Stargazer by David Scott [Blog Tour with Excerpt]

For thousands of years, stars have held our attention and imagination. They influence our life–we wish upon them, sing songs about them, navigate by them, write about them, follow them, and even give their name to the actors we love.

Welcome to the September 28th stop on the blog tour for Stargazer by David Scott with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means there is no additional cost to you if you shop using my links, but I will earn a small percentage in commission. A program-specific disclaimer is at the bottom of this post.

About the Book

Stargazer
by David Scott

Published 27 January 2020
Tellwell Talent

Genre: Non-Fiction, Autobiography
Page Count: 385
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

For thousands of years, stars have held our attention and imagination. They influence our life—we wish upon them, sing songs about them, navigate by them, write about them, follow them, and even give their name to the actors we love. My memories have revealed a lifetime of navigating by the stars, and moving beyond the fear and anxiety that self-doubt so insidiously cloaks us in. Yes, as Jiminy Cricket sang for us in Walt Disney’s Pinocchio, “when you wish upon a star . . . fate steps in and sees you through.”

Memories and influences have a profound effect on our lives. I look back on my childhood years—the 1940s to mid-’50s—and I can recall the people who were inspirational to me. Mostly it was my family, but there was also Jiminy Cricket. You no doubt recollect the song “When You Wish Upon a Star,” with its lyrics that lift the spirit and let you believe anything is possible. I didn’t doubt Jiminy for a minute.

The early years of my life were a time of innocence, security, adventure, and family love. How quickly my situation changed—one decision by my parents, made with my best interests foremost in their thoughts, shattered the world I had known. Through the fear, torment, isolation, and loss of my own identity, my memories and influences would come to have an overwhelming power on the choices I was to make.

My transition from teenager to adult seemed to happen overnight, but my unflappable outward appearance belied the struggles of a boy coming to terms with his guilt, and an irresistible need for his parents to be proud of him. My future was being shaped from the past, but it took me a long time to realise it. I chose the road less travelled, steeped in the wonder of the cinema and accompanied by my beloved animal companions, and it has been intriguing, daunting, rewarding, and, at times, solitary, but I always felt it was the path I was meant to take.

Like so many people, I let the emotions attached to memories hold me captive, and I missed opportunities to choose with more clarity. A near-death experience helped me to live a simpler life. Participating in a creative writing course inspired me to engage in script writing, stage work, and novel writing. This is my third book, an autobiography that has revealed more of me than I ever intended to share, and fate has led you to it.

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Excerpt

When the fright passed, I’d sag my head back down towards my knees, the futility of my situation lingering to keep my daydreaming at bay. I hated being so far away from home and those who loved me, I hated my bullies, I hated Scotch College, I hated Melbourne . . . the last one generally pulled me up short upon remembering how I used to love my regular car trips to the city with my parents. Sometimes they were day trips with Dad when he visited film exchanges. At those times I sat by him, absorbing the art of programming, often being sent to advertising departments to collect sets of 11×14 photographs, daybills, one-sheeters and slides, the most memorable one being at RKO, where an open-fronted timber lift took me from the booking area to the roof.

It was a vibrant industry full of congenial people who treated me as one of their own, not like the college kids who reviled me. The happy memories provided temporary escapes from the misery of wondering when my next round of bullying would start, but mostly I fretted. It seemed the end of the year would never come, and I wondered how long I could endure the persecution.

At the boarding house, compulsory homework time occurred straight after dinner, each of us having a highbacked desk set along walls of two study rooms, blankets strung between desks providing isolation. Mine was by a window and, unable to study, I took to staring outside for hours, my eyes becoming so attuned to the darkness that I picked out the shapes of bushes, trees and the dining hall, silhouettes that enhanced my yearning to be free of Arthur Robinson House and its inhabitants.

Most of us had electric birkos on our desks to make hot drinks like Ovaltine and Milo; I tossed mine away after finding faeces in it. My pens and pencils were often stuck together with chewing gum, as were pages in my books, while notes threatening castration and other torture were left for me to find.

The house master led us in prayers after study time, after which students either went to bed or stayed downstairs for further swotting. Most students went to the sleeping dormitories so I returned to my desk, letting hours pass for boys to be asleep before slinking upstairs to bed.

There were about fifteen beds per dormitory, the senior in charge having his near one of two doorways to the passage, while the rest of us slept head to head against a metre-high wooden divider, the beds on each side separated by sets of drawers. Mine was at an end, so sneaking in unnoticed was simple, but often my bedding was strewn around the room and someone was always awake to snigger as I collected it.

Sometimes the nightly lark was short-sheeting or tying my pyjama sleeves and legs in knots so tight that it was impossible to undo them in the darkness. On those nights I went to bed in my undies and I left unravelling them till morning.

About the Author

David Scott is a playwright, director and novelist – among other things. His career included forty years as a film exhibitor; establishing a horse stud; managing a motel; working in the hospitality industry, and a few other experiences along the way. David’s latest book, Stargazer, is an autobiography highlighting the value of family, ingenuity, bravado, old-fashioned common sense, colourful characters and unfailing good humour. From rural towns in Victoria and New South Wales, to the mountain life in Queensland, the constant has been faithful canine companions, perseverance and a joy for living.

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Giveaway Alert!

David Scott will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.