Review, Giveaway and Musical Hanukkah: Trevor's Song by Susan Helene Gottfried

There will be a lot going on in this post, so hang in there with me, it's worth it!

First of all, I'm so excited for Susan that her story Trevor's Song is finally printed and available to us! It's been a few years in the making, and I know Susan did a lot of soul-searching before finally deciding to self-publish. Trevor's Song speaks to me because I enjoy writing myself, and even though I'm an avid reader of Fantasy and Sci-Fi, Romance, Historical Fiction and Mysteries, what I've always been able to write are stories about rockstars, and the trials they face on tour. Since I became aware of heavy metal music, I've been fascinated by these musicians and their lifestyle, and have felt compelled to write about it. Now, most of my attempts are fan-fiction and will never see the light of day, but Susan has created a band that feels every bit as real as our favorites that we'd go see in concert.

The Review

Trevor's Song focuses primarily on the bass player of Shapeshifter, Trevor Wolff, and how he deals with some life changing things, right as the band has achieved their dream of fame. For years Trevor has had his best friend, Mitchell Voss, mostly to himself, from the time he was taken into the Voss' home, but now the unthinkable has happened, Mitchell has met a girl. THE girl in fact, and Trevor just knows it will be the end of everything. As if this wasn't bad enough, he's also hiding a huge secret from the rest of the guys, because he doesn't want it to interfere with their dreams coming true. Throughout the story Trevor's complex personality comes through, the bold, take-no-prisoners rockstar, who can't seem to completely escape the insecure, abused and degraded boy he'd been. His attempt at protecting the band from his problem is noble, though misguided, and at the climax of the story, his hand is forced and his secrets revealed, as his life hangs in the balance.

Susan has also compiled two great companion volumes to Trevor's Song, the Demo Tapes 1 and 2 which are collections of the outtakes that she has written on the West of Mars blog, and that give us even more of a feel for the guys, and their gals, along with some humorous, and some poignant scenes. There is even more on the blog than what is in these two additional volumes, I may have heard rumor of a Demo Tapes 3, I'm not sure, but I know there are many other pieces on the blog that have not yet made it into print, so you should definitely head on over and spend some time with the Shapeshifter gang.

The Giveaway and Musical Hanukkah

Here is where we get a little complicated and have a lot going on!

I myself am going to give away a set of all three books, Trevor's Song, and both Demo Tapes volumes, signed by the author, to one lucky winner. To enter please leave a comment on this post telling us who your favorite rock band is. I'll get you started, mine are Queensryche, Dream Theater and Savatage, just to name a few. I will choose a winner on November 27th. This giveaway is international.

But wait, there's more!

Susan is hosting her own event, Musical Hanukkah, a drawing set to take place on Dec. 6th. You can find a list of the prizes offered so far here. You can enter this drawing by making a donation to the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation through this special link at First Giving that Susan has set up for the event. Then be sure to send your receipt to Susan so she can enter you in the drawing! Contact Susan Here. I've already made my donation, so come on over and give me some competition. This sounds like a wonderful charity, I was a band geek myself, and it was such a huge part of my junior high and high school experience, in which I made some life long friends. Every child deserves the chance to make music, and this charity tries to make that happen by supplying musical instruments to under-funded music programs.

Also during the months of November and December (yes, RIGHT NOW!), Susan is donating 50% of her royalties from any purchases of her books to the foundation. So if you don't win in my giveaway, you can go ahead and purchase the books yourself while knowing that you're helping to make a donation to an awesome charity! For information on how to purchase the books, head on over here where clicking on the book covers will get you to purchasing info.

Check it out folks, 'tis the season, and this is a great way to kick off your giving for the holidays!