A Word Please

My guest today blends my two addictions – books and music. Her name is Caryn Rose and she has written a book called B-sides and Broken Hearts. I will freely admit that I want to be friends with Lisa, the main character in this book. She hangs out with rock stars and goes to all the best concerts. I’m suffering character-envy here!

Before we talk about the book, I’d like to introduce Caryn:

Caryn Rose is a Brooklyn-based writer and photographer who documents rock-and-roll, baseball and urban life. She covers the ups and downs of the New York Mets at metsgrrl.com, reports on Bruce Springsteen for Backstreets Magazine and brucespringsteen.net, and ruminates about music at jukeboxgraduate.com. She lives in Greenpoint with her boyfriend and her cat, Jackie Wilson. B-Sides And Broken Hearts is her first novel.

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Now for a look at her book:

Lisa Simon, age 37, still loves loud punk rock and hates Dave Matthews with an all-consuming passion. April 15, 2001 should have been just another Sunday night. But a news headline landing in Lisa’s email inbox changes everything: “Joey Ramone is dead.” The death of one of her teenage heroes serves as an long-overdue wake-up call causing Lisa to examine her life and how she’s lived it, from her youth as a poet on the streets of the East Village to 10 years later, all grown up with a career and a fiance. Add to the mix Jake McDaniel, lead singer of million-selling, critically-regarded Seattle band Blue Electric, known better to Lisa as the starving renegades who lived next door to her when she first arrived in Seattle. In the midst of an unexpectedly heated argument with the fiance over the historical relevance (or not) of the Ramones – which forces Lisa to face the truth about her relationship – Jake writes and invites Lisa to LA. Throwing what seems like half her cd collection in the car, along with a wardrobe consisting of high heels, jeans and t-shirts, Lisa starts driving from Seattle to LA in the middle of the night, accompanied by music, memories, and the ghosts of the past. Arriving in LA, she finds refuge, but also collides with her past, present and future; decisions need to be made, and this time, Lisa stands her ground.

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On to the fun part – a chat with Caryn:

While B-Sides and Broken Hearts is not a memoir, only an author with an intense love of music could have pulled it off. Do you remember that moment when rock jumped to the forefront of your life? Were you struck by a particular song or band?

I don’t remember much of my life when I wasn’t listening to music. My mother gave me her old radio and phonograph (god that makes me sound so OLD) before I was in first grade. I was buying records as soon as I had an allowance. My parents weren’t rock and roll fans but my mother loved music (she was more of a Sinatra and Johnny Mathis kind of gal). So no, I can’t tell you when I had that big A-HA moment because it happened so early on.

You give great detail on Lisa’s adventures during the New York punk scene and later, in Seattle, on the emerging indie scene later labeled grunge. I’m assuming you experienced these to some degree yourself, since research alone would not have allowed you to write with such clarity. Which is your favorite, from a rock fan’s perspective, and why?

I don’t want to shatter anyone’s illusions but — I didn’t start going to CBGB’s until I was almost done with high school. I didn’t see the Ramones until 1981 and I only saw the Patti Smith Group once or twice before Patti retired. I never saw Nirvana live (I was living abroad and always thought I’d have the chance) and didn’t move to Seattle until 1995. Grunge was over, done and dusted at that point.

To paraphrase Natalie Goldberg, a good writer can take a potato chip rack from a bar in Rochester and move it to one in Duluth and make it seem like it’s always been there.

As to having a favorite I always say that I am a member of the church of Strummer & Springsteen. Which kind of puts me in no-man’s-land, which is just about where I like it.

What are the 10 most played songs on your iPod/Mp3 player?

I had to reinstall iTunes recently which completely blew away all my setlist counts. I was interviewed back in December about this very question and at the time, The #1 most played song in iTunes was “Bulletproof” by the Afghan Whigs at 653 plays, and #2 is “Hold On, I’m Coming,” by Sam & Dave which is only in the 400s. Frankly I was more shocked it wasn’t “Born To Run,” “Clampdown” or “People Have The Power” but it is what it is.

You are a huge Bruce Springsteen fan. What is it about his music that draws you in?

It’s loud, it’s epic, it’s great writing, it’s an amazing band, it’s positive, it’s hopeful, it doesn’t talk down to you, it inspires you. He lives at the intersection of rock and roll and rhythm and blues and soul and that’s my zip code. I love the energy and the earnestness and the complete and total lack of irony.

I saw Springsteen back in the late seventies. He came out in a Santa suit and did his version of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. Great show!

Let’s talk about your writing process. Do you outline first? Do you make character diagrams, complete with personality traits, birthdates, job histories, etc.? Or do you grab an idea and run blind?

When I started *B-sides* I had no idea about process. I had always wanted to write novels and had tried to write novels. I did writing exercises for about a year until one night I dreamed the first chapter, woke up, and started writing. I wrote chapters out of order and then put them back together again, and had no idea how it would end until I got there. I am much, much more methodical now. I outline but not so much that I lose spontaneity. I do character sheets or at least sketches and the main characters have to have a playlist.

The one process I am absolutely dedicated to is showing up. I am a firm believer in butt-in-chair, move-hand-across-page. I write one day of every weekend. I don’t care if I only write five pages, that’s five more than I had the day before.

Silence or noise when writing? If noise, what are you listening to?

It depends on what I’m writing but I am a big big fan of silence. I have a manuscript that takes place in the 80s and the Sirius 70s and 80s channels were a godsend at recreating FM radio for me. Or, the character’s playlist. But I can’t have music on just to have music on.

B-Sides and Broken Hearts is your first novel. I read that you have others in the works. Can you give us a hint of what’s to come?

I should have my next book out by April 2013 – an editor approached my former agent a couple of years ago and pitched the idea of me writing the “‘Eat Pray Love’ of baseball and rock and roll”. I’m completely uninterested in memoir but I am interested in writing about why I love baseball so much and what it’s like to fall into it when you don’t grow up with it, so that’s the next novel. The book after that is the New York in the 80′s book I mentioned above. After that I plan on writing a sequel to B-sides. And I have other ideas after that, but that’s about as far out as I can plan.

This summer I will be publishing an ebook about my month seeing Bruce Springsteen in Europe. I’ve always wanted to write a travel book and this will let me combine that and writing about Springsteen, which is something I do a lot of anyway.

Is there one book you’ve read that has influenced you or made a big impact on your life?

The books that influenced me the most when I was younger were Harriet the Spy and To Kill A Mockingbird.

Best concert you’ve ever seen? What made it so special?

I could pick seeing the Clash at Bonds in Times Square instead of going to my senior prom, or Springsteen on the River tour (or even a few years ago when he performed with Sam Moore, a gospel choir and the Miami Horns), or U2 at Wembley Stadium on the Zooropa tour, but I’ve also seen house party shows or shows by bands most people have never heard of that blew me away. Leonard Cohen in 2010 was amazing and he’s in his 70′s!

The great thing is that I’m still seeing amazing shows every year so I never have to stop and pick that one great show.

If your life had a theme song, what would it be and why?

“Ooh Child” by the Five Stairsteps. The lyrics explain it all.

I have to admit that surprised me! For those of you who don’t know the song, here it is on YouTube:

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You can learn more about Caryn, her writing, and her musical obsessions in the following places:

Book Website: www.bsidesandbrokenhearts.com
Blog: www.jukeboxgraduate.com
Website for a taste of everything: www.carynlrose.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/carynrose or @carynrose

I hope you’ll take the time to connect with Caryn.

Thanks for reading.

Tags: author interviews, B-Sides and Broken Hearts, Bruce Springsteen, Caryn Rose, indie authors, Indie Authors on Kindle, Joey Ramone, Kindle books under $5, rock fiction, The Ramones