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Hi, my name is Venero (Veny) Armanno. I'm a writer and this is my new book, The Dirty Beat.My previous books include The Lonely Hunter, Romeo of the Underworld, My Beautiful Friend, Strange Rain, Firehead, The Volcano and Candle Life.As well as being a writer, I'm Head of Creative Writing at University of Queensland --- but back in the dim, dim past I had a rock band called Paradox and we used to only play our own original music. But that dream faded far too quickly.This new book came about after my old drummer and friend Cyril suddenly passed away; I came home from his funeral and started writing a novel about making music. The book came as raw and as fast as the first records by bands like Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath.As a producer says in The Dirty Beat: "Black Sabbath did their debut in three days and how long do you think it took Led Zeppelin to record their first album? Thirty hours. What, you can't keep up with that?"The Dirty Beat didn't take 30 hours, but the first draft was written in 18 days. My previous book, Candle Life, took seven years and The Volcano was ten years in the making. I can't really explain why this one just gushed out.From time to time I'll be adding more content here: songs, pics, some fun stuff. Come and check it out - and watch the book trailer! - but most of all I hope The Dirty Beat will mean as much to you as it does to me...About The Dirty Beat:
Rock and jazz drummer Max is dead.
Now, in his coffin as his friends prepare to bury him, Max is surrounded by the ghosts of his
life and the dreams that never faded. All the old music is back too – from raw seventies rock and-
roll to the type of cool jazz that made legends of John Coltrane and Miles Davis.
In this sea of memory, Max recalls the tragedies, people and relationships that defined his
life. From his first love Maree Kilmister he learned about sex; from his great love Debbie
Canova he learned about loss; and from the enigmatic Laetecia Sparks, he learned about
hope. As the players in his life gather for his funeral, he has one last chance to relive his past
and see it for what it was.
Driven by music and passion, The Dirty Beat shimmers with an electric intensity.AWARDS
Winner of Queensland Premier’s Literary Award for Best Fiction (2002);
Shortlisted for the
Courier-Mail Book of the Year (2002)
.. I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)
