Archive for Guest Post

The missing marks

Well, what started out odd has only gotten odder.

Things began pretty well. This week I bought some decent cowboy boots, a nice ostrich pair, and that was fun. Then later I spotted Dan entering his gate, and he seemed very pleased. Practically glowing. He said he’d made some huge steps very recently, but he wasn’t sure so he wasn’t going to get my hopes or anything. He had wads of tissue paper stuck up his nose, though. I forgot to ask him what that was about. Then later the washing machines were gone, and I took that for a good sign.

Then last night things got a bit worse. (more…)

Something that is not a packaging device.

Hello again, internet. Hope you’re doing well. It’s still been raining here a great deal, and I’ve found that my backyard doesn’t drain well at all. Arnold our Yorkie has to sidle along the edge of the grass at our porch to find a dry spot to use as a bathroom. I’d pity him if the sight wasn’t so awkward and hilarious.

Somehow, in the midst of all this rain, my wife has managed to collect three nails in one tire of her Prius. It’s almost amazing, her bad luck. I’ve never had a nail in my tires at all.

*              *              *

Had a beer with Dan the other night. I really enjoy having a neighbor on hand to have a beer with, and I think Dan does, too. We split a six pack of Lone Star in his shed. He seemed a little despondent, or at least more than usual, and after a while I gathered that his creation was giving him trouble.
(more…)

The odd neighbors of a first-time homeowner

Well, for the first time, hello everyone! My name, as you can probably tell already, is Robert Jackson Bennett, and I’m currently about to be a first time author. It’ll be official in January 2010 when Mr. Shivers comes out from Orbit, which is about four months away. That’s all self-promotion stuff, however, and I have a blog already started for whatever tooting is necessary for my own horn. To be honest, I’ve never written in any official kind of capacity on the internet, so I’m not sure what to say. Easily the most curious thing that’s going on with me at the moment, though, is what’s happening next door.
(more…)

Silly Fantasies

My first addition to the official Orbit blog page.  This is serious.  This is important.  This is something to think about.  So I’m going to just leap into the fray and admit something.

Fantasy is silly.

It just is.  There’s no way around this, and to think otherwise is an unnecessary strain on your justification cortex.  (I don’t know if there’s such a thing but seems like there should be if there isn’t.)

Science Fiction is (mostly) silly, too.  It’s all absurd, ridiculous, nonsensical stuff.  It’s whimsy.  It’s make-believe.  It’s escapist.  It’s childish.  It’s all these wonderful things and more. (more…)