Introducing Harmony House
It's time to move in...
The Story
As the climate crisis is eroding the shorelines that have not already been destroyed by fires or hurricanes, the Jenson brothers have a dream to introduce completely sustainable, eco-friendly living through a modular tiny home they’ve invented. With the help of a dying green tech billionaire, Cliff Baron, they are poised to sell their innovation to the world under the condition that his daughter, Eve will be in charge of marketing.
Eve insists on an elimination-style reality TV show where six contestants must live together in the 500-square-foot home. The person who outlasts the others wins Houze. The six contestants, selected for optimal diversity and entertainment value have no idea they’ve entered a game that could cost them their lives.
The foundation of Houze is steeped in blood and corporate greed. The story that unfolds shines a light on the many contradictions of modern society as winner-takes-all capitalism collides with the fundamental need to cooperate to ensure our survival. Fans of “Nine Perfect Strangers” by Liane Moriarty will enjoy this book.
Your Invitation
I think we should live together. I want you to move into Houze with me and fall in love with these characters I’ve been living with for a while now. They have no idea what they’ve signed up for. I sort of know. But we all need your help at this point.
Every week I’ll drop a new chapter in your inbox. You can expect about 3,000 words which is a 15-minute read. Paid subscribers can listen to my audio narration but I’ll give everyone a free preview in the first chapter that drops on Tuesday, September 19th.
Why a serial novel? Doesn’t that take a long time?
Yes. Yes, it does. So why am I choosing to do it this way? There are a few reasons.
You can get anything you want right now. We live in a world where convenience and instant gratification have accelerated our attention spans into hyperdrive. We’ve lost the simple joy that comes from anticipation. We’ve lost the ability to savor something and have the time to reflect on the journey. Reading a story over time gives it more time to do its work on us.
The story of “Harmony House” has not reached its conclusion for me, so you and I are in this together to see what happens. Rest assured, I will not falter and leave you hanging. I’ve already completed more than half the book and as you’re reading each week I will be writing to close the distance to the finish line.
What I love about this experiment is that it makes you a part of the story. Your comments and feedback along the way will inevitably influence where the story leads. It becomes a collaboration between us as I imagine it was in the days when someone traveled into your village and told a story with everyone gathered around a fire because there were no books.
A Community Reading Together
The cool thing about reading out in the open here week after week is that you will have a chance to make new friends who are reading alongside you.
Using the Substack mobile app, you can read and listen to the chapters each week, but you can also use the chat feature to discuss the book or anything it makes you think about with other readers in real-time. There are also some pretty fantastic writers who subscribe to Catch & Release that you will get to know.
I can’t wait to get started. We’re going to have fun together. Thanks for being here.
Thanks Ben! I’m glad you’re on board.
I finally got around reading the intro to Harmony House. I like the premise a lot and knowing what you did with Memory of my Shadow which was also set in a small environment with little characters, I am sure that this will be a memorable read. Great start, Ben! 🥳