I have always been into music. Once I hear a melody that interests me, I tend to focus on the lyrics. There are three songs that I’ve been thinking about lately, and the three songs seem to be linked to the same theme.
“Big League” by
Tom Cochrane and Red Rider is an older rock tune. It’s based upon a true story.
After a concert one night, a father and son approached Cochrane and talked
about how much his music meant to them. The son was in a wheelchair, a
quadriplegic. He had been on the fast-track to a hockey scholarship and
potentially a hockey career when a traffic accident ended that dream. Cochrane
wrote the song for the young man and it talks about hopes and dreams sometimes
not coming to fruition, sometimes taking a tragic turn.
“Unanswered
Prayers” by Garth Brooks is a nineties country song that has a twist to it. In
it, he talks about the girl who he thought he liked and who he thought was his
dream girl, who he thought he would end up with. It didn’t turn out that way.
Instead, he reminisces about how he thought she was the one, but was happy that
this particular prayer wasn’t answered the way he had first wanted it to end.
His lyric, “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers” seems to say
it all.
In “Chapters” by
Brett Young, featuring Gavin DeGraw, is a personal song about where Young’s
life was, where it is now, and where it is going. At one point, Young was quite
the pitcher and he thought that was where he was headed. But stress and strain
and a doctor turned that dream into, well, a dream that became unfulfilled. Yet
now, while he enjoys baseball, he is a successful country artist. A change in
direction, whether he wanted it or intended it or not.
I think the theme,
and there are several I suppose, each of these songs talks about is how life
changes. It moves and breathes and doesn’t stand still even though we might
want it to. A moment is just that, a moment. It happens, it passes and it is
gone before we know it.
Life, and time,
sometimes makes a fool of us all, don’t they? The life we think we have planned,
takes a twist, a turn and we end up in a spot where we scratch our head and
wonder, ‘How did this happen?’ And, time, well what can I say? Here a moment,
gone the next. What we have plans for disappear because we didn’t act on them
right away. The moment leaves us, people leave us, or we are called away. The
moment we were in vanishes.
What we have left
are memories and wistful thoughts and sometimes regrets, colored and clouded
with age and time.
Each of us have
wants, which are different from needs. Some are easily fulfilled, while others
take some work, some planning and some time. In the end, they may or may not
happen. Often, something better or at least different in a satisfying way comes
along. Nothing is ever perfect, is it? There are bumps. There are the
inevitable ups and downs, the struggles and strains, as well as smooth paths
and patches where we can settle in, shut our eyes, smile and breathe deeply.
Yes, that, too, happens, probably more than not.
Our lives are
moments, chapters strung together. Desires and urges, goals earned . . . or
not. But in the end, satisfying in its or their own way. As the chorus of
“Chapters” goes:
There's no perfect life, you can't hold back
time
But you hold on tight, hopin' you
might find
Every page you turn is a lesson learned
Ain't we all, ain't we all just tryna get it
right?
These are the chapters of my life.
Yeah, just trying
to get it right. Hopefully, with a smile and a deep breath along the way.
Something to think about . . .
Live Your Life,
and Make A Difference!
To My Readers:
My new book, Betrayed, will debut Nov. 12, 2020! It
is a contemporary psychological thriller using some of the same characters from
my previous work. It takes place on the Navajo Nation Reservation in northeast
Arizona.
Connect with me on Social
Media:
Twitter at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
Good News!
Spiral Into Darkness was named a Recommended Read in the Author Shout
Reader Awards!
Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer for Midwest Review had some wonderful things to say about Spiral Into Darkness:
“Joseph Lewis
excels in building more than just a 'whodunnit' mystery. His is a novel of
psychological suspense that weaves a 'cat-and-mouse' game into the equation of
dealing with a killer who is much cleverer than anyone he's run up against in
his career as a detective. Tension builds in an excellent, methodical manner as
Lewis creates a scenario that rests firmly on not just the actions of all involved,
but their psychological foundations. The result is a powerfully written work of
psychological fiction that is highly recommended not just for mystery and
police procedural readers, but for those who appreciate literary works well
grounded in strong characters, plot development, and emotional tension. Great
buildup, great insights, great reading!”
Readers Favorites
wrote:
“If you enjoy
thrillers, especially psychological ones, Spiral
Into Darkness by Joseph Lewis will grab you good and proper in the opening
two chapters. You will find yourself avidly turning pages as a serial killer
accosts his victims, confirms their identities and blasts away their faces with
a .38 pistol. If you are interested in both the good and bad sides of humanity
and why we each turn out as we do, Spiral
Into Darkness won’t disappoint.”
Best Thrillers
wrote:
“The Bottom Line:
A thoroughly compulsive police procedural by one of America’s most promising
new writers. Joseph Lewis, author of our Best of 2018 pick Caught in a Web, is back with another crime thriller featuring
world-weary Milwaukee detective Jamie Graff . . . While Lewis savagely explores
romance, drama, and sexuality with his wider cast of characters, Jamie’s
interpersonal life is refreshingly free of drama for a cop, enabling him to be
the determined, resourceful rock capable of cracking the case. The result is a
thoroughly compulsive crime thriller.”
And, Spiral Into Darkness has made it into
the Top 50 Indie Books by Reader’s
Choice!
You can find Spiral Into Darkness on Amazon at https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm and on Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/spiral-into-darkness-joseph-lewis/1129937958;jsessionid=0C9F7881E2F56139FAD36435022CB35D.prodny_store01-atgap18?ean=9781684332090
Best Thrillers had
previously reviewed my book, Caught in a
Web. It was named as a PenCraft
Literary Award Winner for Thriller Fiction! Best Thrillers called it “one of the best crime thriller books of
the year!” I am both proud and humbled.
You can find Caught in a Web on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696
or on Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/caught-in-a-web-joseph-lewis/1128250923?ean=9781684330249
Caught in a Web is
now available in Audio format. You
can find it at https://www.beaconaudiobooks.com/audiobookreleases/high-school-drug-rings-gangs-and-revenge-are-all-encompassing-in-caught-in-a-web-by-joseph-lewis
If you do read Caught in a Web, Spiral Into Darkness, or any of my other books, please leave a
rating and a review. I would appreciate it. Thanks for this consideration!
Spiral Into Darkness:
He blends in. He
is successful, intelligent and methodical. He has a list and has murdered eight
on it so far. There is no discernible pattern. There are no clues. There are no
leads. The only thing the FBI and local police have to go on is the method of
death: two bullets to the face- gruesome and meant to send a message. But it’s
difficult to understand any message coming from a dark and damaged mind. Two
adopted boys, struggling in their own world, have no idea they are the next
targets. Neither does their family. And neither does local law enforcement. https://amzn.to/2RBWvTm
Caught in a Web:
The bodies of high
school and middle school kids are found dead from an overdose of heroin and
fentanyl. The drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors and the Milwaukee
Metro area is controlled by MS-13, a violent gang originating from El Salvador.
Ricardo Fuentes is sent from Chicago to Waukesha to find out who is cutting in
on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has an ulterior
motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay, who had killed his
cousin the previous summer.
Detectives Jamie
Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the drugs,
shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else, especially
George or members of his family. The three detectives discover the ring has its
roots in a high school among the students and staff. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CKF7696
Book One of the Lives Trilogy, Stolen Lives:
Two thirteen year
old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of FBI
agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all the others- dead!
They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the possibility exists
that one of his team members might be involved. http://tinyurl.com/Stolen-Lives-J-Lewis
Book Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
Six men escaped
and are out for revenge. The boys, recently freed from captivity, are in danger
and so are their families, but they don’t know it. The FBI has no clues, no
leads, and nothing to go on and because of that, cannot protect them. http://tinyurl.com/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis
Book Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
A 14 year old boy
knows the end is coming. What he doesn’t know is when, where or by whom.
Without that knowledge, neither he nor the FBI can protect him or his family.
The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete
Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys
left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they don’t know
one another, the lives of FBI Kelliher, 11 year old Brett McGovern, and 11 year
old George Tokay are separate pieces of a puzzle. The two boys become
interwoven with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand. The three
of them are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives are in
jeopardy as each search for a way out. http://tinyurl.com/Taking-Lives-J-Lewis
Photo Courtesy of Noah Silliman and Unsplash
