Rockstar Book Tours Blog Tour, Guest Post, & Giveaway: The Bad Decision Playlist (Michael Rubens)

About the Book

Title: THE BAD DECISIONS PLAYLIST
Author: Michael Rubens
Pub. Date: August 2, 2016
Publisher: Clarion Books
Pages: 304
Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Goodreads

Austin, 16, a self-described screwup, finds out that his father isn’t dead. He’s alive, and moreover he’s Shane Tyler, a famous singer/guitarist/song writer—Austin’s dream for himself. But Shane is battling his own demons, and Austin must figure out how to grow up on his own terms.

Michael Rubens is the author of The Sheriff of Yrnameer and Sons of the 613. He was a producer for several years for the Emmy- and Peabody-award-winning Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and has written and produced for CNN, Oxygen, the Travel Channel and other networks. It’s theoretically possible that you saw him as the host of Eclipse Chasers: Ghana on the Travel Channel. He was also, for a very brief period, the World’s Least Effective Bouncer. He lives with his wife and daughter in Brooklyn, New York, and feels that the practice of writing one’s bio in the third person is somewhat questionable.
He is represented by John Silbersack at Trident Media Group.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

MY TOP FIVE FAVORITE SCENES IN THE BAD DECISIONS PLAYLIST

There are some spoilers here, I guess, but no Oh-My-God-THAT-happens-in-the-book???!!! type spoilers, so I guess these are okay to read even if you haven’t read the book yet.

1. The opening chapter, in which we meet Austin as he is halfway across a lake, ill-advisedly paddling a canoe in a standing position while stoned, a very expensive mandolin that doesn’t belong to him slung across his shoulder. His destination: a beach with some sunbathing girls that he’s hoping to impress – as well as several grumpy hockey players who aren’t exactly excited to see him. It is the first of many bad decisions in the book, and the one that sets everything in motion.

The novel grew out of this chapter, which I wrote with no clear intentions or purpose – as has been the case with each of my first three books, Bad Decisions started as a random scene that popped into my head, and then sort of demanded its own extended narrative: if this person is doing this, why? Who are they? What do they want, where do they live, what are they like? And if they’re this way, doesn’t that mean that there’s another person who must have a certain dynamic with them that’s like this, and then there must be a bad guy/gal, and of course a central challenge...and pretty soon after a lot of sitting there or wandering around with a blank expression on your face, muttering to yourself and dashing off notes, and more muttering and swearing and self-hatred and false starts and false middles and false ends and all that, you have a story.

2. The scene where Austin and Josephine first meet. I’m not sure this is a favorite scene, but it’s certainly one that required the most attention and rewriting. In fact, I rewrote the first several interactions that they have many, many, many...many times. Obsessively. And that doesn’t include the many scenes that I wrote and eliminated, sometimes after having cannibalized elements of them. I wanted to capture the complexity of their personalities and their relationship, to give a sense of why they’d both be cautious and yet still attracted to the other person, the complicated and delicate dance that often occurs when you’re falling in love with someone. I think if I could rewrite all those scenes a few dozen more times I’d almost be satisfied. Or maybe a few more times after that.

3. The scene where Shane, Austin’s father, appears on Austin’s doorstep. Actually, I’m going to cheat: I like this scene, and the scene where Austin goes to find Shane and gets rejected, and then the scene where Shane goes to find Austin and we’re not sure what’s going to happen...so I guess that’s three scenes. Sorry.

4. The scene where Austin climbs on stage with his father and sings in front of an audience for the first time, and Josephine is there to see him. Pure fantasy fulfillment, but with complications to follow.

5. The party at Shane’s house. Austin impulsively decides to invite Josephine to the party – which at first seems like a disastrous move, but becomes a turning point in their relationship (with its own complications to follow).

3 winners will receive a hardcover of THE BAD DECISIONS PLAYLIST! US Only.

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Tour Schedule

Week One:

7/25/2016- The Cover Contessa- Guest Post

7/26/2016- Owl Always Be Reading- Review

7/27/2016- Once Upon a Twilight- Excerpt

7/28/2016- James and the Giant Book- Review

7/29/2016- Fall Into Books- Guest Post

Week Two:

8/1/2016- YA Book Madness- Review

8/2/2016- Curling Up With A Good Book- Guest Post

8/3/2016- Here's to Happy Endings- Review

8/4/2016- Books and Ladders- Excerpt

8/5/2016- Riddle's Reviews- Review