Center of Gravity is a love poem to the power of music in our lives, that spans three decades of American musical history, as composing team Nate Royce and Gregory Solomon grow, desire, succeed, grieve and love the same woman. They conquer Tin Pan Alley, struggle through the Great Depression, celebrate birth, mourn the dead and ride the leaps of radio, records, stereophonic sound, 8-tracks and cassettes. Along the way, they encounter Irving Berlin, whose piano has a lever to change keys, Duke Ellington, facing his entire band paralyzed with stage fright, Count Basie, succumbing to swindling contracts and the Sex Pistols, who have a knack for swindling record labels. Through the culture-shaping transitions of music, Nate's son, Ben Royce, follows in the footsteps of his father and Gregory during the critical years when jazz evolved, big bands faded and rock n' roll emerged, experiencing the tragic rise and fall of Rock pioneer Alan Freed from the inside. Ben's love for one woman, a savvy redhead named Rickie Taylor, embodies the great love once shared by both his father and Gregory. It is through love and loss, both past and present, that all three men finally confront Nate Royce's most crippling issue: determining how much to risk in life, balanced against what to settle for.
About the Author: Greg Cohen lives and writes in Hawaii. His fiction explores the literary version of photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson's "The decisive moment"; those fleeting, defining instants when entire lives can change. His writing is supervised by two cats and a dog, all who wish he would write more about animals. His short fiction has appeared in the Eureka Literary Magazine, Bellowing Ark, City Primeval and the Belletrist Review. One of his characters speaks for Greg's life-long love of the arts when she tells her son, "Here's the best thing about art, Theo...it's not necessary. People can't survive without certain things: food, water, shelter, tools. But no one ever died from art starvation, honey. It's not essential to the body, but it is to the soul. Art is something we're driven to do, not compelled to do." That belief fuels his work not only as a writer, but in his pursuits as a photographer and musician, and he's recently begun to paint, working with acrylics. Born and raised in Colorado, he's lived in California, Washington, Nevada and Alaska. His love of motion and travel has taken him through most of the 50 states as well as China, Mexico, Spain, Finland, Russia, South Africa and Australia. Greg is also a graphic designer, business consultant and grant writer for non-profits.