POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION by Lonnie Ostrow-Review, Interview and Giveaway
POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION
by Lonnie Ostrow
Release Date: November 10, 2016
Genre: fiction, contemporary romance
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RELEASE DATE: November 10, 2016
“It’s not that I don’t love you, and my tears are yet to dry. But you can’t go back and forth forever and we’ve already said goodbye.”
Through these words, a young poet unearths his musical soul while severing ties with the woman he loves after her stunning betrayal. Unknowingly, in writing this ballad of liberation, he will soon evolve as one of the fastest rising stars on the pop music landscape.
The year is 1991; the place, New York City. Here we meet Johnny Elias, a college student from Brooklyn with boundless adoration for two things in life: timeless popular music, and the heart of a sweet, complicated young woman who is clearly out of his league.
Megan Price not only is the object of Johnny’s affection, but also the only daughter of New York’s most powerful PR woman: the indomitable Katherine Price.
Projecting that her daughter’s boyfriend will never live up to the family standard, Katherine cleverly perpetrates a series of duplicitous schemes to rid Johnny from her high-class world. But in her callous disregard, she inadvertently sets him on a determined course to his improbable musical destiny – while sending her own daughter spiraling down a path of devastation.
Poet of the Wrong Generation tells the symmetrical story of a lovable underdog and his meteoric rise to stardom, his humiliating downfall and his unprecedented attempt to reclaim his place as the unlikely musical spokesman for his generation. At the heart of Poet is a tale of star-crossed lovers and their struggle with unforeseen success and disillusionment, in an attempt to rediscover lasting harmony.
Uniquely integrating a variety of original song compositions, Poet projects the epic clash between true contentment and the fable of stardom’s rewards; a nostalgic journey through the major events of the 1990s, with a cherished cast of characters and a stunningly unpredictable conclusion.
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REVIEW: POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION by Lonnie Ostrow is an amazing and cleverly written, contemporary romance story of fiction following musician Johnny Elias, and the woman he loves Megan Price.
Told from several third person points of view, POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION covers approximately six years in the life, beginning in 1991, of contemporary singer/song writer and poet Johnny Elias –from his early days in college to his meteoric rise to fame and fortune, and the eventual downfall, not of his making. The reader is front and center as twenty one year old Johnny Elias enters into the world of an upstart musician working his way to the top. Before Johnny’s life begins its quick ascent he will lose the one person who keeps his heart beating and his soul alive. Megan’s rejection of the boy that she loves is the perfect muse for our story line hero, and with it comes the fame and notoriety of celebrity status and the fortunes of success…but jealousy, revenge and betrayal are accomplices to Johnny’s fall from grace- a fall that is triggered by someone from his past.
POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION is an astonishing and profound story; a unique look at one man’s climb to the top only to be destroyed by someone else’s greed, ambition, and need for retribution and revenge; a story of forbidden love between two people whose lives will be destroyed by resentment, the hunger for power, and a need to control. Lonnie Ostrow’s POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION is a masterpiece of literary fiction for today’s generation and the next.Make POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION your next go to read and enjoy
Copy supplied by the publisher for review
Reviewed by Sandy
TRC: Hi Lonnie and welcome to The Reading Café.
We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us something about yourself?
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Lonnie: I guess you could say that I have been an innovator, storyteller, promoter and celebrity-insider for more than two decades. With Poet Of The Wrong Generation, I combined all of my unique experiences to create a novel of love & betrayal, music & fanfare, downfall & redemption — a fable of stardom’s rewards, set in New York City during the 1990s. It’s been hailed as “the ultimate rock & roll love story.” Since 2001, I have been the publicity/marketing director & researcher for the iconic best-selling novelist Barbara T. Bradford. I also serve as an editorial and marketing consultant for a collection of first-time authors through The Editorial Department in Tucson, AZ. Previously I worked as a PR executive, promoting an assortment of first-time celebrity authors including Ray Manzarek of The Doors.
From 1995 – 2001, I was widely credited with inventing the “living celebrity postal phenomenon.” In all, I worked with more than 40 legendary personalities from the Bee Gees to Bob Dylan, Sylvester Stallone to Jackie Chan, creating media events to celebrate their postal recognition by an assortment of foreign nations.
TRC: Who or what influenced your career in writing?
Lonnie: Writing has been my backbone throughout my life. I recall my struggles in math and some science classes back in the middle years in grade-school. Out of need to impress my English teacher, I decided to sit down and write a handful of short-stories, which I turned in for extra credit. Mrs. Birnbaum, my 5th grade teacher, was particularly encouraging for me to continue focusing on creative writing. My college English professor in my freshman year was another great influence. Professor William Hochman pushed me to expand my skills in storytelling and in researching my subjects to create dynamic writing projects. It was my great thrill to recently present an advance copy of my debut novel to each of them.
TRC: What challenges or difficulties have you encountered writing and publishing your stories?
Lonnie: The writing itself went rather smoothly. It took me four months of round-the-clock writing to complete the initial draft. I spent eight months working with a wonderful editor, whipping the manuscript into shape. When it was “publication-ready” I submitted query letters to more than a hundred agents. I researched the process extensively, then sent out 10 – 15 targeted letters every week for several months. It took a lot of patience and endurance of rejection before I drew interest from a trio a literary agents. I selected one based upon her enthusiasm for my project and her track record of placements for contemporary fiction. My literary agent who I signed with in 2007 became insistent on me changing my novel from a PG-rated story into something more hardcore and explicit. She insisted that it needed to be that way in order to sell my book as “adult fiction.” I tried to meet her halfway, but she was not willing to compromise her position. And I was not prepared to compromise my personal values. We reached an impasse and parted ways. I probably could have landed another agent if I had wanted to. Instead, I tucked away the project until recently when I was approached by Harmony River Press. They were perfectly comfortable with the content of my story.
TRC: Would you please tell us something about the premise of POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION?
Lonnie: The great, late, Harry Chapin was sang that “sometimes life is better when we don’t get to touch our dreams.” If my story has a primary theme, this is it. Johnny Elias is a college student from Brooklyn with boundless adoration for two things in life: timeless popular music, and the heart of a sweet, complicated young woman who is clearly out of his league. Megan Price not only is the object of Johnny’s affection, but also the only daughter of New York’s most powerful PR woman: the indomitable Katherine Price. Projecting that her daughter’s boyfriend will never live up to the family standard, Katherine cleverly perpetrates a series of duplicitous schemes to rid Johnny from her high-class world. But in her callous disregard, she inadvertently sets him on a determined course to his improbable musical destiny – while sending her own daughter spiraling down a path of despair. “Poet” tells the story of a lovable underdog and his meteoric rise to stardom, his humiliating downfall and his unprecedented attempt to reclaim his place as the unlikely musical spokesman for his generation. At the heart of Poet is a tale of star-crossed lovers and their struggle with unforeseen success and disillusionment, in an attempt to rediscover lasting harmony.
TRC: How do you keep the plot(s) unpredictable without sacrificing content and believability?
Lonnie: Before I wrote a single page of this novel, I got to know my characters exceptionally well. They needed to feel “real” to me before I could convince readers of their authenticity. The story is rooted in some real-life incidents, and takes place in New York City in 1991 against a series of notable events. I think that using real history is essential in keeping the fiction “believable.” So much of what happens in the story has an element of reality to it, although there are a few rather sensational incidents that are eye-opening to the readers. Just not in a jarring way.
TRC: Are any of the characters or scenarios based in reality or from people you know or met?
Lonnie: There are elements in some of my characters that I find in myself and some other individuals who I know, or once knew. Johnny Elias is my protagonist. He isn’t me, but he is the fictional songwriter credited with writing and performing my song compositions. He’s the rock star who I never attempted to become. Howard Greffen is Johnny’s musical mentor. I based him loosely on a student who I went to Adelphi University with back in the early 90s. This too was a much older student with terrific musical ability. There’s a character called Larry Jacobs who is one of New York’s treasured FM radio personalities. I created him as a composite of several popular radio hosts including the legendary Cousin Brucie, whom I have had the pleasure of working with on several events.
TRC: Do you believe the cover image plays a deciding factor for many readers in the process of selecting a book or new series to read?
Lonnie: Absolutely. An eye-catching cover is essential, although perhaps less so today because so many readers purchase their books online, where the cover art appears smaller than a printed cover on a bookstore shelf. In my opinion, a strong cover is colorful, tells an element of the story, and best of all, it frames the title in a way that will visually resonate with readers.
TRC: When writing a story line, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters?
Lonnie: The characters are my story. Yes there is a story arc which I had fleshed out in a detailed outline before writing the book. But when I sat down to write it, the characters came alive and elements of their personalities dictated the direction of secondary story lines. So many new wrinkles were worked in along the way because of how these characters influenced the pace.
TRC: Many writers bounce ideas with friends or other authors. With whom do you bounce ideas?
Lonnie: My wife, Simona, was my first sounding board. I would share ideas and scenes with her as the story developed. A childhood friend, Ben Wulfsohn, was actually the first person to read the rough manuscript. Ben was helpful in the naming of a supporting character, and in helping me to catch errors like missing hyphens, quotation marks, etc. Eventually, I worked closely with an excellent editor on polishing the writing until it was ready for circulation to agents.
TRC: The mark of a good writer is to pull the reader into the story line so that they experience the emotions along with the characters. What do you believe a writer must do to make this happen? Where do you believe writer’s fail in this endeavor?
Lonnie: I happen to work with many first-time authors in editing their novels. One thing they all have in common is that they tend to make the same mistake in their first draft. That is: they compose too much narrative summary and not enough scenes with action and dialog. The reader wants to feel like they are part of the drama with the characters. They don’t want to read about it after the fact in a wrap-up show. I’ve read entire novels that were done in this fashion and had to be completely re-written. Thankfully, if these are my clients, I make sure to point out every place where a real-time scene needs to replace the epilogue-like summary. However, there are some books out there that have been published by mainstream authors that fall into this trap. It’s quite frustrating as the reader to be “told” the story instead of being inside the minds and hearts of the characters.
TRC: Do you listen to music while writing? If so, does the style of music influence the storyline direction? Characters?
Lonnie: My musical tastes are eclectic and range from classic rock to folk to 1970s/80s pop. But when I’m working, I strongly prefer to have on music without lyrics. Film scores are my primary choice. I have a few favorites including the soundtrack to the film Awakenings and The Last Of The Mohegans. Sad, expressive music can help me to squeeze out a more emotional scene. I also had my original song demos for the songs that are included in the story. I listened carefully to them during the time when I was ready to insert the song lyrics into my story.
TRC: What do you believe is the biggest misconception people have about authors?
Lonnie: To me, the most notable misconception is that just because an author writes one good book does not mean they will be able to duplicate this success, or creativity a second time. I happen to have a client author who had unprecedented exposure and sales for her first novel. Unfortunately for her, she has never been able to approach the quality of the story, or the strength of her characters in her subsequent work. Some writers really only have one good story in them. Those who are prolific at turning out a book a year are the ones who have both the skills and the deep imagination to keep on coming up with the next great protagonist and plot. But these are the rare and few.
TRC: On what are you currently working?
Lonnie: I’m currently in the heart of promoting Poet Of The Wrong Generation. I’m fortunate in that I am a professional book marketer, so I’ve put together an extensive blueprint for spreading word for my debut novel. The campaign will keep me busy well into February of next year (2017). This includes my weekly blog articles, a pair of music videos, and a series of book commercials that I am producing. Beyond that, I plan to go back next spring and finish that second novel which I started long ago, but never completed. Mind you, this is not due to a lack of story, or ideas. I shelved it because I put all my focus into getting my first novel published. I’m now excited to revisit that second project with a fresh pair of eyes.
TRC: Would you like to add anything else?
Lonnie: For readers who wish to hear the original songs contained in Poet Of The Wrong Generation, I have a page on my website where one can view a pair of music videos containing two of the more important songs from the story. The link is HERE: I know that readers will appreciate the concept of a book with an audio soundtrack.
TRC: Thank you Lonnie for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on the release of POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION.
Lonnie’s publisher is graciously offering a’Greatest Hits of the 80s’ compilation CD to one commenter; and a paper copy of POET OF THE WRONG GENERATION to one commenter.
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