The Reading Frenzy: Guest Post Roberston Tait - Kyle Harrison:Movie Star

You know how I love to bring you all new to me authors because if they're new to me they might be new to you too!
It's my pleasure to turn over the blog to author and songwriter Robertson Tait with his guest post, plus he's offering a special price on his books for a limited time, details to follow.
Enjoy!

Robertson has made this available for one week
starting 9-02-2016 for .99¢ on Amazon

Also available Amazon UK

A humorous fictional story about a charismatic young actor and his adventures in Hollywood

Dry humour and a dash of romance. Kyle Harrison is a young Scottish actor blundering his way to the top of the Hollywood tree. With his trademark slouch and deadly mixture of boyish charm and athletic good looks, Kyle is irresistible to the ladies but frequently misunderstood.

Hello,

And firstly let me thank Debbie Haupt for the chance to voice my thoughts or meanderings about my writing process … or, as those close to me would call it, “chaos”.

I guess in honesty there is no consistency of process or method as to where the spark for a story comes from. Sometimes it's a feeling, sometimes it's even just the way a warm, soft breeze will caress the skin in summer that draws in a memory, and an image, that unfolds into a narrative and then the movie plays out before one's eyes and you're living the part.

Of course, I myself could never possess all the charm and charisma of my characters but it's fun to fantasize, and it's fun to get carried along on a pleasant journey and observe all the beautiful locations my characters get to inhabit.

Maybe it's just escapism, but nowadays I'm not sure that's such a bad thing. I think there is enough darkness, maybe a little light romantic relaxation is okay, even if we all know where these stories are headed – my take is, “sit back and enjoy the getting there”.

So I write from “feel”, from atmosphere, from nuances; as the folks at Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope put it, “your stories are shamelessly grandly romantic”. And sometimes those atmospheres give me a prompt that conjures up a line from the lyrics in one of my song compositions and I see that the situation is perfect for those lyrics to be woven into the narrative as an integral, and necessary, piece of the story.

As an ASCAP member I have written many songs, but at my age I think of them more in terms of movie placements, where the lyrical content might fit the mood in a movie. And in discussion with Debbie, she mentioned that it might be of interest for me to explain how I arrive at placing lyrics from my singer/songwriter compositions into my stories.

In “Barra”, for example (one of the more novella-length stories from my short story collection, “Riding A Strong Wind”), I incorporated the lyrics from a song called, “As I Leave You” and they fit the situation and the feel of the moment just so exactly, (incidentally, in real life, that song is on file at a quite prestigious Hollywood movie music supervisor's office.)

But I use my song lyrics sparingly, and only when the story gives me a vibe and a feeling that I need to allude to a musical sequence. There's a lot of music in our daily lives so why not in a story in a book? Usually it's just a line or two that will fit the situation.

Another example features in the last piece in “Riding A Strong Wind”. In this story I am writing about ... wait, perhaps it's easier if I give you a snippet: the male character is an ageing, slightly grizzled-looking, bearded, beach dweller who appears down on his luck. Of course I did say “appears” - maybe he is, and maybe he's not.

Here's the snippet from Tobago - just these two on an empty beach.

Action!

“You saved my life!” She was trying to look directly into his eyes, but he averted them.

“You're cold.” He searched for her wrap but it had been blown distant by the storm and would have been drenched anyway. He took off his sea-sodden shirt and wrapped it around her shoulders. With his efforts and the heat of the day, it already had some warming effect.

She shivered a little, as he drew it closed around her, and looked child-like as she disappeared inside his shirt. She was very beautiful.

“I will take you home … where are you staying?”

He noticed her try to avoid the question. “Oh it's OK, I am just over there … round the rocks ... there ...” She sounded disingenuous.

“OK, then I will take you.” He was getting to his feet.

“No!” She sounded a little too shrill.

“Why not?”

“I can't explain, but no, thank you … perhaps I'll see you here tomorrow?”

He stood back, rebuffed. “Yeah, OK ... maybe tomorrow … Take care!” he called after her as she hurried off round 'her' rocks.

That night she had a house-servant drive her out on the small road that ran behind the beach.

He was there, with his tent set up for the night and he sat in his chair playing a rather out-of-tune guitar and singing softly to himself in a flat voice.

She wound down the window and listened.

“Where are the hills I so long to see

Where are the deer, I hope running free

Where are the friends so dear to me

Maybe it's time to go

Up and on with the show”

She suddenly felt very sad and she wondered at the ache inside her. He continued on:

“Night seems it's closing in

Hope grows incredibly thin”

She rolled up the window and touched her driver on the shoulder to move on. She was embarrassed and puzzled at her own emotion and to find she had teared up.”

. . .

So it's the atmosphere a sound or an image can conjure up in my mind, and I never have given up on the possibility – to DREAM.

Robertson has made this available for .99¢ for one week starting September 21st

Also Available Amazon UK
A collection of romantic short stories set in glamorous locations, from Italy to the Caribbean, passing through Scotland and Santa Barbara. Nine fairy tales for grown-ups.

Villa d'Este: A handsome TV personality is bewitched by a mysterious young beauty.
Florence – La Certosa: “In the distance a church bell peeled, perhaps from the Certosa itself, and the atmosphere seemed somewhat surreal ... It looked so old, so ancient. It was not hard to imagine oneself to be back two or three hundred years, drinking wine and watching the dying sun burn the clouds into every kind of crimson.”
Rain in Rome: The slippery slope of love in the Eternal City.
Amalfi Coast: Poor but hopeful, two young lovers find joy and upset on the beaches of Southern Italy.
Amsterdam: Walking home from his night-shift through the red light district, the last thing he expected was an offer of sweet kindness.
Santa Barbara: “He landed in Tokyo, Japan with a great California tan, a lot of fitness and no shoes.”
Barra: A remote Scottish island casts its spell on a troubled American movie star.
Montmartre: He pitched his song in Paris and found he made a hit.
Tobago – Having Lost The Boy: Down and out on a tropical beach, there was one more thing he could salvage.

Connect with Robertson - Website - Facebook

Meet Robertson:
Robertson Tait is ...
A singer, song-writer born in the Highlands of Scotland and author of"Riding a Strong Wind", now available on Amazon as a Kindle e-book.
A former member of British Actors' Equity, he has appeared in many British television series and a number of commercials.
Available for acting and voice-over work and can be contacted via this site.
Also an Equestrian Coach and a world-ranked Masters swimmer, having been a former International competitor.