The Story Line-Up (with links to the songs):
Sweet Life - Karen Keeley
Rain as Cold as Ice (Inspired by Mandy) - Linda Kay Hardie
Mandy - Adam Gorgoni
I Write the Songs - Maya St. Clair
The Daybreak Killer (Inspired by Daybreak) - Matt McGee
A Connecticut Stalker (Inspired by Weekend in New England) - Laurie Stevens
Can't Smile Without You - Caleb Weinhardt
Ready to Take a Chance Again - Kurtis Rupe'
Since You've Been Gone (Inspired by Even Now) - Recita Clemons
Bermuda Triangle - J.M. Taylor
Lonely Together - John M. Floyd
When the Sun Rises (Inspired by Let's Take All Night (to Say Goodbye)) - T. Fox Dunham
Some Kind of Friend - Christine Verstraete
Getting Even Now (Inspired by Even Now) - Shari Held
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🎵 Today's Guest: Karen Keeley talks about her story, "Sweet Life," based on the song of the same name. (Image: Discogs)
🎵 About the story:
"My Private Investigator, Peter Lockwood, and his trusty sidekick, Roberta Suiter, “Bobbi” to her friends, get caught up in trying to help solve the murder of a woman they’d known twenty years earlier, a gal they’d both admired, someone they’d envisioned as having moved on and living a sweet life. It had been anything but..
"I first discovered Barry Manilow when visiting my brother in Vancouver way back in the late '70s. He had an album playing, “Even Now,” 12 tracks. The first I’d heard of him, and I was hooked.
"When Jay Hartman (the editor) had the call-out for stories, for “A Killing at the Copa” anthology, I wanted badly to be included. Time to deep-dive all of the music, find my song. In 2023, the album “Barry Manilow” was remastered, commemorating the 50th anniversary of its original release, “Sweet Life” the final song on side 2."
🎵 Inspiration:
"I had my song! I then had my protagonist come to me in a flash. I could see him, hear him. His best buddy, Bobbi, also arrived fully formed, their stomping grounds: 1973 New Haven, Connecticut, a time of polyester suits, and gas-guzzling vehicles. No cell phones. No security cameras.
"I had oodles of fun with my story. When Jay chose it to be included in the anthology, I did my happy dance, listening to “Sweet Life,” while I did the boogie-woogie, chowing down on a couple of chocolate chip cookies, my reward. Who doesn’t love chocolate!"
🎵 First lines: "Sweet Life" - Karen Keeley
Greta was out of the office, a doctor’s appointment, according to the calendar on her desk, which left me to my own devices, spending time with the crossword in the daily newspaper, puzzled by the clue, ‘the proverbial proud bird,’ seven letters, when Roberta Suiter, Bobbi to her friends, walked in.
* Read the rest in A Killing at the Copa: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Barry Manilow is now up for pre-order at White City Press.
* Can't wait to read them all!
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