Received my first iTunes statement today and learned that in less than a month someone has bought a copy of Wild Blue Yonder to read on their Apple device.

Woo-Hoo again!

Please stay tuned to the Wild Blue Yonder channel, for there are several more exciting additions to the site coming at ya.

The last time I saw Neil in concert was at the LA Forum in 1970. My ticket was $7.50. Our tickets Monday night were $91.00 each. It was worth it to see the man at work. God, he just blows me away with his passion. I was drawn to his music from his Buffalo Springfield days, but it became indelible and permanent with the release of “Neil Young” in 1968 and “Everybody Know This Is Nowhere” in ’69.

I told a friend about going to the concert and he said, “Was he in a wheelchair?” Ha. At 67 – my age – he is a force of nature as much now as he was 40 years ago.

I was going to write a review until I read this one by Harrison Mains in the Seattle Music Insider, which says it all, and all so eloquently: http://seattlemusicinsider.com/?p=12147

Neil, here we are in the years. Thank you for your music, past and present.You have always been a huge influence in my life.

The first Nirvana was just two blokes, Patrick Campbell-Lyons and Alex Spyropoulos. They wrote the music and sang the lyrics with accompanying studio musicians. Their big album was entitled “The Story of Simon Simopath” [1967], a concept album that told a continuing story with sort-of psychedelic and hurdy-gurdy influences. You can buy it, but you can also listen the entire album on YouTube [always a good source for checking out an obscure or hard-to-find work].

Although the two bands were popular 20 years apart, about all that’s similar is their name. Nirvana the First was a trippy, quippy, basically fun band making fun music. They were thoughtful, though, even a bit existential; their second album was entitled “The Existence of Chance Is Everything and Nothing While the Greatest Achievement Is the Living of Life, and so Say All of Us.” Nirvana the Second was driven by teen angst, anger, irony. It got so deep into its own despair, which came to stink so bad, that Kurt Cobain killed himself.

I think I’m somewhere in between the two Nirvanas in my musical tastes. Music is a huge part of my life and consciousness. I listen to everything except polkas, marches, and Jacques Offenbach. And musis is a big part of my novels, too. The playlist for Wild Blue Yonder is 65 works long, ranging from Beethoven to John Coltrane to the Butterfield Blues Band. Since Madrone follows Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers right from the end of Wild Blue Yonder, music continues as a theme. Look for the music of Quicksilver Messenger Service to play an important role.

On behalf of the Vietnam Veterans of America, CFO Joseph A. Sternburg has accepted my donation of $743.00 to the Vietnam Veterans of America.

In an email, Mr. Sternburg wrote, “Mr. Rochester, congrats on the success of your book. Thanks for your kind donation.”

I replied:

“This check represents a donation of $1.00 for every copy of my novel, Wild Blue Yonder, sold, whether paperback of e-book.

“I served in the U.S. Air Force for four years, 1965-69. This is my way of giving back to the troops I served with, as well as those who served before and after me. I believe we are indeed a band of brothers and sisters.

“Thanks to you and your organization for all you do for veterans. I hope my small contribution aids you in your efforts.”

Using the term “band of brothers and sisters” emerged unconsciously as I wrote, stirring memories of the TV miniseries about troops in World War II. I did some research; it came from Shakespeare’s play, Henry V about the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Here is the speech given by King Henry using the phrase “band of brothers.”

What’s he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin:
If we are mark’d to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God’s will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires:
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England:
God’s peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more, methinks, would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian:’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember’d.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

Interestingly, Saint Crispin’s day is commemorated on October 25, just a few weeks before our modern Veterans Day on November 11.

Rochester said at the time, “For every copy sold, I’m donating $1 to the Vietnam Veterans of America who support our troops.” Now he’s paying up.

Based on Amazon and Barnes & Noble reporting, Rochester wrote a check today to the Vietnam Veterans of America for $743.00 (see photo).

On Veterans Day, November 11, 2013, he’ll make a donation to yet another vets group.

Wild Blue Yonder has been favorably reviewed on Amazon (21 reviews, most 5 stars), Barnes & Noble, Facebook, Goodreads, Publisher’s Weekly, and elsewhere. Some of Wild Blue Yonder’s major themes:

• Aldus Huxley’s “Doors of Perception,” Pot, Psychedelics
• Becoming a Writer
• College Education
• Eastern Philosophy and the I Ching
• Freedom, Existentialism, “Why Are We Here?”
• Hippies, Haight-Ashbury, the Human Be-In
• Rock and Roll, Monterey Pop, Ravi Shankar, Beethoven
• Romance and Love
• Socrates Island
• The Friendship Bond Between Men
• The Military and Nate’s Personal Catch-22
• Vietnam War

Rochester is completing the sequel, Madrone, which will be published spring, 2013. He has worked in publishing for nearly 40 years as an editor, journalist, and author, having previously written over 500 articles and 11 works of non-fiction. Wild Blue Yonder is his first published novel. Rochester partners with Roger S. Peterson in www.businessbookghostwriters.com, helping businesspeople write their books.

For further information, interviews, or simply palaver about the ‘60s, please feel free to contact the author.

My booth was replete with copies of Wild Blue Yonder, dog tags, my fantastic new bookmark, a tabletop poster, a Kindle, Nook and an iPad [for iTunes], and my MacBook Pro showing off my newly redesigned website [with grateful praise for my designer and website guru Shari Ryan of One27Studios]. Along with a beautiful day and a grand view of the Porter River, we were fortunate to have musical accompaniment from a talented singer-guitarist named Digney Fingus.

I saw several author-friends and met many new ones. My next-table neighbor, Jim Vanderpol, was selling his  intriguing autobiography, And The Money Went Over The Railing, his story of escaping the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II. He and my friend Fred Van Bennkom, also of Dutch ancestry, really hit it off and Fred bought a copy of his book.

Harry Steinman’s first novel, Little Deadly Things, already resides on my Kindle as I wait in eager anticipation to begin reading it. I met Tom Porter, a fellow journalist, who with Marty Foley has just published A Murder in Wellesley, a true-crime book about a psychopathic doctor. I’ll be reading that on my Kindle as well.

My friend Deborah Swiss was there, author of The Tin Ticket, saying over and over, “I gotta write a new book.” Yes, Deb, we all have to keep writing and publishing, like Jeremy Robinson, who’s heen honing his craft with 15 books over the past 20 years and is now seeing great success from online, indie and commercial publishing. I got a kick out of learning that Jeremy named one of his characters after Scott Sigler, the San Francisco novelist who podcasted his novels to great success and ultimately resulted in publishing contracts both for books and audiobooks.

My opposite-side neighbor was Pam Fenner, representing the Independent Publishers of New England, a nonprofit supporting our local publishing community. Pam is filled with atomic energy for her organization, and I was soon convinced I had to join.

And there were many others I wish I could tell you about. What came across again and again was the strength and support in our indie and self-publishing community, working together as partners to help each other achieve our writing and publishing goals. Everywhere I turned, people were networking, referring me and others to other people. And quite a few authors and publishers were donating some of the proceeds of their books to charitable organizations [as I do also].

We give, and it comes back around. Always. In many wonderful ways.

Get the new, redesigned iTunes 10.7 for Mac and the other one

I’m excited to announce that Wild Blue Yonder is now up on the iTunes iBookstore. Although WBY sells briskly and well on Amazon, both as a paperback and a Kindle book, and on Barnes and Noble as a NookBook, <grin> I’ve wanted it available on the Apple iTunes site for a long time. Well, it’s finally happened, as it turns out just in time for the novel’s first birthday.

I just downloaded my own copy tonight and it looks great. Compared to Kindle and Nook, it looks a lot like more a book – you see the edges of pages ahead of you on the right – but that’s the kind of attention to detail we expect from Apple, right? The chapter titles are in blue and the text font is sharp. There’s real pagination at the bottom of each page, along with a progress marker, and at the far right a message tells how many pages are left to read in the chapter. You can search by words [Bob Dylan's name occurs 33 times] or for a particular page, and bookmarking is a simple touch away, leaving a red ribbon in place. A button on the left takes you to the table of contents [touch a chapter to jump to it], or bookmarks, or notes you’ve typed.

Woo Hoo!

Next, it’s going up on Google. I’ll keep you posted on that.

I’ll have some more great news for you Monday, Veteran’s Day.

Events like this let us tell readers about our book, and gives readers the opportunity to get an autographed copy. I’ll be handing out Wild Blue Yonder bookmarks, and each reader who buys a copy will get a free “Far Out, Troop!” dog tag on a chain. It’s the unisex fashion statement of the year!

I hope you can attend. The New England Authors Expo takes place at the Danvers Yacht Club, 161 Eliot Street [Route 62], in Danvers, from 1PM to 7PM. It’s sponsored in part by one of our own Massachusetts independent presses, Pear Tree Publishing. You can obtain more details about Pear Tree and the event at http://peartreepublishing.net/events/authorsexpoHBS.php.

See you there!

Over 650 Vietnam War novels have been published, mostly dark tales from the war zone. In Wild Blue Yonder, Airman Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers goes not to Vietnam but Germany, straight into a military Catch-22. His assignment: writing stories for the Stars and Stripes newspaper which will never see print. Nate’s adventure deepens as he and his fellow troops try to understand why they’re there, the military mindset, and the massive social disruption roiling 1960s America. Existential, psychedelic, funny, and laced with rock ‘n’ roll, Wild Blue Yonder is the story of Nate’s quest for personal and spiritual values while learning the meaning of family, friendship, and the love of the girl he left behind.

For every book sold, $1 donated to Vietnam Veterans of America, vva.org.