Set in Central New Jersey, the Good Vibe Trilogy is a coming-of-age story following the lives of two young people raised in diverse yet dysfunctional environments during the late 1970s. When their lives connect, it impacts the destinies of their friends and family over a forty-year span.
Volume One, The Paradise We Create, introduces Andrew ‘Drew’ Reubens. As a teen, he is a girl-crazy, self-involved kid at the center of a clique of performing arts geeks. One of the many females in his sphere is unfiltered and misunderstood Alyona ‘Yoyo’ Zalenkov, being raised in a rural cult environment with warped family values.
The result of their unlikely relationship is represented in the modern-day events of the story, as Andrew hosts a celebration at his Central Jersey establishment, The Good Vibe Lounge. When the younger generation of his family expresses a desire to understand more about their back story, Andrew pivots, between modern times and 1977, his climactic senior year of High School to weave the story of Drew and Yoyo… and a collection of characterful events and relationships along the way.
With the help of some of his oldest friends, Andrew takes a tour of the often comedic, sometimes tragic.. but all-so-typical journey of adolescents faced with the transition to life as adults in the real world.
The Good Vibe saga is a forty-year history of characters who navigate thru the wonders, challenges, and destiny of human interplay. Along the way, they take on these dynamics, with juxtaposed tales of adolescent frivolity, dysfunctional family, enduring friendship, the depth of romance and sensuous love, criminal behavior, deception, success, failure, the thrill of knowledge, personal progression, and… a good dose of recovering from regrets.
And ultimately seeking to balance ‘what might have been’ with everything happening at the place where reality meets up with all of it… for a reason.
Meet Kaycee Evans
Diversity has been the center of Kaycee Evan’s life. His experiences have spanned from being a Musician, Composer, Actor, and Teacher to working as a Social Services Professional and in the Hospitality Industry. In the late 1980s, after transitioning to life in the Sunshine State, Kaycee became an activist for local anti-censorship organizations and a public speaker on social justice and homeless issues. He has authored three stage plays, ‘On the Air,’ ‘Frostproof Blues,’ and ‘But.. Who’s Counting’, the latter serving as the inspiration to author the stories of the Good Vibe Trilogy, his first offering as a novelist.
Born at the tail-end of the Baby Boomers, Kaycee is a Father and Grandfather who has always been amused and taken pride in his diverse interests.
“I can wake up to Jazz, walk the dogs, argue politics, analyze science fiction movies, scream at my Fantasy Football lineup, create a new cocktail and enjoy a bawdy Broadway Musical all in the same day.”
