Everything Is Just Beginning - A Novel

A talented lyricist and guitarist, Michael Sullivan is living with his uncle and working a dead-end job. He receives an invitation to a New Year's Eve party and meets the young heir to a fading musical dynasty, changing both of their futures. Erin Bartels' spirited writing enlivens the earnest tale, and readers will root for the characters as they chase their dreams.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 17 January 2023
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group

A 2024 Michigan Notable Book


An Immersive Story of Music, Struggle, and Starting Over


From an Award-Winning Author




Michael Sullivan is a talented lyricist and a decent guitarist, but since he was kicked out of his band (and his apartment), he's not sure he'll ever get a record deal. Living with his loser uncle in a beat-up trailer and working a dead-end job, Michael has little reason to hope for a better future. Until the invitation for a swanky New Year's Eve party shows up in the mailbox. It's for his uncle, with whom he shares his name, but his uncle is going out of town.




On the effervescent night of December 31, 1989, as the Berlin Wall is coming down, the Soviet Union is inching toward democracy, and anything seems possible, Michael will cross paths with the accomplished and enigmatic young heir to a fading musical dynasty, forever altering both of their futures.




Award-winning novelist Erin Bartels enchants with this story of two lonely souls who have exactly what the other one needs if they could simply turn their focus from what is ending to what is just beginning.




Bartels' spirited writing enlivens the earnest tale. Readers will root for these characters as they chase their dreams.




Publisher's Weekly




"I was completely absorbed in this book from the first chapter. I sat in my chair and did not get up until I finished it! . . . . Bartels smacks this out of the park."




Interviews & Reviews

Weight: 318g
Dimension: 216 x 142 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780800741655