Old Tricks, New Treats Interview Part 10
OLD TRICKS, NEW TREATS is book three of the BAG OF TRICKS trilogy: a compilation of short stories about San Francisco punks in the early 80’s.
- How has reader response to the earlier books influenced this one?
Since I wrote them all at once, not at all 🙂
- Was it difficult to say goodbye to this world—or does it still whisper to you?
Oh yeah, I truly miss the freedom and wild fun of those days. I don’t miss the danger I put myself in or the outcome for so many of my friends. And I honestly think the only goodbyes I’ve said are to the people who are no longer here to share the memories with me. Annabelle, especially, you are missed.
- Are there stories from that era you still haven’t told?
Oh you’d better believe it! Not from conscious omission, just because I didn’t think to wrote about those experiences. So, there’s more where this came from. In fact, someone asked me what happened to one character, and I’m currently writing further tales that follow her path.
- How do you see the trilogy fitting within punk-literature as a genre?
I think that like any other era we live and move through in this world, these stories need to be told. Sure, there are a lot of memoirs and recaps of magazine articles in anthologies and the like, but there is certainly a place for punk fiction too. We are part of American history, so let’s tell some stories about it all!
5 If someone reads only one of the three, what do you hope they still take away?
That we are all human beings, no matter what choices we make in life or what music we listen to. Whether you have 10 earrings in one ear or none at all, we are all fragile or strong, open or closed, enthusiastic or bored, but alive and allowed to make our way through life to whatever outcomes await us at the other end.
About:
OLD TRICKS, NEW TREATS is book three of the BAG OF TRICKS trilogy: a compilation of short stories about San Francisco punks in the early 80’s.
Follow the adventures of The Shits, Val, Sophie, Babs, Carla, Red, Marco, Bags and all the rest of the rag-tag gang of street punks that populate these stories. Ride with them as they hit new highs and lows, make mostly bad and occasionally good choices, and aim for uncharted lives in the end.
Link – https://amzn.to/4oFYSzL
About the Author
Ruby grew up in the foothills of Northern CA and the West Texas flatlands, riding horses in the back woods near Folsom Prison, and singing with family on the back porch. She attended SDSU at fifteen- studying electrical engineering and drama- then stumbled into life on the streets of San Francisco, enchanted by all the grime and glitz, the drugs and wild nights, even the discordance and insanity of life as a punk in those early days. Moving on, Ruby co-founded the North Coast California Earth First! in Arcata, CA while attending Humboldt State, and fished across Alaskan waters. Eventually, she moved to Seattle, WA where she opened a series of restaurants, then transitioned from restaurateur to singer/songwriter when she started the roots-rockabilly band Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers in 2002. Thrice Grammy-considered, they tour the world and produce award-winning records. In 2023, Ruby wrote Bag of Tricks after reconnecting with old punk friends and reminiscing about those lost years. Most of what she wrote came from events that really occurred, though Ruby took liberties and changed some details because she could. Find more at https://www.rubydeephilippa.com/
The END – find part 1 HERE