MEMORIAL DAY SALE ON FREE MEN and DREAMERS

I've wanted to do this for a long time, 

and finally, I can!

For the first time ever, and with a big thank you to the original publisher, every e-volume of my award-winning American historical fiction series, FREE MEN and DREAMERS, is discounted.

You can now download the entire series for under $10.00 for a limited time.

This eight-year labor of love takes six families--three American, two British, and one slave--through 40 years of tumultuous American history. Witness the second war of independence, the War of 1812, the war most historians credit with forging a loose confederation of states into one nation under God. Experience the Chesapeake campaign, the burning of Washington, the Battle of Baltimore, the Star- Spangled Banner story, and the first major test of the Constitution's guarantee of religious freedom.

Honor those who sacrificed everything to preserve a nation. http://bit.ly/2Ive5oc

SHARE A PATRIOTIC MEMORY AND GET A FREE BOOK!

From Memorial Day through Labor Day, my heart stirs at the flying of the red, white, and blue. Our small town flies a giant flag from a crane so all can see as they pass through.

As faithful readers know, I spent eight years researching and writing my award-winning Free Men and Dreamers series to commemorate the two hundredth anniversary of The War of 1812, the writing of The Star-Spangled Banner, and the preservation of the freedoms we enjoy. We're about to give the end of the series a facelift. I only own the last three volumes, so those books are getting new covers so we can reach a new batch of patriotic readers.

 I can't control the price on the first two books still held by my publisher, but I'm offering the e-books of volumes 3-5, "Dawn's Early Light," "Oh, Say Can You See?" and "In God Is Our Trust," for $0.99 each this month. Read THE great reviews of these books on my author page.


Here's a former post I wrote about Key from the research I conducted on the series. I hope it adds to your love of the Star-Spangled Banner and the anthem it inspired.

SHARE AND GET A FREE BOOK!

Share a patriotic memory or a personal story about your love of the flag below and I'll send you a free ecopy of "Dawn's Early Light."

GETTING INSIDE OF KEY'S HEAD

There's so many beautiful, stirring details forgotten or never learned that surround Key's story. Most of us know he was on board a ship in the harbor overlooking Fort McHenry during the bombardment when the inspiration hit him. Fewer people recall that he was on a mission to save his Scottish friend, Dr. William Beanes, who had been dragged from his bed in the middle of the night by the British on charges of treason and murder. But there's so much more to the story.

To fully understand the passion behind Key's story you must recall that three weeks prior to the bombardment, Key and his wife were secreting their children away from Georgetown, a suburb of Washington, to Key's parents' home in Frederick, Maryland. The British were expected to march on the Capital and the Key's were desperate to send them away to safety. Days later, while Polly remained near her husband in the home of friends, Key was horseback and on the battlefield with President Madison at Bladensburg, Maryland, when the American forces clashed with the British army. The fight became a humiliating rout sadly dubbed "The Bladensburg Races," a pitiful reference to the frightened American retreat that left the way open for the sacking of the President's House, the Capitol building, the government offices. As a result, very few mementos of our country's birth and infancy exist prior to 1814.

Key had also witnessed, firsthand, the brutality of the British military when crossed, and on September 13th, Baltimore was swollen with angry Americans poised to fight back. Worse yet, Key had family in the city. His brother-in-law, Judge Joseph Nicholson, was the second in command at Fort McHenry that day. And Nicholson's wife, sister to Key's wife Polly, was still in the city with their children. After all Key had done to protect his own family, his concerns for these loved ones pressed heavily on his mind.

During the negotiations with the British to secure Beanes release, Key and the Prison Exchange agent, John Skinner, were taken aboard the British admiral's flagship and treated as guests. But during the meals, the British officers discussed their plans to burn the city to the ground in front of their American "guests." Having been apprised of the British war plans, Key and Skinner became detainees of the British until after the battle's conclusion, unable to warn their people, and forced to watch the attack from afar, knowing the dire fate intended for Baltimore if the fort were to fall. Key's heart was deeply harrowed.

The twenty-five hour bombardment from September 13th into September 14th was unbearable, but Key had also seen thousands of British troops land fourteen miles south of Baltimore, poised to enter the city and subdue it once the fort fell. Knowing the atrocities committed in other cities that had opposed the British, he shuddered with fear. Days later, in a letter to a friend, John Randolph, Key expressed the anger and fear he felt while maintaining his hope that the prayers of the pious would be heard by God who would deliver the city.

The flag therefore, became more than a mere real estate marker, announcing the power that controlled the fort. It became the sign of life, that as long as she waved the fort had held and the British army and its destructive might had been held at bay.

He jotted his notes on the back of a letter during the final two days of his detainment, setting the entire poem, titled, "The Defense of Baltimore" on a sheet when he was back in the city in his room at the Indian Queen Hotel.

He took the poem to Judge Nicholson as a gift, and the judge was so moved he rushed it to a printers for duplication. Within hours, broadsheets of Key's poem could be found everywhere across the city. People were so starved for something positive and hopeful to cling to in these hours after the loss of their capital that soldiers in the fort wrote home about the poem, and copies began moving to other cities. It was first published in the Baltimore Patriot but soon it appeared in papers in Philadelphia and Boston and New York.

It was set to the tune of a popular melody of the day, "To Anacreon in Heaven," and performed as the finale in performances along the embattled coast where it received standing ovations.

After Washington, few symbols remained to proclaim that our nation and our government still existed. Britain had their king, their crown, their castles, their Parliament, but Britain had left us no home for our president, nor a house for our Congress. All America's citizenry had to hold on to were the ideals of their people, and a flag--a red, white and blue banner that stood defiantly between the enemy and them.

That's what Key saw that day. And this is what he knew--that buildings may burn, presidents may change, armies may march, and enemies may come, but as long as our people hold fast to the ideals upon which this nation was founded, and have access to a few scraps of fabric, the symbol of America cannot be extinguished.

Long may she wave. Proud may she wave!

HOW DOES ONE ASSESS THE VALUE OF A WAR?

Today marks the 200th anniversary of America's second declaration of war with Britain--her second revolution, or the War of 1812.  Baltimore and other cities who played prominently into these events are in full historical replay, pulling off wonderful celebrations with reenactments, military displays, concerts, and a host of family-friendly ways to learn about this neglected chapter of history.

The papers and news reports are conflicted over how to represent this war, and rightfully so, since historians also debate its military value. But most agree that it marks the decisive shift in America's view of herself, and perhaps was the absolute moment the fragmented, fractured republic finally saw her possibilities, sadly in the same moment she faced her potential failure.

I did not want  modern historians' perspective to cloud my judgment as I wrote  my Free Men and Dreamers books. I sought out actual first-hand accounts from principles as the war played out along their coasts, as invaders' feet marched across their fields,  and torched their towns. I found many, but few sum America's situation up better than one government notation. Here it is, as it reads in the Acknowledgments Page of volume 3, "Dawn's Early Light:"

While researching the War of 1812, I discovered that Britons (including Canadians who were then part of the British Empire) and Americans each believed firmly that their nation’s cause had been noble, their positions defensive. And each could cite reasons why their nation proved victorious in a war that, ostensibly, produced no true victor.

While most experts agree that the war was a monumental draw, a waste of lives

and money with neither nation benefiting in any consequential way, most believe an immature America was too quick to leap into battle mode, reading malice into Britain’s simple desire to prevent American trade from strengthening France’s Napoleonic war chest. However, the following statement from the Senate Military Affairs Record of the Thirteenth Congress, which convened November 5, 1814, may provide the most accurate glimpse of America’s assessment of their situation.

It may be fairly presumed, that it is the object of the British Government, by

striking at the principle sources of our prosperity, to diminish the importance,

if not to destroy, the political existence of the United States.

(http://

memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsp&fileName=016/llsp016.

db&recNum=519)

As we approach the bicentennial of the War of 1812 and the planned celebrations

of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the American flag’s emergence as our national icon,

I’m sure this position will be reexamined and re-debated. No matter the musings and

deliberations, only one thing really matters in the end—what the principals believed

in their own day: for this generation proved the mettle of the U.S. Constitution, tested

the office of the presidency, produced the greatest national icon in the world—the

American flag—and forged the identity of America and Americans from an immigrant

population. Moments later, America would become the cradle of a great religious reformation,

and within a generation the nation would be sorely tested again in the Civil War.

Theirs was an extraordinary generation. They were free men and dreamers.

Thank you for revisiting them with me.

THE GREAT AMERICAN HISTORY PARTY IS STARTING!!!!

When I began working on my "Free Men and Dreamers" series eight years ago my goal was to have the series on the shelf before the launch of the Bicentennial of the events it described. Book five, the final volume was released last November, and when the New Year rolled around lighting up the date 2012, I breathed a sigh of relief that I had met that goal, and I prepared to enjoy the festivities. Well, they're beginning!

I don't know all the wonderful historical offerings being presented across the country, and there are many scattered across Canada and down to Louisiana, but I can tell you that the Baltimore/Washington corridor is ground zero to the most dramatic events of that period, and both cities are preparing to make history come alive for visitors.

The research for books one and two, "Dark Sky at Dawn" and "Twilight's Last Gleaming," introduced me to the players in this pivotal period of history--presidents past and then present, military giants who rose to political power, a courageous naval genius who took on the British behemoth with little  more than scrap wood barges and brawn, and the religious leaders who were struggling to steer a confused citizenry through the spiritual void created when the break with Britain and the Church of England left them without a king--their previous conduit to heaven.

Following two years of conflict along the Canadian border, and a seige of the Chesapeake region, the nation's capital was set aflame in August of 1814 when the British war machine landed troops along the Patuxent River and marched them from Benedict, Maryland, through Upper Marlboro and on to Bladensburg. It was here that a few brave marines and a heroic team of flotillamen stood with a rag-tag team of under-trained and under-armed militiamen in an attempt to halt the British advance on Washington. In a bloody rout that left hordes of dead soldiers on the battlefield, the Americans were defeated and the British prepared for the push to the capital.

The personal stories and details of that conflict, and the ensuing attack on the emerging but still swamp-like Washington City, as it was then known, are dramatized in book three, "Dawn's Early Light." Researching and writing that story has been one of the most enlightening, and humbling experiences of my career. My love of Washington, and my personal connection to that city have been deepened by that experience. I love that city so personally now.

Washington's big part in the Bicentennial will peak in 2014, the bicentennial of the attack on the capital when President Madison and Dolly were forced to flee for their very lives, but even in these early days of the celebration, Washington's doors are open to showcase her amazing history.

The burning of the capital left America stunned as her citizens worried about the fate of their republic and government. Her citizens rose from their knees and headed for Baltimore, the next target on the British list of prizes, knowing that this port city might be the last stand in the defense of full liberty.

History books today often refer to it as a nothing war. No great amounts of land were exchanged. No leaders were conquered. No government usurped another. But if one reads the accounts of those who lived through the two year seige of America, the terror of lost liberty, and the destruction of democracy was real as they lived in the shadow of Britain's bruital might.

It was just three weeks later when Baltimore came into the British cross-hairs. She boasted the third largest port in the nation, and was the womb of Britain's naval nemesis--the swift and deadly Baltimore Clipper ships. Britain's leaders were clear in their desire to take that city, and unlike naive, undefended Washington, who most believed was too protected and unimportant for Britain to bother, Baltimore spent years preparing for war. Local military and militia leaders drilled their troops, built trenches and barriers, to reinforce the perimeter of the city against a ground attack. Baltimore had cause to worry less about a water atttack. She was guarded at the confluence of the Patapsco River and the mighty Chesapeake Bay by the brilliantly-designed star-shaped fort known at Fort McHenry, whose mighty ramparts had been fortified and who now stood under the leadership of two trusted men--Major Armistead, and Captain Joseph Nicholson, brother-in-law of Francis Scott Key.

Book four, "Oh, Say Can You See," weaves our characters through the preparation for the Battle of Baltimore, the real story behind Francis Scott Key and the Star-Spangled Banner, and the aftermath of the battle. And Baltimore now wants to being all that history alive for you and your family.

Balitmore's kick-off  begins June 13-19 in a stellar week of exciting events dubbed "The Star-Spangled Sailabration." A parade of tall ships and military vessels will arrive in the harbor and dock in Baltimore's many ports where visitors can visit. Concerts, children's activities, a Blue Angels air show, and a host of other activities are planned. As always, Fort McHenry and the Flag House museum will be open and at their best to provide a real glimpse of Key, the making of the Star-Spangled Banner, and the Battle.

Then travel south to Washington and visit the Smithsonian's American History museum and its magnificent Star-Spangled Banner exhibit. It's wonderful. Then head to the National Archives and visit the "Charters of Freedom" exhibit where the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights are viewable in a magnificent display. These documents would have perished during the conflict, were it not for the warning of James Monroe to a tirelessly diligent civil servant named Stephen Pleasanton who secreted them to safety. (Also in "Dawn's Early Light.")

For those who can't attend the events, you can pick up a few lovely historical souvenirs on the "Sailabration" site. Bicentennial coins have been minted, and replicas of the fifteen-star flag that flew over Fort McHenry are available. Proceeds from these products benefit bicentennial efforts.

So come east and visit! But if you can't, pick up "Free Men and Dreamers" and immerse yourself in this great American history. Thanks!