Over at Outsider Writers, Pat King, etiquette aficionado and all-around glorious specimen, is heading up an OW Chapbook Series, designed to paper and bind voices of the otherwise electronically chained OWC editors. So, what the hell does this have to do with me? How can I wring the appropriate ego from this post? Two ways:

1. I am an OWC editor, meaning that a fiction chapbook of my own waits in the pipeline. More on this in the future, you can be sure. For now, let this description suffice: Mitchell, a twenty-something Cougar Cub with a midlife girlfriend named Marsha, wakes each morning, slightly more machine, slightly less human. As his condition progresses he looses his capacity for human emotion, and potentially with it Marsha. “As a Machine and Parts” (working title) is a story of Mitchell’s struggle to find out which assembly line he belongs to.
2. Pat asked me to design and lay out the first chapbook, a request I immediately accepted. And, if I do say so myself, the final product is quite stunning (with help from art by Jeff Filipski, of course).

The first author, David Blaine, as been around the poetry interwebs for years. He has published two previous chapbooks, “A Fine Feathered Faith,” and “The View from Here” (about which David McLean of Epic Rites Press says “This is what they used to call poetry. You want this book, believe me, especially if, like me, you try to write poems, because this fucker shows us how to do it.”)

Now, I’ve never claimed to be a poet (and actually, have demonized poetry on occasion), but truly, I like this guy’s stuff. The forthcoming OWC chapbook, ANTISOCIAL is filled with examples that make poetry relevant. Forget the pseudo-intellectualizing verbosity so commonly associated with poetry. ANTISOCIAL is straightforward, digestible, yet not against encouraging a bit of self-reflection. Plus, it just might make you laugh.

Pre Orders are open now. The chap comes out in late Summer/early Fall, and as of today will be limited to 100 copies. “But Caleb, it probably costs too much.” Stop whining. $6.00 is all it takes to own this wonderful artifact. “But Caleb, I don’t know where to get it.” Click here. “But Caleb, I am out of excuses.” True, you have no excuses.

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About Caleb J Ross

Caleb began writing his sophomore year of undergrad study when, tired of the formal art education then being taught, he abandoned the pursuit in the middle of a compositional drawing class. Major-less and fearful of losing his financial aid, he signed up to seek a degree in English Literature for no other reason than his lengthy history with the language. Coincidentally, this decision not only introduced him to writing but to reading as well. Prior this transition he had read three books. One of which he understood.