I always thought this was a great book but it needed a good edit to give it that sparkle. I’ve got a new editor and it is so much tighter, punchier and fun!
I will be re-releasing the 2025 revised version shortly. Here’s the foreword:
Foreword
This book is Sex, Drugs and Rock ’n’ Roll writ large across the galaxy.
I started writing Star way back in the 1980s. I had this idea of writing about the sixties but putting it into the distant future and centring it on a massive underground rock star. I used Jimmy Hendrix as the model but added in slices of Dylan, Jim Morrison, Lennon, Bowie and others as the mood suited. I tentatively called it Intergalactic Rock Star. Blending my two passions of rock music and sci-fi worked for me.
I took all the many backdrops of the 60s – the Vietnam War, civil rights, Martin Luther King, the Fugs, Phil Ochs, Yippies, Dylan’s motorbike accident, Black Panthers, Peace Park, Anti-War demos, free concerts, Albert Grossman, lynchings, IT and OZ, Chicago riots etc. and fictionalised it. I built in the big business, record labels and mafia pressures.
I had great fun creating characters, bands and futuristic concerts. Zargos Ecstasy was created as a name before ecstasy the drug caught on. I was a bit miffed! The Terminal Brain Grope sounded fun.
What came out was part futuristic sci-fi thriller, part fantasy and a lot of twisted sixties events. I loved it. It had a light, fun touch and pacey feel, but it never took off. I changed the title from Star Turn: Intergalactic Rock Star to Star Turn and then Star. I carried out a rewrite and re-release in 2020 but still no joy. I have a new editor and decided to revisit. This is the 2025 update with cheesy cover and new blurb.
Enjoy!
Meet Zargos Ecstasy and the Terminal Brain Grope. Intergalactic rock for the intergalactic revolution. Maybe this time.