Fun Facts: Pressed by the Coercive Acts (see last week's post), the colonies took action. One of the actions was the gathering of delegates for the First Continental Congress which met September 5, 1774, in Philadelphia. Each colony, except Georgia, sent delegates. George Washington, Richard Henry Lee, and Patrick Henry were among the delegates in attendance from Virginia. One of the proposals discussed was A Plan of Union of Great Britain and the Colonies, which provided for a popularly elected Grand Council which would've been the equivalent to the English Parliament, and a President General appointed by the crown. Even at that time, some of the delegates favored independence rather than simple legislative equality with England.

The congress organized a boycott against British goods, and petitioned King George III for redress. The congress resolved to reconvene in May 1775 if the response from England was not favorable.

England responded to the boycott with the New England Restraining Act which forbade the colonies from trading with anyone other than Britain and the West Indies, and prohibited colonial ships from the North Atlantic fisheries. The petition to the king was as equally well received.

When the congress reconvened in May 1775, the Revolutionary War had already begun.


Cover Reveal:

Having finished the writing and having very nearly completed the proofing, it's quite possible that this e-book will be available next week. The hard copy will take a little more time to format. The third book in the trilogy will end the first part of the saga which is set during the Revolutionary War. Most of the action in the second and third books takes place in the wilderness away from the major military battles. Small skirmishes, battling dragons, magic, gryphons, and more bad guys like that one on the cover carry this part of the story on the way to the surprising conclusion.

You should pick up the first two books, Threading the Rude Eye, and Power to Hurt--get them now. If you would like a free review copy, let me know in the comments.

***

I finished reading Andre Norton's Star Born this week. I know that I had read something by her when I was a kid and I didn't like it--and hadn't read anything by her since. I shouldn't have judged all her work by that one book--whatever it was. I enjoyed Star Born. I'm not going to rehash the story for you. You can read it yourself. It's free on Amazon.

While you're at Amazon, pick up Manly Wade Wellman's The Golgotha Dancers. It's a short, quick read that seems like it should be a Night Gallery episode. It's a quick read--and it's also free.

I'm interested in reading Wellman's "A Star for a Warrior," for which he won the Ellery Queen Award, and which caused Faulkner get bent out of shape that his entry did not win because he was a true literary author while Wellman was not. I haven't found the story anywhere yet.

Cover Reveal

The first draft - which is very nearly a final draft - of Power to Hurt is complete. Additionally, I'm down to a mere 100 pages left of the proof/edit before formatting for kindle and paperback. At least one of my readers has already rattled my chain, demanding to know when this sequel to Threading the Rude Eye will be available. I believe that I might have it available on kindle in about two weeks with the paperback ready another two weeks after that. The story moves along at a good pace without bogging down. While there is a good deal of conversation--as I find that a critical element in character development--the frequent action requires great swaths of writing, chapters even, with little conversation. As one might expect, I like some parts of the story better than others. In looking through the folder where I keep the novel, I noticed something that I had not realized previously: There are many other items in the folder. Most of those items are for research associated with the story. I hadn't realized that I had amassed such a collection of resources. In addition to this cover for the book:

the folder also contains:
A 1695 plan of Albany, New York; a 1770 map of Albany and its environs; an 1876 map/guide to the New York wilderness; an essay on castrametation; a book of the letters of Capt. William Glanville Evelyn; a drill manual for the 10th Regiment; an article from Villanova University on the Hudson River defenses and West Point; a pamphlet on the Hudson River Valley during the Revolutionary War; Pope's translation of Homer's Iliad; the 1764 Manual of Exercise; A book entitled Practical Remarks upon the Treatment of Wounds and Fractures with an appendix on military camps and hospitals principally designed for the use of young military surgeons in North America from 1775; some notes on the procedure for weighing anchor on a sailing ship; some early chapter pdf files that I sent to some readers; the outline for the book as originally envisioned; and an excel file that I use to keep notes on the characters. I think the only sources that actually provided information that can be identified in the book are Pope's translation of the Iliad, and the 1764 Manual of Exercise--and that may not even be the correct name for the manual. Most of the resources were for my own edification.

There are also a couple things in the folder which are unrelated to the book, including a copy of Thucydides History of the Pelopennesian War and The Books of The Apocrypha, as well as a book from another author that I'm reading and commenting upon to the author for whatever value my comments might have for him. These items will eventually be removed to more appropriate places, but for now they're temporarily stored with all things related to Power to Hurt -- and that doesn't even include the numerous web pages of information that I've consulted while writing the book.

The cover above was, of course, designed and created by me using an online cover creator. I've looked at a lot of covers for purchase but haven't found any that are fitting for my flintlock fantasy series. Therefore, the third book in the series, as of yet untitled, will probably feature a similar flaming cover for the sake of consistency.