Shout Out

This story is a comedy that is loosely drawn on my earlier years, focusing on the life of 27 year old Bob Palmer, who is now disenchanted with his future as a letter carrier and pins his hopes for happiness and success on the his weekend band named Shout Out. The bands future gets an unexpected, supernatural boost from beyond. The book spans the years 1985 - 1988. The band had been together about 4 years and is beginning to stagnate. The band members all have lives of their own and are starting to lose interest in the band and the added work it represents. Bob is able to convince the other four members to make a final effort to tighten up their act and start playing original songs to enable them to create a demand for their music. For this purpose, Bob begins writing music. His attempts somehow attract supernatural attention and he begins receiving melodies and parts of songs via channeling from a rocker who died prematurely in a plane crash in the 1960s. With the deceased rockers indirect help, Bob begins writing music that is good enough to allow the band to put together a show that builds in intensity and ends with a dramatic climax, attracting crowds, new bookings, an agent and eventually regional and national recording labels. Now with success in hand, one last issue still remains for Bob. How to repay the deceased rocker for his help? Bob finds his answer when he learns of, then locates the lone surviving offspring of the rockers family, a young daughter. Bobs humorous relationships and experiences with his fellow employees at the post office, a local bartender who becomes his love interest, and the other members of the band form the core of the book. The story is intended to be fun, but also touches on some of the serious aspects of life, and lifes inherent circular nature.