by Kendra Grant Malone we are still quite happy. Many thanks to the ml press crew and drinks on us for sure when next we get together.

Quite exciting ml press pre-order updates and much Richard Simmons for your consumption

We have much ml press excitement to share. First, our ml press chapbook I Am Richard Simmons is now available for pre-order along with two other October releases, More Introductions To A Book I Will Never Finish by Mark Baumer and Boots Walking In America Feel A Trophy by Krammer Abrahams. And second, ml press is also releasing an anthology titled MLP: First Year, which is a collection of all of the ml press chapbooks released during its first year and is filled with a slew of killer writers. MLP: First Year will not be coming out until January 2010, but it too is available for pre-order now. Yes, right now. As we said, there is much ml press excitement to be had, so please do have it, and please do pre-order. It just might change your life.