{"id":588,"date":"2026-06-18T12:37:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T16:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mickbennettnj.com\/Blog\/?p=588"},"modified":"2026-06-18T12:41:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T16:41:25","slug":"coming-september-22-2026-messes-we-made-from-unsolicited-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mickbennettnj.com\/Blog\/coming-september-22-2026-messes-we-made-from-unsolicited-press\/","title":{"rendered":"Coming September 22, 2026 Messes We Made from Unsolicited Press"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Messes We Made<\/em> is a collection of eighteen short stories grouped into three categories according to the narrator\u2019s stage of life: <em>Maturing, Adulting, and Aging<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Maturing<\/em> stories contain elements of young love characterized by impetuousness. In \u201cDaredevils\u201d a character likens his and his girl\u2019s frenetic lives to an airplane performing dangerous mid-air stunts. \u201cZany\u201d follows an up and down relationship with advice for the male coming from a crippled and violent institutionalized biker. And in \u201cCan You Hear Me?\u201d a man is consumed with regret and anger because his girlfriend is raped while he is away for a long weekend.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Adulting<\/em> portrays protagonists with more sophisticated ailments. In \u201cAccidents\u201d a husband and business owner is gripped by unreasoning fear and anxiety. \u201cDo They Dance Close in Paris?\u201d finds a lady bartender who copes with her drab social club by dreaming of escaping to the romance and mystery of Paris. And in \u201cSpring Back\u201d a daughter foresees her mother\u2019s recovery from a burst aneurysm.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Aging <\/em>gives way to episodes of loneliness and finality. Two teachers deal with their recent retirements in \u201cMr. Anders\u201d and \u201cLoose Change.\u201d An estranged cancer survivor becomes the unexpected protector of a precocious and very intoxicated fifteen-year-old girl in \u201cBeach Voices.\u201d And in the title piece, the narrator recalls the \u201cMesses We Made\u201d after the death of his dearest friend due to alcohol abuse.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Stories containing unusual conflicts finding ordinary people. How these characters find quiet victories and face silent defeats make up the contents of <em>Messes We Made<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Messes We Made is a collection of eighteen short stories grouped into three categories according to the narrator\u2019s stage of life: Maturing, Adulting, and Aging. &nbsp; Maturing stories contain elements of young love characterized by impetuousness. In \u201cDaredevils\u201d a character likens his and his girl\u2019s frenetic lives to an airplane performing dangerous mid-air stunts. \u201cZany\u201d &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mickbennettnj.com\/Blog\/coming-september-22-2026-messes-we-made-from-unsolicited-press\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Coming September 22, 2026 Messes We Made from Unsolicited Press<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mickbennettnj.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mickbennettnj.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mickbennettnj.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mickbennettnj.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mickbennettnj.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.mickbennettnj.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":589,"href":"http:\/\/www.mickbennettnj.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588\/revisions\/589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mickbennettnj.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mickbennettnj.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mickbennettnj.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}