Hi,
Welcome to the Hardihood Books February Roundup. I hope your winter is finishing up nicely
In Case You Missed It:
My first story this month was a bit surreal. The premise was funny to me, and I decided to see where the story would go. As I was writing it, I discovered a way to tie in a partial story I’d written last spring, which had been sitting in a folder on my hard drive while I figured out what to do with it. This story will be out next month, and like “Some Peanut Butter to Last a Couple of Days,” it will be free to the general public.
My first essay this month was unimaginatively titled, “I Like the English Language.” What I should have done was saved this idea for November, because I actually had Thanksgiving on my mind when writing it. The idea occurred to me this past Thanksgiving when I was thinking about things for which I am grateful. What I liked about the original idea was defending English as a peculiar and particular language which nonetheless has its charm. I’ve never encountered another language I liked as much or found as compelling as English, even Latin.
After that, I published the next two chapters in “If You Can Keep It.” As I warned, the paywall went up. Don’t worry. You can still read the rest of the novel(la) without paying to subscribe. Or, for five dollars a month, you can read it along with everything else in the archive (hundreds of posts).
I also published a story called “Out in the Cold.” I was very pleased with how this turned out. It’s a sequel to 2022’s “Into the Wilderness,” and a prequel to 2023’s “Out of the Wilderness.” Even though I still think the first one is easily the best (although it lacks a plot), I have enjoyed each of these. They’ve all been different, as is fitting for their seasonal motifs. This summer, I will release the last one.
My other novella, “Civilization in the Wilderness,” went behind the paywall, too. You can still read part of the latest installment, in which Captain Edwards decides the journey needs more reverence and reads aloud from a Bible which he carries, but clearly has not read much. The humor of this scene lies in the lines he picks out at random, which are difficult to fathom without context. For instance, the book of Esther turns out very differently from what an unfamiliar reader would assume on the basis of the single line I included.
My other free post this month was my “Thoughts on Competition.” I had originally saved this free slot for a different essay, but as I foreshadowed at the end of that post, I will publish that next month. These thoughts were inspired by a recent conversation I had. As a reminder, anyone who would like to respond can either comment (if you are a paying subscriber) or submit a guest essay. I can’t guarantee that I will publish every submission, but I read all of them.
From the Archive:
I particularly liked “Playing War” from 2022, about childhood and the U.S. Navy. I happen to like puns, and many of my comedic stories hinge on them. It’s free to everyone to read.
In Closing:
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Cheers,
Ben Connelly