-- how radio touches us, one voice at a time, and can inspire the storyteller in you."
David W. Berner
Author of Night Radio: A Love Story (Cawing Crow Press)
When I was a little boy, about 12 years old, I would rest my head on my pillow at night and hold a transistor radio up to my ear. The volume would be kept low so my parents couldn’t hear and discover what was keeping me up far too late into the wee hours.
There was WLS in Chicago, and WOWO in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and KDKA in Pittsburgh in my hometown. And on those big 50,000-watt stations were the voices of men and women who took you on a storytelling ride. Some would take calls from listeners, others would riff about the news and sports and family and friends, and others would poetically take you on a musical journey, linking the great rock ‘n’ roll of the era with the day’s events, life’s precious moments, and ups and downs of love.
These voices not only captivated me, but also motivated me to find out how I could do what they were doing, how I could be that man on the radio. I eventually became one of those voices and made a career out of it. But today, as part of my life has turned to literature and storytelling in written form as a journalist and author, I see how those voices and the stories they told shaped my writing life. Much of this is what inspired my latest novel, Night Radio, the story of a young man determined to find peace and love over the airwaves.
So many of those voices knew instinctively how to hold an audience; they knew what mattered to a listener, and what part of the human condition we all shared. They knew how to tell a story that engaged and compelled, stories that resonated long after the air signal faded. And today, when I listen to This American Life or Snap Judgment or Radio Lab on public radio, I think about how through all the years nothing has really changed. The stories told on the radio yesterday and today are essentially the same; they are stories about us, about our shared troubles and triumphs, about what we are afraid of and what we cherish. And the skills those voices offer are not unlike the ones writers must employ in order to captivate the reader. No matter the genre, the stories have to be based in the human condition just like those voices on the radio when I was a young man, hiding under the covers and staying up much too late.
If you want to tell stories, listen to the world’s most intimate medium, take it all in, voice by voice, and open up to tales told in their purest form.
~~~
About Night Radio: A Love Story
"Night Radio adds a unique and valuable dimension to today’s literary fiction by combining a gripping plot with a deep character study and a haunting, thought-provoking narrative."
--- Renee James, Windy City Reviews
Paperback: 351 pages
Genre: Pop Fiction
Publisher: Cawing Crow Press (May 25, 2016)
ASIN: B01G7INFB4
Summary: From the award-winning author of Any Road Will Take You There and Accidental Lessons comes a truly American story.
Jake Mulholland dreams of becoming the next great rock 'n' roll radio personality. But like his father, his appetite for love conflicts with his thirst for success, leading to an unforgivable mistake. Jake finds fame but also the excess of celebrity, and just as he begins to rediscover his authentic self, he's shaken by the news of a life-altering secret. In an effort for redemption, Jake plans a special New Year's Eve broadcast that will be the biggest challenge of his life.
Night Radio is a love letter to music and rock 'n' roll radio of the 1970s, the story of an American boy, an American family, and of dreams just out of our reach.
About the Author
David W. Berner is the award-winning author of three memoirs: ACCIDENTAL LESSONS, ANY ROAD WILL TAKE YOU THERE, and THERE'S A HAMSTER IN THE DASHBOARD. NIGHT RADIO: A Love Story is his first novel. Windy City Reviews calls NIGHT RADIO a “unique and valuable dimension to today's literary fiction by combining a gripping plot with a deep character study and a haunting, thought-provoking narrative.” David works as a radio reporter and news anchor for CBS Radio and teaches writing and radio documentary at Columbia College Chicago. His book ACCIDENTAL LESSONS won the Golden Dragonfly Grand Prize for Literature and has been called a "beautiful, elegantly written book" by award-winning author Thomas E. Kennedy. ANY ROAD WILL TAKE YOU THERE—a 2013 Book of the Year from the Chicago Writers Association—is the author's story of a cross-country road trip with his sons and the revelations of fatherhood. The memoir has been called "heartwarming and heartbreaking" and "a five-star wonderful read." THERE'S A HAMSTER IN THE DASHBOARD, a collection of essays, was named one of the "Best Books of 2015" by Chicago Book Review.
Connect with David online at:
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3023963.David_W_Berner
Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidwberner?lang=en
CFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/David-W-Berner-Author-190345939480/?fref=ts
Leave Comment