Scattershooting ...

(until something better comes along)

Well, I’ve been away for a while. But not without good reason I like to think: on the upside there’s a new book and some new music. This, too: this morning I found a bevy of email from right here at substack advising of seven (7) new subscribers to Expatriate Games. Thank you one and all and welcome. We may not be having a party but the people are nice!

On the downside, there have been ongoing health annoyances and … then there’s Amazon/Kindle, the self-publishing outfit I use for my (humble) literary efforts, and … we’ll get to that in a minute. But first, some news about your friend and mine, Harmonica Jack. For our new readers, Harmonica Jack is a long-time friend of Expatriate Games, a man of The Blues, who - like yours truly - hails from the Gold Coast subdivision of Calumet City, Illinois. These days, Jack seeks out the graves of old Blues players both in the Chicago area and down in The Delta. When he locates a site, he cleans up around it, plays a bit of music in tribute, and adds the location to his ever-growing list for return visits and continued maintenance. He also loads out his car with assorted percussion instruments and sets up in a park or on a lakeside or wherever with a portable PA system and involves the local kids in his performances. Now, a number of years ago, Jack went into surgery for a bypass operation, only to wake up and find he’d had a quadruple bypass and needed a heart transplant. For one reason or another, the transplant kept being put off until the arrival of his 70th birthday when Jack was informed he was now too old to be eligible for a transplant. But they’d appreciate it if he’d stick around anyway so they could continue to run tests and try out new meds. In the words of Hector Barbossa, Our Man Jack was disinclined to acquiesce to their request. With that, he put on his Blues Hat and took it down the road. Six years on and still rolling, Jack has helped with raising money for tornado relief in Mississippi and continues to bring music to the children of the Blues corridor from The Delta to Chicago’s Southside.

Still on the upside … to our new arrivals, while I do crank out books and music (often as soundtracks to accompany the books) I’m not big on self-promotion. I write because I enjoy writing, and I’ve been making music for over half a century now because, well, as my musical mentor once said, “for guys like us it’s the only game in town.” Or, as the legendary one-man band Doctor Ross sang, “I got the boogie disease, and I may get better but I’ll never get well.” It’s the common denominator among my musician friends, regardless of our chosen genre. Again, to quote my musical mentor, “it’s not what we do, it’s what we are.” My music is available as free downloads, right here: https://www.reverbnation.com/afterhalloween/songs

And that brings us to Amazon/Kindle. I’ve recently been notified the price of my books needs to be increased from $4.00 to $9.99 or I can basically kiss any royalties goodbye. Well, gosh … This is due to their increased production costs, and I’m sure it has nothing to do with refueling J. Bezos’ super yacht or sending his pneumatic-looking girlfriend and her gal pals to the very edge of outer space for eleven minutes. Just as I’m sure “it’s nothing personal” that I’ve yet to receive my invite to the upcoming wedding in Venice. Yes, that’s petty, possibly cruel, and I really should learn his girlfriend’s name. And I will. I’ll do all that and more, just as soon as my invite comes sliding through the mail slot.