There could not have been a better place to hear Michael Drinkard read from the first chapter of his new novel,  "Rebels, Turn Out Your Dead," than at the Old Stone House, a revolutionary war museum in JJ Byrne Park on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope.

What started out as a Brooklyn Reading Works reading evolved into an elegant book party bash thrown by the author and his wife.

In his introduction, Michael graciously thanked Kim Maier, Executive Director of the Old Sone House, and me. He told the crowd about Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn and mentioned that the blog’s name comes from the title of Thomas Wolfe story:"Only the Dead Know Brooklyn."

"Rebel Bring Out Your Dead " is the story of a hemp farmer and his wife and son who get caught int he crossfire of the Revolutionary War. Here is the description from Amazon:

In his cannabis-infused pipe dreams, Salt imagines himself a man of
independent means, rather than a Yankee hemp farmer under the thumb of
his Tory father-in-law. Then Salt’s teenage son shoots a British
officer, and the Revolutionary War comes home, bringing both danger and
unexpected freedoms.

Forced to flee his farm and family, Salt
is taken captive on a prison ship off the shore of Brooklyn, where he
finds himself in unplanned pursuit of something that might just be
happiness. With her husband on this odyssey, Molly embarks upon her own
war of independence, from the chronic disappointments and
long-rehearsed roles of marriage. And under the unlikely wing of the
British army, son James begins to come of age along with his country.

Drinkard has crafted a work of historic fiction, whose characters are drawn with depth and a contemporary interest in their inner lives and struggles.

I’ve only heard the first chapter, but I plan to get a copy of the book and read it soon. 40 Copies of the book sold last night at the party. Some people bought more than one.

The party was quite the Park Slope event. I saw many friends there, as well as writerly types from Manhattan who I don’t know. Blogger, Ron Hogan of  Beatrice.com was there. We spoke a bit about the blogsphere and I look forward to reading his literary blog in the future. I learned from a quick look at his blog that he is the author of "The Stewardess is Flying the Plane; American Films of the 1970’s," which was selected by Amazon as one of Top Ten Editor’s Picks: Pop Culture for 2005.

Stone Park Cafe was too packed for dinner. But at Belleville, many tables were filled with the after party revellers.