I hit 10,000 hits on my website http://www.jymsbooks.com today and I wanted to thank everyone from this site for helping making it a success. I especially want to thank everyone who bought The Last Stage, I hope you've enjoyed the book! & of course The Last Stage (& others) are still available.

I know I don't get to this site too often but after I visit here my 'puter crashes, it's probably the fault of having such an old system windows 98, I think it's steam driven!

Thank You!
Jim

Hi Jim!

Congrats—I'm glad to see that your site is enjoying success. 10,000 vistitors is quite a mark. But I know that you are active online, posting to other lists and forums. So its no surprise to see that word is getting out about your book!

Let me know, when you have a moment and/or the inclination, what part of the site causes your computer to hiccup. It might be some errant _java_script__ code that causes Windows 98 to behave badly. I want to ensure that all our members can enjoy themselves here without worrying about a system lockup! :oops:

Anyway—just wanted to say hi and congrats again!

Thank you! I'm glad people get to see my work, on that note, I learned in this morning's e-mail that a very cool literary (and very diverse) site has chosen me to their featured writer for this month Feb 07, it includes a brief biography of me and one of my favorite stories (that I wrote) The Softest _meta_l. You can go right to the feature page at http://www.raintiger.com/storyhall/ or if you'd like to see the home page, it is quite unusual and I think very beautiful, go to http://www.raintiger.com and after the main page loads click on the Storyhall _link_. Oh, yeah, the Raintiger feature, features an updated photo of me, for those that have teased.

Also, next week (the first week of Feb, I'm told) http://www.madhattersreview is going to run a review of my novel The Last Stage
I hope you enjoy!
Jim

The new issue of The Madhatters Review is up, which includes a review of my novel The Last Stage (by Jim Cherry) The site is very cool looking and is interested in writers like us. http://www.madhattersreview.com/issue7/index.shtml

Hope you like the review and will like the Book!

jim

The Last Stage
by Jim Cherry
It was 1967 when rock 'n' roll, deep in the throes of growing pains, issued from the swirl of pandemonium The Doors, with dark angel Jim Morrison center-stage. Jim Morrison was like none other; a poet, a showman, a dark visionary, a wild exhibitionist who acknowledged no bounds in his efforts to shame and annihilate the reigning social mores. In his own way he was the first Punk Rock icon, a man well ahead of his time. His antics both behind and in front of the scenes garnered him an enduring legend that endures to the present day, planting him firmly into rock n' roll history with his unchallenged _title_ of Lizard King. What could not have been predicted was a lingering fascination that in the 21st century brought forth a flurry of Doors tribute bands, each competing for the right to fill his shoes. This is where we meet author, Jim Cherry, who offers his take on the Doors tribute band phenomena with the _title_ The Last Stage. Yet this is not an exposé on the tribute band phenomena or a droll scholarly study of any kind; it is a well woven fictional tale of one particular tribute band with an unknown singer, Michael Knight, as its front man.

Let us make the acquaintance of the central character Michael Knight. He wants something. Something grand, something astounding, something that would capture the attention and imagination of the world and catapult him to superstardom. There is only one obstacle: he has no earthly idea what form that something may take. Enter the dawn of motive meets opportunity when he decides to capitalize on his long understood resemblance to Jim Morrison of The Doors. But again an obstacle willingly tosses itself into his path; he neither plays an instrument nor has any singing ability that he is aware of. It would seem the dream stops there, but no. Employing the Klingon philosophy, "If something gets in your way knock it over" he proceeds to do just that as he plows ahead into uncharted territory. As a first order of business he must eject Deidre, his cloying girlfriend as he knows he will surely meet someone more fitting to his idiom on his rise to stardom. Next he undertakes to find himself a preexisting band, talk them into becoming a Doors tribute band with him in the lead, and form fit himself into their numbers.
Oh it seems so easy and possible and only so in the world of fiction where the world created bends to the author's whims. Yet despite this mark against it, The Last Stage comes off rather well. We see the earnest beginnings, the tentative immediate successes, the crashing failures, in all the sum total of expected results. As Michael Knight watches his ego rise into high flung heaven the paradise around him and his band mates begins to unravel tearing them to the roots.

I will not go any further into the particulars of this novel but to say that if you happen to agree with the viewpoint of former Black Flag front man Henry Rollins, "One of the lowest forms of life on earth is the tribute band," then perhaps this novel is not your cup of tea.

If on the other hand you are not averse to the nostalgic allure of the tribute band, are enamored of the Doors, would like to know more about the behind the scenes and otherwise antics of Jim Morrison, or wonder what a tribute band might endure on their journey, then this is the book for you. And while you're at it, pop a Doors CD into the p_layer_.

This review is by C.B. Smith. I posted it obviously because I think it's fair, good, it got 3 out 5 pickles.

Anyway the main reason I posted it was the end line, "Pop a Doors CD into the p_layer_". when I first wrote my first novel Becoming Angel I wanted to put in an introduction that the reader should read my books with head phones on because I think it would be close to a cinematic experience, and close to the experience I feel while writing it. But of course first time authors aren't asked to write introduction to their books except in their wildest fantasies of literary stardom. But I really think a soundtrack would enhance the readers experiecne of my books, for example after I gave up the idea of the soundtrack introduction in Becoming Angel I kind of rewrote parts to give an impressionistic feel of the music that the characters mention listening to, I think it worked rather well especially in the begininng with a Led Zeppelin song.

But I really think a soundtrack would enhance the readers experiecne of my books, for example after I gave up the idea of the soundtrack introduction in Becoming Angel I kind of rewrote parts to give an impressionistic feel of the music that the characters mention listening to, I think it worked rather well especially in the begininng with a Led Zeppelin song.

I particularly liked what you had to say here, Jim. You've really piqued my interest. I've got about a stack of 8 books to get through for review, but would really like to do this one in the near future.

Thanks for posting Smith's piece — he's a good reviewer with a very eclectic collection of reviews found various places on the web, and on his site. I like what both of you are up to!

Dan