Writing a Novel on My Blog: #2

Click here for the beginning of the novel.

“Mr. Andrews, could I write a sidebar to the cover story? I dug up a pretty interesting scoop – at least I’m 95 percent sure it hasn’t been reported – about Rory. He liked to tell a story about how he ate ham sandwiches with Mama Cass after performing a duet with her on stage in London in 1974. One night before she died! Now, I know that Mama Cass actually died of a heart attack in her sleep after the next night’s show. Sold-out show, mind you. She was very popular. But the legend is that she died eating a ham sandwich! That’s a pretty interesting little nugget, isn’t is?”

“Hmmm. While we’re talking trivia, did you know that Mama Cass died in the exact same hotel room as Keith Moon?" I paused. "I think your blurb might fit in somewhere. I can probably get a good source for you to double confirm it. I’ll say, off-the-record, that Rory liked to tell that story and he told me at least a few times over the years. The legend of Mama's ham sandwich definitely captures the public's imagination."

"Yeah, it's totally newsworthy!"

Starla’s youthful excitability is a pleasure to have around. I have two kids, a boy and a girl, who are both a little older than her, so I suppose she plays a little bit of the role of those two, both off at college now.

As I mentioned, she reminds me of myself at her age. When I met Rory in 1973, he was 24 and I was 13. He was the main reason I was a music writer, and he always drove me. I’m not sure exactly how Starla became similar to what I was at age 18. She must just be more of a natural. Rory also was a natural. Music was always easy for him. It was part of him. And although his death at age 53 has me somewhat shocked, he certainly accomplished a lot of good for the world.