Looking back, Jason shares the ever-present doubt of making it last: "There's been a pretty serious question over whether the center was going to survive at all, and even with its successes I've mostly had to wade these four years through an endless series of people wanting to tell me all the ways CCLaP was bound to fail. And that's what makes it so nice professionally as well, because the center is a literal working example, something people can literally point to, when wanting to argue, "Look, here's a person who started literally only with a donated website and $30 in business cards, and he's now published six original books that have been collectively downloaded several thousand times, and has interviewed Pulitzer nominees, and has been featured on Boing Boing twice, and once so rattled a mainstream publisher that they changed the very way they do business."
"You don't have to start with a lot of money or connections to make a big splash; that's something that I and others have been arguing for years, but it's really nice now with CCLaP to have something to literally point to and say, "And this proves it in indisputable black-and-white terms!"
"It was my sophomore year of high school before I received a telephone call from a girl. Her name was Ellen Bonner and she sat across from me in our beginning typing class. I used to tease her about anything that I could think of—the way she styled her hair, the shape of her nose, the width of the stripes on her corduroys, the flowers on her blouse, the way that she spelled her last name, which was almost funny. Of course, I only did this to Ellen Bonner because I really liked her."
"Ok, so I know I am totally cheating here, but there was no way I was going to pick between these two. They are equally awesome and deserving of your attention and here is why – Both are incredible short story collections that hold a mirror up to the strange, secretive lives we human beings live. Both have a strong, unifying theme that weaves its way through their respective stories. And both were written by authors that I am honored to have gotten to know through their work."
"Filled with a lifetime worth of drug use, sex, partying, and havoc-wreaking, Sophomoric Philosophy is going to speak loudest to those of us who have reluctantly given up our 20's and firmly refuse to stare our rapidly approaching 40's in the eye. Giron is not afraid to make his narrator look like an asshole, openly admits his fear of making the first move on the fairer sex, and dispels the whole opposite-sex-being-friends myth by exposing it for what it really is."
"It is a book reading. The intern is there. She isn't really your intern any more, hasn't been, but she will always be the intern to you. She was the first. She is your favorite. She was so young then, awkward, terrific. You were protective of her. Paternal. Careful too. Always appropriate. Had to be. Others would come and go. Many were fantastic, smart, and only one turned out to be a stalker of sorts. But she is the reference point, always will be, like your first girlfriend or first born."
So nice to stumble into the Ten Authors Who Deserve More Recognition list at the always wonderful and supportive TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog and see TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer coming in at number three and keeping company with among others the Joshua Mohr and Michael Kimball both TBWCYL, Inc. favorites and authors we are big fans of. We were also taken with the fact that we didn't recognize everyone on the list, hence the recognition thing, which us got thinking, that we can, should, need to read more, learn more and support more writers everywhere, and maybe, maybe we can encourage you to as well, because it just might change your life, and it will very likely change theirs.
"This guy right here is one of the most active, interactive authors out there right now. He runs a blog, online 'zine, podcast page, guest posts, tweets, raises his kids, and runs...! Phew! How does he manage to write as much as he does with a schedule like that? In novels like You Can Make Him Like You and Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine, Tanzer rips open the heads and hearts of his male characters so you can see what's really going on in there. His novels also have this comfortable retro-90's feel to them, which I adore."
"Set during the Obama/McCain election, Tanzer allows much more of his own personality to shine through as he sites lyrics from some kick ass contemporary rock bands and laces up his main characters shoes as he forces him to hit the pavement. This is what an "adult" coming of age story would look like, if there ever was such a thing. A big, long, sloppy, wet kiss goodbye to what they used to know, and a timid and frightening hello to unknown, and sometimes unbelievable, new territory."
So, the fine folks at TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog have a great new feature called Tell Me a Story where they are inviting writers to write them a previously unpublished story. First up, is TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Joshua Mohr, and there are rumors, that TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer just might be making an appearance as well. We'll see, but for now, some excerpt.
"Between these questions, though, I have to entertain myself. I’ve been watching eighteen, nineteen hours of TV a day, which it turns out is a good thing because it’s where I see it: where I see baseball players celebrating, pouring champagne over one another’s heads, guzzling the stuff, spanking the asses of every teammate within an arm’s length. I’m no baseball fan, didn’t even know the World Series was happening right now. I mean, how am I supposed to worship millionaires with low IQs who adjust their cocks and spit brown piles of tobacco in the grass that look like smashed tarantulas?"
Lori and her crew at TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog have been terrifically supportive of our work, and it has always been appreciated. This support continues with 99 Problems, and what can we say, many, many thanks.
"His writing is lovely. The words run across the page, smooth and effortless. They flow together so naturally. His transitions almost hypnotize you... Look at my words. You are getting sleepy, You want to put on a pair of running shoes. You want to go for a run outside, You want to run like the wind."
Okay, so the new joint is coming soon. It is a collection of essays on running and writing from the CCLaP titled 99 Problems, and it will be released as Repetition Patterns was before it, e-book Radiohead-style pay what you want. Much hype is sure to come, from us anyway, but in a bout of early hypeness we were quite appreciative to see our good friends at TNBCC's The Next Best Book Blog riffing on their experience proofreading the ms, and so in the most meta narcissistic fashion we can think of, we thought we would hype their riff hyping the collection, a celebration of sorts of us, them and the work to come. Did you follow that? And did we say we were most appreciative? Good.
Following their quite fine, and most appreciated, review of Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine, the quite fine and endlessly cool team behind TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog asked if TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer if he might be willing to talk dating in a guest post on the blog. Apparently, the fact that Ben knows near nothing about dating wasn't an issue for them, or Ben, and so we invite you to take a look at the post and enjoy the below excerpt. We also want to thank TNBBC for their ongoing support, we're not sure if its changing their lives, but it is most definitely changing ours.
"I have barely dated as an adult and whatever I was doing before getting where I am now, fourteen years and two little children into a marriage with someone I met as a teenager, probably had less to do with dating acumen, than meeting someone, or someone’s, sometimes sober, sometimes not, and getting as much action as possible, all the while trying to both hold on until things terribly imploded, and futilely avoid the inevitable tears and anguish, usually mine, though also those of whoever's mother I was refusing to let go of and borderline stalk, though back then we called it courting."
Big thanks to Lori Hettler and her crew at TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog for their quite kinds words about Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine. They have been wonderful supporters of our work and we couldn't be more appreciative. Rock on Lori and drinks on us for sure when next we meet. In the interim, some excerpt.
"If you have ever wanted a front row seat to both sides of a dysfunctional romantic relationship, you cannot afford to pass up this book."
The always lovely Lori Hettler and her team at TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog are giving away a signed copy of Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine. The copy they are giving away was purchased by the also lovely P.H. Madore and his crew at Dispatch Litareview who bought a number of copies for this very purpose, hype the book, hype the Litareview, spread joy, change lives. TNBBC's giveaway runs through May 1st and the details are thus:
"If you want a shot at winning this signed copy of "Most Likely...", summon up your worst dating story and email it to me at mescorn@ptd.net. Be sure to mark the subject of the email as "Most Likely Worst Dating Story". I will chose the best story and post it, along with the winners name, here on May 1st. So dig deep, the more embarrassing, the more painful, the better....and good luck!"
So, yes, dig deep, have fun good luck and many thanks to both TNBBC and Dispatch Litareview.
We were most happy to see the fine crew at TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog reviewing TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Collin Kelley's terrific novel Conquering Venus. If you are interested in listening to our podcast with Collin you may do so here and if you are interested in some excerpt from the review all you have to do is look below. There you go.
"Overall, an intense look at a world of which I was not overly familiar with. While I don't have much experience with Gay Lit, I do have a TON of experience with reading in general, and Kelley can certainly hold his own with the best of them."
Many thanks to Lori Hettler and TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog for their interview with TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer. This is the same outfit that recently had some quite kind words for Repetition Patterns and we are happy to say that they are now our best friends in the whole world. We are also happy to say that when Ben isn't reflecting on his faux-awesomeness much name-dropping ensues, so please feel free to take a look and if you need a little teaser please feel free to take a look at the excerpt below.
How would you describe your online blog and 'zine?
"They are related and yet not. The blog was created because I thought I needed a platform for hustling my books and I wanted to create a vibe like the monorail episode of The Simpsons. In that episode which is based on the Music Man this guy convinces the citizens Springfield that they need a monorail because it will not just make their lives better it will make the whole world a beautiful place. Of course they don't need one and it won't make their lives better. Building on this I decided to create a blog that would be like a faux corporate blog where my books were products that changed people's lives, sometimes for the better.
I also thought though that I should use the blog to brand myself, thinking that some people might be drawn to how I see the world and what I like to riff on and this might make them more drawn to the things I am working on. So, I endlessly hype myself, but I also hype all the things I like and celebrate which in my fantasy world becomes intertwined into this brand. As I created this platform, I also thought though why just hype what I like, this has to be fun as possible for me as well, so why not use it to pursue other interests that further build the brand, but also support those I want to support.
The zine then grows out of this desire. It represents things I feel compulsive about, writers, street art, music; it supports or exposes the work we highlight to a wider audience and it extends my brand, and my completely fake goal of presenting that which I like most, including myself, as a lifestyle choice a la, Martha Stewart, Oprah or Tony Hawk."
We are quite thrilled to have received a most kind review for Repetition Patterns from our new best friends ever at TNBBC's The Next Best Book Blog. Many thanks to the staff there, please do pay them a visit and for a brief excerpt of the review feel free to take a look below.
"Early on, I started to recognize patterns - the movies the characters watched, the names of places the characters saw or visited, the raw sexual undertones that ravaged their town and their lives. I also became aware of a natural evolution of maturity and security, and of accepting things for what they are, without resigning yourself to them. It's these patterns, these repetitive moments, that make Ben's book work."
More CCLaP. More Fourth Anniversary celebrationess. More intersection. More Pettus. More excerpt. Just more. And yes, you might even argue that Interview Sundays are back.
