[Author-as-God, Author-as-Brand]

8) With the mock interviews and reviews, were you aiming to start a conversation about authorial identity and the problem of readers reading authors rather than books?

That would be lovely, yes. Because that’s exactly what we do: we read authors. At present I am being interviewed by the New York Times not for the quality of my writing (which, by any standard, is tremendous and perhaps even “top-notch”) but because I may or may not be Thomas Pynchon. This is unfair to my work – especially if I am not Thomas Pynchon – as well as to the many other writers out there who are being denied access to their own possible readerships on the grounds that they are not Thomas Pynchon.

Read the rest. 

[Self-published author gets interviewed and the main point isn’t that they self-published? Spoof gets treated like the real deal for NOT being the real deal? Am I in heaven?]


[“BLA and GB Gabbler” (really just a pen name – singular) are the Editor and Narrator behind THE AUTOMATION, vol. 1 of the Circo del Herrero series. They are on facebook, twitter, tumblr, goodreads, and Vulcan’s shit list.]

all yellowB&N | Amazon | Etc.

Like any contemporary novelist, I am a manufactured construct:

‘After Mr. Moore passed along a request for an interview, the author, using a Google email address created for his literary alter ego, responded to questions. He was coy when asked whether he was Thomas Pynchon, and called the question “irrelevant.”

“Like any contemporary novelist, I am a manufactured construct,” he wrote.

Declining to identify himself, he noted, “I have aspired to make my authorial persona as transparently false as possible.”

It’s not entirely surprising that Mr. Pynchon’s name would come up in connection with a wild bit of literary performance art. Conspiracy theories, elaborate cover-ups and paranoia are recurring threads in his work, from his acclaimed early novels, like “The Crying of Lot 49,” to more recent, pulpier books, like “Inherent Vice” and “Bleeding Edge.” For decades, he has shunned the spotlight, dodging photographers and rarely granting interviews.’

Read the rest


[“BLA and GB Gabbler” (really just a pen name – singular) are the Editor and Narrator behind THE AUTOMATION, vol. 1 of the Circo del Herrero series. They are on facebook, twitter, tumblr, goodreads, and Vulcan’s shit list.]

all yellowB&N | Amazon | Etc.

GABBLER RECOMMENDS: Uber Hetero Commedy YOU’RE THE WORST

You’re the Worst is THE BEST.

And kudos because the cat is a pretty active character in the show. I’m kind of into cats having major story facetime, I guess (ahem). I believe his name is Kerouac.

blog1[“BLA and GB Gabbler” (really just a pen name – singular) are the Editor and Narrator behind THE AUTOMATION, vol. 1 of the Circo del Herrero series. They are on facebook, twitter, tumblr, goodreads, and Vulcan’s shit list.]

all yellowB&N | Amazon | Etc.

Gabbler Recommends: Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis

Fifteen DogsFifteen Dogs by André Alexis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Gabbler Recommends.

View all my reviews

[“BLA and GB Gabbler” (really just a pen name – singular) are the Editor and Narrator behind THE AUTOMATION, vol. 1 of the Circo del Herrero series. They are on facebook, twitter, tumblr, goodreads, and Vulcan’s shit list.]

all yellowB&N | Amazon | Etc.

July Roundup: Gaius Octavius

Well, it’s August now and it seems we’re still dealing with the Roman Emperors invading our calendar.

Augustus, about to punt that stupid baby.

Here’s what happened in July:

THE AUTOMATION got a 4.5/5 Talisman Review here.

We posted another TEN MORE THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT THE AUTOMATION – IN GIFS! 

And, as always, Gabbler Recommended some things and you can check out more stuff we like talking about in our Tweets of the Week here.

[“BLA and GB Gabbler” (really just a pen name – singular) are the Editor and Narrator behind THE AUTOMATION, vol. 1 of the Circo del Herrero series. They are on facebook, twitter, tumblr, goodreads, and Vulcan’s shit list.]

all yellow B&N | Amazon | Etc.