The Free City is the story of a vision shared by two men. The first, Jared Overton, possesses the means and the inclination to make a real and lasting difference in modern American society. The second, Henry Conrad, has an ambition for good works, but a skepticism brought on by experience. The story follows the journey the two men take through the process of bringing their vision into reality, the twists and turns their project takes along the way, and the understanding both will come to regarding the truth of the other’s ambitions. Their project will test everything about the concept of freedom, and neither man will reach its conclusion unscathed.

Free City is a project that I’ve had in mind for some time, but which I’ve never felt prepared to write until now, when the modern situation seems to demand this kind of investigation. It is currently in the first-draft stage of completion. The means by which Jared and Henry achieve their vision is the stuff of not-so-distant-future science fiction, raising questions of humanity’s capacity for charity vs. our selfish application of that capacity. The story will search for solutions to national and world issues in the only place they can ultimately be found: the hearts and souls of that world’s own citizens.