Royalties by Andy Marx Blog Tour! ( +$50 Amazon GC Giveaway!)

Title: Royalties

Author: Andy Marx

Series: N/A

Pages: 571

Date Published: July 3rd, 2014

Publisher: Hartwood Publishing

Format: eBook

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Goddess Fish Blog Tours
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Synopsis:

America has never seen anything to match the innovation, energy, romance, and excitement of the 20th Century. And the embodiment of all this is Eve Solomon, a young woman who embraces the vitality of the times with a fervor. Determined to make a name for herself in the fledgling music business of 1908, she ultimately becomes wildly successful. But the same steely determination that takes her to the heights of the entertainment world cannot bring her the one thing she wants more than anything: the love of her life, Alex Getz, a struggling Vaudeville comic who becomes one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. As their careers and lives intersect across the years, there is a price to pay—a royalty for true love that can never be measured.

Welcome to the blog! We've got some excellent features for you today! Andy is here to tell you all about the background of his latest book Royalties! We've got excerpts and giveaways and all sorts of goodies so feel free to stay and play a while!

~Guest Post!~

Having had two famous grandfathers – iconic comedian Groucho Marx and legendary songwriter Gus Kahn – I always knew there was some kind of a book about them that I wanted to write. But what that was going to be, I wasn’t quite sure, until one night when I was at my grandfather Groucho’s house having dinner with him and my grandmother, Grace Kahn, the widow of my other grandfather, Gus Kahn.  What I learned that night astounded me: their friendship went all the way back to the early 1900s, when my grandfather was struggling with his brothers in vaudeville and my grandmother was supporting a family of twelve working as a song plugger in the early days of Tin Pan Alley.

As they continued telling me about their lifelong personal and professional relationship (Groucho's son would eventually marry Grace's daughter, whom were my parents), which had lasted almost seven decades, I began to seriously wonder if they were ever romantically involved, despite the fact that they both ended up marrying other people.

And as a fan of such wonderful novels as Colleen McCullough’s “The Thorn Birds” and Kate Kerrigan's "Ellis Island,” I realized that the story of my grandparents – a genuine family saga – had the makings of a great historical novel.

Which brings me to my recently published novel, “Royalties.”

What if a struggling vaudevillian who would eventually become a cultural icon, and a down-on-his-luck songwriter who would go on to write some of the greatest songs of all time both fell in love with the same woman? And though only one gets her, the other can't let her go, which sets up a romantic triangle that will span decades and generations.

“Royalties” tells the story of Eve Cohen, an immigrant who comes to this country in the early 1900s with dreams of becoming a concert pianist.  When her dreams are derailed, she lands a job as a song plugger in the male-dominated early days of Tin Pan Alley.  Along the way, she meets Alex Getz, a struggling vaudeville comic, and Ben Cohen, who dreams of being a songwriter.  As Eve rises to become a powerful music publisher, she becomes romantically involved with both Alex and Ben.  But in the end, she knows she can't have both of them.  She will have to choose one and live with that decision the rest of her life.

So while “Royalties” is almost a total work of fiction, I was able to use a number of events from the lives of both my grandfathers and my grandmother. It was an interesting experience mixing a fictional story with some of the true events of the lives of important people in my family.

~Try an Excerpt!~

To Alex, Saturday night crowds were the best and tonight’s show in Milwaukee had been no different: a full house, several spontaneous bursts of applause during his act, and two curtain calls.

And Alex knew the evening would only get better. In less than an hour he expected a visit from a local prostitute, a date arranged by his friend, Charlie Chaplin.

“She’s the best in Milwaukee, maybe even the whole state of Wisconsin,” Chaplin informed Alex the night before.

As Alex finished taking off his make-up, he wondered what Chaplin’s gift would look like. Ordinarily, he wouldn’t agree to meet a hooker sight unseen, but he knew Charlie to be a good judge of talent. Besides, his friend even offered to pay for it.

Hearing a knock at the door, Alex looked at his watch. Only ten-thirty. She wasn’t due for another thirty minutes, he thought. There would be no time for showering or putting on a fresh change of clothes. On second thought, he reasoned, why bother getting dressed? We’re just going to take our clothes off anyway.

Following another knock, he got up and sauntered to the door in only his towel. He threw open the door and stared at the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

~Meet Andy!~ 

Andy Marx is an award-winning writer and photographer, whose work has appeared in Variety, The Los Angeles Times and Entertainment Weekly, among others. He is also the co-founder of the comedy website, Hollywood & Swine, known for its lampooning of the entertainment industry. His paternal grandfather was the legendary comedian, Groucho Marx, and his maternal grandfather, the renowned songwriter, Gus Kahn. Marx lives in Beverly Hills with his wife and three children. If you would like to check out Andy further, you can find him at these places: 

Website

Blog

Twitter: @andymarx

Facebook

Goodreads

Andy will be giving away one $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble giftcard to a lucky follower of the tour. Make sure to be commenting and filling in the Rafflecopter as you go to gain all your entries! 

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