Excerpt from "Meet Me On The Paisley Roof" By Murray Tillman

Today author Murray Tillman is visiting us. His debut novel, "Meet Me On the Paisley Roof", is a coming of age story set in the South of the 1950's. It was released August 2009 by Bascom Hill Books. 

Murray Tillman is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Georgia and formerly Chair of the Department of Instructional Technology in the College of Education. He has authored several texts that assist teachers in using instructional design tools and has developed training manuals and courses for businesses and human service agents. Murray is a graduate of Birmingham-Southern College and the University of Georgia.

  BOOK BLURB (from author):

 

Trussell Jones has a problem. He is crazy in love with a beautiful girl named Ellen. The problem? He has no car. His stepmother, who believes that she is spiritually connected to Queen Victoria, won't let him drive. Furthermore, she is afraid Trussell is trying to kill her. Not to be overlooked is the fact that Trussell is being pursued by a gang of armed redneck motorcycle hoods, while his neighbors are preoccupied with changing visions of St. Francis. Just another heartwarming tale of a boy in love with a girl? Hardly.

This delightfully quixotic coming-of-age story, set in Columbus, Georgia in the 1950s, truly has something to shock and beguile even the most jaded reader. Its irreverent protagonist will take you on a road trip of hits, near misses, twists, and sudden turns that ll set you on your ear. You ll be unable to put the book down, until you reach its charming yet totally unpredictable conclusion.

 

MEET ME ON THE PAISLEY ROOF

By MURRAY TILLMAN 

ISBN: 9780982093832

Published by: BASCOM HILL

Genre: FICTION

Format: MMP, ebook

Length: 316 pages

Release Date: AUGUST 04, 2009

Facebook, Murray Tillman: https://www.facebook.com/MurrayTillman

Facebook, "Meet Me On The Paisley Roof": https://www.facebook.com/MeetMeOnThePaisleyRoof

"Meet Me on the Paisley Roof" web site: http://www.meetmeonthepaisleyroof.com

"Meet Me on the Paisley Roof" blog tour site: http://meetmeonthepaisleyroof.blogspot.com 

 

 

Welcome to the Nook Murray. thank you for coming by today.

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Under the Spell of Love:  Ellen's View

      Trussell Jones, the sixteen-year-old narrator of Meet Me on the Paisley Roof, is mightily smitten by the lovely and talented Ellen, a classmate who lives just behind him.  When he finally musters enough courage to ask her out, they walk to a neighborhood elementary school, which they both attended as children. Here is Ellen's view of their first date.

      "I wondered why it took Trussell so long to call me.  I knew he liked me.  Everybody knew he liked me.  He had been kicking up dust around me ever since I've known him.  Acting the clown and doing silly things.  So guess where he calls me from?  A bait shop!  While he's talking, an old woman comes up to him and tries to buy some worms.  She thinks he works there!  But we finally get things sorted out and plan on a stroll down to Johnson Elementary School the next evening.

      "Yes, the next evening!  He just had to see me as soon as possible, he said.  He had doubts about his religion he wanted to talk about.  You know,  I wish he would have picked another reason.  Of course, my mother didn't like the short notice one bit, and when Trussell showed up at our door, she invited him in and grilled him to a medium well.

      "Anyway, we escaped to Johnson, just a couple of blocks away.  He kept staring at me.  I told him not to stare, and I think he was a little embarrassed.  We sat down on the ground and talked about lots of things.  The time he saved a boy from being lynched with a jump rope by his classmates. The time our class was looking for constellations at night, and he asked me for help.  He was sweet, and he remembered so much.  I gave him an Indian name, Wrong Star.  Then he gave me one, Brown Eyes.  Beautiful, beautiful, Brown Eyes.  I liked that.  I liked that a lot.  It was dark by then so he couldn't see me blush.

      "Then we walked over to the swings and talked about religion.  We were both Baptists so I guess that helped some.  He really did have the doubts so I tried to tell him how I felt.  We didn't argue or anything.   And I was surprised.  He really did want to talk about religion.

      "And there was something I wanted to talk about.  I wanted to know how he coped with losing both his parents so young.  My mother was recovering from a cancer operation, and I had been worried about her.  I kept imagining how things might be without her.  I couldn't help it.  Trussell seemed to understand.  He said his parents still lived in his heart.  He thought about them every day.  He was thankful for the time they had together.  'You just keep going,' he said, 'you just keep going.'    

      "We walked back to my house and sat on the screen porch.  I fixed him a ham sandwich which he gobbled like a wolf.  We talked a little more and then he left, saying he'd had a great time.  He would call tomorrow.  He'd better.  I wanted to see him again."