Well, dear readers, it’s time to reveal the title of the new book and it’s now available for pre-order – signed copies with a little something special included with each pre-order placed. So, let me begin by sharing the amazing blurb that Rupert Holmes did.
“Had H.G. Wells and J.D. Salinger conspired to create an adventure in time as tangible and touching as reading a friend’s secret diary, Thrill Ride would surely be the remarkable result. From its intriguing first sentence to its richly satisfying last, we are impelled into a journey so perfectly drawn and picturesquely landscaped that it is near impossible to pause as the pages fly by, so eager are we to know what will happen to us next. Like “Groundhog Day” and “A Christmas Carol,” this is a remarkable “coming of ages” story which redefines our sense of both the future and the past in an utterly unique, witty, romantic and transformative way. Don’t wait another moment to read it. After all, there’s no time like the present.”
Rupert Holmes, Tony and Edgar award winning author
Isn’t that a wonderful blurb? And here, at long last, is the wonderful cover that Doug Haverty came up with, which I truly love.
Isn’t that a wonderful blurb? To save you time, here is the direct link to order the book.
http://kritzerland.com/thrill_ride.htm
Isn’t that a wonderful link? So, now you know the title – I’ve had the title for twenty-seven years and knew it was a great title. And I’ve been obsessed with time travel since seeing The Time Machine in 1960 and I’ve always thought about writing a book that involved it and never had a clew as to how to do it or what kind of story it should be. And then in mid-December I dusted off the title and in trying to figure out what kind of story to put with it, I came up with an idea and as soon as I decided on what the lead character would do for a living, everything fell into place immediately in terms of getting started – but once I’d started, I really just let the book go where it wanted to go. So, in certain ways the book is totally new territory and in certain ways it isn’t. And that’s all I’m saying about THAT.
Yesterday was an okay day as days go. I got just under eight hours of sleep, but they were filled with really wacky dreams that I didn’t care for all that much but that I totally understood. Once up, I answered e-mails, had a couple of telephonic conversations, and then I went to Gelson’s. I was kind of tired of eating out every single day, and at Jerry’s Deli, that one meal alone was costing over twenty dollars, and sometimes closer to thirty, and that’s just dumb. So, I’m on strike until at least next Monday, and I shall eat all my meals right here in the home environment. At Gelson’s, I bought two boxes of pasta, on sale for two bucks each. I bought a very small amount of chicken filets to sauté, total cost for that was five bucks. I bought one red onion for about fifty cents, I bought a thing of low-fat mile for one-fifty, and a can of tuna for three bucks. So, total spent was around fourteen dollars. And what does that buy me? Well, yesterday I made half a box of Wacky Noodles and the chicken. That’s one meal. Then I made some tuna pasta salad and that’s two meals. Plus I have the half-box of pasta left and that’s a fourth meal. All for fourteen dollars. At Jerry’s, those four meals would cost me at least eighty dollars and probably more.
The Wacky Noodles with chicken bits was great and filling. Then I did some work on the computer, wrote the little book blurb for the page launch, and then picked up a couple of small packages. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Taxi Driver, the new fortieth anniversary edition. I had the previous Blu-ray and I believe all the Blu-rays of this title are based on the same restoration, but this new version looked the best of them. Here is my Taxi Driver history. In early 1976, like mid-January, we were biding time until the film’s March 1976 release. So, a friend who worked for Mann theaters was inviting me to all these early screenings of things. In the same week, I saw a screening of Obsession (in fact, I saw two screenings of it) – they didn’t have a distributor at that point and it was being shown for that reason – Columbia would pick it up and release it the following August). And then shortly thereafter it was Taxi Driver. I knew nothing about it, nobody did. It was interesting to me that both films had scores by Bernard Herrmann, who’d died literally hours after he finished the Taxi Driver score. Well, it was like no film I’d ever seen, and I knew it was an instant classic – it was just one of THOSE films. The ending was about as violent as anything I’d ever seen (they’d already drained the color from it to get past the MPAA), but the whole movie was just brilliant. And it is just as brilliant now as it was then.
It’s a real time capsule of the Manhattan of that era. I’d lived in it in 1970 and by 1976 it was, if anything, even worse. But it was New York, not Disneyland. The performances are spectacular, the photography of Michael Chapman is amazing, Scorsese’s direction is flawless and always surprising, and the script by Paul Schrader is great. As to Herrmann’s score, what a score to go out on. This transfer is fantastic, and the film sounds great, too. This Blu-ray is highly recommended by the likes of me.
After that, I got the order page live so our East Coast denizens could order without staying up too late. I listened to music, took a shower and that was that.
Today, I’m hoping I can have a relaxing day. I’ll eat portion one of the tuna pasta salad, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, and I’ll work on the Rupert show, but that’s about it.
Not sure what the weekend holds, so I’ll play it by ear or perhaps knee. I’ll continue making myself meals through Sunday, for sure. Monday I think I’m seeing Andrea McArdle’s nightclub show, and I have other things to see during the week.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, relax, eat, hopefully pick up packages, work on the Rupert show, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray player? I’ll start – CD, Sibelius and more Sibelius. Blu and Ray, I’ll choose something fun. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have finally announced the book, its title, and the cover. Now, let’s have us a damn thrill ride. In order to do that, order the damn book.