This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Susan Sloate will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
I can’t turn my back on my characters for a second—you never know what they’ll grab when I do!
Take Dary Dover, for instance. He’s a minor character in my new novel, SCENES FOR A SONG—manager of the band who comprise the four central characters in the story. Okay, I introduced Dary as a beautifully-dressed, elegant and obviously sophisticated guy with some secrets. I really don’t know why I did that; I didn’t expect the band manager to be more than a pop-in, pop-out kind of figure—there to help move the band’s career forward, but not much more than that.
Did he ever surprise me!
The sneaky little mother turned around and became a central part of the band’s history, something I never dreamed of when I started!
In fact, he became so much a part of the band’s history that the band members themselves were still talking about him, more than 50 years later! (You’ll have to read the novel to find out why, but I promise the answer is worth it!)
Dary surprised me, for sure, but I also found myself surprised by the depth of the relationship between Jimmy and Mark, the co-lead singers in the band, who become close friends almost immediately after their first meeting and end up sharing some of the most important moments of their lives. I thought they’d just be casual buddies who wrote songs together, but that’s not what happened at all. Their relationship was central to the story of the band, and it certainly does navigate some interesting twists and turns. Again, I didn’t see them coming when I started. You can never be too sure what you know about your characters—at the oddest moments, something else will pop out about them that you never dreamed would be there!
On Halloween Eve, 1961, in his dingy Bronx walkup apartment, seventeen-year-old Jimmy Welton hears the opening notes of a song in his head. Jimmy’s still mourning his firefighter father, who taught him to play the guitar but recently died in a house fire, leaving his family destitute. Jimmy takes this song, about all he misses from his life now, to the New York amusement park where he works after school. There, he meets Mark Morgan, a rebellious teen with his own band, who eventually invites Jimmy to join them. And the rest is rock’n roll history…
Their band, The GooseBumps, become a worldwide phenomenon, and the songs they write and sing together become the backbone of rock musical history. And the song Jimmy first heard on Halloween, “Wrapped in Gauze”, becomes the song that not only comforts him in that terrible time but also comforts others: Victoria, recently divorced and dealing with an out-of-nowhere family tragedy; Carolyn, whose final flippant words to someone in pain can’t be taken back; and Jack, battling back from unimaginable loss with the help of his cheeky therapist and a song he thinks he hates.
SCENES FROM A SONG is the story of a song that makes us smile, that breaks our hearts, that stays with us forever, and the very special band that started it all.
Enjoy an Excerpt
“Jimmy Welton, meet my good friend, Mark Morgan.”
“Hi,” Jimmy said, extending his hand to the newcomer.
Mark looked at his hand as though he didn’t know what to do with it, then reached out and pumped it with his own. Jimmy noticed his own hand felt bruised when he let it drop.
Mark looked at him, his eyes narrowing. “So what’s your job here—you’re the handsome prince at the park? So all the girls can swoon over you?” His voice, a normal baritone, escalated suddenly almost to falsetto. He batted his eyelashes girlishly at Jimmy.
Jimmy grimaced. He hated being teased about his costume, and now he liked this guy even less.
Luke went on eagerly. “Mark goes to high school downtown, Jimmy. He came out tonight to scout the park.”
“What for?” Jimmy asked, not really interested in the answer. The guy struck him as a bad imitation of James Dean. Jimmy had met plenty like him, and they were all bad news.
“For my band to play here,” Mark answered, his voice cutting through the windy evening.
Jimmy, who had been ready to walk away, stopped dead. “You have a band?”
“Sure as hell do. I play guitar and sing.”
Jimmy had never met anyone, boy or girl, who was in a band. Suddenly he wasn’t mad about being teased anymore; he was starting to get excited. He tried to seem nonchalant as he asked, “Is it a dance band or country-western, or—”
Mark looked amused. “No, Pretty Boy. It’s rock `n roll. Ever hear of it?”
Rock ‘n roll! Jimmy would kill to hear a live rock ‘n roll band.
About the Author 
SUSAN SLOATE is the author or co-author of more than 25 published books. This includes 3 editions of Forward to Camelot, a time-travel thriller about the JFK assassination that became a #6 Amazon bestseller, was honored in 3 literary competitions and was optioned by a Hollywood company for film production. She also wrote the autobiographical Broadway novel Stealing Fire, which became a #2 Amazon bestseller and Hot New Release, and Realizing You (with Ron Doades), for which she invented a new genre: the self-help novel.
Susan has also written young-adult fiction and non-fiction, including the children’s biography Ray Charles: Find Another Way, which won the silver medal in the 2007 Children’s Moonbeam Awards. Mysteries Unwrapped: The Secrets of Alcatraz led to her 2009 appearance on the TV series MysteryQuest for The History Channel. She has also been a sportswriter and a screenwriter, edited the popular Kyle & Corey young-adult book series, man-aged two political campaigns and founded an author’s festival to promote student literacy in her hometown outside Charleston, SC. She has appeared in multiple volumes of WHO’S WHO IN AMERICA, WHO’S WHO IN ENTERTAINMENT and WHO’S WHO AMONG AMERICAN WOMEN.
The book will be $0.99 during the tour at Website.
Love. Lies. And the Road to Redemption.
The story unfolds in 268 AD, when Rome is ruled by cruelty and fear. At its center is Valentine, a once-feared warrior who narrowly survives death and is forever changed by Agatha, a woman whose blindness hides extraordinary courage. Through their love, Valentine finds a new calling: to defy imperial law by secretly performing marriages for Christian couples. Each ceremony risks his capture and execution, yet with every vow spoken he plants the seeds of resistance against tyranny. As his defiance intensifies, Valentine’s actions ripple far beyond his lifetime, giving rise to the enduring tradition of Valentine’s Day. More than a love story, this novel is a chronicle of rebellion and faith, where devotion shines brightest in the darkest times.
Sheldon Collins built his career in Hollywood, where he wrote and directed films that were praised for their narrative depth and showcased at international festivals before airing on premium television. With The Legend of Valentine, he translates that cinematic storytelling to the page in his first novel, complemented by a multi-cast audiobook edition he co-directed. He lives in California with his wife and daughter, where he enjoys the outdoors—surfing, skiing, hiking, and biking—as well as music, podcasts, and audiobooks. Collins holds a BA in Rhetoric from UC Berkeley and an MFA in Directing from the American Film Institute, blending academic insight with directorial expertise in his fiction.
A vegetarian veterinarian needs cash for a no-kill shelter, which is her life’s passion. But her efforts to fundraiser have been stymied, because she doesn’t know anyone rich.
Jim Turner writes crime but doesn’t live it. He respects his grandfather’s tales of heroes but doesn’t believe them. When his failing grandfather sends him to a remote peninsula to write the end of his own heroic love story, Jim includes a war criminal interview to maintain his edge.
Society may be run by the men of the ton, but six scandalous sisters are determined to take it by storm one gentleman at a time.
Helene Matheson writes steamy regency historical romance novels with intelligent, unstoppable heroines who don’t require an alpha male to save them—having one in their bed is another story.
As dark secrets unravel around her, Skylar must follow her heart—and maybe find her once-in-a-lifetime love.
