My novel Abandon All Hope - part workplace satire, part novel of ideas, part Chicago urban/suburban novel – has just been published by Auctus Publishers, a Philadelphia-based small press.
Why post about it here? Because the story contains a lot of musical references, both classical and non-classical. (Hey, there probably aren't a lot of novels which use the word Klangfarbenmelodie.)
Here's a blogpost I wrote to introduce the book:
https://swspires.weebly.com/blog/behind-abandon-all-hope
Here are the Amazon and B&N links:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1736827820?pf_rd_r=8H2YKEQ84E7J8E476KVG&pf_rd_p=8fe9b1d0-f378-4356-8bb8-cada7525eadd&pd_rd_r=649210be-580e-4718-865f-0f6781060276&pd_rd_w=Q8qJS&pd_rd_wg=ntBGT&ref_=pd_gw_unk
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/abandon-all-hope-scott-spires/1140194144?ean=9781736827826
(I've been informed that the Kindle and Nook versions will be up in early October, so those links are not yet complete. Ah, the joys of product roll-out!)
Congrats on your new "baby"!
And may the sales go through the roof!
PD
Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on September 26, 2021, 08:39:25 AM
Congrats on your new "baby"!
And may the sales go through the roof!
PD
+ 1
I'm in for the Kindle edition!
I will have to buy and read!
Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on September 26, 2021, 06:56:40 AM
My novel Abandon All Hope - part workplace satire, part novel of ideas, part Chicago urban/suburban novel – has just been published by Auctus Publishers, a Philadelphia-based small press.
Why post about it here? Because the story contains a lot of musical references, both classical and non-classical. (Hey, there probably aren't a lot of novels which use the word Klangfarbenmelodie.)
Congratulations! But I hope you have embedded this ironically not to you appear utterly pretentious with such words.
Quote from: Jo498 on September 26, 2021, 11:15:07 PM
I hope you have embedded this ironically not to you appear utterly pretentious with such words.
You'll have to read it to find out!
Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on September 26, 2021, 06:56:40 AM
My novel Abandon All Hope - part workplace satire, part novel of ideas, part Chicago urban/suburban novel – has just been published by Auctus Publishers, a Philadelphia-based small press.
Congratulations!
Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on September 26, 2021, 06:56:40 AMWhy post about it here? Because the story contains a lot of musical references, both classical and non-classical. (Hey, there probably aren't a lot of novels which use the word Klangfarbenmelodie.)
Can't swear to it, but the excellent
Orfeo by Richard Powers is in with a strong chance. I've never read a novel with anything like the amount of knowledgeable musical analysis he weaves into the story.
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on September 26, 2021, 10:49:23 AM
+ 1
I'm in for the Kindle edition!
The Kindle edition is now up, at the above Amazon link (with the usual "Look Inside" function, so you can decide if you want to continue).
Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on October 10, 2021, 09:42:58 AM
The Kindle edition is now up, at the above Amazon link (with the usual "Look Inside" function, so you can decide if you want to continue).
Much enjoyed the first chapter. Will certainly continue!
I got a great endorsement! Joshua Cohen is one of America's foremost young novelists (check out his latest book The Netanyahus, it's creating quite a buzz). He's now provided a blurb for my book, which you can see on the Amazon page, but I'll reproduce it here:
"Future humans will almost surely elide the brief interregnum between the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of the Internet, but then nobody ever much respected the 1990s -- and the 1990s never much cared. Scott Spires did, however -- and, belying all hackneyed notions of slackerdom, wrote this heartfelt and headstrong book, a masterly novel of how it felt to have friends, love, and work in the last decade that could ever be lost, when time was not to be managed but wasted, and irony was not a pose but a mode of compassion."
Here's hoping reviews will start appearing soon. Hey, I'm working on it...
Congrats! More success to you!
Congratulations and best wishes!
Read the "Look Inside" pages on Amazon and enjoyed the work, will check out the whole book.
I grew up in the Chicago area, and the realistic portrayal brought back a lot of memories! (For instance, I really miss the Chicago Reader, fantastic paper)
Quote from: T. D. on October 19, 2021, 07:25:26 PM
Congratulations and best wishes!
Read the "Look Inside" pages on Amazon and enjoyed the work, will check out the whole book.
I grew up in the Chicago area, and the realistic portrayal brought back a lot of memories! (For instance, I really miss the Chicago Reader, fantastic paper)
Thanks! I actually wrote an article for the
Reader once - on the subject of New Urbanism, which is a topic that influenced me while I was writing the book.
Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on October 19, 2021, 06:43:43 PM
I got a great endorsement! Joshua Cohen is one of America's foremost young novelists (check out his latest book The Netanyahus, it's creating quite a buzz). He's now provided a blurb for my book, which you can see on the Amazon page, but I'll reproduce it here:
"Future humans will almost surely elide the brief interregnum between the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of the Internet, but then nobody ever much respected the 1990s -- and the 1990s never much cared. Scott Spires did, however -- and, belying all hackneyed notions of slackerdom, wrote this heartfelt and headstrong book, a masterly novel of how it felt to have friends, love, and work in the last decade that could ever be lost, when time was not to be managed but wasted, and irony was not a pose but a mode of compassion."
Here's hoping reviews will start appearing soon. Hey, I'm working on it...
Excellent! Fingers crossed for you.
PD
Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on October 20, 2021, 05:53:53 AM
Thanks! I actually wrote an article for the Reader once - on the subject of New Urbanism, which is a topic that influenced me while I was writing the book.
I was in California in December, and thanks to a personal connection was able to get interviewed on the LA-based radio show Environmental Directions, where I talk about urbanism, environmentalism, and how they relate to my book. If you've got half an hour to kill, you can listen to it here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pTSyAPHhLn3CjFULtvgO1aRwKdvmRUB6/view
Basically, this is me trying to sound like an expert on urbanism and environmentalism, even though I'm not - I'm just a guy who's traveled and read a lot. But I did get to talk about the book quite a bit.
I looked at the Amazon link and saw a name that I seem to remember from the distant past on a vaguely remembered classical music forum, before it was considered too dangerous to use a real name.
Quote from: Spotted Horses on February 09, 2022, 06:10:29 AM
I looked at the Amazon link and saw a name that I seem to remember from the distant past on a vaguely remembered classical music forum, before it was considered too dangerous to use a real name.
It's funny (or sinister?) how people used to mostly use their real names on forums like this, and now mostly use pseudonyms.
Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on February 09, 2022, 09:48:48 AM
It's funny (or sinister?) how people used to mostly use their real names on forums like this, and now mostly use pseudonyms.
Yes, and I can't imagine what possessed my parents to name me "Spotted." :)
Quote from: Spotted Horses on February 09, 2022, 10:00:04 AM
Yes, and I can't imagine what possessed my parents to name me "Spotted." :)
Whimsicality!
Quote from: Spotted Horses on February 09, 2022, 10:00:04 AM
Yes, and I can't imagine what possessed my parents to name me "Spotted." :)
They could have named you pinto or appaloosa? ;)
PD
Quote from: Spotted Horses on February 09, 2022, 10:00:04 AM
Yes, and I can't imagine what possessed my parents to name me "Spotted." :)
LOL. I guess they weren't Stones fans, they could have named you "Wild."
Popping up here with a promotion. If you're an e-book reader and you'd like a cheap way to read the book, this is your lucky week. Amazon is selling the Kindle edition for a measly $1.99:
https://www.amazon.com/Abandon-All-Hope-Scott-Spires-ebook/dp/B09J32WGZQ/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on February 22, 2023, 06:01:46 AMPopping up here with a promotion. If you're an e-book reader and you'd like a cheap way to read the book, this is your lucky week. Amazon is selling the Kindle edition for a measly $1.99:
https://www.amazon.com/Abandon-All-Hope-Scott-Spires-ebook/dp/B09J32WGZQ/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Nice! I need to open that up!