In the Top 10

December 2020

Book-Me Podcasts has selected my conversation with Costas Halavrezos about Kings of Friday Nights: The Lincolns as one of its Top 10 interviews of 2020.

That conversation was great fun. It can be found in various places, including on this web site under the Media tab.

Independent Bookstores

December 2020

Independents are an important part of the literary ecosystem. Plus they are usually very cool places.

That is definitely the case with Carrefour Atlantic at Halifax’s Historic Properties. I dropped by today to sign some copies of my latest book. It’s well worth a trip to Carrefour Atlantic to check all the many wonderful books and other stuff the place sells.

Where things stand

December 2020

Maybe it’s the time of year — a darkening period when many of us look both back and ahead — or maybe it’s my age — I don’t seem to be getting any younger!

Whatever the underlying motivation, I laid out the various books I possess that have my name on the cover. (I later realized I had missed one or two.)

It made the calculated spill seen here.

As things stand, I hope to add at least two more books before I’m done. After that, who knows?

More Love

December 2020

The love for the book about The Lincolns keeps on coming.

Yesterday, I read a wonderful write-up on the book in the bi-weekly newsletter of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia. Here it is:

“It’s hard to pack a sax and a Hammond organ in a book, but AJB Johnston does a good job of it in The Kings of Friday Night, about Truro in the 1960s and the legendary band The Lincolns. Through interviews and first-person stories, and featuring photos of the band’s evolution, The Lincolns will stir fond memories for the band’s countless loyal fans. Check out the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZC7SU4gT24) that goes with the book!”

Contest Anyone?

December 2020

Here below is how Nimbus Publishing has summed Kings of Friday Night: The Lincolns in a single sentence. How would you sum it up, sticking within that single sentence length?

Any takers willing to give it a try?

Not so crazy

November 2020

Here’s a not-so-crazy idea. A very long, longshot, yes, but not crazy.

The idea is to turn the story presented in “Kings of Friday Night: The Lincolns” into a TV series.

Sort of like Irish writer Roddy Doyle’s “The Commitments”, which went from a novel to a movie to a play in London’s West End.

The TV season I imagine would be based be six, eight or ten episodes of 20 to 30-minutes each. The starting point would be the real-life characters and events detailed in the book, presented with both drama and humor, and music of course. It would be important to get the period right, from fashions to cars to dialogue and attitudes. Anyone who knows the stories in the book will grasp that there was a fascinating mix of characters in the band and among friends and fans, and there were some zany hijinks and adventures, along with a few heartbreaks. There is more than enough for a bunch of episodes. Maybe more than a single season.

The series would begin with the formation of the band and move on from there, showing the many ups and downs as the 1960s unfolded. It would be funny and yet sometimes sad, and stirring and poignant at the same time.

So, there it is. That’s not crazy, is it?

Anyone know somebody in the TV production business?