Say what you will about life in the last couple years, but musically it’s been a creative delight. (Maybe that’s just more time to listen?) For the second year in a row I have a full top 10: ALBUMS 1975 — No-No Boy Melodic and memorable with a great story and purpose behind it (the…
Month: December 2021
LX Commentary #26: Baby, It’s Your Life!
Endings are tough. You need to tie up as many dangling threads as possible, leave the reader satisfied that reading the book was worthwhile, and try to go out on a memorable high note without it feeling abrupt or forced. That’s something I wrote a dozen years ago in the commentary post for the final…
LX Commentary #25: Lyegue
One final instrumental to segue us into the finale! Like Coyotes, in the first draft this was a Benji-centric dream. Realizing that chapter needed to focus on L opened the door for C’s starring turn here. Way back in Tight Tee Shirt, C conveniently said “I had a dream last night too. A dream about…
LX Commentary #24: Love On A Budget
Defeating the villain was (seemingly) the point of the previous chapter, but we still have 3 songs left. What’s next? It’s about to get weird… Just like the song says: “Love on a budget doesn’t make much sense anymore.” A simple line, I embraced the second half of that lyric here—but that’s not how it…
LX Commentary #23: So Much Better
After reading the slapsticky, Monkees / SNL sketch inspired first draft, my longtime first reader / editorial voice of reason Jon Mack commented on sections that were “witty banter for the sake of witty banter.” It was fair criticism that got me thinking if there was a way to have witty banter with a purpose….