Born on the Fourth of July

On Independence Day, many Americans attend patriotic parades, have picnics, and watch colorful fireworks shows well into the night. (And sometimes, depending on the neighorhood, into the next day.)

I finish books. For at least the second time, I finished the first draft of a novel on July 4. I stopped typing before lighting the sparklers.

In this case, it was especially fitting. The Patriots, the first novel in the Stone Shed series, is all about the Spirit of '76. Two chapters, in fact, are set on a July 4, including the first Independence Day observance in Philadelphia in 1777. Both chapters set the tone for a book that documents and celebrates the founding of the United States.

In The Patriots, two brothers from 2024 travel through time to 1776 Philadelphia, where they meet several notables — including Peggy Shippen, Ben Franklin, and John Adams — and fall for the lovely daughters of a furniture maker. They begin an odyssey that will continue through books two and three and the rest of the American Revolution.

At 157,000 words, The Patriots is by far my largest novel. Despite its immense size, I still expect to finish and release it in September.