This is a special preview edition of the blog, there'll be a regular entry coming in the first week of January 2022 with all of the usual features plus more related items about the book.
The first nine chapters (called episodes) of my serial novel, "
The Quitters" are now live on Amazon Vella.
The basic format of this serial, which are called episodes on the site, are short chapters of about 1000 words each. After some experimentation, it seemed that was the ideal length for an episode, and a good way to view the story is to see it as a weekly situation comedy or drama, but with a read time of 5-10 minutes each. I'll adjust the length depending on how readers respond. The site doesn't record how many people read it (except on the author's dashboard), so the only actual visible stats are follows and "thumbs up," with the latter appearing to be the most important in terms of public perception.
The primary category is humor, since it is a satire, so I wasn't bound by genre conventions like in mystery or romance stories, but the type of humor in this story will have to find it's audience, though I can say, if you like the On The Road With Al And Ivy blog and understand it's humor, you'll like The Quitters. As far as a second category, it could fall into historical fiction, LGBT, or even adventure, but I'm going to rotate that around or even not bother with it until I get a feel for what those categories mean in the Vella site. Those terms can mean different things depending on the audience.
I should note that the tone will be lighthearted and fun, as I enjoyed my time spent as a Punk Rocker. Many of the facets of the scene were ripe for satire and parody, and since this is a humorous book, I've taken every opportunity to do so, but the main goal is entertainment.
Although the book will be set in the SF Punk scene (and later on in Southern California), it's also a story with real characters and intended to relate to anyone who enjoys music or has artistic ambitions. The characters are not going to be cardboard caricatures or lampoons, and represent a wide range of personalities.
The main character, a bassist called Nym, is young and still open to experience. Nym's personality will appear to be a mix of naïveté and optimism, which will be tested as events develop, and there's the prospect of cynicism around the corner as the real world begins to intrude. How that optimism survives in the face of adversity will be a central theme of the book.
The drummer is Hydie, who reminds Nym of an older sister, Ida, who is part of a theatre group, and in many ways is the defacto leader of the group. She lives in Santa Cruz (California) with her girlfriend, who would in 2022 be referred as her partner, and will represent both the female experience in the early punk days, and provide some insight why the beach community there became a haven for lesbian culture.
The titular leader is Roder, along with his pal, Quill, who are also hard core surfers from the Santa Cruz scene, who are geniuses at self promotion, but whose singing talents fall considerably short. Both will provide a glimpse into the politics of the punk scene in San Francisco, and of the insular, but fascinating surf scene in California. Surfers were early fans and sympathizers of punk music.
The new lead guitarist is Jem, a hippie still sort of stuck in the 60s, but with its best qualities as readers will realize in the later chapters. He starts off looking like a real hippy dippy type, and seemingly lost in the charged atmosphere of the punk club, but his reasons for leaving 60s style rock will reasonate with anyone who's ever had to choose between growth and staying in a comfort zone.
The first three chapters were uploaded ahead of the start date to make sure there were no problems. It went smoothly, so I figure this is as good a time as any to announce the book going live.
Feedback is important on the Vella platform (all of Amazon actually), so any "thumbs up" will be deeply appreciated.
The paid chapters start at the fourth, though Vella gives new readers 200 free tokens, which would take you well past halfway through the book. Which is fine with me, my main concern is audience and not trying to profit so soon. A book about Punk Rock will be a slow burn, but readers will find that it's a story with real depth and insight about the era. The book will also cover 60s music, folk, jazz, 70s Rock, and events culminate at the now famous Sex Pistols concert at Winterland, which was both the apex, death, and rebirth of the Punk movement.
The first three chapters are free and can be read via the links below. Also, a small sample of the work is below the cover picture:
A End of excerpt...click link below to continue (for free of course)
The Electric Fog Factory.
The Al & Ivy Homeless Literary Journal Archive:
Cover Reveal For Hide In Plain Sight
This is the cover for the upcoming book, Hide In Plain Sight, hopefully out sometime in 2022.
The American Primitive Acoustic Collection by Handa-McGraw International can be streamed on all of the major services, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and dozens of others.
The Music Of Handa-McGraw International can also be heard on the Electric Fog Factory on YouTube. You can hear the album, and dozens of unreleased cuts and demos, plus exclusive video of Ivy.
The Electric Fog Factory.
The Al & Ivy Homeless Literary Journal Archive:
Cover Reveal For Hide In Plain Sight
This is the cover for the upcoming book, Hide In Plain Sight, hopefully out sometime in 2022.
The American Primitive Acoustic Collection by Handa-McGraw International can be streamed on all of the major services, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and dozens of others.
The Music Of Handa-McGraw International can also be heard on the Electric Fog Factory on YouTube. You can hear the album, and dozens of unreleased cuts and demos, plus exclusive video of Ivy.
EPISODE ONE: Our Fifteen Minutes Of Fame Begins
Wednesday evening at the Buhay Gardens, I’m standing off the left of the stage with the rest of the band, waiting for Marley, the promoter of the punk shows, to arrive. It’s my first gig as the bass player, I had to switch over
from guitar when the bassist quit last week. I’m not happy about it, but bass players are hard to find on short notice. The new guitarist, a long haired hippie guy named Jem, rehearsed with us for the first time yesterday.
Marley, a short guy who dresses like a 50s style beatnick out of North Beach, arrives and without looking to see if everyone’s here, starts talking. If you want to play here, you follow his timetable.
He says, "No one knows yet what’s good or bad in punk, so it doesn’t matter if the crowd cheers or boos, as long as there’s a strong reaction, and when your time’s up, the sound crew cuts the power, so don’t get cute and try to steal minutes from the next band."
He starts to jump onto the stage, but turns and adds, "A little advice, I don't know what you all want out of this, but whatever it is, the only thing that matters is you have 15 minutes to convince me to bring you back. Your future isn't in someday wanna be a star La La Land, it’s today, so be what you hope to become, right now."
Marly walks over to the mike to announce our group. My makeup's melting under the hot stage lights. It’s dripping into my eyes, so I wipe it off with my ripped tee. No new face I guess, but it’s OK, I'm still me even if the mask comes off. We don’t take our eyes off him, because the clock starts when he steps off.
Without asking for the crowd’s attention, he goes into his monologue,
“Welcome to the Buhay Gardens, San Francisco’s premier punk showcase! The first band tonight are the Quitters, it’s their first gig,” he smirks and pauses for the mosh pit regulars to begin heckling. After a few seconds to let the catcalls bloom into fuck you city, he adds, “The set runs exactly 15 minutes, which may be all the fame they deserve, so you poseurs who want to form a punk band, this handle might be available tomorrow. Help them live up to their lame name! The Quitters!”
End of excerpt...click link below to continue (for free of course)
https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/episode/B09PC1XQKB?ref_=d6k_applink_bb_dls
