Blog Posts - Paul Ferrante, Author

We're Talking Beatles Here!

12/28/2020

Recently I had the pleasure of being a guest on two fantastic podcasts which centered on my novel 30 Minutes in Memphis: A Beatles Story (Ionian Press) and my continuing Beatles thread in the T.J. Jackson Mysteries series (Fire & Ice Books).
First, The Talkback with Adam Mace is "a show about ordinary people and their extraordinary passions." Hosted by NYC-based theater director and playwright Adam Mace, the show provides fresh guests, topics, entertainment and inspiration. We had a great time discussing my books and all things Beatles in Episode 75, entitled "John Lennon: 40 Years Later."
Then, I appeared on the Get Back to the Beatles podcast on the Boston Podcast Network, co-hosted by Boston radio personality Chachi Loprete and Prof. David Gallant of Suffolk University. These guys are Beatles experts on every level, and David even teaches a Beatles college course! Along with fellow Beatles author Mark Brickley, we had fun comparing Mark's nonfiction book Postcards from Liverpool to my historical fiction, and explored the challenges/rewards of working in these genres when applied to the Fab Four. Here are the links to both podcasts, and I hope you become a fan of the shows, as I have!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-75-john-lennon-40-years-later-with-guest-paul-ferrante/id1439915773?i=1000501706805

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-write-album-beatles-scribes/id1381447348

A Fab Book Trade!

9/7/2020

Recently I did my first-ever author exchange, with my book, 30 Minutes in Memphis: A Beatles Story, going to Texas, for Patricia Gallo Stenman’s Diary of a Beatlemaniac. All things considered, I think I got the best of the deal!
            Patti’s book is her actual diary which she kept from 1963-1967. Besides giving insight into the complex workings of a teenage girl’s mind, it is a chronicle of the Beatles’ conquering of America from the Ed Sullivan Show in February of ’64 to the groundbreaking Sgt. Pepper album in ’67(BTW, she saw them live THREE times). As the years progress Patti grows up, finding her way in a blue-collar Italian family in Philadelphia, while attending a restrictive all-girls Catholic high school. There are too many poignant moments in the story to count, but I can tell you that although she was a few years ahead of me in school, I laughed out loud at some of our shared Catholic school experiences. I also found many similarities between Patti and her “Beatle Buddy” girlfriends at the time and my Marnie Culpeper character in 30 Minutes. We’re talking total Beatle devotion here, folks.
            But as the reader will see, Patti was no fantasy-crazed airhead. Her entries are insightful, and it’s fascinating to see her naïveté slowly fall away as she matures. One can also understand why a career in journalism was ultimately in the cards for this introspective young lady, and how her determination and ingenuity would lead her to not only befriend a member of the Beatles’ circle (actor Victor Spinetti, who appeared in all three Beatles films) but to have a published column in the Philadelphia Daily News while still a teen.
            When I guess I’m saying here is that if you really want to know (or remember) what it was like growing up during Beatlemania, you’ve got to check out Diary of a Beatlemaniac (Cynren Press, available on Amazon. Also visit the website diaryofabeatlemaniac.com). You will not be disappointed. I’m glad I’ve gotten to make the acquaintance of this fantastic author and fellow Beatles fan!

Plastic EP Beatles Interview A Hit!

7/14/2020

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to do an interview with Daniel Sam,, AKA Plastic EP, a musician/comedian/interviewer, from Melbourne, Australia, who has a Beatles related Facebook page. "Plastic" has interviewed many musicians, DJs, members of the Beatles inner circle, Beatle book authors, etc. over the past few months, but I was the first novelist to chat with him. Of course, the subject was my historical fiction novel 30 Minutes in Memphis: A Beatles Story. It was great fun connecting LIVE with this man on the other side of the world, where we were actually one day apart! Plastis is quite a character, and our interview has well over 1,000 Facebook views and counting. You can check it out by clicking
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=paul+ferrante+plastic+ep
As Plastic would say, "It' a Ripper!"

Literature Can Provide Lessons For Us!

6/4/2020

In the midst of this current national tragedy, we are all concerned about ways to make things better. Finding avenues to discuss these problems isn’t always easy, but popular literature — especially for our young people — can be an effective and valuable tool. Ideally, a reader should be able to imagine his or herself in the shoes of one or more characters in a book and ask, “What would I do in this situation?” As a longtime educator, I always challenged my students to examine multiple perspectives in literature/social issues, even if it was sometimes uncomfortable. Perhaps this is because I’ve had the opportunity to teach in districts that were vastly different, both financially and culturally.
This is why I have made it a point to include the theme of understanding and appreciation of other races, creeds and cultures in my stories. If you know young people in the adolescent age group, I would humbly recommend these books from my catalog: Spirits of the Pirate House examines the history of slavery on the idyllic island of Bermuda, and its connection to piracy in the Caribbean; Roberto’s Return centers upon the struggles of acceptance in the U.S. of the famed Latino ballplayer Roberto Clemente; Curse of the Fairfield Witch deals with religious intolerance in the 1600s; The Voodoo Cult’s Treasure explores the sometimes difficult blending of cultures and religions in New Orleans, going back to the Antebellum Era; and 30 Minutes in Memphis: A Beatles Story contains realistic depictions of both religious and racial injustice in the mid-60s American South. These themes are conveyed through characters such as Veronique “Ronnie” Goodwin in the T.J. Jackson books, and Marnie Culpeper/Myles Goldfarb/Tillie in 30 Minutes.
It is my hope that the situations presented in these books will make my readers think about things a little more deeply. As I see it, that’s the first step in improving our American society going forward.

Our Best Day Ever in Trumbull

9/19/2019

This past Sunday we again took part in the Trumbull Arts Festival on the Village Green, and the results were fantastic. Due to a combination of great weather and a big crowd (not to mention some good books) we had our most successful sales day by far. Purchases of the T.J. Jackson Mysteries, The Rovers: A Tale of Fenway, and 30 Minutes in Memphis: A Beatles Story, were brisk, with customers requesting multiple titles. We can't wait for next year's festival! Special thanks to event coordinator Emily Areson and those volunteers who helped with the setup and breakdown.

Beatles Hit the Watermark

6/27/2019

This past week I had the pleasure of making a personal appearance at the The Watermark in Bridgeport to discuss the story behind my latest book, 30 Minutes in Memphis: A Beatles Story. We mixed in some vintage videos and a slide show with our talk, and everyone had a great time. We hope to return to The Watermark in the future. Thanks to Sue Kennedy for the invitation and her hospitality!

The Beatles Were a Hit at Bigelow

5/16/2019

This past Thursday I again had the pleasure of doing a speaking engagement at the Bigelow Senior Center in Fairfield on my latest book, 30 Minutes in Memphis: A Beatles Story. And it proved what I've always believed: The Fab Four are timeless! My audience obviously enjoyed the slideshow and videos we'd prepared, and found themselves singing along at times. I ended going way over my planned speaking time and nobody seemed to mind. Afterwards, a bunch of us posed for a group photo, and many copies of the book were sold. Yeah, yeah, yeah! Special thanks for the invitation to event coordinator Margaret Andrews, my wife Maria for manning the computer, a young volunteer named Noah for helping us iron out some technical glitches, and my best buddy Matty Paul for stopping in to add his insights and memories of the Fab Four. A splendid time was had by all.

March 18th, 2019

3/18/2019

I was pleasantly surprised to find my name in the acknowledgements for Jane Leavy’s fine biography of Babe Ruth, The Big Fella: Babe Ruth and the World He Created (HarperCollins 2018). I was mentioned for the small role I played in her exhaustive research for the book as a link from my late friend and mentor, Bob Creamer, and friend Leigh Montville, whose Ruth biographies preceded Jane’s. As the person given the task of organizing Bob’s voluminous papers for inclusion to the Baseball Hall of Fame’s archives, I got to know Leigh, and later, Jane. What a thrill to see my books displayed alongside theirs in the Hall of Fame bookstore.
Over the years I have learned how important it is to thank everyone for their help on any book I write, whether it’s a T.J. Jackson Mystery or works of historical fiction like The Rovers: A Tale of Fenway or 30 Minutes in Memphis: A Beatles Story. Jane is a class act all the way, and if you haven’t read her other fine biographies on Sandy Koufax and Mickey Mantle, you should. Each reflects her meticulous attention to detail and getting the facts right.
Although showing up in other authors’ books is always gratifying (thanks again T.S. O’Connell and Stew Thornley), I am always reminded that in this sometimes cold business, acknowledging the help or kindness of others goes a long way. So if you’re a Yankee fan or just love baseball and its lore, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of The Big Fella today. You will not be disappointed!

A Look Back at 2018

12/30/2018

The year 2018 was an interesting one. We had great fun speaking to groups at Fairfield Senior Center and the Kwains Club of Fairfield about the T.J. Jackson Mysteries. Our annual appearance at the Trumbull Arts Festival was a huge success. But the biggest story was the transformation of our first self-published novel The Beatles Must Die to its present title, 30 Minutes in Memphis: A Beatles Story (see our previous blog for an account of how it happened, with a little help from our friend, Julia Baird). The end of the year saw two events that featured all of our books: The Three Kings Bazaar at First Church Congregational of Fairfield, and an Author Day presentation at Bedford Middle School in which we shared the stage with Gigi New, a fantastic local screen writer. Mrs. New and I had a fun time sharing our experiences with an enthusiastic audience of middle schoolers. Hopefully, this will lead to future collaborations! Right now, there is a project in the works ... we will let you know along the way how it's going. Until then, have a Happy and Healthy New Year, and happy reading!

A FAB MAKEOVER

12/9/2018

Hello everybody…Just wanted to make you aware of an interesting turn of events. As you know, my latest book, The Beatles Must Die, came out the end of August. I had sent out a few advance copies to people I thought would appreciate it and help get the word out. One is John’s sister, Julia Baird, who is 6 years his junior. Unfortunately, because of it getting lost in the overseas mailing, she didn’t receive her copy of the book until early November, after the book was out.
Well, I’m happy to say she loved it, and emailed me that she’d be calling from the UK to talk further. I missed her first call, so she ended up chatting with my wife about music and the topic of freedom of expression, among other things. (Maria said she was delightful.) She said she’d try me again later in the week, and sure enough, as I was sitting at the dinner table with a mouthful of eggplant parm, she called again. “It’s her! It’s John’s sister!” Maria said, and I spit out my food and got on the phone.
Mrs. Baird repeated that she loved the story, having read it in one long sitting as her assistant brought her cups of coffee, in her office in Liverpool, where she runs Cavern City Tours (she was a special ed teacher for many years in her previous career, which could be one reason for her being so kind to me). She said the themes of the book came through strongly, and that my historical accuracy was spot-on. We talked about my lifelong interest in the Beatles (she and John were just as passionate about Elvis and the early black rock and roll singers). The whole time I kept telling myself I can’t believe I’m having a normal chat with John Lennon’s sister! So I was on cloud 9, until some 30 minutes later, when she closed with, “I just hope the powerful title/cover image you went with doesn’t discourage people from reading this story. You know, Paul, your goal is, after all, to sell books.” [I should mention here that she has written a book about her brother called Imagine This, which was later made into the movie Nowhere Boy, so she knows what she’s talking about.]
And so, after a somewhat sleepless night, I awoke with the idea of changing the title/cover, and emailed Julia to tell her. She said that was wonderful, and offered to have me bounce ideas off her. So began a week’s worth of correspondence. Finally, I hit on 30 Minutes in Memphis: A Beatles Story, and she said, “Eureka!” My sister Carol Young, who created the original cover, did the alteration to the design; my formatter, Judi Fennell, adjusted the text; I obtained a new ISBN, and we were in business. Amazon has pulled the first book (except for used copies on the secondary market), and the new one will take its place. And Julia Baird, who graciously sent me an autographed copy of her book, said she’d be passing along a copy of 30 Minutes in Memphis to her friend, Sir Paul. Wow.
So, what does this all mean? Well, as Julia reminded me, people DO judge a book by its cover (or title). Of course, I’ll be making this a teachable moment with my students. For those of you who own a copy of The Beatles Must Die, I guess you have a limited edition book. And for those of you who haven’t read it yet, I don’t think you need any more of an endorsement than the one from the person whose brother is on the cover.