In Quest of the Perfect Song

In Quest of the Perfect Song is my newest book. It’s also my oldest.
The first book was The Perfect Song. I started it in 1979. My wife and I had two young children. I was two years into a job as assistant PR director at a small private college. I was making around $12,000 a year.

My wife and I had a band and we did gigs on weekends. I was also taking graduate courses at night. One of the perks at the college was that employees could earn degrees for free. I wanted the master’s in English because I love literature and the degree was free for the earning.

So between work, raising children, taking courses, doing homework, rehearsing music and playing gigs, I worked on The Perfect Song.

For 25 years.

I began the notes for the first draft on a Smith Corona portable typewriter.

For context, here are a few things that happened in 1979: Three Mile island Nuclear Accident in Harrisburg PA. China instituted the one child per family rule. Pink Floyd released “The Wall.” Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister in the UK. Sony released the Walkman and the snowboard was invented.

I’ll get into more detail in future posts. I self-published The Perfect Song in 2004 because I was getting older (55) and didn’t want to play game of years of rejects. However, I was never happy with the ending. I let the book sit for 16 years, then in 2020 I picked it up again.

Mendel, a songwriter in quest of the perfect song, had been an obsession ever since he appeared in my mind in the mid 1970s. After publication, he still wouldn’t let go. So I worked nights for three years, rewriting parts, editing heavily and totally rewriting the end.

I’m happy with the book now. I feel like I’ve done the characters justice. They were patient. I was persistent in following where they needed to go and letting them say what needed to be said.

As with any quest, the journey is the adventure, the learning experience, the true reward.

More to come.