Devil's Handiwork Excerpt

Best lines I wrote tonight:

Grabbing the leather jacket on the bed frame, I slid the backpack on and,
bringing the pistol to the ready again, slowly made my way down the stairs. As I
settled my foot on the last step, my eyes adjusting to the darkness again, he
cleared his throat.

I recognized him immediately, and I still shot a hole in the
chair he was sitting in, mere millimeters from his testicles.

"God damn it, Shelby!"

I shot four more times at the chair’s seat, putting the bullets within
hair's breadths of his thighs. He recoiled violently through the tufts of
recliner stuffing floating through the air and toppled backward, chair and all.
I launched myself across the room and vaulted over the now-holey recliner. My
knees pressed into his elbow joints, and I sat hard on his chest. My left
forearm came down across his windpipe while I shoved the barrel of the
still-smoking 9MM into his left nostril. "You've got five seconds to tell me
what the fuck the Council wants with me before I wipe your nose with something a
little more dangerous than a tissue, Billy."

News of Note

Friday night, me and Kenny went to see the drummer's Dad's band play at The Rio. They had me and Kenny play an entire set and a half.

But what I really want to talk about is the OTHER thing that happened Friday night. I had previously arranged for a producer with whom I had been trading messages on MySpace to contact me about 9:30 Friday night. He called while I was at The Rio. This is the same guy I've mentioned before. Well, he told me on the phone that, while the band needed some work the last time they'd seen us, he still thought that I would have a better chance of success by myself as a solo artist. He said that he "really dug" my songs; that they were pop, but had darker lyrics, kinda like a mix (in his words) of Stevie Nicks and Sheryl Crow. He said that he doesn't just work with anybody with money, either. He said that he only works with people he thinks have a real chance of making money with music, and he thinks I have that potential. Yay!

Now, I have been thinking for quite a while about the next record. Obviously, we can't just record the next album the same way - live - as we did the last one. The thing is, to be accepted into the new music business model, you have to have a product that is instantly marketable. Which means paying for world-class recording. If I were to choose just a recording studio, I'd still end up paying them at least $2,500 for the recordings... and I'd be producing them. Honestly, I think I have gone as far as I can all by myself and doing everything. I think it's time to move to the next level and get some professional help for this next project. With this guy, even though I will be paying him $3,500 to record it, he is also going to produce it. Make the songs marketable. Make them sound world class. Make the production sound like everything else.

I had to drive through snow today. Arg. No word from any clients, so I am home-free there. Band's next show is May 5th, with maybe at least one more before then.