BenHaskett.com – book stuff, mostly
Some of you who read my stories leave a star rating on Goodreads or Amazon. Probably once a day, I check to see if there are any new reviews and/or ratings. I memorize the number of both, and when I refresh the page and see that the number has increased, it’s like getting a surprise …
I wrote an editorial review for Roller Rink Starlight. It was phenomenal. Here’s my review: Despite the title and preface, Roller Rink Starlight doesn’t have a whole lot to do with competitive speed skating. Sure, there’s some skating action in here—several chapters are chock full of arcane skating lingo, race times, and second-by-second retellings of …
I hope you’ve been productive over the past year, the Coronavirus year, the year when you were encouraged to simulate life inside a bomb shelter. With the kids home, doing that whole distance learning thing, and with the local parks wrapped in yellow caution tape, we did a few things to break up the monotony. …
A copy of my short story sold a few days ago, which was surprising because I hadn’t done anything to make that happen. (Naturally, and like most other hobbyist writers, getting a sale usually involves some sign-spinning on my part.) When I sold a second copy an hour later, I got so suspicious that I …
I’m about to complain about the most first-world of all first-world problems, so before anyone reads this, I warn you: the following may prove to be a very unsatisfying read, and it basically amounts to me grumbling about not getting a free lunch. I enjoy reading and writing. Reading is easy. But writing, if …
Reading has largely been a time-capsule sort of thing for me, digging up classics and getting in line behind the thousands and thousands of people who’ve already read them. Putting in my two cents long after the zeitgeist has died away. East of Eden, Brave New World, The Hobbit. And honestly, this is usually when …
This is actually the second time I’ve given the above title to a blog post on this website. The first time was on April 3, 2017, for a post that is now deleted. I made it shortly after the Kickstarter campaign for my audio book wrapped up. Then this blog pretty much sat here for …