We here at The Paperback
Princesses often receive emails from Indie authors requesting reviews and are
blessed with free book copies. Often we are unable to get to so many titles
before our mass market published books take over our TBR shelves. That doesn't
mean there aren't plenty of great reads though! We want to give back to those
Indie authors and are declaring EVERY SECOND SUNDAY our SHOUT OUT TO
INDIES MEME. For those of fellow
bloggers, please feel free to add our meme to your regular schedule. We only ask that you
quote and link back to us as a courtesy. For all of you Indie
authors, we invite you to contact us at the contact link to your top left. We
will select 1 - 3 titles (each time we post) that sound interesting. Lastly, for
you readers, this is a bit of a test so please do comment and let us know what
you think. We will also be offering up giveaway copies whenever we can! So
without further ado, here are this week's picks -
Guest
Post – Author Hal Eisenberg
Our Indie Spotlight post is from Hal Eisenberg, author of Overnight Sensation, which is about
today’s world of instant fame and how some people will do just about anything
to achieve it. In this post, Hal talks about the teen stars he envisioned when
developing the characters and the music that inspired him while writing the
book.
First, here’s a little about Hal…
Okay, true story. When I was a kid,
my dad told me how he had played drums when he was young, and then he went out
and bought a nice kit. Although I had taken guitar lessons for five years, I
was really fascinated with his drums, so at age fifteen I borrowed that kit and
set it up in my bedroom. Borrowed – ha! He never saw it in one piece again. I
would take my cheap-o, plastic stereo with the detachable speakers and set one
speaker up next to each ear. Then I’d put my music on really, really loud and
bash away. When my parents couldn’t take it any longer, I’d see the door of my room
bending out, which was my dad banging on it as he yelled at the top of his
lungs, “Shut it down son!”
I’ve been in many rock bands since
then, including a band called, The Invaders (see the pic). We played mostly
‘60’s rock, as we were all huge fans of groups like The Beatles, The Rolling
Stones, The Searchers, The Ventures, The Animals, The Beach Boys, etc. A song I
wrote while in that band called, "It’s A Mystery" actually got
airplay. It was a thrill to hear it on the radio. I remember being in my car
while at a stoplight when it came on and rolling down the window screaming
excitedly to the cars around me, “Hey, Everyone! They’re playing my song!” They
all looked at me with that, “What a tool” expression, which was probably well
deserved.
My career is in advertising –
writing and producing radio, television, print, and online ad campaigns.
However, writing books has always been my dream. Although it was hard work
going from writing sixty-second spots to a full-blown manuscript, this book was
a joy to write and I encourage every budding writer out there to pursue their
passion. If you really want it, write what you know and love and go for it!.
And here’s a little about Overnight Sensation:
Jonah Levine is
practically invisible at Applecrest High. His Facebook page is pathetic, his
baseball skills are mediocre at best, and his IQ seems to drop 50 points when
talking to girls. But everything changes when his rock band, Hitstreak, becomes
the hottest teen sensation in the country. And now they’re about to perform in
front of 15,000 screaming fans.
So why isn’t he jumping
for joy
Well, for starters, that
hit on the radio wasn’t really recorded by his band. In fact, six months ago,
he and his friends could barely play a note between them. And now they’re about
to perform in front of 15,000 screaming fans. What begins as a mindless prank
quickly spins out of control, involving his father’s secret past as a ‘70s
rocker, a high school bully who wants in on the action, and a ruthless media
mogul who will stop at nothing to claim the band as his own. Will Jonah
prevail? Or will he and his band go down in flames and become the biggest farce
in pop music history? Courtesy of Goodreads
Guest Post by Hal Eisenberg
When I began writing Overnight Sensation, I already had a
plan to develop it into a screenplay and pitch it as a theatrical release,
which I am now doing! So, I started thinking about who could play each
character’s part. The lead character is Jonah Levine, a 15 year-old who gets
drawn into a scheme of pretending to be in a band that acquires instant fame when
they take credit for song on the radio which was really recorded by someone
else. That’s when Drake Bell came to
mind.
When envisioning his best
friend, Jess, the twenty four hour-a-day flirt that chases anything with long
legs and a pulse, I pictured William Mosel.
For Jonah’s other friends and members of the band, Kyle and
Bart, Michael Cera and Nathan Kress were my choices. When you read the book,
see if you agree.
As for the music, the first song that played in my head from
the very beginning was a song few had ever heard. It was written and recorded
by some friends of mine in a band, the Raves, and it’s called, Every Little Bit Hurts. It’s got a retro
feel, but I could also envision a band like Maroon 5 doing it as well. If you visit
my site, www.hal-eisenberg.com, you can hear it for yourself. There’s also a contest where
teen bands can record their own version and download it to win prize
After Jonah learns about his dad’s secret past as a ‘70s
rocker, he convinces him to get the old band back together and they play all
the classic rock songs Jonah grew up listening to like The Beatles, The Beach
Boys, The Doobie Brothers and Chicago. I had all of these groups playing on my
iPod while writing the book. And as the boys began to form a real band of their
own, I listened to bands like Train, Muse, Maroon 5, and Linkin Park.
Towards the end of the book, the boys get to meet Chris Martin from ColdPlay, so Yellow and Paradise were in the mix as well. When you read it, see what songs come to mind and feel free to share them on my site.
I’d like to give a huge shout out to Paperback Princesses for
allowing me to be a part of their Indie Author Spotlight. And to everyone
reading this, thanks for your interest and keep on reading!
For more on Overnight Sensation
check at these sites!
Thanks for the giveaway!!
ReplyDeletelivelovedance13@gmail.com
thanks for the giveaway...:D
ReplyDeletedarkworld_cutie at yahoo dot com