Authorpreneur Dashboard – Mark Gillespie
FAB Novella
Literature & Fiction
'What if John Lennon had lived?' 'December 8th 1980' Murphy 'Jagger’ Salmon - ageing hippy, part-time drunk and Rolling Stones fan, is on his way home from the pub when he accidentally saves John Lennon from the assassin’s bullet. By way of thanks, Jagger is offered a job working for the former Beatle and the two men quickly become friends. But as the 1980s move forward, things quickly get out of control. When Lennon suffers a couple of career setbacks, he tries to win back the adulation of his fans by moving into politics. But the 1980s version of John Lennon is a far cry from the radical left-winger of old. And much to Jagger’s horror, when Lennon quickly becomes an unstoppable force in American politics, the working-class hero is transformed into a right-wing poster boy. There’s even talk of a Beatle in the White House.
Book Bubbles from FAB Novella
The Switch
This chapter is based on a real event - the famous 'Evil Empire' speech given by Ronald Reagan in 1983 at the height of the Cold War. This time however, there's a very special guest listening to Reagan.
The Buddy Chapter
This is still early in the book. And I've tried to do a couple things in this chapter. I'm hinting at the close bond that was developing between the characters of Jagger and Lennon. Jagger is of course, only doing his job in sending a drunk Lennon safely home. I hope his concern at least comes across as genuine. It's also in this chapter that the further direction of the book is first revealed - John Lennon's political reawakening.
Changing History
This is the great thing about writing Alternate History. With your imagination running away with itself, you can literally do anything. There were many spectacular ways in which I could have intervened in the assassination of John Lennon: a UFO crash landing on the gunman's face, a well-timed zombie apocalypse, or the arrival of a radioactive sea monster from Japan in New York. I didn't go that way. Although part of me now wishes that I had! Instead, I chose an action that was based on the most seemingly insignificant choice - a drunk man who is lost and has to make a decision of which way to go - left or right. A tiny decision with huge consequences. Like the kind we make every day.
