Sad to Say . . .

Because of the amount of spam comments I’m getting on all my blogs, I’m reactivating comment moderation. That means your comments won’t appear until I have time to go in and approve them. Just another little task to add to my day.

The problem nowadays is Asian-language comments. If I can’t read the language, then I have no way of knowing what’s being said, and it more than likely isn’t nice. I figure if you can read my blogs, which are in English, then you’re capable of making comments in English. And if you don’t want to do that, then you’re not going to be allowed to add a comment at all.

As usual, all we good folks are going to be inconvenienced because of the evildoers. A pox upon your house, I say! Find something productive to do and leave the rest of us in peace!

Independence Day

Lately I’ve been spending more time doing research on the Battle of Trenton for Crucible of War. Next up is the Battle of Princeton. I want to get timelines finished for both battles so I can get busy turning the facts into scenes with action and dialog. But this weekend is the Fourth of July, and it’s time to celebrate!

According to the New World Encyclopedia, the Second Continental Congress declared independence on July 2, 1776, by passing the “Lee Resolution” presented by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia on June 7, 1776. It read in part:

“Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”

Sound familiar? Congress amended Lee’s resolution somewhat before adopting it on July 4, 1776, at Independence Hall. Did you know that John Adams thought the event should be celebrated not on July 4, but on July 2? In a letter written July 3 to his wife, he wrote:

“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

“You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.” (The Book of Abigail and John: Selected Letters of the Adams Family, 1762-1784, Harvard University Press, 1975, 142.)

Although he guessed wrong on the date, he was certainly right about the celebration!

Over the years I’ve been repeatedly impressed by the importance of resources like the American Patriot Series in keeping our national memory alive. An article in the March/April 2010 edition of History Channel Magazine confirmed the urgency I feel to ensure that the events, values, and leaders of our nation’s founding aren’t lost forever through ignorance and indifference. The findings cited in the article, titled “Who Cares About the American Revolution?” convinced me that we’re in dire danger of that happening very soon.

According to a national survey conducted by the American Revolution Center in 2009, “Americans highly value, but vastly overrate, their knowledge of the Revolutionary period.” Eighty-three percent of those tested on the underlying beliefs and freedoms established during the Revolution failed. In fact, the average score, according to the information on the Center’s Web site, was 44. That’s pretty shocking. Below are some other dismal findings from the survey.

• More Americans who took the test knew that Michael Jackson sang “Beat It” than knew that the Bill if Rights is part of the U.S. Constitution. And isn’t that just sad?
• Half of adult participants believed that the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation, or the War of 1812 preceded the Revolution. From conversations with people I’ve encountered, I can attest to that!
• The same number of adults believed that the Constitution established a democracy. Hey, folks, what we have here is a republic! Our Founders specifically did NOT want a democracy, for very good reasons. You might want to research what they were.
• One third of participants had no idea the right to a jury trial is included in the Bill of Rights. Hmm . . . See point # 1 above. Obviously they don’t even know what the Bill of Rights is!
• Many Americans lack a basic understanding of the chronology, scale, duration, and human cost of the Revolution. This just makes my heart bleed.

In other words, the great sacrifices our founding generation made to secure our liberty and establish our nation have been forgotten. And if we keep on down this road, soon our liberties themselves will be forgotten. One fights to hold onto what one values. And apparently Americans today don’t value their freedoms enough to even learn what they are.

Dr. Bruce Cole, president and CEO of the American Revolution Center is quoted in the article as saying: “You can’t remember what you don’t know . . . What needs to be kept in mind is that knowledge of our nation’s founding principles is critical because it enables citizens to participate wisely in government, to understand the historical global context of our country’s origins, to embrace a diversity of ideas, and to commit to the quest for freedom and equal rights.”

Amen to that, brother!

I encourage you to check out the American Revolution Center. Plans are being made to build a Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, the first national museum dedicated to the Revolution and its enduring legacy. On the center’s Web site, you’ll find resources that include a searchable database of lesson plans, an interactive timeline, and links to more than 70 American Revolution Web sites and organizations. It also offers a survey to test your knowledge of the Revolution. I challenge you to take it.

I scored 91%, missing 2 questions, one of which related to the Constitutional era, which I admit I haven’t researched as heavily as the Revolution. The other I did the same thing many of us do on tests: I kept thinking one answer was correct (it was), but I second guessed myself and gave the answer I thought should be true (it wasn’t). Let that be a lesson to you! Go with your gut instincts. So take the test and leave a comment letting me know how you did!

Another challenge for you. Take my pop quiz below. Research any answers you’re not familiar with and tell me what you learned that you didn’t already know.

Pop Quiz

What is the Bill of Rights?

When and why was it created?

How many amendments are in the Bill of Rights?

Give a brief summary of each of the amendments.

New Interview Posted

Hey, everyone, stop on by Kathy Harris’s Divine Detour blog and check out her interview with me (June 22)! We’d love to hear from you!

Head Banging

Okay, so I’ve been procrastinating. Writing a tight script for this video has turned out to be considerably more of a challenge than I anticipated. For some reason I’m having a really hard time getting it pared down to where it’ll move quickly and carry viewers right along. I’ve trimmed and tweaked and deleted and put back what I deleted, and I’m still not entirely satisfied.

Here’s what I have so far, numbered by sequence.

1. Eastertide 1775

2. British warships blockade Boston’s once-thriving port

3. while the Regulars occupy the city.

4. As conflict builds to a deadly confrontation

5. Elizabeth Howard plays a dangerous game

6. By day she flirts boldly with British officers

7. and by night, as the elusive courier Oriole,

8. she smuggles intelligence and weapons to the patriots

9. But with the arrival of Jonathan Carleton

10. an officer in the Seventeenth Light Dragoons

11. she must fight a war of wits and words

12. as he quickly becomes her most dangerous foe.

13. As the first blood is spilled at Lexington and Concord

14. and Elizabeth is drawn ever closer to the carnage of Bunker Hill

15. Carleton sacrifices his life to save hers

16. Now can she rescue him from the hangman’s noose

17. and her heart from his keeping?

18. The nation’s epic war for independence begins . . .

19. Book cover

20. Credits

I’m fairly happy with the beginning, but segments 9 through 15 are driving me crazy. Obviously I need to convey that information, but it has to be concise and flow naturally. Right now it feels awkward and clunky, and I’ve played with it to the point that I’m no longer objective.

Of course, a huge obstacle to writing this is knowing that I have to find images to illustrate each sequence. I’ve accumulated a number that work fine, including a couple of video clips. But for several of these lines, finding anything that’s even an approximation of what I need is going to be a major task. How do you illustrate fighting a war of wits and words, for pity’s sake? But I love that line. It captures the interaction between Jonathan and Elizabeth in this book perfectly in just a few words, so I don’t want to give it up.

Well, crumbs. I guess I’ll just have to set this project aside for the time being, mull it over, and pray the muse eventually comes up with a stroke of genius.

The good news is that I’ve made good progress on Crucible of War. I’ve gotten my characters across the Delaware with considerable travail, and now I’m adding research notes about the Battle of Trenton directly into the file. Once I have a moment-by-moment narrative of a battle in front of me, scenes develop vividly in my head and spill out on the page. So I’m eager to finish entering the dry narrative so I can use them as a springboard to create some exciting action.

By a fortuitous stroke, the latest issue of the DAR’s magazine, American Spirit, included an article about American prisoners of war during the Revolution that I found quite helpful for the development of my plotline at the end of Crucible and beginning of Valley of the Shadow. Lots of great detail there that will make its way into my story! When the stars all come into alignment like that, it keeps me forging onward.

Speaking of video trailers . . .

If you’ll remember, last year around this time I did a series on the book trailer I created for Wind of the Spirit. You can see the results at the bottom of this page. Well, I had so much fun creating it—never mind the frustrations—that I kept thinking about creating trailers for Daughter of Liberty and Native Son too. And after I posted them on Kindle, the urge became even stronger. As if I don’t have enough to do. But a lady has to have some playtime too, right?

Anyway, what really got me excited about doing a DOL video was a trailer on YouTube about the Scott Brown campaign for Ted Kennedy’s senate seat in Massachusetts back in January. I didn’t stumble across it until shortly after the election, but I thought it was fantastic, and I immediately decided it would make a great “template” for my own purposes.

Here’s the video, “Massachusetts Miracle.” Regardless of your political views, you have to admit that it’s tightly written and compellingly done. I especially like the music, which ties the images together very effectively.



I started working on the trailer a few weeks ago, but then got bogged down. But the “Too Late to Apologize” video stirred the muse into action again. So in my next few posts, I’m going to document the creation of the DOL video to ensure that I get it done! Unfortunately, however, NS is going to have to wait. When you’re as technically challenged as I am, putting one of these together takes a while, and if I’m ever going to get Crucible of War written, I need to limit my playing around!