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I’m so pleased to announce that on Tuesday, April 30 at 5:30 p.m. PT/7:30 CT, I’ll be in conversation with the
and you’re invited. Sarah Tomlinson, a former music journalist, has been a ghostwriter since 2008, penning more than 20 books, including five New York Times bestsellers. In 2015, she published the father-daughter memoir, Good Girl (Gallery Books). She wrote The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers, her first novel, in-between assignments for a who’s who of celebrity clients.Paid subscribers also get recordings of live events, so if you can’t make this one subscribe so you don’t miss anything!
The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers was recommended in my April Reading Provocation: Mysteries Rich in Culture and Place.
She’s fresh off a book tour and excited to talk with readers about how her experiences as a music journalist and ghost writer informed her book and her main characters.
If you haven’t read the book yet no worries— we’ll be sure to avoid spoilers yet make the conversation intriguing for those who have already picked it up, too. Please join us to hear Sarah read a brief excerpt and see if you’d like to add this book to your list. You’ll be among the first to get a listen to the Spotify playlist Sarah created to go with the book.
Please register in advance to receive the Zoom link and password.
Sarah answered some of my burning questions below— we know everyone’s busy and hope that getting a sneak peek at our discussion will help you decide to make the time to be part of the conversation.
If you write about books or music on Substack or elsewhere and think your readers might want to join us, please Crosspost or Restack this event announcement or share a link to this announcement in an upcoming post. Let’s get a band together!
TB: Mari, the main character in The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers, is a celebrity ghost writer working on a memoir with Anke Berben, muse to one of the world's greatest rock bands. How did you come up with the idea for this premise?
My brilliant agent Kirby Kim, who has been in the ghostwriting trenches with me for more than 15 years, said to me in 2016: "You should write a thriller about a ghostwriter." His theory is that readers/viewers love to learn about a completely new world, and that this would be especially true for ghostwriting, as it's a hidden career pursued seriously by only a handful of writers. Like many people, I am often slow to take good advice, but I finally came around to the idea in 2018. After deciding to make my heroine a ghostwriter, of course, my next question was what kind of memoir she should write. I had spent enough time in the rock world as a music journalist and read enough of the classic rock memoirs (Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, Marianne Faithfull, Patti Smith) to know that was my setting. And then, I realized I was more interested in the stories of those around the rock stars, who don't normally get to occupy the spotlight, and I began to dream up the character of Anke.
TB: You were a music critic for many years. Do you have a soundtrack in mind for the book and if so, who's on it?
Yes, I do! I haven’t put it up on Spotify yet, but I'd love to release it in conjunction with our interview. Because Dante was loosely inspired by Keith Richards, I started with Rolling Stones songs he was known to have co-written and sung (especially my favorite Stones' song: "You Got the Silver") and also included some other beloved songs of that time and milieu, including those by: Link Wray, J.J. Cale, Marianne Faithfull, Odetta, and The Byrds. I was lucky enough to have my publisher suggest we commission an original song for my audio book. My dear friend Joshua Grange, a wonderful session pedal steel player, who has accompanied everyone from k.d. lang and Lucinda Williams to Sheryl Crow, recorded a track just for the audiobook. It's called "What Would California Do?" and it's meant to be a love song that the character of Dante wrote for Anke during their relationship. It's beautiful and melancholy and sexy and creates the perfect mood for the audiobook!
TB: What are some of the mysteries or other books that inspired you in writing your book?
One of my favorite novels of all time is Donna Tartt's The Secret History, a literary thriller that I have been known to admire as "nerd porn." I also love Tana French and Kate Atkinson (especially Case Histories, which I think is one of the best meditations on grief I've ever read). Also, my thriller mentor was a great friend and writer, Steph Cha, who wrote an incredible book Your House Will Pay. She was very generous with her time, letting me ask her many questions, lending me a ton of books, and inviting me to my first crime writing conference (where she introduced me to my amazing editor).
There you have it. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to hear the secrets of a celeb and turn them into a bestseller, you won’t want to miss it.
In case you missed it
A link to Sarah’s post about the event. She lists the songs on her playlist here:
Before I go, I want to extend a special welcome to the surge of new subscribers who have joined
. It’s especially fun to share that several other BookStackers have recently subscribed. They include , , , , , , , , and . I think they’re excited about the BookStack directory, coming soon to help everyone tailor their subscriptions to great book discussions and recommendations— subscribers will be updated by email when it goes live. In the meantime, there’s a great list of profiles to check out!It’s May and I’m back to offer the video of my conversation with Sarah to any paid subscribers who might have missed it.
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