Over the years, Daron’s Guitar Chronicles has had some wonderful reviews from bloggers, book reviewers, and readers, and it seemed like a good idea to collect some of them here, along with miscellaneous guest blogs, interviews, and other bits & bobs! (Surely we’ve missed many of them, so this is just some. If you’ve seen — or written — a review you think we should know about, please email daron.moondog AT gmail DOT com.)
“Only very rarely do we come across a character that is truly unforgettable. To the point of where you wonder, sometimes several times a day, what this person would think about something you’re experiencing. A character that feels so true to life, you wonder why they aren’t in your phone’s contact list. In my adult life I have only met two such fictional characters and the only one relevant to this genre is Daron Marks from Daron’s Guitar Chronicles.”
— Love Bytes Reviews (m/m reviews)
There’s also an interview by Lena up on Love Bytes as well.
Lena: “Why choose to write about an undersized, introverted guitar prodigy full of self-hate?”
ctan: “I don’t think I chose Daron. I think he chose me.”
And a review of the volume 4-5 omnibus.
Full review here: https://thenovelapproachreviews.com/2014/09/22/series-review-darons-guitar-chronicles-by-cecilia-tan/
“Cecilia Tan has done with Daron what every author hopes to do—she has disappeared inside her character. Ms. Tan didn’t write this book. Daron Marks wrote this book and used Cecilia Tan as the vessel through whom he tells his story. There is no discernible trace of the author’s voice in this series, the writing so skillfully engaged and executed that it’s impossible to believe Daron doesn’t exist somewhere in this world, and the level of detail in the music, the music business, and the insights into Daron himself—his thoughts, feelings, relationships—never once feel manufactured for the sake of simply telling a story. Daron lives, eats, and breathes music, and it’s through his narrative and lyrics that we learn of his pain, his fear of not only his own sexuality but also his fear of others discovering he’s gay.”
“Daron is nothing less than a phenomenal character.”
Guest Post at The Novel Approach
“Not-So-Historical Romance: Writing the 1980s” by Cecilia Tan
My long-running series Daron’s Guitar Chronicles carries the tag line “coming out and coming of age in the 1980s.” We joke that it’s “historical romance,” but actually it’s sometimes as more challenging to get the settings and details right in a 1980s romance as it is in the Regency. For one thing, it’s challenging because a lot of us are still alive to remember it, so if I get something wrong, someone is bound to call me on it! I use many real venues and locations in the book, from Madison Square Garden to small underground clubs, restaurants, bookstores, in cities like Boston, New York, and San Francisco. The difficulty is upped by the fact that Daron’s Guitar Chronicles, following the life and times of a rock musician, sometimes changes setting every chapter. When Daron is on tour, it’s a new city and new venue every day… Continued at The Novel Approach
“Character on the Couch: Ziggy”
Cecilia Dominic is a therapist and romance author who does interviews with other authors about what it would be like to send their characters to therapy. Here’s Ziggy as the character on the couch:
“It’s always interesting to see how people act when they first enter my office. Do they immediately go for my chair, hesitate before sitting anywhere, flop on the couch, etc.? What would your character do?”
“Ziggy saunters in like he owns the place, full of self-possession, and even smiles because he wants to seem friendly. He’s optimistic as he shakes hands: he wants help, and he loves talking about himself, so this should go swimmingly, right? He kicks off his electric blue boots and sits crosslegged on the couch in a half-lotus.”
Read the whole interview at: https://www.ceciliadominic.com/character-on-the-couch-guest-post-cecilia-tans-ziggy/
“If you like reading books about gay men in the music industry, you’ll probably like this book. I’m ambivalent both on the topic of the music industry and gay men but can definitely enjoy one or both of them. The way that one of the songs was described I felt like I could practically hear it which is a new thing for me when it comes to books. And was definitely a good thing.” – Blow Pops Books
Some favorites from Goodreads:
Some from Apple Books (formerly known as iBooks or the iBookstore):