"Daring and impressive." My Father's House gets Outsider Writers Collective'd. And likes it. A lot.

So quite appreciative of the very kind words for My Father's House by good, and now maybe best, friend, ever, Caleb J. Ross at the Outsider Writers Collective. Drinks on us for sure, many drinks if that's your thing, when next we meet.

"Ben Tanzer, in his sixth book, takes the inherent heartache associated with a cancer struggle and redirects the focus from the sick (a father) to the coping (the son). In this seemingly simple but extremely important reversal Tanzer has crafted a book that simultaneously represents a perfect extension of his own canon while tapping into a previously unexplored sense of extended vulnerability."

"Definitely the best thing I’ve read by Ben Tanzer." You Can Make Him Like You gets Outside Writers Collective'd. And likes it. A lot.

Big Andre the Giant hugs to Caleb J. Ross, yes he's all over the blog this week, for his really humbling review of You Can Make Him Like You over at the Outsider Writers Collective and Press. Drinks on us, and yes, massive hugs, when next we meet.

"This is one of the best, if not the best, depictions of the transition from empty childlessness to fatherhood I’ve ever had the opportunity to experience. Tanzer has succeeded in imbuing every interaction, every situation, every political pot-shot with the metaphorical acceptance of fatherhood. The point being, simply, that to be a father means to be changed, whether you want to or not."

Bosworth. Reynolds. Figure skating. Outsider Writers Collective. Wowness.

We can get crazy happy when we see even one TBWCYL, Inc. favorite being interviewed or conducting one, so imagine the crazy excitement channeling through our very core today as we read an interview with the Ryan W. Bradley by the Mel Bosworth at the Outsider Writers Collective and Press. Wowness. Indeed.

MB: Let’s talk about this thing we call writing, Ryan W. Bradley the non-figure skater, although if figure skating were part of your repertoire that would be rad and I might demand pictures. I still might demand pictures of you working really hard at crappy jobs because that’s even harder than figure skating and speaks volumes about character. Are you a character, Ryan W. Bradley? And why writing? Goddamn. What is it exactly about this thing we call writing? Why, Ryan W. Bradley? Tell me why!

RB: I can certainly pull off at least a photo of me working at one or two crappy jobs. Me in figure skating outfits is something I’m not about to reveal, even fictitiously. I don’t know that I’m a character. That’s the kind of thing I feel Humphrey Bogart might accuse some bit player of in a old school crime drama, and I’d much rather be Bogart.

As for your more pertinent question: many writers, of much higher intelligence than myself have tried to explain the compulsion to write. And it is a compulsion. But beyond that I can’t explain why. I can, however, explain how. I came to writing through injury. I always loved reading, but hated writing. I was more into sports. And acting. But when I suffered a severe back injury in high school I found myself in a lot of physical pain without any of the outlets I normally took advantage of. That is when I began writing. I was lucky to recover from the injury, but my addled brain has yet to recover from the writing compulsion I developed.

These Books Will Change Your Life - One Damn Thing After Another by Tim Hall and How To Take Yourself Apart How To Make Yourself Anew by Aaron Burch.

We are travel. We are read. And we are small press love. First up, One Damn Thing After Another by Tim Hall and released by Outsider Writers Collective and Press. We know the Tim Hall and while the Tim Hall is a funny dude, the pieces in this collection reflect just how well he does humor. It also reflects something that is as Hallian as anything. Tim Hall is indie, and few people capture and dissect the indie scene and scenesters like him. We would add, that the opening piece in the collection Further Notes on the Impossibility of Everything first appeared in This Zine Will Change Your Life and this of course we find most cool. And second, How To Take Yourself Apart How To Make Yourself Anew by Aaron Burch and released by PANK. This beautiful looking and head-jangling collection is about myth, the creation of myths, the myths of the father and what we think we've learned from both even if what we've learned is myth as well. Quite fine stuff all-around from both of these guys and more to come later in the week. For real.

Yet another inadvertent riff touching on intersections among This Zine Will Change Your Life, the Outsiders Writers Collective and/or those we love.

Long-time BFF and TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Tim Hall has a new story collection titled One Damn Thing After Another being released by the Outsider Writers Collective and Press and it is now available for pre-order. Which is cool. You know what else is cool, besides you of course. We hear that Tim's most excellent story Further Notes on the Impossibility of Everything which originally ran in This Zine Will Change Your Life may actually be included in the collection. Crazy, right? Totally.

"You are going to love this book." Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine gets Outsider Writers'd. And likes it. A lot.

Big thanks to TBWCL, Inc. favorite Caleb J. Ross and the crew at the Outsider Writers Collective and Press for their very kind and most erudite words about Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine. We also want to apologize for the quasi-misleading quote in the above title, but we do believe that the following excerpt will clear up any potential misunderstandings.

"Attention Kevin Smith fans (and strangely, Gilmore Girls fans): you are going to love this book. Though Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine arcs as a novel, it is written as a series of dialog-heavy exchanges of wit between characters that define themselves by a pop culture context. Knots Landing vs. Dallas is their war. The gospel of Star Wars is their religious creed. What is perhaps most interesting and impressive with this, Ben Tanzer’s second novel...is just how much the author relies on dialog and pop culture to describe the characters. Physical description is sparing, and despite the implications there, the novel is quick and engaging."