Author: David Biddle

A Brief Scene from “Old Music for New People:” how to hold a knife

~ David Biddle ~ Leave a comment

There are a number of scenes in my novel Old Music for New People that make me cry whenever I read them. I began writing that book in or around 2013. It is an understatement to say I re-wrote and revised that story dozens of times. So many scenes are emblazoned in my objective editing brain (such as it is). You’d think by now I would be somewhat immune/bored or at least distant from those scenes. But I’m not. Maybe it’s because the story is about the summer of 2013–a much sweeter, more innocent time for all of us on planet earth.

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The Summer We Are 15

So much to balance about life during the summer we are 15
~ David Biddle ~ Leave a comment

Flash growth and learning to survive.

A version of this essay was originally published at Medium.com and then with The Good Men Project “Modern Identities” imprint

I was 15 in 1973. It was the year my parents began their divorce. It was also the year that I began to seriously grow my hair long and think — quite innocently compared to life here in the 2020s — about why there are limitations on our behavior as male and female members of our society. What kind of person did I feel I wanted to become? Why did what people think of me make me feel so much pressure? What does it mean when we’re expected to conform?

I also fell in love with a girl who happened to be an amazing athlete and musician at the beginning of the summer. She was a whip-smart student as well. I was an okay athlete, could kind of sing, and did well enough in subjects that I liked. I should have felt emasculated by her. However, I took pride in being her boyfriend specifically because she could beat me at tennis and ping pong and most any card game. I didn’t feel like a lesser human at all. Even though we never talked about it, I don’t think she ever considered me lesser either.

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Old Music for New People: Coming Soon

Ivy and Rita waiting for the sunrise
~ David Biddle ~ Leave a comment

My coming-of-age novel, Old Music for New People, will be published by the independent publishing house The Story Plant on December 7th. Go here or click on the cover widget (near the top right on the screen if you are using a big screen; probably down low on the scroll if you are using a small screen) to go to the book’s landing page. You’ll find all the links you could ever need to pre-order the paperback and digital versions now. Reviewers with NetGalley accounts can now also access the ARC (Advance Reviewer Copy) at the NetGalley site. This is my first official novel, so I can use any and all the reviews I can get.

So what’s the book about? Well, there’s a big conversation going on in this country right now about gender identity. Mainstream media tends to focus on silly issues like the bathrooms people are allowed to use and whether transgender girls should be permitted to play sports with other girls.

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Maybe Everything Depends on the Wedding

~ David Biddle ~ Leave a comment

The traditional happy ending has the young lovers heading off together into the sunset. What the writer leaves out is the fact that not only do the lovers travel into the sun (such a beautiful and straightforward metaphor for the future) but the rest of the world rides off with them as well.

I worry some that all this negativity towards what we know to be Truth and the Good in Life may mean that certain people out there honestly don’t understand the idea of happy endings. Denial of things like the importance of public health and rational environmental investments carry an obvious dark and cynical set of presumptions.

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After My Book Deal: Life Changing or Same Old Struggle?

~ David Biddle ~ Leave a comment

Along with the rest of the world, 2020 was pretty crappy in our household. [I originally wrote a long paragraph here about all the things we failed to do and how miserable we were, but what’s the point in that? Seriously! We’re still here and we’re vaccinated AF, and there’s really nothing else to say than: “Let’s go!”]

So, while a good portion of life certainly sucked here at the dead-end of our little street this past year, I managed to publish a number of short stories and flash fiction pieces with a broad spectrum of literary publications — large, small, well-known, obscure, etc. In addition to which, I signed a book deal in early January 2021 to write three novels over the course of the next several years.

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Those Who Wake Up in Love

~ David Biddle ~ 2 Comments

Love seems to be growing rarer and rarer in this world, doesn’t matter which kind I’m talking about. There’s vitriol and hostility everywhere — on all sides. I get it, I suppose. Love in every form requires vulnerability and courage. These days everyone on so many levels is tired of feeling vulnerable. It’s all too obvious as well that courage and personal strength and the ability to take care of other people are expended resources.

So, in the words of the world’s greatest living romantic nihilistic cynic, Tony Johnson (Ricky Gervais) in the wonderful TV show After Life:

“… (long sigh …) Ah, fuck me!”

Tony Johnson (Ricky Gervais)

And yet, somehow, I’m pretty sure a good many people on this good green earth continue to wake up in love every morning. They can’t help it. I’m thinking of those still romantically connected to their partners; those with unshakable friendships; and whole families in general, no matter how distant and separated by coronavirus.

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Been Hunkered Down Remodeling

~ David Biddle ~ Leave a comment

It really has been time for a lot of us to upgrade our blogs and websites. I finally bit the bullet and bought a new theme, then spent the next 10 hours trying to recover from my own stupidity. Things are looking better, but we’re still under construction. One coffee break. Two potty breaks. Brunch with my family. That’s it.

So pardon our appearance. Page down, though, and check out how things are looking.

My best to you this holiday season.

Holidays and Your Writer: Advice to Readers, Families, and Friends

~ David Biddle ~ 5 Comments

kindle-christmas

This is a repost from earlier in December. 

Indie authors are setting up shop in bedrooms and dining rooms and kitchen tables on every street in every neighborhood from Staten Island to Oahu. In 2005 about 300,000 new book titles hit the shelves of bookstores and the pages of Amazon. In 2012 I’ve read estimates of over 1,000,000 titles — just for this year alone!

It used to be when I told people I was working on a book, they would look at me like I was some cute, exotic monkey creature with bucked teeth and big brown eyes. Now they say, “Oh, do you know Ed Jones or Continue reading →

Reviewers and Bloggers Desperately Needed for Implosions of America

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My latest collection of nine stories needs reviewers and thoughtful readers to blog about it. I can’t get the book posted to any major indie distribution site without at least five reviews. I’ve got two right now. Check them out here.

These are not happily-ever-after stories. They are not simple, nor are they normal. I’ve been told they are very much like Continue reading →