An Historical But Momentary Diversion On The Way To The Bonito Bar

This past Sunday the first reports came in of Bonito being caught here, on Nantucket, out at the “Bonito Bar” at the west end of the island. The arrival of these speedy little fish is something I look forward to every summer, and I immediately began checking the weather and the tides to plan a trip.  My efforts were interrupted, however, by a question posed by a friend of mine in the midst of my preparations.  He had seen my description of Safe On Third at the iBookstore for the iPad, and wondered why I referred to my book as "an historical novel" and not "a historical novel." "A" and not "an" before the word "historical," that was the question, and it started nagging at me.  Instead of cleaning my line and deciding which flies I was going to use at the Bonito Bar, I found myself asking which indefinite article was correct. It was only a momentary diversion, but I could not come up immediately with a good answer for my choice of words.  The ancient rules I finally dredged up from my childhood are that "a" precedes words that begin with a consonant, except for words that begin with an unsounded "h," and that "an" precedes words that begin with a vowel.  Simple enough, right?  But that did not explain my choice because the "h" in historical is sounded. Then I turned to the internet and found that there are "old school" individuals who argue that if the initial syllable of a word beginning with "h" is unstressed, as it is in "historical," then one uses "an." (A number of sources stated that this was once the preferred English usage, although even Fowler called such usage "pedantic.")  I also learned that most American dictionaries call for "a," but some recognize both articles with "historical,” and it seems finally that it all comes down to what sounds better to each of us. To my ear, "an" is the right choice, and so I will stick with it, pedantic affectation or not. Yes, call me "old school," then, for Safe On Third is an historical novel. It's an historical thriller, too. I'll stick with that and get back to thinking about the Bonito Bar, Clousers, and Deceivers.

Call me Ishmael

Several weeks ago, I published my novel, Safe On Third, as an ebook at Smashwords, and now my children are pushing me further into the digital age, insisting that I begin a blog and create a Facebook page to promote my book and share my observations with anyone who is interested.  And so, here I am, watching the "watery world" and the Tour de France time trial from my crow's nest as I ice a new left knee and vacation on Nantucket with my family.