Happy Second of July, everybody!

I meant to post this earlier, but hopefully I can sneak it in before the date changes.



I have to post one of my favorite historical quotes today. It has nothing to do with literature or writing, but it's very timely.

And funny...

"...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."
— John Adams, in a letter to his wife Abigail, dated July 2, 1776

It's one of those little quirks of history that amuses me. Poor John Adams was so very close to being right. He just got the date a little wrong, is all. If it had been me, I probably would have thought the day Congress voted on Independence would be more memorable to future generations than two days later when a draft of the paperwork got signed too...

Anyway, if you've never read the Collected Letters of John and Abigail Adams, you really should. I never used to think much of the second president of the United States, but the more I read about his marriage and the relationship he had with his wife, the more I have developed a grudging affection for him.

And, for the record, no I did not name the main character in book after Abigail Adams. Not consciously, anyway. I have to admit I did read a biography of Abigail Adams (Lynne Withey's excellent Dearest Friend) the summer before I first began to write Thorn. So, who knows. I may have had a spunky historical figure in the back of my mind when I started to write and I just didn't know it.