ShapeShifter: The Demo Tapes

ShapeShifter: The Demo Tapes

by Susan Helene Gottfried

The Demo Tapes: Year 1 introduced the reading public to ShapeShifter and the two men behind this fictional band: Trevor Wolff and Mitchell Voss. The Demo Tapes: Year 2 brings you more of the short fiction that brings these people to vivid life.

Year 2 delves more deeply into love, friendships, and the inside workings of ShapeShifter. New faces have arrived as the band tours and climbs the ladder of success, but most of all, Year 2 puts you square in the lives of Mitchell and Trevor, just where you like to be. Vive la Trevolution!

Genres: Music

First published August 26, 2009

About the author

Susan Helene Gottfried is the heavy-metal-loving, not-disabled-enough divorced Jewish mother of two. A freelance line editor to authors of fiction by day, her select roster of clients tend to hit bestseller lists, and more than a few have quit their day jobs. It’s not entirely her doing, but like does attract like.

Susan holds a BA (University of Pittsburgh) and MFA (Bowling Green State University) in English Writing and Fiction, respectively.

She lives with a couple cats in the Pittsburgh suburbs, just West of Mars. Visit her at http://WestofMars.com and http://TalesFromTheSheepFarm.com.

Reviews

[Candy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first ran into ShapeShifter, the fictional band, three or 4 years ago at a blog called The Meet & Greet. It was a cute blog by a writer and she was telling us little side stories as well as some times outtakes from her writing that didn't make the cut. It was fun, allowing us to glimpse into the characters of the book she was writing as well as watch these kids grow up from friends, to garage band to super duper famous and all that trappings that come along with that. The book she was writing was Trevor's Song - and one day soon I'm told we'll get to read that book! Yay!

In the meantime the author, Susan, has released a couple of small books. They are compilations from the best of the best of the blog postings. This is the second of such books. It was neat to have them all set down in one place and even neater that she gave a little intro to each one telling us how it came about. It's great fun to follow a band (and their screaming, sometimes shirtless, fans) through her writing and writing style.

I'm kind of a Trevor groupie and I can't wait for the finished product, but... even if you just read this book, you'll be happy with it. It's like little mini short stories while making of a rock band. Give it a shot!

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Susan Helene Gottfried‘s Shapeshifter: The Demo Tapes, Year 2 is another volume of outtakes, short stories, and character sketches related to her newly published novel, Trevor’s Song. The band Shapeshifter is like a wheel with its center, Trevor and Mitchell, and the spokes around that wheel. Once these guys are on the road, look out because it’s a wild ride.

What readers will enjoy most about this second slim volume is the comraderie between the characters, the outbursts they have, and the seemingly mundane yet fun conversations they have. For example, there’s a conversation between Mitchell and Trevor before they make it big as rock stars about why Mitchell should get an earring — sounds like a typical teenage disagreement/peer pressure situation.

read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2010/10/s...

[Mary BookHounds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading Susan's blog for several years now and I love the fact that she put all of these short stories together in one easy to read place. Year One gives you a great background on the start of the fictional Metal band, Shapeshifter, how Trevor and Mitchell became friends and their developing personalities. Year Two furthers these thoughts and will make you want to read TREVOR'S SONG.

[Stacy Juba · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read these stories after Trevor's Song, the full-length novel which features the same characters. I'm so glad the author has collections of short stories available which feature the same cast, as it's like coming home to old friends. But if you haven't read Trevor's Song, then the Demo Tapes anthologies are a great introduction. The characters in the stories are well drawn and complex - a good read.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read both sets of "Demo Tapes," and enjoyed them thoroughly. I used to work in the music business, and Susan's characters are true-to-life, entertaining and well-developed.

Brava to the author for an outstanding collection of short stories.

[Cindi Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice to visit Trevor and the gang. My favorite of the outtakes has to be The First Two Drawings. Ah young love! :)

[nimrodiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last book read in 2009

[Florinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Susan Helen Gottfried's second collection of short fiction 'outtakes' featuring the heavy-metal band ShapeShifter. The pieces were originally published on Susan's blog, West of Mars: The Meet and Greet, in no particular order; the books have allowed her to satisfy reader requests to place the stories in a timeline.

While the outtakes make fairly random appearances on the blog, Susan has assembled them in chronological narrative order here, and has written additional introductory material for each sketch, giving more context about how it fits into the overall story of ShapeShifter. This is not a novel in itself - while the stories are placed in sequence, they don't have a plot thread tying them together - but if you haven't met the band before, it's a great way to do it.

There's overlap in the chronology between the Year 1 and Year 2 collections, and they don't have to be read in sequence. But Susan's outtakes continue to whet my appetite for a full-length novel (or two, or three!) about the band. I'm getting glimpses of the backstory, but I want to know more about how ShapeShifter came together and how other characters came into their circle, and I'd like to see it all in context. Also, Susan has tried not to overlap the time period and events in Trevor's Song with the shorter pieces, and I'm really getting curious about that portion of the story.

As she did in the Year 1 collection, Susan has included an introduction to each outtake which provides a little more of the framework to the ShapeShifter story. The introductions also offer insight into her writing process and the inspirations for some of the pieces, and I found myself particularly intrigued by that this time around.

[Susan Gottfried]

Of course I loved this. I wrote it!