This Blog Will Change Your Life

2,053,345.

2009-12-05T14:41:00.002-06:00

Drumroll please. Well, that and big props. Tim Hall's Undie Press celebrates its 5th Anniversary.

2009-12-04T13:31:00.010-06:00

We are very happy to let you know that Tim Hall, good friend and author of many fine books including TBWCYL, Inc. favorites Half Empty and Full of It is not only celebrating the 5th Anniversary of the most excellent Undie Press, sweet, but he is selling many of the books in the Undie Press catalog for half-price through the end of the year, very sweet. Given the excitement you are now experiencing, you may be wondering if indulging in the richness of all things Undie Press will change your life. Our response? But of course.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live and sweat-soaked and all Simon A. Smith. Or something like that.

2009-12-03T07:00:00.018-06:00

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live and sweat-soaked. Or something like that. We have a new story He Who Sweats Most by Simon A. Smith, which we are way excited about, and, as always, photo action from Adam Lawrence, a music selection from Jason Behrends and exit plan prose love from Pete Anderson. We hope you enjoy this edition and we appreciate all shout-outs and links. Finally, please note, that we think you are the bomb, all of you. Big time.Okay, and one more thing, to all of our contributors, please feel free to let us know when you have something new to hype and we will be sure to hype. Cool?

Holy re-boot. Vulcan mind melds. Nerve pinches. Sabotage. The Enterprise. Fathers. Sons. And Leonard Nimoy. Live long and prosper indeed. Star Trek.

2009-12-02T00:39:00.014-06:00

mlp {first year}. There is cover. Pre-order. And a mere one month until the official release date. Nice.

2009-12-01T15:15:00.006-06:00

And if so inclined, you can learn more here. If not inclined, did we mention there will be Kendra Grant Malone. You feel differently now don't you? We knew you would.

Money, money, money. And a CCLaP Royalty Payout Party this Saturday, December 5th.

2009-11-30T13:05:00.010-06:00

CCLaP is rocking the Uncommon Ground this weekend and paying both TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer and TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Sally Weigel their first $100 in royalties for their respective CCLaP publications - Repetition Patterns and Too Young Too Fall Asleep. We suspect this gathering will change lives, and for the better, though please note that if it doesn't, drinks will still be drunk and money will exchange hands, so at a minimum, there will at least be some happiness.

"Tanzer's characters turn superficiality into an artform." Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine gets Wonka Vision'd and likes it. A lot.

2009-11-29T15:38:00.018-06:00

Apparently there is even more to be thankful for here at TBWCL, Inc. headquarters than we realized. We have been thankful for some time to be a contributing writer for the most excellent Wonka Vision magazine, but we are now especially thankful for the kind, thoughtful and humorous review of Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine in the new print issue - issue NO. 45 for those of you counting at home. Meanwhile for those of you at home, in a coffee shop, or on the train, please feel free to enjoy the review in its entirety below:

"Ben Tanzer's erstwhile novel of the '90s harkens back to that great era when people wanted nothing more than to talk all day - about our sex lives and our tattoos and our favorite cancelled TV shows - without anyone ever telling us to worry about an economic meltdown, or genocide in Darfur, or that pesky little war in Iraq. Well get ready for the nostalgia train: Tanzer's characters turn superficiality into an artform and listlessness into a lifestyle in this charming ramble of a novel about relationships gone awry in Manhattan."

This Self-Portrait Will Change Your Life, Week Forty-Six - "Thankful."

2009-11-28T15:35:00.009-06:00

It is Week Forty-Six of This Self-Portrait Will Change Your Life, our remarkably self-absorbed effort to post one self-portrait per week for one year. Despite previous protestations that we may not be so thankful here at TBWCYL, Inc., that is not entirely true. We are thankful to still have a job. A cool job. Healthy kids. A lovely wife. Being able to write and publish and sell books. And the new administration. For sure. For now. We are also thankful for your support and we hope you are doing well. All that said, some housekeeping. For those of you who want to track this project in its entirety you may do so at the Flickr. And for those of you who would like to see a self-portrait all your own right here at This Blog Will Change Your Life please feel free to hit us with one and we will take it from there.

Dread. Mad Max. Destruction. Fathers and sons. Deliverance. Viggo. It's the end of the world as we know it. And we do not feel fine. The Road.

2009-11-27T14:24:00.014-06:00

1,989,524.

2009-11-26T13:35:00.005-06:00

Thankful? Not so much.

Can you say finito?

2009-11-25T13:37:00.005-06:00

Big props to TBWCYL, Inc. favorite Ken Wohlrob for finishing his first novel No Tears For Old Scratch. Quite nice. Congratulations man.

Pittsburgh. Morgantown. Winter Shorts. Guz. Bernier. Book reading madness.

2009-11-24T15:18:00.011-06:00

We are hitting the road and we hope you will be joining us. On December 8th we will be reading with Savannah Schroll Guz and Craig Bernier at the Te Cafe in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh, and many, many thanks to Karen Lillis for helping us get this together, and then on the very next night, or if you prefer, December 9th, we will be reading in Morgantown, West Virginia at The Bookshelf. We expect that good times will be had by all. We also expect that these readings could very well change your life. So, having said that, can we also expect to see you there? Excellent.

We are trying to figure out how we could have gone all of these months and not made a comment about either Mad Men or Curb Your Enthusiasm. Huh?

2009-11-23T16:08:00.010-06:00

Stuff.

2009-11-22T14:46:00.006-06:00

Maybe its the work travel. Or the fact that we have been so self-absorbed lately. It could just be the fact that we have been unable to concentrate on anything but the once imminent now very real release of New Moon. But things have been missed, stuff has been overlooked and an array of TBWCYL, Inc. favorites have not received the airspace here they deserve. We however intend to fix that like now:

(1) Sally Weigel the author of Too Young to Fall Asleep recently did a fine interview with the Orange Alert;

(2) The J.A. Tyler has a recording and interview with the always awesome Apostrophe Cast; and

(3) Our boy Mel Bosworth's new collection of short stories and flash fiction When The Cats Razzed the Chicken & Other Stories is now officially available for your consumption.

This is good stuff, right, totally, you don't even need to answer that, just check it out, all of it, immediately, because it just might change your life. For reals.

1,953,096.

2009-11-21T11:18:00.001-06:00

Not goodness.

This Self-Portrait Will Change Your Life, Week Forty-Five - "Trifecta."

2009-11-20T21:31:00.004-06:00

It is Week Forty-Five of This Self-Portrait Will Change Your Life, our wholly self-absorbed effort to post one self-portrait per week for one year. In fact, it has been quite a week for the increasingly massive TBWCYL, Inc. media empire. There has been a new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life, a new episode of This Podcast Will Change Your Life and now this, in other words, a rare TBWCYL, Inc. trifecta. Can you feel the love? We knew you could. Meanwhile, if you would like to follow this project in its entirety you may do so at the Flickr, and if you would like to see a self-portrait all your own here at This Blog Will Change Your Life just hit us with it. Cool? Nice.

This Podcast Will Change Your Life, Episode Twenty-Two - "Flying Biscuits," starring Collin Kelley.

2009-11-19T14:21:00.010-06:00

Yo, quite happy are we to share the new episode of This Podcast Will Change Your Life with you. It is Episode Twenty-Two, it is titled "Flying Biscuits" and it stars one of our newest BFFs, Collin Kelley the author of the recent This Book Will Change Your Life selection Conquering Venus. We are most appreciative that Collin took the time to meet with us, we hope you enjoy our discussion and we are quite confident that will change your life, if only briefly.

Meanwhile, for your additional listening pleasure please do feel free to check-out This Podcast Will Change Your Life, Episode Twenty-One - "Loner Freak," starring Shannon Burke.

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live, quite incredible and all Greg Santos. Or something like that.

2009-11-18T23:46:00.010-06:00

The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live and quite incredible. Or something like that, so please see the below link. We have a new poem A Love Poem for Shelley by Hulk by Greg Santos, which we are way excited about, and, as always, photo action from Adam Lawrence, a music selection from Jason Behrends and overseas prose love from Pete Anderson. We hope you enjoy this edition and we appreciate all shout-outs and links.

Finally, please note, that we think you are the bomb, all of you. Big time. Okay, and one more thing, to all of our contributers, please feel free to let us know when you have something new to hype and we will be sure to hype. Cool?

And maybe one more thing after that. For the second year in a row Adam Lawrence overseer of all things photo here at the zine is taking part in movember. He is growing a bad ass stache in support of and to raise funds for the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LIVESTRONG). To donate or learn more please hit this link and if you require any additional inspiration please check out the sweet, we mean, bad ass photo of Adam below.

Ken Ober. Really? Really. Man.

2009-11-17T09:29:00.003-06:00

1,902,421.

2009-11-16T15:17:00.005-06:00

Dag!

This Self-Portrait Will Change Your Life, Week Forty-Four - "Book Club."

2009-11-15T12:39:00.006-06:00

It is Week Forty-Four of This Self-Portrait Will Change Your Life, our wonderfully self-absorbed effort to post one self-portrait per week for one year, and this week we are all Book Club. Now why is that you might ask? Because this week we were invited to discuss Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine at a local book club. Which we did. We also ate. Drank. And had much fun. Much. At this point you may be wondering if we would be happy to visit your book club as well. We would, so please feel free to invite us and we will be there. With bells on. In the interim though you may be wondering if you can follow this project in its entirety, you can, on the Flickr, and whether you can somehow see a self-portrait all your own posted right here on This Blog Will Change Your Life. You can do that as well. Just send one. Cool? Cool.

New York. 1980's. Sexual abuse. HIV/AIDS. Violence. Teen pregnancy. Illiteracy. Beauty. Pain. Race. Disassociation. Triumph. And Mo'Nique. Precious.

2009-11-14T09:58:00.010-06:00

This Book Will Change Your Life - Put Your Head in My Lap by Claudia Smith. And an Orange Alert interview. We know.

2009-11-13T08:26:00.007-06:00

It is time to roll out the current edition of This Book Will Change Will Your Life and today's entry is Put Your Head in My Lap by Claudia Smith. Claudia packs more emotion, loss and empathy into a handful of words than most writers do in stories than run on for pages and Put Your Head in My Lap is a terrific collection of flash fiction and short stories in a year that has already seen a number of terrific collections. We also had the chance recently to talk with Claudia and interview her for the Orange Alert. You can check out that interview here and for an excerpt feel free to just look down below here, yes, right there, perfect.

I wanted to ask you, “why your lap,” but then realized we’ve never actually met and that could be offensive. Is it, and either way “why your lap?”

Oh, I'm not offended at all. I just wish I had a clever, funny, enticing answer. I'm better in person with those. Kevin Sampsell liked the part in the story "Valentine" where the man falls asleep with his head in the narrator's lap. That story is in second person. And we thought "Put Your Head in My Lap" might be a warm, enticing, and vulnerable title. The chapbook is what it is now, in large part, because of Kevin. We worked together very well; he spent as much time pouring over those stories as I did. I can't imagine it with a different title.

The single greatest response to a rejection letter ever recevieved by This Zine Will Change Your Life or any zine, anywhere, any time. For real.

2009-11-12T08:30:00.010-06:00

"Good choice! It's absolutely atrocious. My writing group advised me to send it around, which I impulsively did because I'm a former lawyer and it's new for me to write anything creative, but I wrote it in 15 minutes during the group's session, and it's really a brick of crap. I'm very sorry I sent it. I'm doing a class to see if I can get my writing to go in more promising directions. Thank you for replying."

Did we lie? And please note that this response was not only printed with permission from the author, but no animals were hurt, injured or defamed in its reproduction. We would add that we also firmly believe that we reduced our carbon footprint by copying and pasting the response into this post as opposed to transcribing it by hand, but Vice President Gore has not been able to confirm this as we go to press.

An Iredell Prose Poem Deckfight Holyfield mashup. Or is it snarl? Huh.

2009-11-11T19:55:00.008-06:00

The crew at Deckfight have not only taken the time to give a quite fine review to Jamie Iredell's new Orange Alert joint Prose. Poems. A Novel., they have even allowed Jamie to riff on their Friday Five segment, in this case discussing the five best things Jamie has recently read. All good stuff, quite good stuff, and for more good stuff be sure to check out our podcast with Jamie as well, because collectively, we are very confident that all this Iredell will change your life. Well, briefly anyway.