Vain Magazine could claim more ancestral lit zine origins than most. They have the staple bound cover of an indie mashup, the forward thinking mindset of an east coast glossy, the strong literary content of small press chap network, and the design sensibilities of art school college grad with trust fund comfort to keep his ideals high and his being higher.

Writer, editor, designer, and 1000 more -ers, Richard Thomas, turned me on to Vain Magazine last year when his story, “Underground Wonderbound” graced its pages. I was impressed, not only with his story, but with the overall aesthetic appeal of the magazine. Too often, hand-stapled, small print magazines get the scoff. This one deserves some praise.

Now, after all that build up, I’m here to let the ego shine. My story, “Charactered Pieces,” appears in the new issue, #7, right now. I wrote the original version of this story in college, and it has been sweating since. The Vain Magazine version is a much better, much more mature version, but still has all the underdeveloped Siamese twin left leg goodness of the original.

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.