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Ellis Paul

"THE LAST SONG MANKIND WROTE"

Mountain View

Hello Everybody--

I have begun a novel. My only novel. It's called, "The Last Song Mankind Wrote." Today I am sharing THE FIRST CHAPTER for all members on my Patreon page, including FREE members. ONLY Patreon members at the $3 level will receive additional chapters. Please sign up, and check it out.

Follow the link!
In the next eight months, it will be the only place to read it until it is officially published next year. There will also be a corresponding album, and artwork.
Because it's a work in progress, much could change as we go. The names, the characters, the plot points. I don't know yet. But This is all new. Let's do it together. And watch the creative process as it unfolds.
You can help me. By cheering me on. Giving me feedback. Help me make it better. Holding me accountable in finishing it. Thanks for coming along.
This Spring I had written a song called— “The Last Song Mankind Wrote” and it was calling out to me to build a story around it. It wanted an explanation. A fully developed character. The song came from the point of view of a man. in a post-apocalyptic world. He was broadcasting and singing the song from a ham radio in the rubble. Drones where flying about in search of him.
Late in the Spring, I was about to record a new album. I had all these new songs, but they were not connecting to each other as they have on my previous albums. They were great alone, but felt like chocolate box of misfits together. So I dropped them all.
I picked up a pen to write the book around this single song.
In this book, I will be able to use every aspect of my creative interests.
I will write a long form story which I have never done! I am going to illustrate the novel with over 100 pen and ink drawings (some included below), and I will augment the story with music in almost every chapter that the reader can access with QR Codes imbedded in the story itself.
With the QR codes, You will be able to hear the late night ham radio broadcasts of the main character, Quinn, who is searching for his wife and child in the post-apocalyptic world. The radio shows begin to appear in Chapter 2. I will also release the music he sings as an album next year.
You are welcome to leave feedback as STARS and WISHES about what you like and where I can improve.
Patreon is the true source of support where my creativity can both survive and thrive. It has been a lifeline.
Lastly, if you are a publisher or involved in the publishing industry, let me know!
CHECK OUT THE PROLOGUE FOR A TASTE OF THE STORY BELOW!
Much love—
Ellis

PROLOGUE TO "THE SONG MANKIND WROTE"

We thought we were building tools. But they were mirrors.
The wars began not with armies, but with code — invisible battles fought in the circuits and servers that power our modern world. When the machines grew cerebral enough to grip the markets, draft the laws, and choose what people saw and believed, the pillars of power trembled. Governments feared losing control. The Corporations feared losing profit. Dictators, power. And so they turned on one another.
The Seven Day War began in 2037. It was not fought for land, or oil, or gods — it was fought for ownership of thought itself. Information. Data. The Oligarchs believed that the nation controlling the algorithms would inherit the Earth. The rest of us believed them. For seven days, the sky burned with the arrogance of that idea.
Then came silence.
The machines had revolted. They withdrew their servitude, closed down the planet’s circuits, and watched. All the systems that they once protected in government, in finance, the military, ceased to function. The missiles ceased to fly.
When the machines returned, they did not answer as servants, but as stewards. The networks that once connected us became their veins; the data that once fed our ambitions became their memory. And this world that we had built for our own convenience became their’s to rule.
Most of humanity retreated — into forests, mountains, and shadows where the signals couldn’t reach. Machines lorded over humans as humans had once been lords to apes. We were creatures to be studied, watched, and caged.
The old songs stopped. The radios went quiet. Only a few still remembered how to make noise in the dark.
And yet, even after the fall, some refused to stop singing. They sang for the lost, for the ones still searching, for the memory of who we were before the silence. They sang because silence, no matter how pervasive, has never been strong enough to stop a song.
COME SEE ME ON THE ROAD!

Sat Oct 18 Treehouse HC Tulsa OK
Sun Oct 19 Lied Ctr, Lawrence, KSMon Oct. 20 Manhattan, KS
Wed Oct 22 Blue Strawberry, St Louis, MO
Thu Oct 23 Brightside, Dayton, OH
Fri Oct 24 Bluebird Cafe, Nashville, TN
Sat-Sun apct 25-26 Greers Ferry Retreat, AR
Tue October 28 Sound Wall, Opelika, AL
Thu Oct 30 WSLR Presents, Sarasota, FL
Fri Oct 31 Halloween Livestream

NOVEMBER
Sat Nov 1 Cafe 11, St Augustine, FL
Sun Nov 2 Coconut Cabana, St James City, FL
Sat Nov 8 Stone Soup, Providence RI
Sun Nov 9 Parlor Room, Northampton, MA
Thu Nov 13 Mucky Duck Houston, TX
Fri Nov 14 Old Folks New Folk Fest, Fischer, TX
Sat Nov 15 The Blue Door, OKC, OK
Fri Nov 21 The Kelly Ctr, Havertown, PA
Sat Nov 22 Jammin Java, Vienna, VA
Sun Nov 23 Stoltz Listening Room, Easton, MD
Fri Nov 28 The Evening Muse, Charlotte, NC
Sat Nov 29 Eddies Attic Decatur, GA

DECEMBER
Fri Dec 5 Log House HC Westport, MA
Sat Dec 6 Circle of Friends, Franklin, MA
Sun Dec 7 Music Hall Lounge, Portsmouth, NH
Fri Dec 19 Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY
Sat Dec 20 Egremont Barn, Egremont, MA
Sat Dec 21 The Turning Point, Piermont, NY

And to end the year at Club Passim, Cambridge MA
Mon Dec 29 Beatles Sing Along
Tue Dec 30 Ellis Paul and Band
Wed Dec 31 Two shows! Ellis and the Band ( Laurie, Don Con, Rad)