Title: The Legend of Arturo King
Series: Legendary Rock Stars #1
Author: L.B. Dunbar
Genre: Adult, Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 27, 2015
My name is Arturo King, and I’m told I’m a legend in music. My band is called the Nights and we got our start at the underground Round Table in New York City. Raised by a foster father, I didn’t know the extent of my inheritance until I was twenty-one, and it was all more than I bargained for. I wanted to play the guitar and rule the world with song, but I learned I have a mother from old money, a dead father who was once a real estate mogul, and a record company that needed some rebuilding. Mure Linn, my friend and mentor, has been by my side through it all, teaching me to play, strengthening my lyrics, and guiding me in the music industry. There was one area he couldn’t guide me, though, and that was love. Guinevere DeGrance changed everything for me, I suppose, including the reason I’m here learning the legend of my life without remembering any of it.
The legendary rock star series begins...
I’d like to say I was always a writer. I’d also like to say that I wrote every day of my life since a child. That I took the teaching advice I give my former students because writing every day improves your writing. I’d like to say I have my ten-thousand hours that makes me a proficient writer. But I can’t say any of those things. I did dream of writing the “Great American Novel” until one day a friend said: Why does it have to be great? Why can’t it just be good and tell a story?
As a teenager, I wrote your typical love-angst poetry that did occasionally win me an award and honor me with addressing my senior high school class at our Baccalaureate Mass. I didn’t keep a journal because I was too afraid my mom would find it in the mattress where I kept my copy of Judy Blume’s Forever that I wasn’t allowed to read as a twelve year old.
I can say that books have been my life. I’m a reader. I loved to read the day I discovered “The Three Bears” as a first grader, and ever since then, the written word has been my friend. Books were an escape for me. An adventure to the unknown. A love affair I’d never know. I could be lost for hours in a book.
So why writing now? I had a story to tell. It haunted me from the moment I decided if I just wrote it down it would go away. But it didn’t. Three years after writing the first draft, a sign (yes, I believe in them) told me to fix up that draft and work the process to have it published. That’s what I did. But one story let to another, and another, and another. Then a new idea came into my head and a new storyline was created.
I was accused (that’s the correct word) of having an overactive imagination as a child, as if that was a bad thing. I’ve also been accused of having the personality of a Jack Russell terrier, full of energy, unable to relax, and always one step ahead. What can I say other than I have stories to tell and I think you’ll like them. If you don’t, that’s okay. We all have our book boyfriends. We all have our favorites. Whatever you do, though, take time for yourself and read a book.
HOSTED BY:
Interview – Release Tour
1. How did it feel when you first performed in front of an audience?
It’s hard to describe the euphoric feeling. It wasn’t supposed to be me performing. It was supposed to be my foster brother, Kaye. But once I picked up that guitar and started walking on stage…well, let’s just say history began. I loved being in front of a crowd. I loved the lights. The applause. The energy. It was amazing.
2.How did you come up with the band name?
It was really Lansing Lotte and I. We thought we were so deep as teenagers. The Nights. Nighttime is so mysterious. Everything good happens under darkness when you’re younger. Plus nighttime was when we practiced. It seemed like the adventure began when we played at night. (smiles).
3.Did the inheritance help your career or hurt it?
(Growing serious). I tried not to take too much of that money. I sold some things to buy some other property as an investment. That’s how I acquired my home in upstate New York. The Nights are separate from Pendragon Empire. I have people in place who run that company well for me. My biggest interest is in Camelot Records. I want to pay it forward and give other new bands the opportunity to grow, just like we had the chance, with the help of Leo DeGrance and The Round Table. I try to keep The Nights and Pendragon separate.
4.Will Guinever DeGrance stay around for a while?
God, I hope so. (laughs). She’s amazing. I mean, look at her. She’s beautiful. But it’s not just her looks, she’s a good person. She’s genuine. She’s my soul mate. My once. My future.
5.Are you excited or afraid to learn of your past?
Both. It’s exciting to read about the success of the band and our friendships, but there’s some dirty secrets in there, too. My family being one. Others things I’m not proud that I did. But I can’t change the past. I only want to move forward.
6.How will your past effect your future?
I’d like to think we all learn from the past. Both positive and negative. If something was good, I want to grow from it. But if something was bad, I can learn from that as well. I’d like to think I learned a few things about women, but then Guinevere surprised me. I learned I knew nothing about women.
7.How did you and Mure Linn meet?
This parts actually in the book, but we met at a high school glee club concert. My foster brother, Kaye, was performing and I was there to help. I was only twelve. I was like a runner for the group. A gopher for getting snacks, water, anything the group needed. When Kaye forgot his guitar for his solo, I went back to the room assigned to his club to find it locked. I was pouting in the hallway, wondering what to do, when this old man came up to me. He looked like a biker- Santa Claus, with those funking two colored eyes. He asked me what I was doing. I said I needed in the room for my brother’s guitar, and he asked me how sitting on the floor was helping anyone. It wasn’t, I realized. When I found the solution, Mure stepped up to mentor me. Turns out he’d known me my whole life, but I didn’t know that yet.
Review
This is a wonderfully written book. Could hardly put it down. Was fun to delve into the world of rock 'n' roll and see what it would be like to live like a true rock star. Arturo is a very interesting character and having Guinever DeGrance in his life is a challenge in itself.
Enjoy the ride of your life when you begin the adventure of Arturo and Guinever and how money can change your life forever. Sometimes for the good or the bad.
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