Frustrated photographer, twenty-five year old Nick is suffering in a sad cruel relationship that one has in their twenties. He finally ends the relationship after encouragement from his crass brother and his supportive friends. After meeting Nadja, an artist with a troubled past from Dublin who has the ability to hear thoughts his life becomes better and then worse.

The first part of their relationship is golden, as all relationships are, but her past and his sanity create a conflict that seems impossible to resolve.

What if the right song could change your life? What if the girl of your dreams could read your mind? What if you could hear people’s thoughts and find someone who was honest? What if you had to prove you were sane?

Rain King takes the ideas of special powers and superheroes and removes the adjectives such as “amazing”, “incredible”, and “fantastic” and puts them in a plausible setting. The best parts of our personalities often get in our own way, and so would special powers. Why they should make every day living in your twenties easier, they most likely would also make it more difficult.

Rain King is nine chapters told in various perspectives and formats, but all inspired by bands such as Sonic Youth, Girls Against Boys, Pavement, Nirvana, and Superchunk to name a few.

Rain King is the song that gives Nick power, but what and how he uses it what my story is about. The right song at the right time can change your life.

These are questions addressed in Rain King.

I created the story of Rain King in my head from being alone with a pair of headphones. Listening to the soundtrack of my life at the time, scenes would write themselves to occupy my bored mind (remember this is pre-internet). I struggled for many years deciding if it should be a graphic novel, or an animated film, before deciding to just write it so I had it as a source that I could later return to. I wrote the story I wanted to read, changing perspectives and styles to entertain myself. Eventually life intervened with marriage and kids so I never followed up on developing a graphic novel or animated shorts, but I still had the story, which I’m throwing out to the Internet. I hope you enjoy reading it, as I enjoyed writing it. For me it is a snapshot of that era, which at times seems hard to imagine. I am a former musician, and have always created music, stories, and comic strips to entertain myself.

This story was written at a time when I was growing frustrated by being in bands and wanted a creative outlet that didn’t require other people to show up. I’m a fan of music that is not popular, comic books, baseball, craft beer, soccer, and mountain biking.