The Legend of a Blues Guitar
A Collection of Well-Travelled Tales
by J. Stephen Howard
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Pub Date Jul 27 2016 | Archive Date Oct 04 2018
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Description
"The Legend of a Blues Guitar" is a collection of short stories with the same anti-hero: a haunted guitar. Its journey spans the years 1900-1971. Forrest Gump comes to mind if, that is, he were a conflicted spirit getting passed around during some major events of the 20th century. Those would include the following: Great Flood of 1900, Mexican Revolution, passing of the 19th Amendment to give women the right to vote; Prohibition; the Great Depression; and World War II. The origin of the cursed guitar is told in “The Galveston Flood.” After that, different individuals of varying karma find the supernatural musical instrument, and as a result, their lives are transformed. The other stories are as follows: “Better than Pancho Villa’s Saddle;” “Farmer’s Blues;” “The Broken Wall Street, Stinking Jailhouse Blues;” “The Hoarder of Memories;” and “The Blues Are Gonna Getcha."
A Note From the Publisher
Author is available for interviews, blog tours, autographed tours, autographed book giveaways, contests, and book club discussions.
Marketing Plan
About the Author:
J. Stephen Howard has written five books in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror: Fear in Appleton, Frankenstein's Confessional, Fabled Circus, Bountiful Harvest, and The Legend of a Blues Guitar. Also, before he turned to fiction, he contributed several articles to "American Songwriter Magazine," wrote a humor column for "Evansville Business Journal," and recorded essays for public radio station WNIN. He teaches English in California where he lives with his wife.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9781483576084 |
| PRICE | $1.99 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Bonnie J, Reviewer
This book was loaned to me as an ARC for review. I read "The Legend of a Blues Guitar" and while it is a short story, it was a chilling and engrossing story about a Martin guitar that kept my attention from start to end. The story is organized in a different way that other stories I've read, having been set up in five discrete short story scenarios independent of one another, but unified by the presence of the acoustic guitar that is the centerpiece of the novelette. The story begins in the year 1900 during a tremendour hurricane in which and older black man and a younger white boy have taken refuge in the basement of a Louisiana mansion. The boy loses his father to the storm flood, and the old man who is sheltering with the boy, and who has a "blues guitar" with him, leaves the guitar with the boy and heads outside the basement. He apparently thinks that his son is in the basement, and the other boy is outside somewhere...confused. He never returns and is also lost in the storm.
The rest of the story, in every short-story vignette, is a tragic event leading to the death of people who have come in contact with the guitar. Clearly the blues guitar is "haunted" by a malign spirit. I found each chapter story more scary than the last until the climax of the plot in the last chapter. The last chapter has an amazing plot with a surprising outcome, but which is reasonable and satisfying to read, but the reader will have to stay with the story right to the very end to get that final "ah-haa" experience. I found the story thoroughly enjoyable and would read it again. I've looked for other books by J. Stephen Howard, and found 3 more that I can pursue.
