The short fiction of j hardy carroll
“What do you want?” His eyes crinkled above the grizzled beard. “Another of them beers, for starters.” I pulled a can from the six-pack and handed it to him. He sipped, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, set the beer on the tarp. He peered into the sky. “Looks like we’re just…
Bob was seven years sober when he drifted out onto the lake, thought about turning his boat over. Seemed like a good idea and he didn’t feel like waiting for a better one. I drift now over his same lake, once a river canyon now dammed by industry and the needs of leisure. My skiff…
” “I thought you guys wasn’t supposed to pick up no hitchhikers.” Now that they were in the diner, he looked older than he had in the parking lot. “No, them days is past. Rigs now, well you just gotta see it. It’s like an apartment. Got a microwave, satellite TV. Even a bed.” He…
Book Review: Hawser – by J. Hardy Carroll September 2, 2015 by Norbert Haupt Lieutenant H. Hawes does not like his first name. His friends call him Hawser. He wants to be a pilot but does not make it in pilot school in the military, so he becomes the next best thing: a bombardier. He is assigned…
“This was it?” “Yes. The fourth floor. You cannot count the times your grandmother would carry the bags up those stairs. Hundreds. Thousands.” The girl looked up the block. A group of Puerto Rican teenagers sat on a stoop, boys and girls both wearing the same white t-shirts and baggy khaki pants. A boom box thundered…
We went down the steel stairs, down and down. “With these levers, you can control the whole hospital.” He burst out with a braying laugh. “I’m kidding. I have no idea what they do. In here, now.” He opened a door leading off the corridor. The room was dark and clean-smelling. “Can we turn on the…
Posted by jaffalogue on August 25, 2015 Hawser by J. Hardy Carroll My rating: 5 of 5 stars This historical fiction novel is highly recommended. War novels are not my usual go-to, though I do enjoy an Erik Larson historical fiction now and then. Hawserbrought WWII and the Air Force’s role in the American European campaign…
I could tell from the look on his face that he couldn’t fix it. He held it between his blackened fingers, turning it this way and that. “This,” he said, “is junk. Not worth repairing.” I swallowed. “But my father gave this to me. He said it had been his father’s. It’s an heirloom.” “Nonsense,”…
Every writer knows that it is unwise to show a first draft to anyone. They often learn this by bitter experience. But at some point you have to show it to someone. I mean, that is the reason for all of this. We want to connect with our readers, and the only way you can do that is by…
“Well, I sure ain’t sorry to see it go.” The old man sipped his beer, wiped his mouth on his jacket sleeve. “Even if they just put up something worse. Which they will.” Jessup moved his knight. “Ha! Bet you didn’t see that.” He ignored the board. “That goddamned mural always reminded me…