Life Seemed Good But....

<p> Bell began crafting tiny stories in 2004 during a difficult time in life creating characters worse off than he was. What began as therapy years later continued as a monthly column for a bar magazine that ran for a decade. With a word limit in place each piece had to be short and to the point.</p><p> The common theme to each story is that life seemed good then it all derailed sideways. Add some dark humor a touch of the surreal and Bell takes the chaos and forces it to look normal turning the derailment into something funny or even worse. As a psychological profile it's comparable to other artists who dive straight into the subconscious and don't explain how it happened.</p><p> The stories are woven with cultural trivia movie nods and literary quotes-Easter eggs for those who look deeper. Characters range from living food items to sentient animals the undead to ordinary but strange people and a short romantic firefly take on the French Revolution to a parody of Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The author himself muddles through first-person misadventures with tinfoil headgear laser beams and kitchen magnets. By the end even Santa gets weird. Everything twists and tangles within the confines of the Mystee Forest.</p><p> The book is for anyone who's supported someone through a serious illness or simply navigated the ups and downs of life anchored in the belief that laughter is good medicine. You might even find yourself reflected in a story. One reviewer called it shockingly amazing.</p><p> If you have read thus far some sites are still sending out older paperback versions (a possible collector's item someday).</p>