Timely Persuasion: An Inspired Rock and Roll Novel, Remastered

Los Angeles, CA, June 20, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Author Jacob LaCivita has released a "remastered" edition of his rock and roll time travel novel Timely Persuasion. How does one remaster a book? LaCivita explains:

"I did the first edition in boring old Times New Roman because I didn't know any better. Then a friend who lays out magazines for a living volunteered to spice things up. The story hasn't changed, but the look and feel of the text has."

Huh? Let's clarify.

Timely Persuasion follows an anonymous music critic on a quest to prevent the death of his sister. The hero uses red-letter dates in the history of popular music as a catalyst for his time bending adventures. The book is brimming with musical references and allusions -- over 770 by the author's count. Thus the term "remastered" seems appropriate for the subject matter. In the author's own words:

"We call it the remastered edition to stay with the musical theme. It's similar to the remastered reissue of a classic record album. The same raw master tapes are used -- in this case the story -- but the presentation is enhanced and augmented."

This augmentation includes a few illustrations as well as an occasional font change when the story calls for it. Mr. LaCivita credits some of his own favorite authors for giving him the idea.

"I love it when I'm reading a book and after turning a page find a larger word or an image inserted out of nowhere. Dave Eggers, Jonathan Safran Foer, and Stephen King have used tricks like this to great effect. You have to be careful not to overdo it, but the impact it leaves on a reader when done right is quite memorable."

One such font is called "Wichita" and might seem familiar to some readers depending on their musical pedigree. It's based on the handwriting of Mike Doughty, former frontman of the band Soul Coughing.

"I found the Wichita font about a decade ago as part of something called The Rockstar Font Project," recalls LaCivita. "An up and coming designer named Chank Diesel sampled the handwriting of a few musicians and made custom fonts out of them. I always thought it was a cool idea, but never really had a practical use for it until we were remastering the book."

Mr. Doughty is now a rising solo artist, Mr. Diesel sells his fonts online at chank.com, and Mr. LaCivita takes inspiration from both in his story.

"One of the main characters is a musician named Local Boy, so I thought it was neat to do his setlists in Mike Doughty's handwriting. In my head Local Boy sounds more like Evan Dando or Mason Jennings or Jeff Tweedy than he does Mike Doughty, but Doughty was certainly one of his influences."

Remastered and reissued albums often contain bonus tracks. The remastered book follows that trend as well. A closing comment from the author:

"The narrator's career caused him to be immersed in music, so he tends to speak in song lyrics. I couldn't resist sprinkling a few new ones in there as long as I had the opportunity."

Learn more at www.timelypersuasion.com, including reviews, deleted scenes, and an ongoing series of chapter by chapter commentaries on the author's blog.

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