Allen Shadow's Blog, page 5

My Debut Thriller — About al-Qaida 2.0 — to be Released on 9/11

Yes, it’s fiction, but my first novel, the thriller “Hell City,” just may foreshadow al-Qaida’s ability to pull off another “big one.” The book just might sound a wake-up call for a city (New York) and a country that largely has gone to sleep on the issue?

“A striking read that will leave you looking around the corner in fear,” writes Kirkus Reviews in a review of the novel.

A news release, announcing the 9/11 release date, went out yesterday nationwide.

Terrifying as today’s headlines, “Hell City” tumbles Gotham toward devastation yet again as it tracks the newest breed of jihadists bent on a major attack.

Beginning on the 11th anniversary of 9/11, the e-book edition of the novel will be available exclusively on Amazon Kindle. For now, I’m pricing the e-book at $0.99, to encourage new readers.

I will post regularly here on the novel — its backstory, its genesis, its characters. You can also “like” me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter for the latest news.

Filed under: "Hell City", books, fiction, journalism, Kindle, lifestyle, literature, media, news, Uncategorized, war, writing Tagged: Al Qaeda, al-Qaida, allen shadow, Amazon, Amazon Kindle, America, animoto, antiterrorism, bargain books, bin Laden, blogging, books, counterterrorism, digital, digital distribution, Don DeLillo, fiction, Hell City, jihad, Kindle, literary fiction, literature, mark owen, media, mystery, navy seal, new york, news, No Easy Day, noir, novel, Osama bin Laden, public relations, reading, Richard Price, terrorism, thrillers, video, Web 2.0, wordpress, writing, youtube

Bye Neil, and Thanks

Seems like we’re more consumed with headshots — a la gunmen gone postal — these days, but mid-20th century it was moon shots. Actually meant something back then. The NASA rover Curiosity is bombing around Mars at the moment — unmanned, of course. But the country is more consumed with cat vids. Whatever happened to dreaming? Big ideas? Big steps?

Certainly, Neil Armstrong knew something about big steps. The iconic astronaut passed away Saturday at the age of 82. I have my own memories of that fateful day, framed by the surreal counterpoints of the times. Following is an excerpt from a post commemorating the 40th anniversary of that moon landing.

I was in a second-rate hotel in Eureka, California the day the Apollo 11 crew landed. I was with my own merry band of pranksters on a cross-country trip in my 1948 Cadillac hearse. As we descended into the hotel lobby, Walter Cronkite’s voice crackled from a TV, saying something like, “What a great county…I just don’t understand these hippies…” The TV was a table model that sat on a broken Sylvania console. Behind these proceedings, a derelict American Indian lumbered along the street in the hot California sun. What an ironic scene. Could have been out of an Antonioni film.

P.S. Okay, so was originally thinking of heading this post with some play on “the Eagle has landed.” Didn’t. Then, the next morning, while shaving, I looked out my bathroom window to see a magnificent bald eagle wheel across my front lawn, lighting in a big oak. How’s that for synchronicity?

Filed under: 1969, essays, lifestyle, media, news, Uncategorized Tagged: 1960s, 1969, America, antonioni, apollo 11, astronauts, cronkite, curiosity, media, moon, moon landing, nasa, neil armstrong, news, Sixties, video, writing

The Hot Ride

A heat bomb hit me when I slid into my Chevy today, a welcome rapture after an icy winter in upstate New York. It took me right back to the tireless Hudson that was heaped among the weeds in my boyhood, nested among toads and copperheads in a bungalow colony in Peekskill.

A James Deanish boy named Leif was my summer partner in crime. He was the true grit country boy, I, the city kid learning the ropes. We were just short of teenage, and that mechanical skeleton was our rocket to the moon.

We sat in the stultifying July sun, hornets circling; our souls exulted from the dusty upholstery scents as we took turns behind the hot steering wheel, the battered speedometer feeding our imaginations. The cracked and crazed sheet metal became time machine, taking us on far journeys through states that were as yet unknown. Our young hearts baked and burned. Turn after turn, we explored, escaped as if mapping out the rest of our lives.

I have no idea what happened to Leif after that summer. Year after year, my own soul baked on: in my father’s Studebaker, Dodge; in my first car, a 1948 Cadillac hearse. That black monolith took me to California and back twice, tracing every road I had imagined in that magical Hudson.

It persists. I’ve since traveled the back roads of most states. My wife, Roxanne and I continue the journey every chance we get: Cross Creek, Savannah, New Orleans, Pueblo, Greensboro, Kansas City, Barstow, Staunton, Albuquerque. Somehow, it’s always just beginning, when the sun enwraps you behind the wheel.

America is in my blood, my bones, as evinced in my writing. Check out this raw reality in the video to my song “Miss America.”

Filed under: 1969, Allen Shadow's Songs, essays, journalism, lifestyle, literature, media, music, news, travel, Uncategorized, Woodstock Tagged: 1960s, abandoned cars, Albuquerque, America, beats, bungalow colony, Cadillac, cars, Chevy, Cross Creek, dodge, dreams, Essay, Greensboro, Hudson, James Dean, journalism, kansas city, Kerouac, memoir, memories, Miss America, music, New Orleans, new york, news, on the road, Peekskill, Pueblo, remembrance, remembrance of things past, Savannah, Staunton, Studebaker, summer, travel, Woodstock, writing

Honeyboy’s Grammy: A Moment for a Great American Voice

The legendary bluesman David “Honeyboy” Edwards received a lifetime achievement award at last night’s Grammy Awards ceremonies. One of the last of the first generation bluesmen, Honeyboy was a close pal of Robert Johnson and a contemporary of Charley Patton and other blues pioneers.

The 94-year-old Honeyboy was instrumental in establishing a unique American voice, one that was born of slavery and struggle, spirit and magic. It’s a rich history that begat rock and roll and even rap. Artists from Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones to Jay Z emanate from those underpinnings, and many more contemporary artists have paid homage to this field of music from which they came.

If the blues seems like a quaint, dusty, irrelevant music genre, give a listen to Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Johnson and Honeyboy. Listen long in the dark with your eyes closed and go on a journey to the center of the American music universe. And when you turn the lights on, read a copy of the late Robert Palmer’s “Deep Blues,” a thorough primer on the music and its handprints on American culture.

Dave "Honeyboy" Edwards, left, and Allen Shadow.

I got a chance to talk with Honeyboy after one of the many blues concerts I’ve promoted over the years that have included the likes of Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, James Cotton, Earl King, Little Milton, Odetta, Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. Honeyboy was as charming as he was informative, happy to tell stories of Johnson and the early days. I considered it an honor and was pleased to see this giant of American music recognized last night.

Filed under: media, music, music business, Uncategorized Tagged: American, blogging, blogs, blues, bob dylan, Buddy Guy, Charley Patton, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, culture, David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Deep Blues, delta blues, Grammy, Grammy Awards, hip hop, Honeyboy, Howlin’ Wolf, Hubert Sumlin, James Cotton Earl King, Jay Z, Jeff Beck, Koko Taylor, Leonard Cohen, lifetime achievement, Little Milton, media, Muddy Waters, music, music Blogs, new york times, news, Odetta, Pinetop Perkins, rap, Robert Johnson, Robert Palmer, rock, Rolling Stones, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, youtube