I’m delighted to welcome author Andrew
Joyce back to Thoughts in Progress. This time he has an intriguing new book to
tell you about, it’s called BEDTIME STORIES FOR GROWN-UPS.
Before you begin wondering about it’s
all about, here a brief description of the book.
Bedtime Stories for Grown-Ups is a jumble of
genres—seven hundred pages of fiction and nonfiction … some stories included
against the author’s better judgment. If he had known that one day they’d be
published, he might not have been as honest when describing his past. Here is a
tome of true stories about the author’s criminal and misspent youth, historical
accounts of the United States when She was young, and tales of imagination
encompassing every conceivable variety—all presented as though the author is
sitting next to you at a bar and you’re buying the drinks as long as he keeps
coming up with captivating stories to hold your interest.
Comprised of 218,000 words, you’ll
have plenty to read for the foreseeable future. This is a book to have on your
night table, to sample a story each night before extinguishing the lights and
drifting off to a restful sleep.
Mr. Joyce sincerely hopes that you
will enjoy his stories because, as he has stated, “It took a lot of living to
come up with the material for some of them.”
Now please join me in welcoming Andrew
to Thoughts as he shares about his new release. Welcome, Andrew.
Hello, my name is Andrew Joyce. I have
a new book out entitled Bedtime Stories for Grown-Ups.
It came about because my editor hounded me for two years to put all my short
stories into one collection. Actually, it was supposed to be a two-volume set
because there was so much material. I fended her off for as long as possible. I
didn’t want to do the work of editing all the stories. There were a lot of
them. But she finally wore me down. Instead of two volumes, I put all the
stories into a single book because I wanted to get the whole thing over with. I
had other books to write.
Bedtime
Stories is made up of fiction and nonfiction
stories and some of ’em are about my criminal youth. I must tell you, I never
thought any of these stories would see the light of day. I wrote them for
myself and then forgot about them. By the way, there are all sorts of genres
within its pages, from westerns to detective stories to love stories and just
about anything else that you can imagine.
There are a whole lotta stories in the
book—700 pages worth. Enough to keep you reading for the foreseeable future.
Anyway, here’s one of the shorter
stories from the book.
Treasure
He stumbled upon the treasure quite by
accident. He was exploring the vicinity when he happened upon it. His first
thought was, This cannot be real. He cautiously
approached it. Someone might be playing a trick on him. Maybe he was being
observed. But no one sprung from a concealed location—no one yelled for him to
halt his advance. It seemed safe to move forward. When he arrived at the
treasure, he bent down to touch it, just to make sure it was real. After one
touch, he fled to better-known and safer environs.
That night he could not sleep for
thinking of what he had discovered. He thought and thought of ways he could
explain it to members of his tribe. If he suddenly showed up with the treasure,
anything he said would be suspect. One does not find treasure of this sort
every day. No, he would have to think this through.
The next day he went back to where he
had found the treasure, but dared not get too close. Instead, he peered at it
from a distance. It was still there and
untouched. But for how long would it stay undiscovered? A fire burned within
him to possess it. If not for the taboo placed on matters of this sort by the
Law Giver, he would claim the treasure as his own. But no, the Law Giver would
never allow it.
As he tried to sleep on the second
night after his discovery, he thought perhaps the Law Giver would understand.
Perhaps he should approach her, and tell her of his find. No! If she forbade him from keeping the treasure, it would be lost
forever. Conceivably, he could bring it to his village and hide it from the Law
Giver. But … where could he hide it? The Law Giver was all-wise; she knew the
secrets of his heart.
Quite unexpectedly, he overheard the
Law Giver speaking of the place he had found the treasure. This is what he
heard: “When they moved out, they told me they left a few things behind, and if
we wanted anything, we were welcome to it. I’ve been too busy to go over there,
but I think I’ll take a look this afternoon. Maybe there will be something Billy
might like.”
Something
I might like. Something I might like! Was she
toying with him? Did she indeed know of the treasure? Later that afternoon, his
mother called Billy to the front of the house. He was not allowed far from home
because he was only five years old, so he appeared right away. His mother said,
“Look what I found next door where the Simms used to live.” And there it was—the
treasure!
His mother handed little Billy the bright red toy fire truck
that had caused him to lose so much sleep. You see, Billy had been afraid his
mother would think he had stolen it, even though it seemed to have been
abandoned. And in his home, stealing was the one thing his mother, the Law
Giver, would never tolerate.
Andrew, thanks for joining us today and enlightening us
about your new book. I love the title. It makes you wonder before you ever turn
a page.
Now for those who aren’t familiar with Andrew, here’s a
brief bio.
 |
| Author Andrew Joyce |
Andrew
Joyce left high school at seventeen to hitchhike throughout the US, Canada, and
Mexico. He wouldn't return from his journey until years later when he decided
to become a writer. Joyce has written five books. His first novel, Redemption:
The Further Adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, was awarded the
Editors' Choice Award for Best Western of 2013. A subsequent novel, Yellow
Hair, received the Book of the Year award from Just Reviews and Best
Historical Fiction of 2016 from Colleen's Book Reviews.
Andrew
now lives aboard a boat in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with his dog, Danny, where
he is busy working on his next book, tentatively entitled, Mahoney: An
American Story.
Thanks
so much for stopping by today during Andrew’s visit. What were your thoughts
about the treasure?
