Issue Five of the Colored Chalk zine looms. Kidding. It’s here.

I don’t want to blow too many minds here, but this issue has some fantastic writing by some fantastic writers (and one shitty writer named Caleb Ross).

Do we have Peter Schwartz? Yep. Richard Thomas? Certainly. Alex Martin? Definitely. Michael Morey? Let me check…yes. Stephen Graham Jones? Come again? Stephen Graham Jones! Absolutely! Colin McKay Miller? Si. Edward J Rathke? Right. Jason Heim? Affirmative. Charles King? Beautifully. Nik Korpon? In all his glory.

Don’t forget, Colored Chalk can be viewed online, but it can also be printed and stapled for local distribution. Perfect for coffee shops and nursing homes.

Issue Five theme: Sins of the Father:

The sins of the father shall be visited upon the son a thousand times. Of all the false echoes and random bits and pieces of broken verse and mangled axioms that were sunk into my head long ago by an Episcopal Sunday school teacher, this one was far and away the most ominous. I’m confident that some version of the line found its way into a Clint Eastwood movie or two, and was muttered grimly by Clint immediately after hawking out a black stream of tobacco juice, and just prior to putting a bullet between somebody’s eyes. The sins of the father… good God. I have lain awake a few nights thinking about that one. My own father is a good and just man but he does have a dark side, not so dark as some but darker than others. I was never privy to all his misdeeds, but from the stories he told, his had been a wild and reckless youth. Maybe some payback was coming my way and I didn’t even know it…

So begins an essay by author Will Christopher Baer (Phineas Poe Trilogy). Baer is an intense writer, so it comes as no surprise that his thoughts on fatherhood would be so raw and visceral.

This month, Colored Chalk examines fatherhood through the lens of sin: alcohol, drugs, murder, anger, violence, indifference, and love.

To all you writers out there check out the Colored Chalk homepage for guidelines and information on the issue 6 theme: Waking up Strange.

EDIT: I just received word that a DIY enthusiast dropped a few copies of issue five at Annie Blooms Books in Multnomah Village, (Portland) Oregon. If you spread the word, let me know. I’ll post a link.

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.