The Pyrenees---Southern France

The Pyrenees---Southern France

Friday, July 7, 2017

Musical Memory Lane...and Back-of-the-Book Blurb # 66

At writing critique night this week, Lynn shared an early concert memory. (I think it was her first concert.) Her vignette was more about an awful prospective boyfriend than the Ozark Mountain Daredevils concert... but it brought back a flood of memories.

On the way back home, Kim and I talked about our first concert. Kim's first was Crosby, Stills and Nash. (That made me extremely jealous. CS & N was one of my favorite groups. They still are.) I'm not sure if my first one was a Richie Havens-John Sebastian combo (there was a third singer, but I don't remember who it was) in Wash U's quadrangle, or whether Cat Stevens was my first.

I do know who ruined me for concerts. Harry Chapin.

Harry Chapin's concerts were intimate, poignant and hilarious. A true storyteller, he could weave human suffering into a few verses and a chorus better than everybody else. He didn't have much of a voice, but what a songwriter he was. He'd alternate a song about a dry-cleaner who aspired to be an opera singer... only to have his dreams dashed to the ground by critics... with a song about a truckload of bananas that meets a horrible end. And he could do it with an incredible wryness.

In-between songs, he'd make jokes about the other musicians on stage. It was good-natured back-and-forth banter. They gave as well as they took.


                             This is a song that hardly ever made it on
                             the radio waves. Be patient--watch the
                             whole thing. Chapin shares four different
                             endings... and they're amusing...

What was your first concert? Leave a comment and share a memory. I'd love to hear about it.

And now onto the business of the book blurb.

Look at the photo below. That is the cover of your bookYou choose the genre. Is it a nonfiction piece? Is it a romance between a fellow primate and his selfie stick? You decide.

Write an enticing blurb--150 words or less. (The title doesn't count in the word count.) Blurbs are those enticing bits that prod you into buying the book. Sometimes they're on the back cover of the book. Sometimes they're on the inside front cover. What they always try to do is lure you into purchasing the book. 

Lisa Ricard Claro was the original creator of this writing challenge. We don't know what she's doing these days. She moved to Florida and with the piles of money she's made from her novels. She's probably hired a couple of cute cabana boys. Perhaps that is what's keeping her busy... (If one of them looks anything like Viggo Mortensen or Benecio del Toro, I hope Lisa at least lets me visit so I can gape and drool a bit.)


Include your blurb in a blog post. Include a link to this post. Also, link your post to Mr. Linky. Mr. Linky is easy. If you've never done it, you'll be impressed with how simple he is. And then, check out the other blurb(s). It's interesting to see the different directions writers take, given the same photo.

Here's the book cover, along with my blurb:
                                                         photo by Pixabay


Manny’s Revenge
Manny was tired of being stared at. Manny was especially weary of people who’d think they were clever by looking at him through the glass and making weird noises while they scratched their armpits and jumped around.
Enough. Manny the gorilla was mad as heck, and he wasn’t going to take it anymore. When the next group of idiots gathered to gape, Manny swung from his rope onto the top edge of the wall. Reaching out, he grabbed one of their cameras and gracefully swung back to the floor of his enclosure.
Looking into the glass, he saw himself—certainly a more handsome primate than that idiot in the spandex bike shorts and the fanny pack who’d just waddled past.
Is that what people were doing with these things—admiring themselves?

Manny decided to turn the tables on the foolish spectators… and he already knew what he was going to do first. (150 words)




For those writers who'd like to work ahead, here is the photo for next week's blurb:


photo by pixabay




12 comments:

  1. My first concert was also the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. I don't remember much about it...

    I'm afraid that I know Manny's plan, and NOBODY wants a picture of that!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Val--I guess you want to "get to heaven" because you're doing exactly what the Ozark Mountain Devils say is required...

      Delete
  2. Oh Man, I know what Manny is up to.

    My first concert was Leo Sayer, I took my daughter when she was fourteen. My most memorable were share and Rod Stewart.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Linda--Leo Sayer? I remember him. Did you enjoy it?

      Delete
  3. Manny has my attention. lol

    My first concert was David Cassidy. I've seen many since then---my favorites are Bryan Adams and Keith Urban, with Urban beating Adams by a nose. Or a swing of his blond hair. Whatever. Keith Urban is an amazing guitarist and so much fun to watch.

    I'm envious of anyone who saw Crosby, Stills, & Nash. One of my all-time favorite albums is Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young Four-Way Street. LOVE. IT. And now I'll have to listen to it today. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lisa--I think I love you, so what am I so afraid of?

      If you're a true David Cassidy fan, you hated Susan Dey and Kay Lenz (who he married) AND you know what song that line is from.

      Delete
  4. I saw the gorilla and immediately thought that should be King Kong on top of the Empire State building taking a selfie.
    Harry Chapin was gone much too soon. His song Taxi really moved me like songs do when you picture yourself as the guy singing because it could easily be you.
    First concert? I think it was the Association with a warm up by the First Edition before Kenny Rogers put his name in front. Or maybe it was the Righteous Brothers.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I remember Harry Chapin coming to the restaurant where I worked in NY before I ever went to college. And I remember seeing Harry Chapin in concert at my university when I was a college student. I was so sad when I heard he died. I still love the Cat's in the Cradle.

    I wonder what Manny is going to do next! I bet he will surprise everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Not only do I love Cat Stevens AND Harry Chapin but I have all their albums. And to this day, can sing ALL the words to a buttload of their songs. I saw Harry Chapin and yep, it was exactly as you described it. I think my first concert, though, was The Carpenters. Don't remember the concert but I do remember the poor boy that took me (this was in high school, he'd just started driving) had an accident on the way home and had to call his dad. Dad was really ticked off and that poor boy was mortified.

    We did not go out again. Guess his father felt I was too distracting. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cathy--By "accident" do you mean a bowel accident or a car accident? ;)

      The Carpenters... I had several 45 Carpenters' records that I wore out, I played them so much.

      Delete
  7. I'm sad to say I can't remember my first concert, although many years ago I did attend an Ozark Mountain Daredevils concert. Hey, maybe Lynn and I sat a few rows away from each other!

    Pat
    www.patwahler.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Playing along at catch-up on blog posts:
    My first concert was ... wait for it ... The Beatles! 1964. $4.50 for a front balcony ticket. I wrote an essay on the experience. I'm sure that was an expensive gift from my poverty-stricken single mom. My sister took me. Mom watched the news on TV and was horrified that we'd be trampled to death. But I was in heaven. John was so funny. And I breathed the same air as George!! The same air!!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comments. I appreciate you taking the time to stop by...