It’s (Self) Publication Day!

Hey everybody! Today marks the release of my first self-published book, That’ll Be The Day: A Power Pop Heist. I say “book,” but technically I believe that the 17,000-word length qualifies it as a “novelette.” In other words, it’s a quick read.

Here’s The Skinny:

Jackson Sharp is a former guitar player fresh out of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. He’s on a mission to settle the score with his dead beat dad, but needs to collect some cash from his younger brother and former bandmate, Jamie. He finds Jamie at his struggling Tulsa record shop, but the cash is long gone. Jamie offers up a heist instead—steal a rare copy of a pre-Beatles 45 from a wealthy collector in Memphis. The road trip that follows is the violent family/band reunion that Jackson never wanted.

Why Power Pop?

First and foremost, I’ve always been a sucker for a good pop hook with energetic guitars and driving drums. Power Pop is that it’s timeless music inspired by the early music of bands like The Beatles, The Who, The Byrds and The Beach Boys. Listen to songs like “September Gurls” by Big Star, “Little Red Light” by Fountains of Wayne, “We Got The Beat” by The Go-Go’s or “Starry Eyes” by The Records and you’ll at least get the idea. It makes the perfect soundtrack for my book about a couple of desperate brothers on their way to steal a rare 45 by the pre-Beatles band, The Quarrymen.

Speaking Of Playlists

Fans like to debate what does and doesn’t qualify as Power Pop, but I put this playlist together with the help some music-loving friends on Facebook. It’s not definitive, but there are some truly great songs on there. Hope you dig the music, and my new novelette, That’ll Be The Day: A Power Pop Heist.

S.W. Lauden is the author of the Greg Salem punk rock P.I. series including  Bad Citizen Corporation,  Grizzly Season  and  Hang Time. His Tommy & Shayna novellas include Crosswise and Crossed Bones. A new novelette, That’ll Be The Day: A Power Pop Heist, was released on June 18, 2019. S.W. Lauden is the pen name of Steve Coulter, drummer for Tsar and The Brothers Steve.