What kind of name is Hote?
"When we would tour, I would collect pens from all the hotel rooms. One day I grabbed a Best Western pen and when I put the cap on the other side, it covered up the 'l' in 'hotel.' The name stuck when I came around to writing my novel," Arthur Edwards says.
Yes, the Arthur Edwards (but you probably know him as Buddy) from the notorious Tempe-based band of the '90s, the Refreshments. The musician-turned-author has penned his first work of fiction, Stuck Outside of Phoenix, featuring 21-year-old Hote, a bass player who wants to get the hell out of Arizona and rock the world.
Here's the hook: Hote is packed and ready to leave Phoenix to follow the music scene in Seattle, but after the unexpected happens, he is catapulted into the life that he has been searching for without ever stepping outside of Arizona. Don't think he doesn't leave, though.
Even though Edwards stresses that the book is fiction, it was easy for him to identify with the character. He robbed experiences from himself whenever he could, especially when penning the Hote's emotional frustrations concerning music. His years with the Refreshments gave him a good background to refer to.
It's tough making the transition from songwriter to novelist: "Writing music, you can sit around, bang on your guitar, and come up with a descent song in three minutes," Edwards says, "With books, you have to sit down and write every day."
But for Edwards, this was a calculated step. After earning his B.A. in English in 1993, the former Sun Devil went on to the University of San Francisco to earn his masters degree. Pretty hardcore stuff, especially for someone who used to sing songs with titles like "Banditos."
In 10 years, he wants to make a living purely off of writing. Ideally, Edwards would like to put out a novel every year and is currently working on the sequel to Stuck.
"The essence of the book is a universal theme - people always try to leave but they can't seem to get out of this cycle," Edwards says, "It's like that dream where you try to run, but your feet are cemented to the ground. As humans, I think we consciously or unconsciously keep ourselves where we are."
Reach the reporter at rekha.muddaraj@asu.edu.
