These Days

Fueled by a passion for 1940s movies and her jazz musician father's nostalgia for a time when "every hole-in-the-wall bar had a band," 14-year old Becky Shelling dreams of a career in show biz. When her beloved dad disappears, Becky takes up with Lenny Moss, a smooth-talking married strip-joint owner whose nostalgia is limited to a time when men ruled and women knew their place. Taking her to work for him on Baltimore's "World-Famous Block," Lenny inadvertently leads Becky down a path of self-discovery on a once-stylish, now-decrepit adult-entertainment strip, where everyone has a tale about the good old days but nothing is quite as it seems. As Becky struggles to reconcile her life as Lenny's mistress/star performer with the realization that her father's disappearance was no accident, THESE DAYS juxtaposes past and present, myth and reality in ways that shine a light on the pitfalls of nostalgia and challenge the tenacity with which we cling to the past. "[These Days] gives credence to the saying,'You should write what you know.' It's obvious this writer knows her territory." - Amazon Vine Review "As original as it is addictive. A truly compelling read that is worthy of high praise." - Publisher's Weekly Independent Review.