Join us on “A TRIP DOWN THE STRANGE HWY” Blog Tour – @BeemWeeks #RRBC #RWISA

Welcome to 

“A Trip Down The  STRANGE HWY“ Blog Tour!

Beem has some interesting reading for you at each stop, even with a piece down below, so if you miss even one stop, you’ve missed a huge treat!  

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TOUR LINE-UP:

Thursday, 1/17/19:

Wendy Scott

Please tune in to RAVE WAVES BlogTalkRadio Show, “SPOTLIGHT” HONORS on Thursday, where Beem will be the special guest!

Friday, 1/18/19

Nicholas Rossis

Saturday, 1/19/19

Michelle Abbott

Blurb:

If you ever find yourself on the Strange Hwy—don’t turn around. Don’t panic. Just. Keep. Going. You never know what you’ll find.
You’ll see magic at the fingertips of an autistic young man,
•A teen girl’s afternoon, lifetime of loss.
•A winged man, an angel? Demon—?
•Mother’s recognition, peace to daughter.
•Danny’s death, stifled secrets.
•Black man’s music, guitar transforms boy.
•Dead brother, open confession.
•First love, supernatural?—family becomes whole!
You can exit the Strange Hwy, and come back any time you want.
See, now you know the way in, don’t be a stranger.

Trailer:

Story Ideas: From the Ether to the Page

As a writer, I find inspiration for stories in all sorts of places. I can be standing in line at the grocery store, and a verbal exchange between a customer and a clerk will stir some of those brain cells inside my head.

A television program might even present to me a What if? What if the story didn’t end that way? What if this happened instead? There could be an entirely different outcome from the one presented on the small screen.

I read an article in National Geographic magazine several years ago. It told the story of a breakthrough in treating childhood leukemia in the late 1960s. This article inspired me to create a character, to put this character into harm’s way, then rescue her from that dreaded disease using that very breakthrough.

My late father inspired a couple of essays detailing some of the silly things he did just to entertain me and my siblings. These are personal stories that allow me to share my memories and keep my father alive and present.

Jazz Baby comes from multiple inspirations. Emily Ann (Baby) Teegarten is a conglomeration of a couple of girls I knew once upon a time (and a few I did not know). These girls, though now responsible and well-adjusted adults, were once reckless, wild, and moving in the wrong direction. They wanted to grow up long before they were ready. Bad things happened to both girls, though they survived and came out stronger and wiser. The era in which the story is set (the Roaring Twenties) can be attributed to stories my Grandfather told. He had a knack for crafting stories that pulled listeners into the moment. In a scene where Emily is crossing the Mississippi River, telling Tanyon Thibbedeaux about giant catfish dwelling beneath the surface, well, that comes from an old family photo my grandfather took of my aunt and uncle. As children of eight and nine years of age, they posed beside a pair of caught catfish that could have easily swallowed either child.

A documentary about a young girl with schizophrenia inspired my short story entitled Came the Flood.

And then there are those ideas that just come to me. They drift through the ether, passing through my head like wayward radio waves, looking for a receiver, searching for life, for pages to call home. This is how it works for so many of us writers.

Inspiration comes at us in so many shapes and forms and shades. It is delivered to us via multiple messengers. Keeping our eyes open and our minds ready to grasp hold is the real trick. How and where do you find inspiration in your writing?

RWISA Author, Beem Weeks

@BeemWeeks

Michigan native Beem Weeks is a writer, blogger, editor, and blog talk radio host. He is the author of Jazz Baby, a coming of age novel set in 1925, as well as having authored a collection of short stories entitled Slivers of Life.  A second collection of short stories, called Strange Hwy, saw release in late 2018. When not writing, Beem can be found in his position as Reviews Coordinator at RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB. He is the producer of the RAVE WAVES BlogTalkRadio programs and hosts the Rave Waves radio show BUY THE BOOK.

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Guests, thank you so much for taking the time to support Beem and his new collection of short stories.  We invite you to share your comments with him below!

If you’d like to book your own blog tour and have your book promoted in similar grand fashion, please click HERE.  Thanks for supporting this author and his work!