The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. All Election. And (re-) full of Hamilton.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. We are re-running Hey There Stranger, Come On Over and Hold My Hand by old friend Mary Hamilton, which we are way excited about, and, (almost) as always, photo action from Adam Lawrence, music curation from Jason Behrends and electoral college 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, novel excerpts, and art, and video, yes, video, and combinations there of. And most finally, Florida, finally, thanks for joining us.

This Book Will Change Your Life - We Know What We Are by Mary Hamilton. And an interview.

We have had the chance to not only read We Know What We Are by Mary Hamilton, but interview her as well at the Orange Alert. The collection itself is filled with blasts of sometimes surreal short fiction that is equal parts obsession, an ode to freaks and outsiders, sadness and celebration of pop culture as a filter for all that bangs around Mary's head. And the interview? Sublime, so please do enjoy the excerpt below.

I know for myself, that much of the time when I'm writing a story I will have some nugget of an idea and as I develop it I will wrap and interweave any number of my compulsions or obsessions into and around the story. Is that what you're describing here as well, or are you more likely to be obsessing about something and soon find yourself wondering what sort of story you might wrap around it?

It's the latter. Like with Egon Schiele, I read that he died of the Spanish flu shortly after his pregnant fiancee died. So that evolved into a story I wrote, not included in the book, about a person being consumed by the flu and then dragonflies while the bar below the apartment is being consumed by fire.

To choose an example from the book, I was obsessed with Goliath and being a giant so I wrote the Bull Shannon Goliath story. I was obsessed with the videos on YouTube about "circus freaks" so I wrote "We Know What We Are." It's almost always obsession first. Like with this new lightning obsession. I read, on Wikipedia of course, about a man who had been hit by lightning seven times and then died when he shot himself over an unrequited love. I mean, holy shit.

Mary Hamilton. We Know What We Are. Rose Metal Press. Nice.

The quite sublime Mary Hamilton, who is known for among other thing as co-host of the QUICKIES! Chicago, contributor to This Zine Will Change Your Life, This Podcast Will Change Your Life podcastee and star of the award winning and viral sensation Fire Sale video, has a new joint, We know what we are, coming soon from the quite stellar Rose Metal Press. We will most definitely riff on We know what we are here at the This Blog Will Change Your Life shortly. There will also be an interview between Mary and TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer at the Orange Alert. But, in the interim, please do pay a visit to Rose Metal Press because it is sure to change your life.

Third Face.

There is new literary happening at the Third Face and there are many TBWCYL, Inc. favorites contributing, including, but not limited to Barry Graham, Peter Schwartz, Mary Hamilton and the Jacob Knabb, three of whom we are proud to say that we have podcasted with and the other of whom we are proud to have interviewed, here, here, here and here respectively. Enjoy. All of it. And Godspeed.

This Podcast Will Change Your Life, Episode Seven - Salsa Music and Smoke. Redux. And Re-Release.

Do you love salsa music? Of course you do. What about smoke? Sometimes, sure. How about the always delightful Mary Hamilton and Lindsay Hunter. Totally. And endlessly. Right? Right, so how about some Episode Seven. There you go.

Fire Sale. Fire Sale. Fire Sale. Fire Sale. Fire Sale. Fire Sale. Fire Sale. Fire Sale. Fire Sale. Fire Sale. Fire Sale. Fire Sale. Fire Sale.

There is Fire Sale. And for more information please do hit the Orange Alert.

Hamilton. Davis. Wilson. The July ml press trifectorate is in the house. Technically, its in the office, but that just doesn't flow right, you know?

Uh-huh. We got new ml press love in the mail and we are quite pleased, or is it sated? Not sure, but its probably not sated, because we are never sated when it comes to reading. Anyway, we have the July trio - so dark in the wolf's maw by kevin wilson, where we go when we leave by craig davis and from the hip by TBWCYL, Inc. favorite mary hamilton - all of which include references to knives among other things and, like their predecessors in this fine series, are short on dialogue and long on mood, vibe and tone. Very Tylerian in other words and good stuff all-around for sure. We would add, that if you just cannot get enough Hamilton, and who can, we ran a fine inauguration-centric piece of hers in This Zine Will Change Your Life, which like the work of ml press just might change your life.

I am Richard Simmons. And we are quite proud to announce it. Well that, what's up at the kick-ass ml press and how all this just might be related.

We should probably add here that we are quite thrilled that our short story "I am Richard Simmons" will be published as part of the new slew of ml press chapbooks. This is a fantastic series and we are way geeked to be included with such a stellar group of writers including TBWYL, Inc. favorites Mark Baumer, Mary Hamilton, the Amy Guth, and many others. Further, and yes, there's more, for $36 American dollars, you can get all 18 volumes to be released, plus ml press' first perfect-bound novella by none other than Molly Gaudry. Coolness, yes? Totally. So, many thanks to ml press and the endlessly cool J.A. Tyler for the interest in this piece and as for the rest of you, please go place your order now, yes, right now, go, great, and thank you as well.

Fiction at Work, not to mention a 55-word dollop of Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine hype and YouTube video love at the QUICKIES! Chicago.

It's true, way back on a balmy October night TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer was invited to a QUICKIES! Chicago fundraiser and presented with the seemingly insurmountable challenge of reading a piece of no longer than 55 words. He not only embraced this challenge, but embraced his contractual obligation to hype Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine at any all times and the result has now been published in the new issue of Fiction at Work along with the work of many fine local writers including but not limited to This Blog Will Change Your Life favorites Mary Hamilton, Spencer Dew and the Amy Guth. Feel free to take a look, and if you are so inclined and/or have hankering for some visual stimulation, please feel free to watch the below video of Ben reading the piece live as well. We would argue that it is beyond scintillating, but you of course can be the judge of that yourself.

Orange Alert has a new home and if we may be so bold its quite lovely. What's also lovely is this recent interview with Mary Hamilton.

It's true, so totally true, Orange Alert has a new home, which you should so check-out. It will have all of the old Orange Alert awesomeness of course, but also a consignment shop, face painting and all sorts of crazy awesome new stuff. And speaking of the old Orange Alert awesomeness, we were quite pleased to see a recent interview on the site with TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Mary Hamilton, co-doyenne of the QUICKIES! reading series, who has not only podcasted with us (along with QUICKES! co-host Lindsay Hunter), but who also penned our quite rocking inaugeration day joint over at This Zine Will Change Your Life. Nice, huh? Way.

Check this out - the December Orange Alert Reading is this coming Monday, December 15th and the line-up is like outrageously killer. Damn.

So, like need we say more? We think not. And we will see you there, yes? Good.

The special election issue of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live and Baracking the vote. Or something like that.

The special election issue of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live and Baracking the vote. Or something like that. Anyways, we have a new story Hey there stranger, come on over and hold by hand by Chicago's own Mary Hamilton, which we are way excited about, and, as always, photos from Adam Lawrence, a music selection from Jason Behrends, and change is coming prose love from Pete Anderson. We hope you enjoy this edition, we hope you will submit and we appreciate all shout-outs and links. We also hope you get out and vote. For real.

Watch us as we try to hype Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine in 55 words at the QUICKIES! Chicago fundraiser. For real.

If you were wondering what it might look like if TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer were to try and hype "Go Your Way..." in a mere 55 words at the QUICKIES! Chicago fundraiser Tuesday night you now have your chance. Enjoy.

We might as well face it, we are addicted to QUICKIES!

It's true, one week from tonight we will be returning to QUICKIES! Chicago the for their 55 word quickfire bonanza. Won't you come as well? Please? Come on. Cool.

So not quick, or how not to rock QUICKIES! Chicago.

We so didn't rock the QUICKIES! Chicago last night. We really wanted to and when we read "Daddie Dreariest" during lunch yesterday it only seemed to take about five minutes, the time limit for all QUICKIES! readers. Apparently though we horribly miscalculated because with one page still to go we were viciously whistled off of the stage by our otherwise awesome QUICKIES! co-hosts Mary Hamilton and Lindsay Hunter. While it was quite embarrassing to say the least, we persevered with the support and love of a number of friends populating the reading, including but not limited to Nick Ostdick, who read his excellent THE2NDHAND horoscope piece, Horoscope for the Morning After, Amy Guth, Spencer Dew and Jill Summers. Having recovered we went on to record the latest episode of This Podcast Will Change Your Life, Salsa Music and Smoke, with Mary and Lindsay, who way rocked it to say the least. And then late night we hit the Beachwood with La Guth and Dr. Ostdick to talk Lucky Man with new best friend Kelly, a.k.a Salsa Switchblade, who stumbled onto a copy of the book there and had some questions. Overall, it was quite a good night, right? Way right.