This book is getting A LOT of 5 star reviews! And I’m very excited to have author Lonnie Ostrow here to answer a few questions about this latest must read book.
*****
*What do you like best about writing romances?
Relationships at any stage of life are complex. There are so many layers involved. So many misunderstandings and misinterpreted actions. My debut novel features a young couple whose bond becomes shattered by a betrayal. This painful episode inspires a beautiful breakup ballad that sets our protagonist (Johnny Elias) on a course to musical superstardom, while sending his love interest (Megan Price) into a spiral of despair. Young love can be naive, intense and always more sensitive than relationships at a more mature age. It was enjoyable for me to go back in time in my mind to revisit that era when love was more complicated and breakups felt like the world was ending.
*What is your favorite romantic story (movie/book, fact/fiction, whatever you love most)?
There’s this highly underrated movie from the late 1980s called Chances Are. It stars a young Robert Downey Jr. and Cybil Shepard. It is sweet, tragic, nostalgic and even humorous in places. Downey plays a college student who is the reincarnated soul of Cybil Shepard’s deceased husband. Twenty years after his death, he finds his way back into her life… by dating their daughter he never got to meet. For a romantic comedy, it has some wonderful tension and complexities of the heart. And that scene where Downey takes the old car out of the garage after 20 years for a nostalgic ride is priceless.
*If you could be any romantic character, who would it be and why?
I’ve always been fascinated by Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Grey. Of all the superpowers that we could be granted, the idea of becoming ageless is most appealing. Dorian falls in love with a young actress, Sybil Vane. But his cruel behavior toward her leads to her suicide and begins the process of his own undoing. I often wondered how his life might have turned out had he exhibited greater kindness to her. If I were in Dorian’s shoes, I would love the opportunity to find out.
*Which of your characters/books was the most fun to write?
I have a supporting character by the name of Larry Jacobs who plays a prominent role in the second half of my novel. Larry is the quintessential New York radio legend. His face is on billboards around the city, and he continues to be influential long after the height of his popularity. Larry is highly promotional minded, spontaneous, and looking to score that one last headlining achievement toward the end of a glorious career… even at the riskiest of stakes.
*If you weren’t a writer and could be anything you want, what would it be?
In my “real life” I work as the marketing director and office manager for an iconic bestselling author (Barbara T. Bradford). I also work with a wide array of first time authors on the editing and marketing of their own novels through an agency called The Editorial Department. There is no greater gratification for me than to assist another writer in improving their work and helping them bring it to successful publication.
*****
Poet Of the Wrong Generation
by Lonnie Ostrow
Release: November 10, 2016
Publisher: Harmony River Press
Pages: 470
Genre: Mainstream Fiction, Contemporary Romance, New Adult Fiction
Blurb:
“It’s not that I don’t love you, and my tears are yet to dry.
But you can’t go back and forth forever and we’ve already said goodbye.”
Through these words, a young poet unearths his musical soul while severing ties with the woman he loves after her stunning betrayal. Unknowingly, in writing this ballad of liberation, he will soon evolve as one of the fastest rising stars on the pop music landscape.
The year is 1991; the place, New York City. Here we meet Johnny Elias, a college student from Brooklyn with boundless adoration for two things in life: timeless popular music, and the heart of a sweet, complicated young woman who is clearly out of his league.
Megan Price not only is the object of Johnny’s affection, but also the only daughter of New York’s most powerful PR woman: the indomitable Katherine Price.
Projecting that her daughter’s boyfriend will never live up to the family standard, Katherine cleverly perpetrates a series of duplicitous schemes to rid Johnny from her high-class world. But in her callous disregard, she inadvertently sets him on a determined course to his improbable musical destiny – while sending her own daughter spiraling down a path of despair.
Poet of the Wrong Generation tells the symmetrical story of a lovable underdog and his meteoric rise to stardom, his humiliating downfall and his unprecedented attempt to reclaim his place as the unlikely musical spokesman for his generation. At the heart of Poet is a tale of star-crossed lovers and their struggle with unforeseen success and disillusionment, in an attempt to rediscover lasting harmony.
Uniquely integrating a variety of original song compositions, Poet projects the epic clash between true contentment and the fable of stardom’s rewards; a nostalgic journey through the major events of the 1990s, with a cherished cast of characters and a stunningly unpredictable conclusion.
Audio soundtrack of the original music from Poet Of The Wrong Generation can be heard on the author website, LonnieOstrow.com.
*****
Author Info:
Lonnie Ostrow has been an innovator, storyteller, promoter and celebrity-insider for more than two decades. With Poet Of The Wrong Generation, he combines all his unique experiences to bring you a novel of love & betrayal, music & fanfare, downfall & redemption — a fable of stardom’s rewards, set in New York City during the 1990s. Since 2001, Mr. Ostrow has been the publicity/marketing director & researcher for the iconic best-selling novelist Barbara T. Bradford. Previously he served as a PR executive, promoting an assortment of first-time celebrity authors. From 1995 – 2001, Mr. Ostrow was widely credited with inventing the “living celebrity postal phenomenon.” In all, he worked with more than 40 legendary personalities, creating major media events to celebrate their postal recognition by an assortment of foreign nations.
LonnieOstrow.com | HarmonyRiverPress.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6572997.Lonnie_Ostrow
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/lonnieostrow
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ZJb0KUL9M
LibraryThing: https://www.librarything.com/profile/LonnieO
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd67ESFmU4ID38QadrM0Ggw
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author_lonnie_ostrow/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PoetOfTheWrongGeneration
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lonnie_Ostrow
Romantic Reads and Such 