Grace Ombry

Novelist

Category: Smokin’ & Cryin’ (Page 1 of 4)

City Dairy
This deleted scene takes place at the City Dairy in Robin's neighborhood just before the beginning of the book.

City Dairy (deleted scene no. 2)

September 15, 2019 /

Author’s note: In the interest of starting Smokin’ & Cryin’ as close to the inciting incident as possible, I cut a couple of scenes that came beforehand. I still like them and thought it’d be fun to share them anyway. City Dairy is 2 of 2.

 

All Bev wanted was milk, bread, and Virginia Slims. And Lisa out of her hair. My stepmom’s eyes were puffy and she wore the stubborn scowl that always showed up after a long night of arguing with my dad. She’d wanted Arthur to move back home with us for a while and I was kind of proud of the fight she put up because usually she’d just sigh and give that jerk his way.Continue Reading City Dairy (deleted scene no. 2)

Arthur comes home to a cookout

Arthur Comes Home (deleted scene no. 1)

August 3, 2019 /

Author’s note: In the interest of starting Smokin’ & Cryin’ as close to the inciting incident as possible, I cut a couple of scenes that came beforehand. I still like them and thought it’d be fun to share them anyway. Arthur Comes Home is 1 of 2.

July 4th. Hairspray. Yellow onions. Burgers and bratwurst smoking on the grill. Arthur sauntered into our sun-scorched backyard, barefoot, wearing cutoffs and a ringer T-shirt. Shrieks and whoops and applause rose from our relatives and neighbors who were thrilled to have him home from the war. I’d wanted to be the first to see him, the first to welcome him home, but the sight of him through the sliding screen door froze me at the kitchen table, knife in midair, the onion I’d been chopping abruptly forgotten.Continue Reading Arthur Comes Home (deleted scene no. 1)

Robin meets Ty Odette at a diner.
Robin meets Ty Odette at a diner.

“Ty Odette” – Demo – Smokin’ & Cryin’

May 15, 2019 /

Author’s note

I’m serializing the first 10% of Smokin’ & Cryin’ here on my blog. It’s the story of a young American rock band set in the early 1970s. Please feel free to share this with your friends.

Overture is the first installment. This post is #13 and the final installment in the series.

 

Chapter 5 – Demo (part 1)

We were bushed after closing out a three-night stand at the Crash & Burn, which was either the best or worst biker bar in Arkansas, depending on how you look at it. Knife fights, cat fights, you name it, they’d fight it, or fight over it.

Stupidly, I’d jumped into a brawl erupting on the dance floor to yank a big dude off a girl who couldn’t have been more than 13. She managed to get away, but he pinned me under one sweaty ham of an arm. Arthur ditched the stage to get the guy off me. Then Deuce dove in, throwing punches at all comers. We barely got out of that place with our lives.Continue Reading “Ty Odette” – Demo – Smokin’ & Cryin’

recording studio

“Studio D” – Demo – Smokin’ & Cryin’

May 14, 2019 /

Author’s note

I’m serializing the first 10% of Smokin’ & Cryin’ here on my blog. It’s the story of a young American rock band set in the early 1970s. Please feel free to share this with your friends.

Overture is the first installment. This post is #12 in the series.

 

Chapter 5 – Demo (part 1)

A month later we had to drive to Detroit because Perry was tapped for session work by one of my favorite acts, The Odette Brothers Band. I was psyched to meet them, but it turned out they were off touring somewhere. They wanted him to put a few bass tracks down at Studio D because some recordings got botched at their private recording digs in Georgia.Continue Reading “Studio D” – Demo – Smokin’ & Cryin’

french fries

“French fries”- Econoline – Smokin’ & Cryin’

May 13, 2019 /

Author’s note

I’m serializing the first 10% of Smokin’ & Cryin’ here on my blog. It’s the story of a young American rock band set in the early 1970s. Please feel free to share this with your friends.

Overture is the first installment. This post is #11 in the series.

 

Chapter 4 – Econoline continued (part 4)

We were playing a two-nighter at this dive bar in the middle of a cornfield. Outdoor platform, concrete dance floor, cyclone fence to keep the riff-raff corralled, and beer served in half-gallon cartons. Those animals boogied down on top of the picnic tables. We showed them a good time, and because the mood felt right, slipped a few of our originals into each set. We did Purple Love Grass, a favorite of mine, along with Arthur’s bluesy reworking of Little Stranger. Those midwestern barflies danced their butts off no matter what we played.Continue Reading “French fries”- Econoline – Smokin’ & Cryin’

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