The Story Behind the Story with Sean Paul Bedell of Dartmouth, NS, Canada.

 

 

 

Sean is another author I met whileattending the GMRD Book Fair in April.

It was a pleasure to make his acquaintanceand it’s a treat to have him as our guest this week.

Read on, my friends.

 

Sean Paul Bedell has been writing and publishing for more than 30 years. His poetry and short fiction have appeared in numerous journals and magazines throughout Canada and the United States. Somewhere There’s Music is his first novel. Sean lives in Dartmouth with his wife, Lisa.

 

 

Working Title: SomewhereThere’s Music 

 

Synopsis: Somewhere There’sMusic is acoming-of-age story where the shy and intelligent Joel watches helplessly ashis alcoholic and abusive paramedic father spirals ever downward and out ofcontrol. Joel's life crumbles further when his older brother, disturbed by thedrunken violence inflicted on their mother, flees their home. Convinced he musttrack down his brother and bring him back home if he is to survive in thislonely and frightening new reality, Joel's awareness of his father's workplaceexperiences expands as he starts to appreciate the issues faced by firstresponders, even as he begins to doubt that he will escape the chaos of hisshattered world. Somewhere There's Music depicts a young man's struggleand the desperate search to find what's left of his family.

 

 

The Story Behind the Story: When I worked as a paramedic, a co-worker andfriend of mine died by suicide. It’s impossible to know all the reasons forthat, but surely the cumulative trauma of emergency calls he responded to overthe years, must have been a factor.

When I attendedhis funeral, I noticed his teenage son was wearing one father’s suits, hemmedto fit him. This young man was sad and grieving but exuded a deep pride for hisfather.

In part, I wrote SomewhereThere’s Music to honour my co-worker and his son.  A novel was a good vehicle to do this. I havebeen honoured to work and serve as both a paramedic and firefighter. Writingthis book helped me exercise my own demons while pulling back the curtain onthe world of first responders that is rarely shared without a mask of bravadoand heroics. My book tells the brutal truth.

Overall, the bookis about a suffering young man who has suffered a tragedy and must find hisbrother and bring him home. Life is a balance of joy and sadness, so the storyalso includes fun scenes for a young man facing the world alone – music, wildparties, questionable but cool friends, a spark of romance and road trips. Allof which help him define himself.   Thebook is full of music references, sprinkled in to set the mood, reinforce someof the action taking place and to give the book an overall rhythm. The storyalso mentions other favourite and interesting things. It’s set in Amherst, NovaScotia with a few scenes in Boston. The book has lots of references to books,birds, and trees. Other characters have complex relationships with their ownsons, and the use of names adds an interesting layer.

I wroteSomewhere There’s Music to encourage a young man who has suffered hugelosses to carry on. I pointed to the future to assure all of us that somewherethere’s hope.

 

 

Website: Go HERE

 

A couple questions before you go, Sean:

 

Scribbler: Can you tell us about the perfect setting you have, ordesire, for your writing? Music or quiet? Coffee or tequila?  Neat or notes everywhere?

Sean: I’ve written for a long time; I think I can now write anywhere. I needcoffee, the stronger the better. I’m a nerd who uses a fountain pen and anotebook for ideas and sketching out scenes and the overall structure of astory first. I use the notebook to keep everything together, otherwise I’ll beafraid that the best idea I had still lives, unused, on a scrap of paper in anabandoned pocket. When I write I use my laptop and a great writing program thatkeeps everything together. To write I like to listen to soft jazz or classicalmusic in the background, music only no lyrics or vocals. I also need a place towalk around – outside is best – when I’m stuck on what comes next or workingout a plot point that doesn’t make sense yet.

 

Scribbler: What’s next for Sean Paul Bedell, the Author?

Sean: I’m currently working on a novel where the main character, a paramedicwith numerous personal tragedies, does his best to work in the world of traumaand emergency response. As his life falls apart, he struggles to carry on eventhough he feels he’s not making a positive difference. It has a lot of snippetsof emergency calls – good, bad and funny.

Once this book is done, I have another draft on the go. It’s a familydrama, where a man looks back on childhood events and now pieces togethersecrets and troubles t understand what he has become.

 

 

Thanks for the opportunity to chat South Branch Scribbler! It’sbeen fun and great to be a part of the blog.

 

 

You’re most welcome, Paul. Thanks toyou for being our guest. Wishing you continued success with your writing.

 

And a special thank you to our visitorsand readers.