#737: More writing projects....

"Well I know it sounds funny, but I'm not in it for the money, no...."
Hey there. This is probably going to sound boring and self-serving of me, but I'm still writing my ass off Out Here every chance I get. I would LOVE to be writing fiction, short stories, novels -- but non-fiction and memoirs are the only things that seem to Want to Come Out, so....
* Am currently halfway through proofreading a memoir about growing-up in Idaho with my wild-ass older step-brother -- the book is called BROTHERS. I hit some of the main points of this story in a post here a couple years back called "My Brother From Another Mother" -- look it up if you feel brave. One of my Faithful Readers Out There has been waiting to read The Rest Of This Story for more than 30 years....
You can trust that this tale will feature all the Drama and Angst you probably remember from back when you were a teenager -- no matter how hard you've tried to block it all out. Or was that just me?
Once I've made sure the basic story's all in English, I feel like all I gotta do is call up my step-brother back in Michigan -- who I haven't talked to since 1975 -- and see if he still remembers who the hell I am. Then I'll see if he wants to talk. And if he doesn't ... that won't surprise me too much either.
The eight months covered by this memoir will include the first time I ever got REALLY close to girls(!), the first time I ever smoked pot, the first time I ever committed petty theft ... should be fun. I'll keep you posted as I get closer to getting it finished.
* Am about halfway through LISTEN TO THIS!: TAD'S GUIDE TO STRANGE MUSIC. Have gotten a lot of reviews written -- more than 100 artists included, more than 500 albums mentioned.
But it's disappointing me. So far, it doesn't seem DIFFERENT ENOUGH from some other music guides out there. So I'm re-thinking my approach. By the time I'm done, it might read more like a bunch of blog posts or nostalgia pieces rather than a book of record reviews -- and that's fine with me. Might as well explain HOW I stumbled over Yes and Genesis and Renaissance back-asswardly from everybody else, WHY I have problems with Peter Gabriel's voice, etc. Plus I have some listening gaps I'd like to fill in before the book's done. So that's in the works....
* Also have that Rock Group Novel cooking, but other than some minor additions I made while I bashed it all into the World's Smallest Laptop, I don't think I've added more than 500 NEW words to it in the last month or so. I'm still not sure where it's headed. So that might be a dead end. I'll still be looking at it....
* Also, while unable to sleep a couple nights ago, I finally decided that it's time to pull together a GAS NAZI! book. That will take the most outrageous stuff from my GAS NAZI! blog and add a TON more outrageous Real Life stories that have never been published anywhere before. I sat down on Sunday and bashed-up off the top of my head a couple pages' worth of notes and incidents that should be included in the book, so I don't think I'm gonna have too much trouble pulling that one together.... Besides, I've been on the job for 10 years -- what better way to mark it?
All of these will probably end up as Kindle e-books available through Amazon.com's Kindle Store -- so if you've got a Kindle, or a Kindle app for your iPad or whatever (I'm REALLY low-tech), I hope you'll watch for them and help your local struggling hack writer build up a few extra $$$ toward his retirement.
While you're waiting, my record-store memoir GUARANTEED GREAT MUSIC! is still available at Amazon.com, along with its playlist/companion RECORD STORE DAZE -- which should have been part of GGM, except that I was an idiot. Both those are available for $2.99. I think GGM is worth much more -- and so do those two folks who have reviewed GGM so far at Amazon. And one of those reviews I didn't even PAY for! Hahahahahaha.... Hmmm, tough crowd....
But the BIG news is -- you can get a copy of my newspaper-career memoir, THE CONFESSOR, for FREE through Feb. 21, just by punching-in the title at Amazon's Kindle Store -- just like, my Ghod, 45 people already have as of 7 p.m. Monday. Or you can punch in my Real Name -- which is Tracy Deaton -- and you can call up all the stuff that's out there with my name on it. I don't make any money on the freebies, but I just wanna get the book out there and see what people think....
This is really shameless, and I apologize for that. But there's a reason I'm not blogging so much anymore, and this is it.
Besides, to be a little too honest, ever since my best friend Don Vincent died unexpectedly a couple of years ago, I've felt like The Clock Is Running, and I need to Get Some Work Done. I plan to be around for a long time -- I feel better than I have in years -- but you know what Motivation can be like....
Too bad I couldn't have done this stuff in my 20's or 30's....