Independence Day
Posted by Darlene on 04 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: Books, Chit Chat, Writing Life
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I love the Fourth of July, and always have. When I was a youngster we would hope that Dad made a summer business trip to Wisconsin, where he could buy legal fireworks and bring them home to Minnesota, much to Mom’s dismay. But there’s something about loud, noisy explosions that just make the holiday come alive (provided you don’t blow your fingers off–how many times did I hear that every summer?).
Our nation’s love of pyrotechnics to celebrate Independence Day goes back to our Founding Fathers, and John Adams, who said in a letter to his wife Abigail, “The day will be the most memorable in America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival…it ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade…bonfires and illuminations (fireworks) from one end of this continent to the other, from this day forward, forevermore.”
And speaking of John Adams, he’s who I want blurbing my next book. I’m reading Cokie Roberts’ Ladies of Liberty (highly recommended) and ran across a line that made me grin real hard:
“But they didn’t lead a retired life…John Adams, so accustomed to having Abigail run everything, took to reading romance novels, much to his wife’s amazement, and continued to rely on her to manage their finances.”
I’d love to know what he was reading!
Fireworks and illuminations on July 4th make me think of my own writing of historical romance, and the serendipitous moments that fall into your lap. I realized that if my WIP’s current action is set around autumn 1814, I might be able to work in the burning of Washington and the battle of Fort McHenry. Sure enough, my dates coincided and suddenly I had a whole new scene referencing the rockets’ red glare from the poem “Defence of Fort McHenry”, better known to us as The Star Spangled Banner, by Francis Scott Key.
So if you’re one of the millions of Americans celebrating your nation’s independence and the beginnings of our growth as a beacon of democracy and freedom to the world, don’t forget to remember the men and women who made this all possible then, as well as the men and women who defend our shores today. Remember, some of them, like you (and like John Adams) are romance readers!
