The actor wants to direct. The dancer wants to produce. The lead singer wants to be a drummer. In creative fields, there are many who wish to expand into more than just what they're already known for doing.
I've wanted to be a writer since the early 1970s, when I was in my early teens. I wrote successful humor pieces for my high school literary magazine, and concocted failed (and terrible) submissions to DC Comics and various professional fiction markets. In the '80s, I combined my interest in writing with my passion for pop culture, and began freelancing as a non-fiction essayist, historian, and reviewer, first about comic books, and then about rock 'n' roll music. I never made much money at it, but I established some reputation as a pop music pundit. I eventually published two books in that area, 2023's Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones and 2024's The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).
But I also wanted to write fiction; that was my first interest, and I finally made my first-ever fictiion sale in 2019, when the editors at AHOY Comics bought my short story "Guitars Vs. Rayguns." I've sold a few more short stories to AHOY since then, and some of those stories are included in my new book Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies. It's my first long-form fiction project, and I could not be prouder of the result.
Oh, let's get the product-shilling out of the way before we proceed:
CARL'S BOOKS!
The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) (2024): $30
Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones (2023): $25
All books are autographed, and can be personalized upon request
SHIPPING: $3 Media Mail to addresses in the lower 48 states
BUNDLES:
Buy any two books, save $5
Buy all three books, save $10 ($60 for the lot of 'em)
[Same terms apply to multiple copies of the same book]
Bundle purchases will include shipping at no extra cost
PAYMENTS via PayPal to ccdatsme@aol.com
Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies gathers tales of a foul-mouthed rock 'n' roll guitarist hijacked into space, an Old West gunslinger, a film noir gun moll who longs to be in a musical, a humorous fill-in superhero suddenly called to greatness, a former boy band star turned record company fix-it man, a would-be painter, an obsessed collector, a fated swordswoman, a fallen giant, a frustrated time traveler, a condemned sinner guiding tourists in Hell, a departed soul interviewing for a spot in Heaven, a 1976 Beatles reunion concert, and other untruths detailing love, loss, disappointment, miscellaneous hijinks, a fascination with shiny objects, and—occasionally--a juvenile sense of humor.
WARNING: RUDE LANGUAGE! The author is a potty-mouth.
This week's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio is devoted in its entirety to music by real-life musicmakers who are mentioned somewhere within the pages of Guitars Vs. Rayguns! Most of the appearances are just passing mentions, but the Beatles get their own short story, Chuck Berry, the Monkees, Joan Jett, and King Elvis the First are involved in plot points, and the Ramones are presumed to be an unseen presence in pretty much everything I do. Here's a playlist of some of the actual rockin' pop superstars who help provide the soundtrack of my imaginary worlds.
Read it LOUD!
NEXT WEEK: Our Featured Performers will be VICKI PETERSON AND JOHN COWSILL. And this is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on another Sunday night in Syracuse this week.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream, and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO.
You can read all about this show's long and weird history here: Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO). You can follow Carl's daily blog at Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do).
TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS are always welcome.
Carl's new book Guitars Vs. Rayguns! Short Stories And Other White Lies is available! Read about it here. Autographed copies of Carl's previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) are available here, and you can still get Carl's previous previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.
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