Linda Daly
Author, Screenwriter, Publisher
Before we embark on sharing this new series with you, Phil and I would like to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to our friends, family, and colleagues. Your unwavering support, encouragement, and expertise have been instrumental in keeping our dream alive. As we begin this new adventure, we feel truly blessed to continue our passion for storytelling by intertwining the rich history of our home state with vibrant fictional characters.
The Madman In The Shed, Book One of the America Comes of Age series, opens during a thrilling period of American history. This era—often referred to as the Industrial Age and the Age of the Robber Barons—was marked by the rapid expansion of railroads that interconnected the nation from north to south and east to west, fueling both commerce and culture. Innovations such as refrigerated boxcars transformed industry and reshaped everyday life.
From the 1890s through the 1930s, the world experienced monumental change driven by innovation and ambition. This era was characterized by prosperity and complacency, excess and poverty, waves of immigration, political upheaval, global conflict, and remarkable economic growth. It was a time of contradiction—one that laid the foundation for the modern world.
This exploration of the Detroit metropolitan area delves into pivotal events that helped shape our nation. The series shines a light on key moments and movements, including the rise of the automobile, the advent of electricity, the Suffragette Movement, the Great Fire, the San Francisco Earthquake, mass immigration, Black Friday, the Chicago World’s Fair, the notorious serial killer H. H. Holmes, the sinking of the Titanic, the Great War (World War I), Prohibition, the Roaring Twenties, and the Great Depression, among many others.
With that said, readers should bear in mind that The Gay ’90s is a work of historical fiction inspired by the industrial transformation of Detroit at the turn of the twentieth century.
While the novels depict actual historical figures—including Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Thomas Edison, and the Dodge brothers—and incorporate real events such as the Panic of 1893, the invention of the Quadricycle, and the founding of the Ford Motor Company, these elements have been dramatized for narrative purposes. Dialogue, internal thoughts, and specific interactions involving historical figures are products of the author’s imagination and should not be construed as factual accounts of their private lives.
The O’Malley Dynasty and other supporting characters (unless otherwise documented in the historical record) are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events beyond the historical record is purely coincidental. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
This series seeks to capture the spirit, atmosphere, and emotional truths of an era that defined the modern world, rather than serving as a textbook account of history. We invite you to join us on this journey into our nation’s past—brought to life through a fictional lens—as together we uncover the stories that continue to shape who we are today.
With love, light, and peace,
Linda and Phil