Sophia Kelly Audiobooks Podcast - People of the Rock

Who is Lucy to the old woman and why can’t she talk to her? And who is the woman dressed like a tree in summer?

A very short (1:45) recording of chapter 1 scene 3 of People of the Rock, where we learn about the background of the Billberry rock goats. We actually meet the goats in chapter 2. Want to start at the beginning of chapter 1? Go here: https://sophiaamazon.substack.com/podcast

People of the Rock, Chapter 1, Scene 2 - Michael and his spouse at their home, Lucy is missing

This is the first scene of the first chapter of People of the Rock - a hopeful story of time travelling lesbians, quantum entanglement and goats, read by the author, in which Lucy gets a wedgie, and its unfortunately the best part of her week. The story is set in Vancouver in the present and future.

So my windows operating system informs me that it is Global Beattles Day - a holiday I’ve never heard of. The Beatles were a favourite of an old boyfriend, way back when I had boyfriends, so I have learned the lyrics to many of their songs, and have a fondness for them, especially their 1970 hit “Let it Be”. That song has been such a comfort to me that, when writing a death scene in People of the Rock, I used this ‘ancient hymn’ as a link between the present and the future, to illustrate how my future people build ties with one another to support one another in tragedy. Here’s a brief section with that piece in it.

I know I’m posting twice on one day, but hey, Global Beatles Day, there isn’t another day to do it is there? Maybe the birthday of Paul McCartney, who wrote it after a dream about his mother Mary McCartney, who died of Cancer in 1956. In the dream she told him “It will be all right, just let it be.” Perhaps the then impending break up of the Beatles, announced a month before the album’s release, brought up that earlier grief. So it seems fitting that this song be tied to the death of a beloved family member in the story.

Such a downer! Anyhow, here it is. In this section of the book, Brenda, Lucy’s closeted ex, has shown up and pitched to Lucy (who is seeing the beautiful Marija) that they get back together. It is not going well…

I’ve been writing professionally most of my life, but this author thing is new. I’m reading an excerpt from the very beginning of my book, People of the Rock, due out September 30th (squee!) In this scene, we meet our protagonist Lucy and her gay bestie Michael, on a foggy day in Vancouver. If you are looking for a hopeful (and sometimes spicy) story of how we could emerge from pandemics, climate change and political yuckiness, set in Canada, this is it. I’m planning to post more video installments of this book here, and pieces from my next book Twin States (due out early 2026) and my work in progress, a paranormal murder mystery also set in Vancouver. Yay launches!