Tag Archives: biography

Even Rock and Roll has Fairy Tales: The Flight of the Sherry Fairy

Thank you to author Sherry Carroll for the below guest post about her book ‘Even Rock and Roll has Fairy Tales: The Flight of the Sherry Fairy‘. I must confess to not knowing a great deal about the subject!

Hi there, thanks for checking me out. I’m Sherry Carroll the Author of “Even Rock and Roll has Fairy Tales: The Flight of the Sherry Fairy” (and more)

You can check me out on Amazon .com or find out more at http://www.evenrockandrollhasfairytales.com and http://www.sherrycarrollbooks.com

Now my Kind of- Sort of a serious Bio. Or, at least, as close as I am ever going to get to making one. L So you want to know about little ole me? Aw, thank you ever so much. So without further ado, my story

Hmmmm… well, If you were to take Janis Joplin, Scarlet O Hara, Bette Midler , Mary Poppins , Carrie Fisher, Gracie Allen , W.C. Fields, and all four of the Marx Brothers and put them in a giant blender you would get… a really terrible mess and most likely, some fairly serious criminal charges! However, I am the kind of gal, who would help bury the pieces, have the place spotless before the cops arrived, and come up with an airtight alibi, a great excuse or at least a fairly decent justification. Failing that, rent a white bronco, cheap false beard and mustache, a fake passport passes out plenty of funny money and gets you across the border. If the worst should happen (as it surely must) and we don’t make it I promise I will write you a fantastic confession and then defend you to (your) death on Judge Judy.

I am currently trapped in a keyboard cage somewhere in in the suburbs of suburban soccer mom Maryland in the U.S of A pretending to be a mild mannered homemaker (with a not –so secret identity) and mother to four wretched and ungrateful offspring that are a never –ending source of despair and delight. These so called children of mine are Jordan 28, IT expert, Jayme 25, who ran away to Hollywood to become a movie star and is actually well on his way to doing just that! My Adorable Daughter is 22 and working on masters in psychology, and “little” Ian at 14 is twice my size. He’s got Asperger’s but seems to have grown out of or learned coping skills to accommodate his autism spectrum disorder symptoms and now he’s just suffering from typical teenage boy pain- in- the- butt- ski. I am constantly thrilled and horrified at the tales of growing up in the internet/ information age and their high-spirited antics!

I have no idea how they became so eccentric. I blame their father’s side of the family.

Despite my protests they insist on continuing to grow up and move out leaving me with no other option but collecting really cool creepy dolls as replacements and spending every waking moment at the keyboard . I wish that were a joke! I frequently wake up on the couch with no blanket after a three day writing/ Facebook/twitter binge/marathon with an open laptop on my chest, ferrets attacking my toes and birds searching my hair for stray birdseed, which they find, to my great dismay, much more than I would care to admit to anyone.

I owned and operated my own private pre-school out of my home for twenty years until I retired about 17 years ago to become useless and dissatisfied on a full –time basis which I was remarkably successful at until about three years ago when I received the unfortunate news that yes, the verdict was in, I was a writer! Just as I always feared and suspected.

Up until then I had been going to the University of Maryland part- time and wasted thousands of hours exploring the internet and flying over to see my best friend in London two or three times a year so I practically lived there as much as possible until the last of my friends there got fed up with my sleeping on their floors and couches, complaining they ate no meat, drinking everything in the flat, and whining about how boring Maryland was and physically forced me on a plane out of their country for a few months. Back to a place so dull I thought I would lose my mind, as I am a girl accustomed to adventures! Before I was a respectable teacher and housewife I had become a Superstar Teen Queen on the rock and roll backstage scene, with my best friend Shari, the other half of “The Infamous Sherry and Shari.”

When I took my first creative writing class in the fall of 2011 my professor was convinced I should turn my stories of those days would make a great novel. So, lacking anything better to do the next 18 months I sat down and worked 24/7 until I had written one, much to both of our shock, delight and disbelief!

The results were my memoir “Even Rock and Roll has Fairy Tales: the Flight of the Sherry Fairy.”www.evenrockandrollhasfairytales.com

I It’s a true story about the good old days backstage and my 20 plus year relationship with Rock god, living legend and international sex symbol Eric Burdon, the charismatic, notorious bad boy and front man of The Animals and War with an impressive solo career , and not just in music, over the last sixty years. Who quite unexpectedly, at 72 years old came out of a 20 year retirement and had one of the biggest comebacks in history at the same time I finished my book! He’s one of the hottest acts in the business right now still going strong. WOW! Thank you Eric! But it’s the least you could do after…

Well; it’s kind of a long story! That’s why I had to write a book LOL

I have done nothing but write non-stop ever since. And now, even living in Maryland isn’t so bad. Especially if you sleep all day and write all night and never leave the house. I have to! I have more stories than I have years left to tell them in. Here is one of the reviews http://pennreviews.com/2013/10/11/even-rock-and-roll-has-fairy-tales/ and an interview on Eric and about my memoir http://indiemirror.com/2014/02/18/interview-with-sherry-carroll-even-rock-and-roll-has-fairy-tales/

I’m finishing my next book “Saving Amazing Gracelynn” any day now. Part one in a series of new-ish, true-ish so –called “fictional” epic rock and roll novels, which basically means all the stories are true, the names have just been changed to protect the guilty. How thinly you will be disguised is entirely dependent on how much I liked you and how decent a person you were, so if you were a proper villain you better watch out! Some of you big stars very nervous right now, and for good reason. You know who you are! It’s the first in a series that covers dozens of big bands and huge stars plus the adventures of our intrepid heroine Gracelynn, spanning well over forty years. I can’t wait for all of you to meet her!

Everything I write and publish is available on Amazon.com at my Author Page http://www.amazon.com/Sherry-Carroll

You can frequently (read always) find me at a little thing called Facebook, maybe you’ve heard of it?

I run a page full of writing tips I want to use, remember and share https://www.facebook.com/SherryCarrollBooks and a page for Eric Burdon, vintage music and my first book called Eric Burdon knows Even Rock and Roll has Fairy Tales https://www.facebook.com/evenrockandrollhasfairytalesSherryCarroll and a silly social group, The House of the Redheads Fun, https://www.facebook.com/groups/HouseofTheRedheadsFun/

I also am learning twitter @thesherryfairy and just started seriously blogging now that I am trying to get out of the house more and have a life again once the new book is done. In order to get some long over-due exercise, get healthy and fit and hopefully lose my “writers spread” and to have more adventures so I have something exciting to say worth blogging about!

Well, that’s about it, the rest is all in my stories. I hope you enjoyed this one. Thanks for your time, Sherry

Keep The Cat In The Bag

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On Friday evening I was enjoying an excellent curry and a good bottle of red wine in the company of one of my oldest friends. While I never intentionally tune into other people’s conversations, on occasions one simply can not help doing so and Friday evening was a case in point.

“It isn’t her fault that her mother was a prostitute” a lady sitting with a group of people announced in a voice which carried across the restaurant.

“So will you use this in your next book?” my friend asked in a low tone.

“Its amazing what you overhear and, if I did use it no one would have their identity revealed” I replied.

As it happens neither my friend nor I where acquainted with the people in question and the statement quoted above, if used in a story would not in and of itself breech the privacy of the speaker unless of course I was acquainted with the histories of the individuals to whom the lady refered and I used this knowledge in a future plot. This would, of course be ethically wrong and has the potential to land me or any other writer in hot water of the legal kind where I or any other person to be so unethical as to use personal information without the explicit permission of those concerned.

Watch what you drink for when the wine flows it is amazing what people will let out of the bag!

Not Me Well Sort Of

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Thus far all of my books have appeared under my given name (either K Morris or Kevin Morris). I am, however considering publishing a future book under a pseudonym. In the ideal world I’d publish and be damned but we do, unfortunately live in a world which is far from ideal. Indeed if we lived in such a world the matters dealt with in my proposed book would never see the light of day because, quite simply they would not have occurred.

I will write my book and if I feel it to be good enough it will appear as a self published work under a name other than my own. Just possibly, at some point in the future I may consider revealing my identity in terms of the planned book but I very much doubt that this will be the case for many years to come, if ever.

Lucky Girl – How I Survived The Sex Industry By Violet Ivy

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I have received a request from Violet Ivy, the author of “Lucky Girl – How I survived The Sex Industry” to review her book. No inducements have been provided. I have, however received a free electronic copy of the book. It is my intention to read and review “Lucky Girl” in the next 10-14 days. My review will, of course represent my considered, fair and honest perspective on the book. In the meantime I have included the book description, as provided to me by the author below:

Lucky Girl – How I Survived the Sex Industry

“Lucky Girl – How I Survived the Sex Industry

The intimate autobiography of an international call girl. Scary, funny and bizarre stories recorded for your amusement, edification or simply for interesting dinner conversation.

The sex industry is clouded in mystery. It has to be to some extent or it wouldn’t survive. But in this age of internet porn, buying pubic hair trimmings online and wife swapping parties it’s about time the veils of mystery were taken down.

For moralists, let’s visit the chicken and the egg scenario. Which came first the prostitute or the client? If there were no clients then obviously there would be no sex workers. But what if there weren’t any prostitutes? Would guys wank themselves silly to porn? Harass their post-menopausal wives? Frequent bars trying their luck? Or hassle the secretary and risk being charged with sexual harassment? Would statistics for rape be on the increase? Is prostitution a necessary evil in our society? Don’t mindlessly believe and quote information spoon fed to you by friends, family or the media. Make an educated decision.

Although it was never my intention to get into this industry, I’ve travelled the world, had incredible experiences and bought several properties. I won’t have to rely on the government pension when I retire.

My closest friends are co-workers, madams and clients. Brilliant people who I would never otherwise have had the good fortune to meet. I will never regret my decision to enter this field. It has not always been a bed of roses, but when I compare it to what my life might have been; cleaning job, shitty boss, marriage, perhaps divorce, mortgage, kids, living in the burbs, scraping by to give my kids a better life than I was destined for, I feel that I have been rescued…..thank God.

Money doesn’t make you happy? Tell that to someone thrown out of his house because he can’t make the payments or the mother who can’t afford Christmas presents for her kids again this year. I’ve been poor. Money equals choices. Options of how to travel on this journey we call life. Did I make some mistakes? Sure! But there’s not too much I’d change. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Money gives security. Poverty causes ulcers. Financial hardship can also make you compromise yourself in ways that being a sex worker never will.

This industry eats its young and damages those not strong enough to cope. Every worker has a different personality, head space, upbringing, personal history and therefore experience. This book is a glimpse of mine. I am not advocating anyone join the profession. That is a personal choice.

When I started out I could never have imagined what my life journey would look like or where I would be now. I don’t even know where in the world I will be in twelve months. What I will be doing? Who I might be bonking, caning or smearing with hot wax? Exciting isn’t it? Carpe diem – seize the day. I’m a lucky girl.”

Book Review: Pimp: The Story of My Life By Iceberg Slim

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A couple of weeks ago I was browsing the Kindle store when I came across Iceberg Slim’s biography, Pimp: The Story of My Life (see http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pimp-The-Story-Life-ebook/dp/B005GK7LPG) which tells the story of how the author became one of America’s most notorious pimps. Slim ppulls no punches. The book is a no holes barred account of how Iceberg entered pimping, the people he met and of how he controlled his girls. I flinched as I read how Slim punished his first working girl, Joyce by whipping her with a wire coat hanger. The whipping had (from Slim’s perspective) the desired result as Joyce returned to the streets to sell her body.

Slim was brought up during the era of racial segregation which had a profound effect on his view of the world. As a young black man Slim saw pimping as being one of the few opportunities open to him to become rich. His mentor, Sweet Jones hates white people as a result of his father having been murdered by a white lynch mob and his mother having been raped by the same mob. Sweet tells Slim that black pimps where the early heroes who turned the tables on their former slave masters by becoming prosperous in pimping. It is ironic that Sweet and Slim fail to see that they themselves are slave owners of a kind and are perpetuating the practices of the former plantation owners (it is Sweet who recommends to Slim he keeps his girls in line by the use of practices including whipping with coat hangers). The slave holders of yester year would, no doubt have been proud of them!

As a child Slim’s mother has relationships with a number of unsuitable men including with Slim’s father who, at one point throws the child against the wall. The exception to this rule is the gentle Henry who dotes on both Slim and his mother. However Slim’s mother leaves Henry for another man, had she stayed with Henry who Slim clearly adores it is very possible that I wouldn’t have read Pimp as the author wouldn’t have entered the world of pimping.

On reading Pimp one wonders why the women Slim controlled put up with their treatment at the hands of Iceberg. Fear goes some way to explaining it, however this is not the only explanation. Working on the streets and frequently unobserved by Slim his ladies had many opportunities to escape. One or two of them did but many others did not. Ironically a number of the girls “loved” Slim and convinced themselves that their feelings where reciprocated which explains why they remained with him. In particular one girl sends Slim money while he is in prison (she could have stolen it but chose instead to sell his car, on Slim’s instructions and send the cash to him).

In the end it is the fear of dying in prison rather than any moral revulsion which leads Slim to exit pimping. There is, so far as I can see no wholehearted moral rejection of his former life but I haven’t read any of the interviews which he gave subsequently so perhaps I am wrong on that point.

If you want a comfortable bedtime read then Pimp by Iceberg Slim is not for you. However if you want to try and understand why a man might enter the world of pimping then this book makes a fascinating read.

ME

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Below is a short biography of yours truly. I won’t claim that it is comprehensive, it certainly isn’t, nor will I state that it reveals any secrets (not that I have any secrets to reveal you understand)!

KEVIN MORRIS BIOGRAPHY

I was born in Liverpool on 6 January 1969, a year best known of course for my birth. Well no actually it is better known for the moon landings which certain peculiar conspiracy theorists still maintain never took place (the moon landings that is, not my birth).

One of my earliest recollections is of eating roast dinners, on Saturday in British Home Stores with my grandfather. Although cooked in the kitchen of a department store they tasted wonderful to a small boy but then again it is easy to look back at one’s childhood with rose tinted spectacles.

On Saturdays my grandfather and I would invariably pop into W H Smiths and buy a book. Often he bought Enid Blighton books and I’ve happy memories of him reading to me about the adventures of Julian, Dick and Ann not forgetting Timmy the Dog (who could)! Being blind it was a real treat to sit on my grandfather’s knee hearing him regail me with children’s adventures. It was from my grandfather a man who had never so much dreamed of going to university that I derived my love of literature.

As I grew older I learned to read braille which opened up a world of independent reading to me. Only a tiny proportion of books are available in braille, however it was still amazing to me, as a young boy to be able to sit with a book on my knee reading for myself. Besides braille I was also a huge consumer of spoken word cassettes, everything from Treasure Island to Wuthering Heights. I still possess almost all of the many cassettes which I have purchased and had bought for me over the years but many of them have now warped with age so are, sadly unusable. Today it is the text to speech facility on my Kindle and Ibooks (using voiceover) on my Ipad which is my favourite means of accessing the wonderful world of literature.

I attended school in Liverpool and later went onto read history and politics at university. I must be a glutton for punishment as having obtained my degree I went onto study for and obtain a MA in political theory (I can see your eyes glazing over already)!

Since 1994 I have lived and worked in London. I live in Crystal Palace a part of London high above sea level and famed for it’s steep hills. It is very green and the air is much fresher than many parts of London. I like were I live and I’m lucky that my home overlooks a large garden and an historic park.

Enough about me for now at least.