I’d like to welcome my guest Susan Helene Gottfried. Susan is the author of ShapeShifter: The Demo Tapes — Year 1, ShapeShifter: The Demo Tapes — Year 2, and Trevor’s Song. If you’re looking for a holiday gift for the music fan/reader on your list, then you can purchase Susan’s books and support a great cause, the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, at the same time. Details are at the bottom of this post, but first, let’s meet Susan.
A tone-deaf rocker-at-heart, Susan worked in retail record stores, in radio stations, as stage crew, and as a promoter while earning two college degrees in creative writing. Susan walked away from a continued career in the music industry in order to write books, so it makes sense that most of her fiction revolves around rock bands. She says that once you get those record stores, radio stations, and fellow roadies and promoters under your skin, they never leave. When not writing, Susan captains the team at Win a Book, a promotional site for authors, book bloggers and readers.
Here is what Susan was doing 25 years ago:
SUSAN: My life changed 25 years ago. Maybe it was today when it happened. Maybe it was yesterday, last month, last week. I don’t know; it crept up on me. Not like Carl Sandburg’s famous fog, on little cat’s feet.
Nope, my life changed when I turned on the radio. When MTV invaded the homes in my suburban community and introduced my generation to the likes of Madonna, a-ha, Wham!, and Duran Duran.
It was the music of the 1980s, as full of innocence and longing as today’s music isn’t. And I was at the perfectly ripe age — somewhere in my teens — to let it take hold and transform my previously miserable, frustrated, writer-in-training self into a young girl with hopes and dreams.
It was the glamour of the music that got me going. Jon Bon Jovi’s duster jacket. The skinny women in the crop tops and hot pants and boots that caressed the curve of a calf. And while I never owned a duster jacket or wore hot pants — let alone looked good in them — I had a crop top. One. I bought it at the Hard Rock Cafe in Cancun, Mexico. I have a picture of myself backstage with Def Leppard’s Rick Savage, wearing that top. Under a cropped jacket. Probably with boots that caressed the curve of my calf. I remember those boots, too. They were white and fringed and had the perfect kitten heel on them.
Yep, I ate up that 80s hair band image. It was who I thought I wanted to be. Twenty-five years ago today, a lot of people wanted to be those rockers up on that stage. Me, I wanted to be the woman standing in the wings, looking out past the band and into the crowd. I wanted to know I was the reason all those thousands of people had jammed themselves onto the floor and were reaching over each other’s heads, every last one hoping for a handslap or a touch from the singer.
Now, twenty-five years later, part of that girl remains. I turned down a number of jobs that would have let me be that woman in the wings. I had another calling, a stronger one, and that was to write books. When I sit down to play with my fictional band, ShapeShifter, it’s that girl I tap into. That teenager who found her place in the world thanks to 80s rock and roll.
It may have been today when it happened. Maybe it was yesterday, last month, last week. It doesn’t matter. It gave me the gift of a lifetime and even though I’ve moved beyond 80s tunes, music remains the stablizing force in my life. My comfort when things are rough. My inspiration. My passion.
During December 2010, I will be donating at least 50% of my royalties from my three books to the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. If you recall the movie of similar name, you’ll know they donate new and refurbished instruments to schools, so that our children can have the chance to make music. Details are on my contests page: http://westofmars.com/west-of-mars/contests. Books make great holiday gifts, and this year, my books will give an extra gift — that of music.
