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It was funny, but the other night I was watching hoops and I received a message on Facebook. Someone who had read Dogs On Main Street had sent me a message, and while I didn't know the person very well, I enjoyed the message:
Hey just wanted to let you know that I loved the book. Great cover. I laughed. I cried. All in the right places, I think!
The great cover comments really make me smile, and I was certainly appreciative of the book comments. I wrote back and thanked her and told her it was fun to write fiction again.
And the cool part was that she sent a note back asking me a couple of questions.
Which set me off. I told her the back story on all the characters and let her know that the gas station robbery was pretty much true.
We traded texts back and forth and I kept getting deeper and deeper into why the characters did what they did. After a little while I realized that I was prattling on a little bit.
But that's almost as much fun as writing it.
There is so much time spent in plot development that when someone says:
Are you as big a Springsteen fan as Joseph?
I have plenty to say.
So...the behind the scenes a little...cause it's fun.
The story idea came to me as Kathy and I were scrambling for tickets to see Bruce on the 2012 tour. We wanted to get great seats and we were locked out of the room. As we tried to get back in I thought of running to Buffalo to get tickets for the 1983 tour. I had been fortunate enough to find an out-of-the-way Tops supermarket that was selling those seats and I scored four tickets.
I mentioned to Kathy that a lot of life had happened since the first Bruce show and I was off to the races in my mind.
'What if' is always the starting point:
What if there were a group of people who had tried their hands at life, and failed, and got together again trying for one last shot at redemption?
Then the characters:
Joseph is a bigger Springsteen fan than me, but put it this way: I didn't have to do a lot of research on the subject.
Layla had to be a character who suffered abuse. I've known a few women in such a position through the years; bright, beautiful women who suffer and often times fail. She needed to show Joseph the way a bit.
Rolando was really the guy who worked at the gas station next door to my broken-down apartment back in the 90's...physically. As a human Rolando was a mix-and-match of a few people I really love - names are withheld to protect the guilty. So be careful...parts of you may somehow end up in a story down the line.
Mary had to be spiritual. I've definitely met a few women who believe what she believes. Mary is a little over the top, but not much.
Adam is a collage of a couple of college roommates and his job to stay in fancy hotel rooms and eat fancy meals and drink all he can to see what the travel will be like for the rest of the company is an actual job! I know a guy who performed such functions.
In the end, I wanted this traveling band to be the sort of people Bruce always writes about in his songs. Like the rest of us, there is a never-ending search for what is right and true.
The Dogs on Main Street howl...
...because they understand.
Hey just wanted to let you know that I loved the book. Great cover. I laughed. I cried. All in the right places, I think!
The great cover comments really make me smile, and I was certainly appreciative of the book comments. I wrote back and thanked her and told her it was fun to write fiction again.
And the cool part was that she sent a note back asking me a couple of questions.
Which set me off. I told her the back story on all the characters and let her know that the gas station robbery was pretty much true.
We traded texts back and forth and I kept getting deeper and deeper into why the characters did what they did. After a little while I realized that I was prattling on a little bit.
But that's almost as much fun as writing it.
There is so much time spent in plot development that when someone says:
Are you as big a Springsteen fan as Joseph?
I have plenty to say.
So...the behind the scenes a little...cause it's fun.
The story idea came to me as Kathy and I were scrambling for tickets to see Bruce on the 2012 tour. We wanted to get great seats and we were locked out of the room. As we tried to get back in I thought of running to Buffalo to get tickets for the 1983 tour. I had been fortunate enough to find an out-of-the-way Tops supermarket that was selling those seats and I scored four tickets.
I mentioned to Kathy that a lot of life had happened since the first Bruce show and I was off to the races in my mind.
'What if' is always the starting point:
What if there were a group of people who had tried their hands at life, and failed, and got together again trying for one last shot at redemption?
Then the characters:
Joseph is a bigger Springsteen fan than me, but put it this way: I didn't have to do a lot of research on the subject.
Layla had to be a character who suffered abuse. I've known a few women in such a position through the years; bright, beautiful women who suffer and often times fail. She needed to show Joseph the way a bit.
Rolando was really the guy who worked at the gas station next door to my broken-down apartment back in the 90's...physically. As a human Rolando was a mix-and-match of a few people I really love - names are withheld to protect the guilty. So be careful...parts of you may somehow end up in a story down the line.
Mary had to be spiritual. I've definitely met a few women who believe what she believes. Mary is a little over the top, but not much.
Adam is a collage of a couple of college roommates and his job to stay in fancy hotel rooms and eat fancy meals and drink all he can to see what the travel will be like for the rest of the company is an actual job! I know a guy who performed such functions.
In the end, I wanted this traveling band to be the sort of people Bruce always writes about in his songs. Like the rest of us, there is a never-ending search for what is right and true.
The Dogs on Main Street howl...
...because they understand.
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