New joint. Answers. At THE2NDHAND.

Very geeked we are. And big thanks to the  THE2NDHAND crew for that. Excerpt? Cool.

"He knows.

It doesn’t matter that he’s little, and doesn’t seem to know anything.

He knows she’s different, that her family is different, different than us certainly, and just different, period.

She is the queen of the playground, with her long hair blowing in the wind and her flip-flops scattered among the detritus as she walks barefoot along the top of the monkey bars.

He is mesmerized, you are mesmerized. She is a vision, and she is nothing like him. She is fearless and free to be whatever it is she wants to be.

You wonder if her awesomeness has something to do with the fact that she has two dads, but you do not know. You don’t even know what you don’t know.

What you do know is that the dad who doesn’t stay at home tends to be in the playground at night like you when the workday is over. And that he smiles a lot.

What you also know is that your kid thinks he knows something about some part of this, and he wants, even needs, answers about all of it.

So he asks."

Richard Thomas. Lit Reactor. Just Say No. And shout-outedness. Part One.

We want to offer our big thanks to the terrific writer, and friend, Richard Thomas for both the shout-out, and "Just Say No" linkedness, in his recent Storyville piece on "Promotion" at Lit REACTOR. Drinks on us brother, soon, and for sure.

We are INSTAFICTION.org. And we are having a day. Part Two.

We definitely think we are having a day and we are most definitely quite digging it. "The Gift," also of THE2NDHAND fame, as well as, the Repetition Patterns, got quite nicely highlighted today at the INSTAFICTION. Most sweet that and much appreciated.   

We are Orange Alert Podcast. And we are having a day. Part One.

It is true. The inestimable crew from Orange Alert most appreciatively captured TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer reading "Just Say No" at the AWP Kick-off party. Do enjoy and please do note that "Just Say No" originally appeared in THE2NDHAND and can now also be found in This American Life.  

This American Life is happening now.

Like totally happening. And we are most geeked to be joining the stellar line-up of Achilles Chapbook Press releases. This American Life is a collection of humor essays published over the last five years in a variety of publications including decomP, THE2NDHAND, Opium.net, Curbside Splendor and Knee-Jerk. Please do take a look, please spread the word and if you have a moment please consider adding it to Goodreads and letting us know what you think. Cool? Nice.    

Ostdick. THE2NDHAND. Word.

There is new Ostdick in THE2NDHAND. There is boy. A father. Ghosts. And pain. Check it out. It just might change your life. For reals.

"Begin with a ghost. Dim the bulbs in your small rented cabin until the moonlight beams bluish shadows down over everything. Sit on the arm of the foldout sofa where your five-year-old son sleeps — weekend visitations only, as your ex-wife stipulated, and once in a while on Wednesdays when she has date-night with her new beau, a lounge singer named Tony. Then, lean close and whisper that his mother’s house, the one he lives in now, is haunted, terribly so."

A most sweet YMTE 8x8 Podcast edition live reading and performance thing.

Most enjoyed this, a live reading, or dare we say, performance, of Daddy Dreariest, a piece originally run in THE2NDHAND and soon to be appearing in This American Life, as part of the most awesome Podcast edition of the most awesome YMTE 8x8 show. Much fun indeed, big thanks to the whole YMTE crew, and way geeked in general to not only be in the company of so many fine comedians, but more specifically the quite killer Wood Sugars. More on them soon. For sure.

We are Fab 5. Sweetness.

Quite geeked we are to be included, along with the Suzanne Burns, in the new edition of the DOGZPLOT Fab 5 series, where authors are invited to share the five pieces of their work they wish could get a little more attention. We chose to focus on pieces that ran in Thieves Jargon, decomP, RAGAD, THE2NDHAND and Dogzplot itself, and we are most appreciative for the chance to do so. Big thanks Dogzplot, drinks, and dogs, on us, when next we meet.

KICKSTARTER action. THE2NDHAND. And El Vocho.

There are two KICKSTARTER campaigns happening right now that we are most excited about and want to let you know about as well.

The first is by the always sublime THE2NDHAND, a long-time supporter of TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer's work, and their efforts to fund a massively awesome literary celebration of THE2NDHAND's now ten plus years of publishing.



And the second is by long-time TBWCYL, Inc. favorite and This Zine Will Change Your Life contributor Steve Lafler and his efforts to fund the balance of shipping and printing costs for his terrific new graphic novel El Vocho.



We hope you will take a look at both of these campaigns and consider offering them your support, it may or may not change your life, but it will certainly make the lives of these artists that much easier.

This Podcast Will Change Your Life, Special Edition - So You Think You Have Nerves of Steel?

Are you sitting? Good. Because we have a special edition of This Podcast Will Change Your Life featuring TBWCL, Inc.'s Ben Tanzer appearing live at the re-launch of THE2NDHAND's So You Think You Have Nerves of Steel? and not only interviewing the ever-stimulating Harold Ray, but reading "Just Say No" which ran in THE2NDHAND, and was originally written as a tribute to the super-fly Lindsay Hunter, but was retro-fitted for this show and newly dedicated to the super-something Christine O'Donnell. We should add here, that we greatly appreciate the chance to participate in the show, we hope you enjoy it and per our legal team we feel obligated to stress the endless and bountiful levels of impropriety captured there-in.

So hit it.

Ray. Venkataramanujam. Wetherbee. Duva. Knaub. Rok. Whipsmill. And Tanzer? So You Think You Have Nerves Of Steel? Maybe?

Yeah, the 5th, next Tuesday, one week from now, So You Think You Have Nerves of Steel? at Hungry Brain. Can you dig it?

There is new piece - Just Say No at THE2NDHAND.

Quite pleased we are to let you know that a new piece of ours, Just Say No, is now up at the always awesome THE2NDHAND. This piece was originally written for the most recent QUICKIES! fundraiser and is an homage to the writing of the always lovely QUICKIES! co-host Lindsay Hunter. We would add that Just Say No is not necessarily appropriate for family consumption and so our ability to provide an excerpt is limited, but here you go. Enjoy.

"Hey everybody, my name is Ben and I want to totally welcome you back for the new school year and our first meeting of the Vestal High School Circle of the Purity Ring and Just Say No to Pre-marital Sex Club.

Before we get started, a few housekeeping items.

First, a big purity ring thank you and moment of silent non-sexual appreciation for the Jonas Brothers and Taylor Swift, who are helping us keep it real, and cool, to just say no despite the best efforts of that pole-dancing Miley Cyrus."

Jesus Walks at THE2NDHAND.

We are quite pleased to announce that not only have we found Jesus here at TBWCYL, Inc. headquarters, but THE2NDHAND has very generously offered to publish our latest piece Jesus Walks, the practically true life account of this most life-changing of experiences. Please note, that per company policy, and not unlike our recent story Ira Glass Wants to Hit Me, none of the players' names in this piece have been changed to protect the innocent. That's just how we roll.

The Fixx. The2NDHAND. The love. And the madness.

Competing readings. Writers we love. And all tomorrow night. It's literary madness.

First, we have The Fixx Reading Series which stars among others the bard-like Nick Ostdick. Which is not bad, right? No, not at all. And second, THE2NDHAND is at Ronny's where the quite awesome Jill Summers is previewing her new shadow show HOTEL with Susie Kirkwood. And no we're not sure exactly what a shadow show is, but we promise to find out. No really, we will, because Jill and TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer are recording a podcast on Friday and he plans to ask.

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.

We're just saying that...

We know that what we are about to write is sort of maybe grandiose and even base. And we're not making any specific kind of accusation here, or even trying to insinuate anything. But there we were reading the current issue of the The New Yorker when we came across this humor piece titled Bad Dog by Larry Doyle in the Shouts and Murmurs section. As we read it, it frankly seemed kind of familiar to us. In fact, it reminded of us a humor piece that TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer published in THE2NDHAND some time ago. That piece was titled Daddy Dreariest, and while again, we're not trying to imply that we think, you know, that this is anything more than the most random of coincidences, we're just saying that...well, we're just kind of wondering what you think.