OldBillyBob: Blog

I'm uploading chapter two of Band Geek Diaries today. This entry will cover the month of September. Freshman French Horn player, John, notices a few things going on between his Dad and Mrs. Kowalski. It worries him. Will his parents split up? Will that bitch, Abby, become John's step-sister? Somewhere in this, John finally kisses Katie.

I mostly intend this story to parallel the Band Parents story, so there are lots of references to it as John observes his parents and the Kowalskis. They try to be discreet, but they leave hints, and John is trying to decipher them.

I just posted the first chapter of a new story in the Band Parents universe. "Band Geek Diary" is just that - the diary of Billy and Lily's son, John, and his observations of life in a high school band. What does he see his parents getting up to? How does he feel about what he sees? The story is best read as a parallel to "Band Parents."

It's only truly the end of the story in that I've wrapped up the primary tale. There is more to come, of course, including one very wild adventure that our four band parents have on the spring band trip, a 'kinder and gentler' treatment of Abby, and one more tale that I hope will entertain you.

I've also decided to move the Band Parents stories to their own universe and open it up for other authors to post in. Feel free to get wild with the genre. Sexually active band geeks should have sexually active swinger parents, don't you think?

I have a couple more ideas for the Band Parents series, but I was wondering if some other authors had stories they wanted to tie into this 'world' as a universe. Pretty much anything goes in Band Parents world that a bunch of parents could get up to - hookups, threesomes, older/younger, polyamory, gay, lesbian, whatever.

Please let me know your thoughts about opening Band Parents up as a universe for other authors to post stories in.

A few readers have commented that Band Parent Billy got totally out of character by dumping so much rage on Abby in Chapter 2 of Abby the Flute Girl and part of me agrees. He was pretty harsh. The angle I approached the story from was 'if she's using sex as a weapon for blackmail, Billy should shoot right back.'

Looking at it in light of some of the feedback I got, I think I should do an alternate version where Billy uses tactics more like a martial arts throw. You let your opponent's momentum do the work and then your move throws them to the mat. I think I can do that.

Abby was based on a real character from when I was a Band Parent myself. She was my son's section leader for marching band when he was a freshman, and she was a beautiful little arrogant snot that terrorized the whole section and most of the parents that chaperoned the band, including me. Maybe that's why it felt so good to write that chapter. There were several Friday nights during football season when I wanted to take her out behind the press box and give her a whipping. I think her section might have even held her down while I did it.

Anyway, I'm going to leave this version up as a testament to every middle aged man who's ever had to endure a teenager like her. Look for a kinder, gentler Billy in the remake. Abby will still be a snot, but she'll come around.