Today I am pleased to present multiple options: a guest post by author Phil Brody, a spotlight of his debut novel The Holden Age of Hollywood, a book excerpt, a book giveaway and the other stops on this Innovative Online Book Tour. We’ll start with the guest post:
Doing Time in Hollywood
by Phil Brody
What are you in for?
That’s the first line in Chapter One of my novel, The Holden Age of Hollywood. It’s followed by two sentences that shed light on those words.
Fourth time tonight I’m asked this question. It’s the city’s trendy new way of inquiring, “What do you do?”
The chapter is called “Doing Time” and that rounds out the metaphor. For the characters in my story, Hollywood sometimes feels like a jail term. Los Angles, despite it’s sunny & 75-degree weather, can be a cold place at times. One character comments, “It’s an endless four-story grid of isolated, lock-the-door-behind-you lives, where everyone is either so wrapped up in creating their own success story or so damaged from their failure that resentment for one another is all we have in common.”
Yes, it can be tough.
Later in the novel, that same character says, “Doing time changes people. That’s a fact.” It is a fact. However, it’s how you let it change you—for the worse or for the better—that’s to be determined. That’s, in part, what my story is about.
The Holden Age of Hollywood is at once a modern detective novel, an unexpected love story, and a provocative exposé of a broken industry. With dark humor and incisive commentary, the novel immerses readers in a neo-noir quest to attain the Hollywood dream, integrity intact.
The conceit of the story involves the search for the one writer in Hollywood who does not want to be found.
After all, we all want to be discovered. Don’t we?
Truth told, doing time here in Hollywood has changed me in many ways. However, it also allowed me to give birth to this 10-ounce and 296-page baby of mine—one that I am very proud of and anxious for you to all hold and get to know. I think she’s something to behold. So far the reviews concur.
I’d love to know if you agree. At any juncture, you can tell me what you think by emailing me at: emailphilbrody@gmail.com
Note: That email address is also found at the back of every copy of the book. I want to know what you all think of my firstborn. Hope my words resonate and inspire. Hope they make you long for more.
More ways to find Phil: Blog Facebook Twitter goodreads Email
The Holden Age of Hollywood
by Phil Brody
Title: The Holden Age of Hollywood
Author: Phil Brody
Publisher: Medallion Press
ISBN-13: 978-1605424866
ASIN: B008ELH76M
Pages: 296 in paper version 294 as eBook
Buy Now: Buy in paperback Kindle Version
Enter to win: Rafflecopter
More About the book: “Hollywood died on me as soon as I got here. Welles said that, not me, but damn if he didn’t nail it, you know?”
Sam Bateman came to Hollywood to settle a score, but amidst the sunny and 75, his plans went astray. Everything changed the day he drank in the intoxicating legend of Meyer Holden, the greatest screenwriter Hollywood has ever known, the one who pulled a Salinger and walked away. Holden now tacks pseudonyms onto his works and buries them in the bottomless sea of spec that is Hollywood’s development process. They’re out there for anyone to find—but at what cost? In his quest, Bateman severs all ties and sinks into a maddening world of bad writing and flawed screenplays. Paranoid and obsessive, the belligerent savant encounters an eccentric cast of characters—each with an agenda—in his search for the one writer in Hollywood who does not want to be found.
Phil Brody’s The Holden Age of Hollywood is at once a detective novel, an unexpected love story, and a provocative exposé of a broken industry. With dark humor and incisive commentary, the novel immerses readers in a neo-noir quest to attain the Hollywood dream, integrity intact.
Reviews have been rolling in and here’s what the critics have to say:
“The Holden Age of Hollywood by Phil Brody delivers the premise and promise of its title. It is an original, rollicking, picaresque novel that would make J.D. Salinger proud.”
~ Stan Corwin, former publisher/CEO of Pinnacle Books, author of Betty Page Confidential and Oxy-Morons I Have Known
“Brody’s debut novel has an ambitious agenda. It’s a coming-of-age novel, a mystery, a love story, and a stinging, knowing send-up of the movie biz. Brody melds these disparate elements with energy, wit, snarky insider dialogue, and a clipped, telegraphic narrative style. . . The Holden Age of Hollywood is fine entertainment.”
~ Thomas Gaughan, Booklist (May 1, 2012)
“As the sun came up today, I turned the last page of Phil Brody’s The Holden Age of Hollywood. That’s because I couldn’t put it down. I can rarely make time for novels, but this one had me rifling through pages with constant anticipation. The back drop of this story is the same backdrop I live and work in. Hollywood. With all its fast-talkers, posers, and users, Brody weaves a tale through all the madness that is Hollywood with a voice of reason, integrity, and hilarious sarcasm. . . I have rarely been this entertained, while being informed, all from reading the same book.”
~ Doug Jones, Actor, Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy I and II, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer
“If anyone knows Hollywood, author Phil Brody knows Hollywood. The Holden Age of Hollywood is a cynical and witty look at the real town . . . exposing the often underappreciated business of screenwriting, all while unfolding an unexpected love story..”
~ Jessica Druck, The Five-Stir
“Readers will enjoy watching a fascinating Bateman get sucked into the Hollywood drama machine. Filled with a quirky cast working humorous scenes, this is a fascinating character study as Bateman goes the extraordinary extra kilometer to find a Holden screenplay.”
~ Harriet Klausner, Genre Go Round Reviews (June 18, 2012)
Find out more: Author Bio, Tour Stops and Excerpt ~Read More
Meet Phil Brody
Phil Brody, About me:
Phil Brody lives in Los Angeles and writes every day. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, he relocated to Chicago after college and enjoyed a successful career in Chicago in advertising. After moving to LA, Brody toiled in development, penned a few spec scripts, and has worked as a writer, producer, and director in documentary TV. His short film, A Blue Christmas, was the grand prize winner in The Short Film Group’s First Annual Script Competition and was acknowledged in the WorldFest-Houston and Cleveland International Film Festivals. Brody is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio and an alumnus of Writers Boot Camp in Santa Monica, California. The Holden Age of Hollywood is his first novel.
Ways to find me: Blog Facebook Twitter goodreads Email
Other Stops for this tour:
8/24 Just Me,Myself,and I Spot Light
8/24 For The Love Of Film And Novels Spot Light and Giveaway
8/27 My Devotional Thoughts Spot Light, Review, and Giveaway
8/28 White Sky Project Spot Light
8/28 Night Owl Reads Spot Light and Giveaway
8/29 Books and Beauty Spot Light and Giveaway
8/29 My Chaotic Ramblings Interview and spot light
8/30 The Bunny’s Review Spot Light, Interview, and Giveaway
8/31 ¡Miraculous! Review and Giveaway
8/31 Window on the World Review and Interview
9/3 Dahl’s Doll Spot Light and Giveaway
9/3 The Self-Taught Cook Review
9/4 I am, Indeed Spot Light and Giveaway
9/6 Full Moon Bites Spot Light, Interview, and Giveaway
9/6 House Millar Spot Light, Interview, and Giveaway
9/7 Jenn’s Review Blog Spot Light
9/7 Storm Goddess Book Reviews & More Spot Light
9/7 T B R Guest post
Now the Important stuff: The Excerpt
I escape to the patio, perch myself at the bar, where the bartenders can’t pour the Red Bull or the Kettle One fast enough. I watch them work, mesmerized by the stampede for this over hyped mixture of depressant and upper. I know no one uses terms like that anymore— depressant, upper. Call me old-fashioned. Actually, call me well-rounded. Helps me do my job and deal with the reason I’m doing time in this town. Drink to that.
“Another gin and tonic?”
I nod once to my best friend at this party, my only friend in this fucking town—the
bartender. Not this bartender per se. Every bartender. They mix a cure for what ails me.
Sure, it’s a momentary cure, but those are some of my happiest moments. Way it is.
Too many people. Too loud. Attitudes starting to asphyxiate. I stare at the sea of
lights, the view from the Hills of this coldfuckcold city that’s 75 degrees every day. It’s an
endless four- story grid of isolated, lock-the-door-behind-you lives, where everyone is
either so wrapped up in creating their own success story or so damaged from their failure
that resentment for one another is all we have in common.
Lights everywhere twinkle, look so inviting, but it’s a trick. I know it.
Want more? Chapter Sneak Peeks …
I am, Indeed 