“Ghost Notes
is a worthy contribution to the pantheon of rock novels. This is a savvy,
sharp, insider’s view of the rise and fall of a band and what can
be lost and found along the way.”
-Mark Lindquist, Author of Never
Mind Nirvana and The King of Methlehem
“Engrossing,
real, and well-written . . . The characters are relatable and honest.”
-Laurie Notaro, Author of There’s a (Slight)
Chance I Might Be Going to Hell: A Novel of Sewer Pipes, Pageant Queens,
and Big Trouble
“Ghost Notes is the Almost Famous for the minor
leaguers of rock ‘n’ roll. I read it straight through and
loved it.”
-Curtis Grippe, Arizona Republic/Dead Hot
Workshop
Ghost
Notes
by
Art Edwards
A bass player ready to jump
ship from his mega-band, a drifter who hasn’t seen his son for twenty
years, a sixteen-year-old high school dropout who’s going to rock
the world come hell or high water, what melodies will pour forth from
these rock ‘n’ roll hearts?
Josh “Hote” Hotle should have no complaints. He’s a
founding member of Fun Yung Moon, a band that’s sold 2.6 million
copies of its debut record. He’s seen his face on MTV mixed in with
the biggest music names of the day, tours the country in an airbrushed
bus, plays stages other musicians would kill just to stand on.
But all is not well. It’s 1995, and while the tidal wave of grunge
rolls on, Fun Yung Moon’s sophomore record is dead in the water,
with a single no one plays, a failing tour, and band members with their
own agendas. Back home, his wife Celia is oddly distant, and perhaps worst
of all, Hote can’t find the magic in the music anymore, that special
pulse that propelled him through the songs and made the course of his
life clear.
One day on the road, Celia reveals to Hote she’s been unfaithful,
which sends Hote on a three-day odyssey through Orange County, culminating
in an encounter with a father he’s never known. He meets many others
along the way, but none as captivating as Betty, a sixteen-year-old singer/songwriter
who wants more from Hote than an autograph on her ticket stub. Will Hote
find renewed hope through Betty, or is his spirit as doomed as his dead
heroes, haunting the rock ‘n’ roll afterworld, learning too
late the cruel backlash of rock music immortality?