Vince Ditrich said heB次元官网网址檚 met thousands of musicians over the years, and while some of them were world-class entertainers, 10 times as many were untalented dreamers waiting for their big break.

B次元官网网址淭hey have always had a band in high school and always held onto the dream and held onto it and held onto it into their 30s and 40s and they canB次元官网网址檛 let it go,B次元官网网址� said Ditrich, former drummer for B.C. rock group Spirit of the West. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 like a tattoo. It just wonB次元官网网址檛 go away, even after you stop liking it.B次元官网网址�

Ditrich tells the story of one such dreamer in his debut novel, The Liquor Vicar, out Aug. 17. The book follows Tony Vicar, a failed Vancouver Island musician who performs half-hearted Elvis impersonations at weddings. VicarB次元官网网址檚 life turns around after he seemingly performs a miracle, but his celebrity attracts the wrong kind of attention and soon he and his oddball friends are faced with a crisis.

While this is DitrichB次元官网网址檚 first book, he said heB次元官网网址檚 been writing his whole life, including the biographies and liner notes for Spirit of the West. Ditrich said heB次元官网网址檚 wanted to write a book since he was a child, and after his band retired in 2016, and following a health scare, he decided it was finally time to fulfill that dream.

B次元官网网址淚 thought, B次元官网网址極h my God, I have to move along here. Turn the page and start a new chapter in my life,B次元官网网址� pardon the the pun,B次元官网网址� he said.

One day he sat down and started typing and eventually he produced The Liquor Vicar, the first book in a trilogy. Ditrich said he had the idea for the story percolating in his mind for a long time and he also incorporated some ideas he got while coming up with B次元官网网址渁bsolutely ridiculous scenariosB次元官网网址� with his family one night.

B次元官网网址淓veryone was falling over laughing and just having fun with it and I thought. B次元官网网址榊ou know, some of these things that weB次元官网网址檙e just riffing here, they really could work if contextualized properly and said in the correct tone,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Ditrich said. B次元官网网址淎nd so I just gathered up all my mental notes and started including that kind of attitude in the writing.B次元官网网址�

The Liquor Vicar is also a tale of redemption, as Tony Vicar finds a way out of his self-constructed rut and discovers a new direction in life. ItB次元官网网址檚 a story that may offer hope to others hopelessly B次元官网网址渟educed by the rock B次元官网网址榥B次元官网网址� roll dream.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淭hey end up doing silly things with their lives because they always want to leave themselves open for the great possibility of becoming a superstar with their guitar, whereas in fact they may have tremendous capabilities in some completely unrelated or seemingly unrelated field,B次元官网网址� Ditrich said. B次元官网网址淎nd I think a lot of people are really talented but they chase the wrong dream.B次元官网网址�

The Liquor Vicar is Aug. 17.

arts@nanaimobulletin.com
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