"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."

Short Story Month 2011. Or, how it is that Caleb J. Ross and Jim Ruland came to punch us in the gut.

It is so Short Story Month and that is a wonderful thing indeed. It also comes with a modicum of pain and dread, and this too is a wonderful thing. All of which is to say it got us thinking about short stories that have punched us in the gut, which us got us thinking about the stories "An Optimist is the Human Personification of Spring" and "Brains for Bengo" by Caleb J. Ross and Jim Ruland respectively, which also led us to penning a joint for the Matt Bell led Short Story Month lovefest on his website, which we hope you will take a look at, though if we had to choose what you might look at with your limited time, we encourage you to take a look at these stories in particular, because they are sure to change your life, if only briefly at that.

A This Podcast Will Change Your Life Special Edition, Episode Thirty-Seven - Stranger Will.

Excited we are to support TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Caleb J. Ross on the Stranger Will Tour for Strange by hosting today's tour stop with this new special edition episode of This Podcast Will Change Your Life. We are also happy to report that this is our first edition done via the Skype, and while the first couple of exchanges are a little more "tinny" than we are accustomed to, this distraction quickly passes as Caleb's strange brilliance, eloquence and fine looks quickly rise to the fore. So, please do take a listen, please do visit other stops on the tour and most definitely obtain a copy of the book as recently did, and more on that soon, because it will for sure change your life. And strangely at that.

"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."

Impress Me With Your Live Skills, Author. Velvet Podcast Episode 14 goodness.

Quite thrilled we were, and are, to have participated in the ongoing goodness that is the Velvet Podcast, in this case Episode 14, Impress Me With Your Live Skills, Author, where TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer got to talk live readings with the stellar crew of Caleb J. Ross, Brandon Teitz, Nik Korpon and the Ryan W. Bradley. Big thanks to Caleb, and yes we are quite Caleb this week, feels good, for organizing this and now we encourage you to go enjoy some Velvet Podcast action, who knows it just might change your life. A lot.

Quite digging this Caleb J. Ross You Can Make Him Like You twitpic magic.

Big thanks to TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Caleb J. Ross for the You Can Make Him Like You twitpic magic.

"Quick, punchy, and relateable (admit it) enough to be scary." Cool, Not Removed gets Caleb J. Ross'd. And likes it. A lot.

Big thanks to TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Caleb J. Ross for his kind words on "Cool, Not Removed" at the Goodreads. Drinks on us for sure when next we meet.

"The narrator, removed, keeps the tension throughout this story. He's talking about his friend, but it's really he who feels trapped between doors. Quick, punchy, and relateable (admit it) enough to be scary."

We are so The Velvet Podcast.

It's true we are quite The Velvet Podcast today, and yes, its true, we are hoping to land a coveted podcastee role on the show, but does that mean you shouldn't be listening as well, all the time, with the possibility that doing so just may change your life? It does not, so go, go now, and if you just happen to run into TBWCYL, Inc. favorite and Velvet Podcast host Caleb J. Ross along the way please do mention that we sent you. Thanks.

Quite digging this.

Big thanks to the Caleb J. Ross.

This Podcast Will Change Your Life, Episode Thirty - High Fidelity.

Hey there Caleb J. Ross, did you see it coming, were you waiting breathlessly for the new edition of This Podcast Will Change Your Life, because its here, Episode Thirty, High Fidelity, starring Chicago's own Brandon Will, writer, book seller, puppeteer, Karaoke god and lover of all things Eminem. And its the goods. Well, its something, something beautiful surely, and something that we think just might change your life, maybe even for the good. Maybe.

This Podcast Will Change Your Life, Episode Twenty-Nine - The Situation.

Oh Caleb J. Ross, we hope you are pleased, there is new This Podcast Will Change Your Life, Episode Twenty-Nine in fact, "The Situation," starring TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Jason Pettus of CCLaP fame. It is a late night edition. There is Guinness involved. And we are fairly sure it will change your life. For real.

This Book Will Change Your Life - Hush Up and Listen Stinky Poo Butt by Ken Sparling.

We have been trying to think about how best to describe not just our great love for Hush Up and Listen Stinky Poo Butt by Ken Sparling, but the emotional impact it had on us as we read it. At first we thought about other things we read this year that crushed us, for example, the short stories Brains for Bengo from Jim Ruland's collection Big Lonesome or An Optimist is the Human Personification of spring from Caleb J. Ross' collection Charactered Pieces, but we realized there was a significant difference in our reactions. These stories struck a nerve because they spoke to unspeakable and irrational fears, pain inflicted on children and a parent's inability to get things right, but Hush Up struck a nerve because of its ability to speak not to our irrational fears, but to what we know, the day to day experience of parenting, the joys, frustrations, anger and pain, and the emotions that come with seeing yourself on the page and knowing the experience itself is so profoundly fraught with emotions at all times you would just as soon not read about it to give yourself a break. Of course, we have to read, and we have to feel things, and because of this, Hush Up is all the more powerful and certain to change your life.

This Podcast Will Change Your Life, Episode Twenty-Seven - A Glimpse of Truth.

We were quite aware that TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Caleb J. Ross was disgruntled about the fact that we had not podcasted in a couple of months and so in tribute to his doggedness and charm we are happy to introduce the new episode of This Podcast Will Change Your Life - A Glimpse of Truth starring the Jason Fisk another TBWCYL, Inc. favorite and both a past and future, the quite immediate future really, contributor to This Zine Will Change Your Life. We hope you all enjoy it as much as we have, but especially you Caleb, because this one sir is for you.

This Book Will Change Your Life - Big Lonesome by Jim Ruland.

We have been on the road and we have been reading. And while we are juggling several books at this time, today we are most happy to let you know about Big Lonesome by Jim Ruland. On the one hand you have a wildly imaginative and wide-ranging collection of stories that touch base on everything from war to stalking, and everyone one from Popeye to Dick Tracy. On the other hand though, you've got a series of stories that bring both the humor - something we would argue is way to underutilized these days - in pieces like Still Beautiful and Kessler Has No Lucky Pants, and the pain, especially in the fantastic Night Soil Man and Brains For Bengo, the latter of which absolutely crushed us, and which as a side note we happened to be reading on the train coming in from the airport last night so was oddly reminiscent of the last story that affected us this profoundly, An Optimist is the Human Personification of Spring from the quite fine Charactered Pieces by Caleb J. Ross, which we also happened to be reading on the train. It may be a train thing, but either way please take a moment to hit the Big Lonesome because it really just might change your life.

How about a Deckfight Bosworth Ross mash-up with a nice dollop of love for I Am Richard Simmons? Well that, and a ml press {first year} shout-out?

We thought this might be your cup of tea. And here's what we have. The most excellent Deckfight gave the always well bearded Mel Bosworth a the chance to riff on the five best things he has recently read. He not only gave a very generous shout-out to our ml press chapbook I Am Richard Simmons - feel free to read the below excerpt - but to the quite fine and recently blurbed here Charactered Pieces by Caleb J. Ross as well. We are quite appreciative. We also think Mel has quite good taste. We would add, that you may also be interested in one, re-reading TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer's five best recently things read list, and if you are enjoy, and two, we want to let you know that we just received our copy of the ml press {first year} anthology and it is lovely, really lovely, and something we think you might want to order because we are fairly confident that it just might change your life. A lot.

"I carried this MLP chapbook in my pocket for a while to whip out whenever I ran into anyone. I may have scared a person or two, rummaging around in my front pocket, saying things like, “You’ve gotta see this!” but overall things went well. No face slaps."

"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."

This Book Will Change Your Life - Charactered Pieces by Caleb J. Ross.

It is still early in the new year, but we have already had the chance to read the new story collection Charactered Pieces by Caleb J. Ross and we would like to think it bodes well for what's to come. While there is weirdness in these stories, not to mention biblical allegories and tales of suicide and the holocaust, what lingers is an underlying thread about the impact parents, fathers in particular, have on our lives whether through their presence or more often their absence. Ultimately, the stories are like a collective punch to the chest, though none more so than An Optimist is the Human Personification of Spring which caused us to lose our breath for a fleeting moment as we sat on the train and still haunts us even as we write this.

Caleb J. Ross. Charactered Pieces: stories. And the Blog Orgy Tour.

We have had the pleasure of exchanging some e-mails over the last couple of days with the writer Caleb J. Ross, which got us excited about his new collection Charactered Pieces: stories, which in turn got us excited about the Blog Orgy Tour he's on to support the book, which made us think that it would not only be most necessary to mention all of this here, but that doing so just might change your life. So there you go.