On Writing Billy: A ’70s Story
Updated: 3 days ago
They say to write about what you know. So, I wrote Billy, A ’70s Story.
Billy is a fictional interpretation of my teen years living in the New York metropolitan area.
I graduated from Queen of Peace Catholic High School, North Arlington, NJ, in June 1972 and went to Manhattan College in September 1972. I got caught up in buying and selling marijuana, then LSD and other hallucinogenic pills. I dropped out of college during the second semester and hitchhiked to Denver, Colorado, to visit a high school friend in the Air Force. I returned to live in New Jersey. I moved to Orlando, Florida, in May 1975 when I was twenty. I had $500.00 in my pocket, my 1967 Camaro, and no job.
I have some similarities to Billy and did some of the things Billy did. I did fly out to Corpus Christi and returned with 40 pounds of Mexican marijuana. I was approached by a Metro police officer on the subway with a brown paper bag on the seat next to me with a kilo of marijuana.
I was an orphan in that my mother died when I was eight and my father when I was fifteen. Unlike Billy, my twin brother, Tommy, and I lived with another brother and his new wife. Ronald and Lorraine always had our best interests in mind.
Ethel is a fictional character. Perhaps someone I may have been searching for to fill the void in my own life at the time. Psychology 101 diagnosis on my part.
The book is fictional, with remnants of my past reality.
I hope my readers enjoy the novel. I put a lot of thought into creating a character-driven story.
When you finish the story, please post a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or the online retailer where it was purchased. Reviews are the lifeblood for indie authors.
Available on Amazon and other online bookstores.
Comments