MARK TREMONTI: 'One Of My Biggest Bucket List Item Things Is To Become A Published Author'

In a brand new interview with the Mark And Me podcast, CREED and ALTER BRIDGE guitarist and acclaimed solo artist Mark Tremonti revealed that one of his "biggest bucket list item things is to become a published author." He explained: "I've written one book that I finished called 'A Dying Machine', but that was a co-write with John Shirley. And then I've just finished another book that I just wrote exclusively. And then in the middle — I'm about 200 pages deep into a novel that might take me forever to finish. But I wanna get a publishing house to take me under their wing and see what happens. So that's one of my biggest goals in life right now."

He added: "And just think, I travel around the world where I can go to bookstores on my days off and I can market this thing. [I'll be a] traveling book salesman."

Back in September 2022, Tremonti was asked by Lou Brutus of HardDrive Radio if he would consider one day releasing an autobiography. He responded: "Well, you never know. I'll have to live a little bit more life before that happens. I wanna write my fictional book first."

Tremonti went on to clarify that he previously wrote a full-length work of fiction with John Shirley based on "A Dying Machine", a concept album released in 2018 by his TREMONTI project. "We printed up I don't know how many copies of it, sold 'em out and then people advised me, 'If you wanna get a publishing deal, you've gotta stop selling 'em so you can get that deal,'" he explained. "I've written a new story.

"One of the toughest things in my creative career, if you wanna call it that, was getting this publishing deal. I've been up and down and left and right and gone through every — I've done everything to try to make this thing happen. And getting a publishing deal is — it seems way harder than getting a record deal.

"Not a lot of people buy books anymore. I love buying actual books, but a lot of people just buy the Kindle versions or whatever it is — just download it online.

"So that's one of my missions, Mark added. "I'm actively trying to get that book deal so I can get these books out again."

Six years ago, Tremonti spoke about how he turned the "A Dying Machine" album's concept into a full-length work of fiction. "The story itself that happens throughout the book — it was hard to figure out where I was going to go, but it was an exciting and cool adventure I was going to go on," he told "The Classic Metal Show". "When I decided that I wanted to do a novel, at first I was, like, 'I can do it. I can work around the clock and get it done.' Then I realized the record is coming out in six, seven months, back then, seven months, so I said, 'I have to partner up with somebody.' At first, I was going to hire a ghostwriter, just tell him the story bit by bit, then finally, I contacted my agent, my booking agent. He's part of UTA, which is United Talent Agency, which houses a literary department, so I said, 'Do you guys have any authors that fit this genre that I can partner up?' I think we went through about nine authors before we got to John Shirley. I looked at his resume and read a lot of his stuff and he is a specialist in futurism. He knows where technology is going. The book has a lot to do with where technology is going. When I explained the story, he helped me connect the dots of the story, so it wasn't just a pie-in-the-sky idea. He helped me make it make sense and believable."

The "A Dying Machine" story takes place in a future world where technology has advanced to the point where we can fuse man and machine into a life form called "vessels." They're encrypted with specific purposes from companion to security. But what happens when there's a flaw in the design? And when a recall angers the strongest and most intelligent of the vessels? Can humanity withstand an uprising? Or have they sealed their own fate?

In 2022, Tremonti partnered with National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) to release an album of Frank Sinatra covers titled "Tremonti Sings Sinatra". The LP of selections from Frank Sinatra's catalog was made available as part of a new charity initiative created by Tremonti called Take A Chance For Charity. Proceeds from the album go to support NDSS and the work they do to advocate for and support individuals with Down syndrome and their families.