Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

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This one’s penned by a guy. A GUY.

You know, Rock Fiction might be one of the few areas where men authors are scarce. Think they’re too busy making music and the fantasy to actually write about it?

Catherine Summer Carlson knows how to manage bands like a professional – she’s a student at the PopArts Academy at Mount Hope High, where rock legends Allegiance to North got their start. The never-skipping-class Catherine part of her knows, though, that falling for the lead singer of her latest band is the least professional thing a manager can do. But Caleb Daniels isn’t an ordinary band boy – he’s a hot, dreamy, sweet-singing, exiled-from-his-old-band, possibly-with-a-deep-dark-side band boy. And he can do that thing. That thing when someone sings a song and it inhabits you, possesses you, and moves you like a marionette to its will.

Over tacos on lunch dates to far-off outlet-mall planets and during practices at the Hive with their new band, Dangerheart, Catherine – no, Summer – falls in love with Caleb.

She also finds herself at the center of a mystery she never saw coming. When Caleb reveals a secret about his long-lost father, one band’s past becomes another’s present, and Summer finds it harder and harder to be both band manager and girlfriend. She knows what the well-mannered Catherine side of her would do, but she also knows what her heart is telling her. Maybe it’s time to accept who she really is, even if it means becoming an exile herself…

Kevin Emerson’s Exile is a witty and passionate ode to love, rock and roll, and the freedom that comes in the moment when somebody believes in you, even if you’re not quite ready to believe in yourself.

Yeah, yeah, here we go again. The manager falls for the guy in the band she’s managing. REAL professional there, sweetheart.

I need a break from this one, but it seems that authors are still feeling it. I get it: it’s easy. It’s convenient. It’s a way to get them in the same orbit and make it believable. Except… it kind of isn’t. Because professionalism.

And then we have a bit of an ugly duckling story mixed in, too, and those, I like. So for that, bring it. But enough with the unprofessional managers already.

Band managers everywhere are plotting a revolt, you know. They’re offended that they keep getting portrayed as only there to screw the band because let’s face it: no matter how they deny it, that’s what they are doing there.

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The first line here catches me SO HARD.

After getting kicked out of her own band—by her own boyfriend—Presley Mason finds herself back in Wisconsin, helping her parents run their renowned music store. Instead of belting out powerhouse vocals to sold-out crowds in L.A., she’s stocking shelves and inspecting rental violins. But the shop isn’t all bad: When she’s vacuuming up late one night, she bumps into the guitar teacher with the smoldering amber eyes and the killer tattoo. And that’s when things take an interesting turn.

Presley soon finds that Paul Kellerman is as good in bed as he is on guitar. So why isn’t he stoked to share his band, Jukebox Bleu, with her? Turns out Paul has crippling stage fright, which he’s been self-medicating without much success. But when Jukebox Bleu’s lead singer gets called for military service, the other members beg Presley to front them. Even though she swore never to mix men with music again, the temptation to perform is almost as intense as her chemistry with Paul. Now Presley must decide what’s more important: a second chance at love . . . or rock stardom.

We’ve seen the shy frontman trope before. Not often; Burke’s book is the only other one Susan and I can remember. And here, it doesn’t sound like Presley is going to try to cure her lover so much as step in and railroad him. A method I particularly approve of ’cause it’s real.

And there’s other fresh stuff here: getting fired by your boyfriend. Parents who are vested in music but aren’t (so far as I can tell) former rock stars. A lead singer who gets called to military service.

Yes. I like. Bring this one, and bring it QUICK.

Welcome Rock Fiction author Sarah Tipper to The Rock of Pages! She was Tweeting about reading Lemmy: The Definitive Biography, and so I asked if she’d like to write a review for us here at The Rock of Pages. While we like to focus on the fiction end of the rock, we know that there’s some amazing non-fiction out there, too. We’re glad to represent.

 

When Susan invited me to review Lemmy The Definitive Biography she was kindly making an exception to a rule (well, more a guideline), because usually it’s fiction that gets reviewed around here. The great thing about Lemmy is that he told some tall stories and so there is undoubtedly some pockets of fiction in this non-fiction biography. I remember reading in an interview with Lemmy that he went to see a Harley Street doctor and was told not to give up drinking and drug taking by this medical expert because it’d kill him. Since I read this as a teenager I’ve had this tale recounted to me many, many times in pubs and at gigs. It might be shaggy dog stuff but it added to the myth of Lemmy. I am happy to myth(ologize) Lemmy but very sad to miss Lemmy.

So, The Definitive Autobiography. Definitive, eh? With authority and conclusively? Actually yes, that’s how it reads. Wall spoke to Lemmy himself repeatedly and to a lot of those close to Lemmy. Sometimes the things you say in response to a question from a trusted friend are not things you’ve ever directly thought about yourself and so Wall’s information from those close to Lemmy is often enlightening.

 

Well, that’s Wall’s credentials established, what about mine? I am a long time Motörhead and Lemmy fan. I dedicated my most recent book to Lemmy (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eviscerated-Panda-So-Far-Good-ebook/dp/B01CRJ3G0C). I’ve started a Lemmy shrine (it needs fairy lights and some angels, I’m trying to find some slutty looking ones but typing slutty Christmas angels into Google is producing interesting results).

My Lemmy shrine complete with Mick Wall’s book (fairy lights and slutty angels to be added at a later date).

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In Lemmy The Definitive Biography, Mick Wall covers the areas less well covered in other Lemmy tomes (he’s clearly very familiar with White Line Fever by Lemmy and Janiss Garza). Wall covers the Hawkwind years and Motörhead’s career in detail but he avoids the trap of long dull lists of tour dates and technical information that some rock and metal biographies fall into. Quotes from Lemmy are sprinkled throughout which makes you feel he’s still around, dispensing wisdom.

My favourite parts of the book are;

Lemmy calling Eddie Clarke “Fancy Bollocks”.

Lemmy complimenting Colleen Nolan on her tits in a totally non-sleazy way.

Lemmy claiming Motörhead had the power to make lawns die (neatly skewering and satirizing suburban preoccupations in one sentence).

Lemmy quoted as saying “I live my life as decent as I can, you know, I never made…I hardly ever made a promise I didn’t keep”.

My least favourite part of the book was;

I cried on page 288. Yeah, I knew he was going to die but Lemmy is woven into a lot of metal fans lives, including mine. I last saw him live in 2014 at Wacken Open Air (with Heavy Metal Panda, the mascot for my Eviscerated Panda series) and now I like to think of Lemmy as being in the big backstage area in the sky.

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In summary, Wall’s book is a splendid read that captures Lemmy’s unique philosophy of life. You’ll be able to ask yourself after reading “What would Lemmy do?” and be able to answer yourself. The answer is probably stay determined, stick to your guns, have a drink and don’t let the bastards grind you down. Thank you, Mick Wall for a chunky book of warm Lemmy tales.

 

 

 

 

 

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I feel like we’re turning into total fangirls for Kylie Scott without having read a single word of hers! But she puts out the books, we keep finding them, and so we keep adding to what of hers that we covet.

Here’s another one, Deep:

Don’t miss a beat with the fourth and final novel in the USA Today bestselling Stage Dive series from Kylie Scott.

Positive. With two little lines on a pregnancy test, everything in Lizzy Rollins’ ordinary life is about to change forever. And all because of one big mistake in Vegas with Ben Nicholson, the irresistibly sexy bass player for Stage Dive. So what if Ben’s the only man she’s ever met who can make her feel completely safe, cherished, and out of control with desire at the same time? Lizzy knows the gorgeous rock star isn’t looking for anything more permanent than a good time, no matter how much she wishes differently.

Ben knows Lizzy is off limits. Completely and utterly. She’s his best friend’s little sister now, and no matter how hot the chemistry is between them, no matter how sweet and sexy she is, he’s not going to go there. But when Ben is forced to keep the one girl he’s always had a weakness for out of trouble in Sin City, he quickly learns that what happens in Vegas, doesn’t always stay there. Now he and Lizzie are connected in the deepest way possible… but will it lead to a connection of the heart?

This one’s perfect for anyone who loves the little sister trope. And the unexpected pregnancy trope. And anyone who’s read the first three in the series, as well.

Does anyone know if you can jump into the middle of this series, or is it a start-at-the-start type? Anyone read ANY Kylie Scott yet? Anyone got a lead to get her to stop in and guest blog?

 

 

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There’s something about this that makes me think it’s YA, although the first sentence says the character has his own apartment. New Adult, then? It just seems young.

I’m Tyler Lindsey, and until recently, I had an okay apartment, an okay girlfriend, and an okay job as a bellboy at a respectable Boston hotel. Then rock star Chris Raiden died right before I brought his room service—stiffing me on the tip, by the way—and my life went to hell. My fifteen minutes of fame was more like five seconds, and my girlfriend left me in disgust.

But even worse—Chris is haunting me. Not the room where he died, like a normal ghost. No, somehow he’s stuck to me and is insisting on taking care of a bunch of unfinished business in California. So now I have to traipse across the country with the world’s most narcissistic ghost.

But . . . I keep having these weird thoughts. Thoughts about how much I like the way he makes me laugh. Thoughts where I kind of want to kiss the emo-narcissist, even though he’s a ghost and an asshole and I can’t touch him anyway. And even if I could, what will happen when he finishes his business and nothing’s keeping him here anymore?

Okay, I like the ghost idea here. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a totally new and fresh plot!

But I’m not so sure about other stuff. Like the fact that Tyler here is whining about the guy dying without leaving a tip for something that hadn’t been delivered yet. Into yourself much? And then this guy calls the ghost a narcissist twice and … just who’s got the complex here?

Still, we don’t see a lot of ghost stories in Rock Fiction, which is weird because if there was ever a section of lit that begs for it, this is it. And now we’ve got one, so Jett here is gonna shut up and hope a copy of this lands on her e-reader so she can see what it’s all about and if this ghost story lives up to its potential.

The Rock Fiction just doesn’t stop… oh, how I love this new world of self-publishing. It’s perfect for Rock Fiction, which is considered by most of the big publishing houses to be a poorly selling genre.

Needless to say, my mission is to prove them WRONG. Who’s with me?

Today’s coveted book is Fortune Calling, written by Hunter S. Jones. It’s got the odds stacked against it because it’s set in Nashville, which is, of course, where the same-named TV show is set. I think any of us who watch Nashville (and I’m hooked, of course!) will pick up this book with a preconceived notion of what the scene ought to look like.

That’s most likely a shame because the plot’s intriguing. Different.

Here’s the book description:

<blockquote>Dallas Fortune is a small town girl with a gift for playing guitar. A member of her family has played the Grand Ol Opry since it began as a simple radio show in 1925. But, they are the minstrels, the troubadours–session players–not stars.

Dallas lives her life on the road. She’s just another guitar player with a dream until she finds an antique blue mandolin in a pawn shop. Her life comes into focus as the enchantment of the mandolin captivates her audiences. The Guitar God of Nashville beckons her. Everything is there for Dallas at last, until a stage accident sends her home and shatters her dreams. Blow after blow she fights the hand of fate. Is she destined to lose out in life? Hope, dreams, and love seem to be just out of reach. Every girl dreams of a happy ending. Will a spontaneous card reading reveal her destiny?Dallas Fortune has the best Fairy Godmother in country music history. Will she help make Dallas’ dreams come true?

Is the future among the stars, in the cards or locked in your heart?</blockquote>

Okay, okay, FINE. It’s Cinderella. But Cinderella with cowboy boots and a mandolin!

(Mandolin? Who plays mandolin anymore? COOL!)