Tempest at Dawn Review

Mike Reads has reviewed Tempest at Dawn. Link

"I found this novel to be an interesting read.  I thoroughly enjoyed it."

If you would like to read the real story of our nation's founding, pick up a copy of Tempest at Dawn.

Tempest at Dawn by James D. Best

Feeling Rejected?

Rejections come with traditional publishing. Since you can't get a publisher without an agent, you have two opportunities to be rejected. Actually, you should consider yourself lucky if you vault the agent hurdle, but I can tell you from experience that securing a big time agent does not provide a ticket to Wonderland. Publisher rejections still come, but they are no longer form letters.

A personal touch sometimes makes rejection worse, especially when there’s nothing you can do about it. For example, one publisher said there was not enough physical action in Tempest at Dawn, my novelization of the Constitutional Convention. I had already added a horse race, steamship demonstration, rowdy tavern arguments, and even a house traveling down a Philadelphia street. The conflict came from the debates, not fist fights. Since publication, Tempest at Dawn has remained one of the top selling books on the Constitutional Convention. So … keep plugging away. Publishers don’t know everything. To prove it, here are some rejections sent to aspirating writers who went on to become bestselling authors.

"Try,Try Again: Rejection Letters Received by Bestselling Authors"

Juliette Turner Reads my Essay on the 27th Amendment

Juliette Turner, Youth Director of Constituting America

Review of Principled Action

Martin, at What Would the Founders Think reviews Principled Action, Lessons from the Origins of the American Republic.

(Martin appropriately opens his review of my book with the following disclaimer: "The author of Principled Action is a primary author on What Would The Founders Think and also a good friend of this reviewer.")

"The Constitution lays out the framework and defines the limits of government authority.  Best devotes several chapters to the thinking that went into its design as well as the issues of the time in which it was written.  In so doing, he offers clarity and exposes some of the stretched, or downright inaccurate interpretations prevalent today ... Best offers some advice on regaining the government formed by the second revolution.  One such suggestion is that we restore the Founders’ Suspicion of Powerful Government.  Only by reaffirming those Founding Principles can we once more become a people of Principled Action."

You can read the full review at What Would the Founders Think? 

Principled Action—Part of a Plan

I've been asked why I chose to write a non-fiction book about the Founders’ principles. Steve Dancy fans seem especially irked that I didn't write another book in my Western novel series. Before I answer that question, I'd like to assure my readers that I am currently working on the fourth Steve Dancy Tale. I expect the book to be available well before Christmas.

In truth, interrupting the series is not new. I have always written a completely different kind of book after each Steve Dancy Tale. The Shut Mouth Society followed The Shopkeeper, Tempest at Dawn followed Leadville, and now Principled Action has followed Murder at Thumb Butte. This is purposeful. If every other book is outside the Western genre, I'll always be eager to get back to the series and it will keep the Steve Dancy Tales fresh.

That said, I wrote Principled Action, Lessons from the Origins of the American Republic because I had developed the theme while preparing a lecture for the web-based Beck University. The Theme—and resulting book—was a natural follow-on to Tempest at Dawn, a historical novel about the Constitutional Convention. Fiction has certain advantages over non-fiction and vice versa. I meant Principled Action to be a companion book to Tempest at Dawn—Tempest engages the reader by telling an exciting story populated with real people, while Principled Action is explicit in describing the motivations and beliefs of the Founders. In both books I used the Founders’ own words, but in the novel I modernized the language, and sometimes moved it around to fit the plot line.

The premise of Principled Action is that there were basic principles that all of the Founders believed. They disagreed on how to handle many issues, but not these basic principles.

·      Rights Come from God, Not Government

·      All Political Power Emanates from the People

·      A Limited, Representative Republic Protects Liberty

·      Consent of the Governed Requires a Written Constitution

·      Liberty Depends on Private Property Rights

·      Power Must Be Balanced and Checked

These are often called First Principles. The Declaration of Independence and Constitution were not cobbled together like a modern law. These documents were firmly grounded in the teachings of the brightest thinkers from ancient Greece to the Enlightenment. More important, these principles were understood and debated by a large portion of the populous. The United States of America was not founded by fifty-five men who held a long meeting inside a stuffy room in what we now call Independence Hall. Our nation was founded by We The People at Ratification Conventions that were independent of national and state governments.

The Constitution never belonged to politicians. It belongs to us. The Constitution never empowered government. It restrained government. The Constitution does not protect rights. It orders government to not interfere with rights. The Constitution is not a list of laws. It defines a government form consistent with First Principles.

To best convey the enormity of these ideas, I believed it took the emotion of storytelling and exactness of non-fiction. Anyway, that’s why I wrote Principled Action, but now I’m enjoying my work on a new shoot ‘em up.

Alan Caruba Recommends Principled Action at Bookviews

"There is no more important time in our present times to learn the how and why of the founding of our great republic. This highly readable book is a very good place to start." Alan Caruba at Bookviews

Read Bookviews April Recommendations, including Principled Action

Dueling Entrepreneurs

When a technology is about to break out commercially, entrepreneurs get their competitive spirits up. They want to dominate the marketplace for the new and nifty. Inevitably, a handful of business savvy technologists carve out large segments of the market and stiff arm any upstart that has the audacity to invade their territory.  Before long, there is usually only two to five left standing. Except, they aren't exactly standing around idle ... these titans are gathering up arm's full of cash. Piles of money that mere mortals can't even comprehend.

Is it all really about money? Not a chance. It's the game. It's about winning, and money is just how the game is scored.

I could be talking about Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page or Sergey Brin, but I'm not. I'm researching the next Steve Dancy Tale, which will be titled The Return (Which is now available). The men who brought this thought to mind lived one hundred and fifty years ago. Today, technology entrepreneurs build their empires along the western seaboard, but during the mid-eighteenth century, they live in New York City and its environs. If you want to see how little has changed in the business of leveraging emerging technologies, read about Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, Nikloa Tesla, and their contemporaries. Bringing electricity to the masses was as electrifying as anything this modern bunch is doing with computers, clouds, and tablets. You'll be startled at the parallels.

Steve Jobs

Bill Gates

George Westinghouse

Thomas Edison

Principled Action is Now Available

Principled Action

Lessons from the Origins of the American Republic

by James D. Best

Prior to 1776, world history was primarily written about kings and emperors. The American experiment shook the world. Not only did the colonies break away from the biggest and most powerful empire in history, they took the musings of the brightest thinkers of the Enlightenment and implemented them. The Founding of the United States was simultaneously an armed rebellion against tyranny and a revolution of ideas—ideas that changed the course of world history. Principled Action shows how the Founders built this great nation with sacrifice, courage, and steadfast principles.


A great non-fiction companion book for Tempest at Dawn

Available at Barnes & Noble or Amazon

Coming soon to a bookstore or website near you

Prior to 1776, world history was primarily written about kings and emperors. The American experiment shook the world. Not only did the colonies break away from the biggest and most powerful empire in history, they took the musings of the brightest thinkers of the Enlightenment and implemented them. The Founding of the United States was simultaneously an armed rebellion against tyranny and a revolution of ideas—ideas that changed the course of world history.