What is this book about: This collection of short stories is
sometimes a bit dark in nature. Unlike Grove's previous collection
of light and fun short stories under the title of "The Family
Reunion" these are more about the consternations of life; the
troubles of a life long dream burning to the ground, a boyhood
character coming to terms with forgiveness and the psycho babble of
Will Farnaby and his aquarium life. These stories are bout the
cycles of life, challenges and growth. Psycho Babble and the
Consternations of Life was born, primarily, out of three stories;
The Consternations of Will Farnaby, The Inner Voice, and H-E-Double
Hockey Sticks. Other stories and poems lent themselves to the theme
of inner struggle and the cycles of life so were included, not just
to make the book longer but to flesh out the theses and help round
out this collection. "The Consternations of Will Farnaby" started
off as a collection of unlinked short stories about different
characters - some closer to life than others. Eventually they were
put into an order with Bob as the main character linking them all
together and then, for fun, I turned Bob into Will Farnaby after
reading Huxley's "Island" - See author notes at the end of the
book. These stories are purposefully dry and sometimes mundane in
the depth of difficulties that Will Farnaby faces. These stories,
like others are undoubtedly biographical on some level; how can
they not be? "The Inner Voice" was a struggle for me to write until
I found the vehicle to carry the thesis of spiritual growth - the
journey. After studying metaphysics, meditation, Tai Che and very
specifically Christian Science for most of my life this short story
came to life. Much had to be edited out and rewritten before my
biggest fear with this story, the fear of proselytizing, was
overcome. My journey need not be the same for anyone else. I am
still on my journey as you are still on yours, no matter how slow,
fast, crooked or straight our paths might be. Am I the truck driver
or Andy or a combination of both? It was only with the scrupulous
editing from my friend, my editor and now my publisher, R.D. Roy,
that this story is seeing the light of day. You will never see the
editing notes that I ignored from him. You will never know if this
story could have been better if I had followed all of his advice. I
have been on the spiritual road of learning about my true spiritual
nature for many years. Writing this story was part of that journey.
Finally "H-E-Double Hockey Sticks" is, for me, the other keystone
to this book. First, do you know what the title means? It is an
acronym for the word "Hell" - H-E-LL. The double hockey sticks
being the double LL. "H-E-Double Hockey Sticks" was a slick way
that a childhood friend's mother used to say the word - hell. I
have heard it many times since and did not realize that everyone
did not understand, its not-so-subtle, meaning. Follow the journey
with this young lad and see if he thinks he will go to hell for
stealing matches or not. In the end this short story has become the
foundation for a short novel still in progress but still works fine
in this original form. All of the other stories and poems in this
book including one of my favorites "The Glen Manor Inn" are about
cycles of life, challenges and growth in some way or another. They
are all fiction and simply part of my journey. I hope you enjoy
them.
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