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Published in 2023 by Donut Train Press
Available in Calgary at Pages on Kensington, Owl's Nest, and Shelf Life, and in Orangeville, ON at Booklore.
Booklore reading, orangeville, 2023
author interviews on soundcloud
I was interested in writing a pot boiler that featured a flawed protagonist, an everyman whose ambitions are being thwarted by certain proclivities. In preparation I reread Russell Banks', ‘Continental Drift’, which traces the downward spiral of the central character due to bad habits and decision-making, along with his propensity to rationalize the latter. Banks' ‘Cloudsplitter’ is another novel examining the undoing of the hero, abolitionist John Brown, due to an array of character flaws. John Updike’s four book ‘Rabbit’ series provides an example of a deeply flawed protagonist, Harry Angstrom, persevering in spite of his personal issues.
I also wanted to take a deep dive into the musical genre, a more intimate and authentic journey into the situations and characters than the available literature had offered so far, ‘Half-Blood Blues’ by Esi Edugyan notwithstanding. In this regard I could draw on some 50 plus years experience as a jobbing and recording musician. While these two elements may have been sufficient to craft a readable tale, I decided to add a plot device, a MacGuffin in Hitchcockian parlance, to create tension and help propel the action. To the Beat of a Different Drum combines the musical and thriller genres in, I hope, a compelling way.
This was my initial attempt at a first-person narrative, recounting events solely from the author’s perspective. In terms of advantages, the first-person central provides the reader with a front row seat, a more intimate relationship with the protagonist, an ability to see into his mind along with an ability to build tension and surprise. The challenge is that you are limited to a single story thread. You can’t move as easily through various subplots, and events happening outside the author’s point of view are related after the fact in the passive rather than active voice. Regardless of these issues I enjoyed writing from this perspective. I really liked the voice of the central character and would do it again depending on the subject matter.