Inspired by the writing of Richard Brautigan, The Art of Being Alone is a novella that strangely fits very well with this time in the world. I began it over a year ago and through this website and installments, I hope to force my hand in finishing it. I will be sharing 5 or so pages of it, each week. The first installment can be found here. I hope you enjoy it.–
6- The Quiet
When you read and/or watch stories about people living alone, they… do things.
They maybe sing little songs. They talk to themselves about important matters. They might even have friends (maybe just in their corrupted minds) or memories that give us glimpses into their psyche.
I wonder if that is a sign of human weakness. The fact that we need “something.”
We just can’t be alone as people, even in a story. I wonder if we feel too much and that is why the isolation and the silence becomes overbearing. It makes us look inside and we don’t want that! Heaven forbid! We want bangs, flashes, shouting, sex! A person can’t simply “be” in a tale.
For me, I am simply being. I am this and nothing else. I will prove it.
I get up when I get up. I have no sense of time here, but I can say that when the sun begins to spread across the ground and I feel it coming through the plastic glass of my dome and reach my feet, I rise. I stretch one part of my body and then the next. Somewhere I can hear the electronic buzzing of the mechanics that make my home a reality. I couldn’t tell you how the things work, I have no need to know. I simply asked for it and people completed the needed task. Transaction complete.
I then walk in my weighted slippers to the dispenser which takes the food that is grown in the greenhouses and makes it into designated dishes. I eat whatever I want and then I sit, write in this journal and look at the regolith.
There is no noise, no talking, no music, no wind. Just silence.
It is glorious and that is all I need in my story. Continue reading
I will keep you updated as the publication date moves up. Until then, let me just add a “Yahoo!”
In a house on a dusty street, there was a quiet stranger.
Here is the back cover description:
There are only a few days left to snag a copy of my book, 
Ever since Jerry Sleight was a baby, Bill was there. Bill is tall, quiet, unblinking and green. He is in the northwest corner of every room Jerry visits and only Jerry can see him.
Hello everyone. My latest novel In Jerry’s Corner has been out for a month. Have you checked it out? What did you think? Uh huh? Really? You don’t say…
My new novel is available via amazon.com right now! But for those with Kindle Unlimited they can snag a copy free right now!
