ACT OUT FOR FUN TABLE TOP READING CITY OF REDEMPTION

Called family, friends, and neighbors to do a reading of my screenplay, City of Redemption by June Ahern from the novel of same title.

Lots of fun with a jerky start, totally amateurs at play - except for our star reader, Shannon Briesach, the only real actor who suffered and laughed along with us.

In this Youtube video of Liz MacKay meets her new family or as she calls it her "Odd Family" - the commune she is now in.

With a table top read screenplays come to life and what isn't working is heard and seen, what is working drives the ambition on to see the story on screen. This screenplay was also read by "real" actors in Hollywood around the same time. Their videos didn't work out. But they LOVED the characters and storyline.

City of Redemption takes place in two locations, Glasgow, Scotland and San Francisco, California 1967 - Summer of Love. The screenplay is focused on San Francisco. It is about a lonely young woman seeking an opportunity for a new life after her young son is kidnapped and murdered and she had a role in that. For more about the story go to my website june ahern dot com

Matchboxes were used for more than matches in the 1960's What else were they used for? Excerpt from novel at end of blog.

If ebook is your trip...trip out! Found on Amazon.com

Thanks for checking in! See you at the screening  - someday, right? 

Excerpt City of Redemption Liz and Cat where adorable space-out  Cat sells matchboxes.

"A radio played in the background. A man’s deep radio voice was giving the news “Guardsmen were called out to aid police in Detroit's racial violence. Now a word from our sponsor.” A male voice sings the Brylcreem jingle,

 

Cat plunked down on a chair and picked up the plastic bag of grass. She opened the bag and stuffed some marijuana into a matchbox. “A little dab will do ya. Use more only if you dare,” she sang along with the Brylcreem jingle.
 

“What’s with the wee matchboxes?” asked Liz.
 

“I sell them at the high schools. You know the kids don’t got much money so Ricky makes it easy for them.”

TOUGH TIMES. TOUGH PEOPLE. TOUGH STORIES

I've been viewed as tough  tuff- "Why are you so tough?" - "You're a tough chick."

Can I say, I was born in a town where tough was a way of life?
My father encouraged his children to be tough. He was an amateur boxer in Glasgow and taught his six daughters how to box. Being brave and standing up for yourself was honorable.


Age and my spiritual quest and teachings have mellowed me. Nice to be more peaceful. 

My novels, The Skye in June and City of Redemption are about tough times, tough situations and tough people.

FROM SCOTLAND TO SAN FRANCISCO: Both novels give readers a history of tougher times and are set in two different cities and countries:  Glasgow, Scotland and San Francisco, California,  U.S.A.

In Skye the main characters are from 1950's Glasgow, a tough town to thrive in the immediate postwar times and for a long time thereafter - poverty continued as read in my novel City's setting of 1966. 

 Purchase and read more www.juneahern.com or amazon.com. 

Photo: "Weans in a puddle." Mitchell Library, Glasgow. About 1950's Glasgow, Scotland

FREE KINDLE TO 6/16/14 GROOVY-MALICIOUS NOIR

City of Redemption Free Kindle Edition until June 16th, 2014 by June Ahern.

A groovy-malicious noir set in 1967's Summer of Love.

"City of Redemption" is a vividly recounted story of lies, betrayal, sex, drugs and murder takes place during an unforgettable time and place in history.

Flower power ignites into firepower when a lonely young woman entangles herself in a treacherous plot and murder during the Summer of Love.

It is 1983 and Liz MacKay waits to be paroled for the murder of former roommate, Ricky Martinez.

Is she guilty? She says yes. Her attorney says Liz has paid her debt!

In 1967, partly to blame for her young son's death and abandoned by her husband, Liz Mackay leaves Scotland in disgrace, hoping for a second chance at love and life. She arrives in San Francisco during the Summer of Love to have a "jolly good time" with the free love among the groovy people. She soon joins a commune. Her new family is a curious mix: Black Panthers trying to change the world, a Vietnam vet seeking inner peace, a flamboyant hairdresser ready for fame and love, a flower child and her callous drug dealing boyfriend who changes girlfriends often.

At first, Liz is happy to have found a welcoming home, but as her new roommates pry into her mysterious past Liz's search for a "jolly good time" brings more grief and a worsening drug addiction. Embroiled in a plot to bring down the Black Panthers, she looks for a way to redeem herself for her part in her son's death. Sharing her fears, she is told, "Keep your mouth shut." In a moment of passion, she seized teh chance to redeem herself for her shameful past. But can she save her friends or will she just watch her commune family break apart? No one expects anything heroic from Liz.

This review is from: City of Redemption (Paperback)

"City of Redemption" is yet another solidly honed story by celebrated author June Ahern who writes with such interest and vigor that the reader feels as if they've traveled back in time with her. She captures the moment and the unique characters of a unique era in compelling storyline and plot. Interested in San Francisco in the 1960s? June Ahern will take you there.

 

This review is from: City of Redemption (Paperback)

I throughout enjoyed reading City Of Redemption. Not only did the story keep my interest but growing up in the Haight/Ashbury district, in the 1960's, myself, the characters could have been my neighbors! Even when I put the book down my mind was still thinking about the story, looking forward to reading more.