This Podcast Will Change Your Life, Episode One Hundred and Five - The Most Powerful Force In The Universe, starring the Hosho McCreesh.

So totally McCreesh we are. And so totally powerful it is. There is also podcast, not to mention drinking, poetry, New Mexico sunsets, and love, so much love. So do hit it, it just might change your life as it has ours. 

There is Hair Lit, Vol. One cover. All boss and beautiful.

Hair Lit. Is happening.

And it is happiness.

Orange Alert. Writer on Writer. Hyatt. Tanzer. Wonderbar.

It's true, we are hitting that. That being the Orange Alert. The Hyatt. And the Writer on Writer interview thing. So please do hit that as well, and enjoy some excerpt, it does a heart good.

Please tell us five things we need to know about Michigan if we are to truly grasp the goodness that is Birch Hills @ World's End. Also, please note that you are under no obligation to reference Kid Rock or the Fab Five. Really.

In terms of what you should know about the state, well, it has its rough edges and sometimes gets called “Canada’s Alabama,” but it’s a much prettier and more vibrant place than most folks realize. Distance there is measured in driving time. For example, things are 20 minutes away, or an hour north, and so on. Growing up, I assumed every adult knew how to drive and everyone over seven knew how to swim. The fact that this isn’t true for the entire country still messes with me, because two fundamentals of being alive in Michigan are water and cars. The state is home to Vernor's Ginger Ale, called a "regional thing of beauty and unending quality" by Eve Babitz. What else? Alice Cooper and Ted Nugent still get regular rotation on the radio there.That’s five things, I think.

We are having an Orange Alert book review moment. Part II.

More here. And here. Really.

We are having an Orange Alert book review moment. Part I.

More here. Or here. Really.

"Shocked and embarrassed" That, and "Great." You Can Make Him Like You gets Chicago Subtext'd. And likes it. A lot.

Much love to TBWCYL, Inc. favorite and overlord of all things Orange Alert Jason Behrends for the much appreciated review of You Can Make Him Like You he has posted to Chicago Subtext and Goodreads. Coffee on us for sure when next we meet and excerpt for everyone else. Also, and we are speaking to those of you who qualify as "everyone else," we have a request - if you are digging the You Can Make Him Like You, and we hope you are, please do consider posting a shout-out to Goodreads, Amazon and anywhere else shout-outs are sold, because that too will be much appreciated.

"Essentially, Tanzer is exposing the secret inner thoughts of a man as he tries to adopt, grow, move at a reasonable pace through life. At times you relate, and at others you are shocked and embarrassed. This is a honest look at the process every father goes through on some level. It shows the importance of friends, family, and even a good life soundtrack."

We are The Watch List. Hear us roar.

Big thanks to Jason Behrends and the crew at Orange Alert for including our story "Smiling to Himself" on The Watch List. We are most proud, and especially excited to be included on any list with a band called Dad Rocks!

All hail the Curbside Splendor. And all day at that.

You ever feel like you're having a Curbside Splendor kind of week? Us too. So we're going to do a day of Curbside Splendoring starting with our Writer on Writer interview at Orange Alert with Curbside Splendor founder, This Podcast Will Change Your Life podcastee and daddy-cool author of Sophomoric Philosophy Victor David Giron. Please check it out. Please enjoy some excerpt. And more to come. Much, much more.

Only somewhat switching gears, I know you published Sophomoric Philosophy through your publishing arm Curbside Splendor and I was wondering what you want us to know about Curbside Splendor, well, you know besides that fact that all authors you publish get free drinks and manicures at Beauty Bar for life?

Well, sure, but only Curbside authors that write nice reviews and publish an interview with me get free drinks and manicures, just to clarify. Curbside Splendor was the name of a band that me and my friend Brian talked about starting when I was at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I could never play an instrument so the dream quickly went up in smoke. However, the name stuck with me. When I thinking of how to publish my book, I decided to start a small press when I learned one could do such a thing and I immediately thought of calling it CS. In the process of working with the editor, the designer, my friend Gabriel Hurier who did the artwork, I really dug the whole publishing process. So now we publish short stories and poetry online, and will also in print starting with our first semi-annual print journal coming out in March. We’ll also publish more books. Our focus is urban-themed work, but we publish other stuff. In fact we’re publishing a chap book of poems by Chicago native Charles Bane Jr. this May. He’s retired, now lives in Florida, writes these fleeting romance poems and though it’s something I never thought I’d want to publish, I quite literally fell in love reading his work. I also co-host with my friends Amy & Becca of Two With Water a bi-monthly reading series at Beauty Bar Chicago that is getting better and better. I’m in the process of organizing more a literary-friendly events at the Beauty Bar that will be quite killer, and I’m now selling books and journals by local presses and authors at the Logan Square Farmer’s market here in Chicago. To my pleasant surprise, I’ve just now discovered all the great lit-stuff going on here these days. Do I have a prior time period to compare against? No. But, it’s fun, now, and I guess for me that’s what matters and I’m eager to support it.

We are The Watch List. Hear us roar.

More accurately, "Taking Flight" is The Watch List, and we are most geeked, big thanks Orange Alert.

"Cool, Not Removed" is The Watch List. Wonderbar.

It's true. "Cool, Not Removed," is The Watch List and we are most happiness. We are also most appreciative. Big thanks to Jason and the crew at Orange Alert.

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.

A double-dose of Joseph G. Peterson.

As we slowly emerge from our foray off of the grid and into the wilds of Wisconsin, we are quite pleased to see a double-dose of TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Joseph G. Peterson at the Orange Alert this past week, one, a fine review of the repetitiously noirish Beautiful Piece, a book we very much like, as well as, a starring role on this week's Orange Alert Podcast. Quite good stuff all-around, and quite Chicago, which couldn't make us happier now that we're home.

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.

Schwartz PANK Monsters awesomeness.

We suggest you hit the PANK if you would like to see a quite awesome dissection of TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Peter Schwartz's most excellent chapbook Old Men, Girls and Monsters. We would add, that TBWCYL. Inc. spokersperson Ben Tanzer recently had the chance to interview Peter at the Orange Alert and we think it is quite sublime.

A Fire Sale moment courtesy of Super Mario World.

Writer on Writer love. Peter Schwartz, Monsters and The RZA.

This is turning into a very fine week indeed and today we are happy to let you know about an interview between TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer and the kick-ass poet Peter Schwartz that is now up at the Orange Alert. This interview was timed to come out in conjunction with his terrific new chapbook Old Men, Girls, and Monsters from the always stellar Achilles Chapbook Series. This is a most excellent collection and while we do not want to pre-empt your reading pleasure we have posted some excerpts below regarding our take on the collection, as well as, some brief repartee between us and the Schwartz.

On Old Men, Girls, and Monsters:

"Like Peter himself [Old Men, Girls, and Monsters is] wonderful and heavy, in love with words and endlessly searching to make better sense of confinement and loss and their impact on his life."

And now for some interview:

BT: If you would please tell me what it means to live "a very simple life, caveman-style, if you will?”

PS: Well, I seldom leave my house. If I do it's to go to the library, buy food, or have fumbling sex with the next woman I can charm off Craig's List. Safe to say, most practitioners of modern psychology would probably label me something like a shut-in, but I sure don't feel that way. I write poems and stories and make art and do interviews. All from my little chair. I also explore the vast possibilities of the Internet and when I'm done I'm sure I'll move on to the next thing.

Fictionaut Five. Gina Frangello. Fire Sale.

We were most thrilled to run into a Fictionaut Five with the quite awesome Gina Frangello and we think you might be too. Do you know what else we're thrilled about? The Fire Sale.

Greg Santos. Rocks. As does the Fire Sale, had we mentioned that?

We were most happy to read this most excellent interview with TBWCYL, Inc. favorite and This Zine Will Change Your Life contributor Greg Santos at the Orange Alert. We think after you read it you will be happy as well. We also think it just might change your life. Meanwhile, speaking of changing lives, we also wanted to be sure that you were aware of the Fire Sale, because its on, like totally on, and sort of beautiful really.

A double-dose of Michael A. Fitzgerald and Radiant Days from the fine crew at Baby Got Books.

Not unlike our terribly fanboy reaction and blog post earlier this week about our excitement over learning about an interview with TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Shannon Burke in The National, today we find ourselves way geeked to see a double-dose of Michael A. FitzGerald over at the always fine Baby Got Books. In fact, you get not only a typically terrific review of Radiant Days, but a bonus interview as well. Not bad, right? No, not at all. Meanwhile, if you find yourself craving an additional dose of FitzGerald, and why wouldn't you be, feel free to check out TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer's tag-term interview with Michael and William Walsh over at the Orange Alert as well. There you go. Nice.