Making Local Boy Done Gone a standalone sequel meant telling a self-contained story, but also allowing it serve as either book one or book two depending on your reading order. (Or the other book two, but I’m getting ahead of myself much like Local Boy often does.) Part of that involved the Back to the Future trick/trope of throwing some plot points in the time travel blender and letting history repeat. Mom, is that you?
In TP Local Boy plays a short set for his son, later has a tryst with Nelson’s mom, and much later helplessly observes his son objecting at his daughter’s wedding. Here some of the same events happen in a slightly different order, and I’m hoping readers of the other book suspect a wedding objection is in the cards and are surprised when it comes in a different manner in an unexpected way. Conversely, if you read LBDG first I hope you’re anticipating the past affair getting mentioned at the wedding. So many ways to arrange the building blocks, so many possibilities.
Tidbits:
- The setlist is almost exactly the same as in TP, swapping “Everyday” by Buddy Holly out for “Earth Angel” to keep with the 27 club theme and adding “Won One” for fun fun. I also slightly rearranged the order to work sequentially backwards before closing with “Won One” — though I did go back and forth on whether “Won One” belonged here or not. The song being a focal point of the book made its inclusion more important than letting the past fully harmonize.
- An older draft had the pianist confronting Local Boy playing out in normal sequence instead of in flashback (and might have been in the previous chapter vs. here). Revealing it out of sequence flowed better, fit Local Boy’s forgetful storytelling style, and gives some time travel vibes without actually time traveling. (As the redhead would say, “it’s a memory…”)
- The devotional deviations in the chapter title could also describe the clandestine overtures Nelson’s dad cautions against.
- “Bummer vibes (my words, not his)” are actually words plucked from the Benji Hughes vocabulary, not mine.
- Another echo between books is moving a wedding location from the state park to the Nelson family estate.
- That dream I’ve had for years of a boy girl duet of my favorite Dinosaur Jr. song finally came true at this wedding–and might again sooner than you think…
- The Handoff is an unfinished script I started writing shortly after college while in the midst of moving to LA, a good chunk of which was composed in Nate Pepper’s living room. I drop easter egg refrerences to it from time to time. Here it’s subtle; in a couple of Duty Calls stories it’s an actual in-universe completed film the characters have seen.
- Time travel writing chicken and egg: the passport photo wasn’t solely lost so it could re-appear here, but it worked out nicely. I can’t wait until people learn where the son came from before his re-appearance here and where he goes afterwards. A cryptic hint: Kuco Mist. (If you’re from the future and already know, I hope you dug it.)
Check out Local Boy Done Gone