Former N-G
Writer Offers
Up First Novel
Imagine if a fiction author blended the patriotic thrill of “National Treasure” with the down-home enchantment of “Charlot te’s Web,” then tossed in a dash of Pushcart War-style grassroots rebelliousness to craft a funny yet powerful tale appealing to Americans of all ages.
Well, News-Gazette former reporter Beth Homicz has done just that – and just in time for America’s 250th birthday. Homicz’s debut novel, “Some Guy Wants to Buy the Fourth of July,” offers a rollicking, lighthearted story of feisty independence for readers ages 8 to infinity.
It’s the story of 10-year-old Allison “Allie” Campion of Concordia, Virginia, who wins a slot as one of 20 finalists in the annual Friendly Family Freedom Franks Fourth of July essay contest for middlegrades students. She and her dad, Dan, overcome difficulties at home to embark on an all-expenses-paid whirlwind adventure in the nation’s capital.
During their week in Washington, Allie and her spirited fellow finalists discover a conspiracy of crony corruption in high places, and – inspired in part by a curmudgeonly American bald eagle – they gallantly set about revealing the truth and righting the wrongs. But can they prevail, all while navigating betrayal, defamation, and their own growing desire for independence?
Homicz, who worked for many years as a licensed professional Washington, D.C. tour guide specializing in student groups, and more recently served as head of circulation for VMI’s Preston Library, knows from experience about that of which she writes. The story is enhanced by a friendly tour guide character, Lorna, who’s based on the author herself, Homicz explains.
“One of the most thrilling and enduring lessons I learned, in my days as a tour director leading more than 15,000 visitors on sightseeing tours in and around Washington, was how deeply Americans of all ages and backgrounds resonate with our revolutionary history and political traditions when we understand them well,” she says. “And being right on the spot, in places like the U.S. Capitol, or Mount Vernon, or Arlington National Cemetery, provided the perfect ambiance to inspire my guests with the meaning of that history, so that they might take it to heart, and then, into their own lives and futures.”
For the Appalachian Mountain Club, Homicz also coauthored all three editions of a nonfiction guidebook, “AMC’s Best Day Hikes near Washington, D.C.” (AMC Books: 2023, 2017, and 2011). However, for her debut novel, she elected to tread the independent selfpublishing trail. Now she’s working to build her own indie imprint, Windrise Books.
“It’s a personal mission,” Homicz says, “to create a platform for spotlighting and upholding these unique and incomparable American values – liberty, integrity, individual rights, free speech, and so forth – in today’s publishing environment, which largely has very different ideological priorities.”
She plans to release several future works of her own fiction under the Windrise imprint, i ncluding a s equel t o “Some Guy,” and hopes to enlist other likeminded authors in the endeavor too.
“Some Guy Wants to Buy the Fourth of July” is now available from Amazon.com; signed copies and quantity discounts are on offer at Beth-Homicz.com.
