Ben Had the Music Up Loud.

From an upcoming new book by Tom Hays

     Ben had been alone in a monastery for five years and back home in Oklahoma only a short while when he decided to move to Arizona.  He liked the desert.  He liked the mysticism of the people who had inhabited the place before, way before, who lived in caves and crude dwellings but had somehow figured out how to live on the harsh land and get along with the spirits and powers that inhabited the area along with them.  Thousands of years of human history laid bare, open to discovery and study.

The good vibes, given off by the rocks, the soil and the spirits of the ancients, filled the desert air.  Ben felt them calling him, and he and his soul mate settled in and started calling it home.

Home was a pueblo style, adobe house in a sparse desert suburban area.  A large area had been cleared for a patio, surrounded by a low adobe wall, high enough to perhaps keep the javelinas out but the more agile coyotes could come and go at will.  Ben had seen them walking atop six foot walls, so he knew any attempt to keep them out was futile.

Tonight was a dinner party with two other couples, good friends with an equal love for the desert, its plants and folklore.  Never mind that the days had been running 109 to 112, it was summer and expected.  Ben was in a good mood and looking forward to the get together.  He had volunteered to make the homemade Mexican vanilla ice cream, grill the pork tenderloin and prepare his famous salsa to serve over the sliced meat.  Life was good.

Ben had the music up loud, grooving on Steely Dan’s phenomenal bass licks.  Even Albert the cat was tapping his paw in time with the beat, eyes closed and laying next to the stone fireplace. There was harmony playing nearby, the sounds of the ice cream maker churning away in the background, just outside the patio door, seemed to compliment the music, as if it too was coming from the sound system.  The tenderloin had been seasoned with the rub and it was anticipating placement on the outdoor grill, and the vegetables were carefully chopped and marinating in the salsa bowl.  Ben was looking forward to a fun evening with friends, unlike the five years of silent aloneness in the monastery. Company was coming, people to talk and laugh with, everything was perfect and Ben’s mood was building higher and higher.

Suddenly, a shot! Then another--and another in quick succession!

Ben quickly turned to face the noise only to see ………. !!!

Tune in next time.

Tucson Festival of Books 2012

Tom Hays welcomes visitors to his book signing at the HUGE Tucson Festival of Books.  A beautiful spring day on the University of Arizona campus.

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Presentation at Chandler AZ Book Club

All this and dinner too!  Susan and I had a great time discussing Twisted by the Wind with this book club group in Chandler, Arizona.  They had each read the book prior to the meeting, so it was really fun to hear their comments and share some of the inspirations that led to the stories related in the book.

Members Tina and Karyn dishing up a delicious shrimp salad.

Karyn & hostess Katherine share a laugh.

 

Member Susan joins in.

When they started pulling out their copies of my book, I knew I was talking to my kind of people.

A good time was had by all!  Great food, wonderful conversation and good wine.  What could be better?

Thanks to my wonderful wife Susan for taking the pictures and being such a supportive partner, and to Katherine for inviting me to share my book with the nice ladies in her book club.

Living the Nashville Dream

(from the book Twisted by the Wind by Tom Hays)

Cody walked onstage and surveyed the huge, cheering crowd, soaking in the excitement and energy radiated by thousands of adoring fans, the flashing effects lighting, the fog, and fireworks spewing from the pillars behind him. The warm-up band had been good … but the huge audience had evidently come to see him, Cody, the star attraction.

“Cody! Cody! Cody!” Their chant filled the huge auditorium to the rafters.

He threw his right arm up in the air with his guitar pick in-hand in a gesturing salute to the crowd, and the cheers grew even louder, more demanding!

Turning his head slightly to the right, he gave a shallow nod to the keyboard player, and his band began the set. The crowd was still screaming over the first, familiar bars of the first song.

He stepped to the mike, sang the first line, and the crowd noise swelled again. It was one of his signature songs, one he had written himself, one of many that had placed him on the top of the charts over and over again. At the chorus, everyone in the audience sang the hook with him. They knew it as well as he did.

Women in the front rows charged the foot of the stage, trying to get closer, reaching for a touch of his pant leg, tossing flowers along with notes, phone numbers, and undergarments onto the stage.

Cody smiled broadly, his pearl-white teeth gleaming in the spotlights. The crowd grew more frenzied and their sing-along turned to cheering at the top of their lungs, louder and louder, a constant high-pitched roar!

The loud buzzer on the timer over his head brought him to now. He suddenly realized the French fries were done. He lifted them from the cooker and dumped them into the draining tray. He salted them liberally and scooped them into small, red cardboard sleeves and placed the packages one by one onto the serving rack.

His dream had brought him to Nashville for his big break nearly five years earlier.

Looking through the small opening over the rack holding the cooked fries, out to the serving counter and beyond to those waiting in line, he saw a collection of other wannabe dreamers on both sides of the counter, all playing the lottery in some form or other.

Some, like him, playing the “Nashville Lottery” and hoping for a chance at fame.

Others, perhaps with an equal chance, simply purchased their lottery tickets at the quick mart, hoping for the big hand of chance to point to them and say, “You!”

Cody’s dream had followed him from Oklahoma all the way to Nashville. It was as real as any dream had ever been. He had lived it over and over … but after five years it was still just a dream. And it was still no closer to reality than it ever was.

He dumped more frozen fries into the cooker and hit the button to start the timer again. As the white fries sizzled in the oil, Cody slipped slowly back into his dream.

The crowd was still roaring as he began the second song. Cody tipped his cowboy hat and gave them a thumbs up.

There are people all over the world who wished they could be in Nashville, living the dream. Cody had made it.

Others, like Ben, knew about dreaming, but they knew about waking up too. Ben wanted to live in the best reality he could imagine.

Oklahoma, Where The Wind Comes Sweeping Down the Plains.

What a grand time! Visiting good friends, presenting the book and taking a trip down memory lane!

Susan and I braved the 50+ mile per hour winds, just like the Oklahoma natives we are, and experienced the warmth and hospitality of the great people in our old home state.

Presenting to the legendary Acorn Book Club, formed before Oklahoma was even a state, was an honor and a privilege. The ladies were very kind and I enjoyed it very much.

A special thanks to Martha Roth for hosting a reception for us in her home, and to the folks who came to help us celebrate my book.

And while I am passing out thank you's, Barnes & Noble at 6100 N. May Avenue in Oklahoma City and Hastings Books in Enid both did a great job for us at our signings. Thank you to them and the wonderful folks who came and spent some time with us.

A great, great time.

Makes me want to write another book.

Road Trip! Book Signing in Napa Valley.

Napa Valley in the springtime brings surprises and good times. The winter rains linger, and there is an eagerness in the air, a confident feeling that spring sunshine will appear soon, waking the grape vines from their slumber.

The first signs of revival are the buds on the vines breaking open to reveal the new life, the new period of growth and productivity, a time of celebration and merriment.

Spring in Napa Valley, spent with good friends old and new. Ah yes!!

Thank you to Catherine Bergen at C Casa Tacqueria, as well as Copperfield's Books in Calistoga and Napa. And thank you to all the nice friends who shared this special time with us.