I have recently completed my first ever book, Angel with Drumsticks. Written under my maiden name Pamela King, it is a biography of the Italian rock band Angels and the Brains.
Now that may not seem of interest to people outside Italy or even Italians who did live through the rock era of the 60s, but it is a story that needed to be told.
My husband Angelo was the band leader and the story tells how they were invited by the Catholic Church to perform in the first rock mass held in Rome in 1966.
The immediate reaction by young people would be considered an overnight success as the band was immediately sought to perform in towns the length and breadth of Italy. Then there was the promise of a world tour performing the mass in the world's top venues.
But it was not to be. A vicious debate about the style of music played broke out in the media and within the Catholic Church. To appease those against the concept the Vatican took steps that resulted in the band's ruin.
The writing of the book was important to me in many ways. Having met my husband when I was in my 40s we had not grown up together and his experience in the 1960s was something he talked little about.
Gradually the story came out over the years. When I heard about his experience of excommunication, pressure put on promoters not too book the band as well as the cancelled world tour (which even today several websites and books say happened) I convinced him that the story should be written and the truth told.
As we talked over his sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet memories spanning six years I came to understand him so much more.
The next step was to convince someone to publish the book. Emails and manuscripts were sent to publishers. We followed that up by contacting reviewers and agents. To date we have not had any success except for publishing houses who want to sign us up for a costly self publishing service without any guarantees.
We have not lost hope that one day it will be out there in hard copy but in the meanwhile Angelo's son, Carlo, has produced an eBook version which is available from several sources.
Check the website www.angelandthebrains.com for details and more information about the band.
