California-born Randy Walters dreams of Country Music stardom. After years of struggling in the harsh world of the music business in Nashville, TN, and a love interest gone bad, success finally comes.  Through it all, he battles guilt over deserting his widowed mother and small son. All the accolades and awards can't fill his need for the closeness of family and comforts of home. How can he have it all?

Reviews
Book Review A Right Fine Life
An inspiring story with relatable characters and an engaging plotline captured my attention with Gency Brown's debut novel, “A Right Fine Life." It's a contemporary novel about a young man, Randy Walters, who dreams of becoming a country western recording artist star in Nashville and wants to pursue opportunities to write his own music. His determination to succeed is admirable. But Walters's journey to stardom is not what he envisioned. The challenges of being on the road touring for extended periods and playing at different gigs and venues ultimately keep him away from his family, necessitating a change to have a more balanced personal and professional life. Liquor and fatigue frequently are his demons. While Randy does make friends in the business, he still yearns for deeper and closer relationships. Themes of love, family, friends, and the working man prevail in Brown's novel.

Brown writes a credible story, having been well-versed in the music industry. Growing up, music has always been a huge part of her life. She has been a music performer and, in addition, a long-standing member of several music organizations. For years, Brown has been around music artists focused on finding success in Nashville's music arena. Thus, the characters she has crafted and the settings appear realistic, with references to venues, recording companies, and artists accurate for the time period covered in her book. I enjoyed the back story of the music industry and stories of the musicians's struggles and successes.    

The dialogue moves the reader at a comfortable pace. As Randy climbs the music ladder of stardom, becoming a country artist, his songwriting skills improve, but he soon learns there's a high price to pay for success. Realizing he needs to make changes to survive in the industry, Randy comes up with some impressive creative problem-solving despite the risks involved. 

Randy strives to create “a real fine life” for himself. His family and friends provide the necessary support to ensure the continuation of his success.

Gency Brown's writing shines in her debut novel. I am looking forward to what comes next for this budding author. 

-Sue Ready, Ever Ready Book Reviews

Written in the tradition of a memorable country ballad, A RIGHT FINE LIFE takes the reader into the dreams and daily life of a talented yet struggling musician. Author Gency Brown knows her way around a touring musician's life and captures Randy's world authentically.

-Bobbi Jean Bell - Host Rendezvous With A Writer on LA Talk Radio

Finally, someone has written a book about the life of a country musician that isn’t one dimensional. For every moment of glory and glitter, there are a thousand moments of exhaustion, despair, uncertainty and sacrifice. Gency Brown captures the passion and commitment that keeps an artist chasing a dream while striving to maintain his artistic integrity.

-Jim Jones, Western Writers of America and international Western Music Association award winner.

Gency Brown is an outstanding writer. Her command of dialogue, characters, and the country music scene she so expertly describes are top notch. 

A right fine read! 

-Martha Burk, Ph.D. Producer/Host,  Equal Time with Martha Burk Podcast

Just when you think all the great country music stories have been told, along comes Gency Brown with an insider’s view of the fascinating world of being a singer/songwriter shooting for the stars.

Gency Brown’s novel, A Right Fine Life, is a portrait of every musician who has struggled to find success in an unforgiving industry where nothing is certain.

First, we had Mac Sledge in Tender Mercies, and then it was Bad Blake in Crazy Heart. In the same tradition of those great stories, Gency Brown brings us Randy Walters. Randy’s story resonates in a way that everyone who has ever driven all night long, slept in their pickup, and then played for less money than it took to get there will understand.

In many ways, the story is reminiscent of the lyrics of the John Fogerty classic, Lodi.

If I only had a dollar
For every song I've sung
Every time I've had to play
While people sat there drunk
You know, I'd catch the next train
Back to where I live
Oh, Lord, I’m stuck in Lodi again.

For the rest of us, it’s a wonderful heart-wrenching and heart-warming story that takes us along on the wild journey behind the scenes of country music.

—DB Jackson, Screenwriter and Western Heritage Award Winning Novelist
 

A Right Fine Life takes an up close and personal look at what it takes to make it to the top in the music business, what it costs, and ultimately – for those lucky enough and strong enough - what it gives back.

The hard road Randy Walters travels is a relatable one to any reader, musician or not, who’s ever chased a dream against all odds. Yet Gency Brown makes Randy’s dogged journey uniquely his own in an engaging, absorbing tale of the quest for stardom with all its trials, triumphs, and tragedies. Gency Brown writes with a music insider’s knowledge and a poet’s pen.

—JR Sanders, Award Winning Western Author - Crime Novelist