QUIET TIME is now available
I'm very pleased to announce that my new Audible Original, QUIET TIME, is now available.
This story is a fun one for me, because it's the most autobiographical. I'm not prepared to go into what's based on my life and what's not, but I will say this: I left the United States in 1995 to go study at Oxford in connection to my masters degree at Georgetown. And … I never went back. It wasn't really a decision. I went to Europe with an army duffle bag and a Yamaha guitar and now I have a wife, two kids, a house and … the same guitar.
I don't like the term Expat because I didn't expatriate myself, and I'm not an ex-patriot. I'm American. I'm an American writer. My language, my sensibility, the tonality of my voice. All of it. But I am something of a professional stranger now. I am always one step outside the world, I feel, and part of it is because I'm always a foreigner. But even when I go back I don't fit in either.
In Quiet Time, I imagine Robert Livingston — who's a little like me — convincing his British/Kenyan wife Mkiwa and their two daughters that a few years in America would be GREAT. They agree to go, albeit reluctantly and — all hell breaks loose when 15 year old Beatrice ends up cracking a fake police officer over the head with a nightstick during a very real Lockdown drill at Marblehead High School in Massachusetts.
It's a comedic drama, an inter-generational story, a romp through our (post) modern world.
It's only available on Audible. I hope you listen and have a great time.
Warmest wishes from Oslo, Norway.
Derek.
This story is a fun one for me, because it's the most autobiographical. I'm not prepared to go into what's based on my life and what's not, but I will say this: I left the United States in 1995 to go study at Oxford in connection to my masters degree at Georgetown. And … I never went back. It wasn't really a decision. I went to Europe with an army duffle bag and a Yamaha guitar and now I have a wife, two kids, a house and … the same guitar.
I don't like the term Expat because I didn't expatriate myself, and I'm not an ex-patriot. I'm American. I'm an American writer. My language, my sensibility, the tonality of my voice. All of it. But I am something of a professional stranger now. I am always one step outside the world, I feel, and part of it is because I'm always a foreigner. But even when I go back I don't fit in either.
In Quiet Time, I imagine Robert Livingston — who's a little like me — convincing his British/Kenyan wife Mkiwa and their two daughters that a few years in America would be GREAT. They agree to go, albeit reluctantly and — all hell breaks loose when 15 year old Beatrice ends up cracking a fake police officer over the head with a nightstick during a very real Lockdown drill at Marblehead High School in Massachusetts.
It's a comedic drama, an inter-generational story, a romp through our (post) modern world.
It's only available on Audible. I hope you listen and have a great time.
Warmest wishes from Oslo, Norway.
Derek.
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Kathejo
(new)
Mar 25, 2021 01:01AM
I just bought it. I'd read anything you write!
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Kathejo wrote: "I just bought it. I'd read anything you write!"Ha! That's lovely. I really hope you enjoy it. It starts a bit slow and serious and then really takes off when Beatrice gets to high school in America. Let us all know what you think and please spread the word. Believe it or not, word-of-mouth helps!
— Derek
Sounds like a fun read! I’ll be downloading it soon!
I really dislike audiobooks but endured it since it's the only format available for this. Will it not be available in other formats as well? I know many who are not enamored with audio.I've loved all your others and this did not disappoint. I wonder if we might admire you a bit less if we knew which parts were more closely autobiographical. I believe I'm glad that you won't share what explicitly comes from your life.
My heart raced, my head pounded and your clever wit throughout much of it makes it a story very well told. The inside of your head is fascinating and I appreciate your sharing it with us.
