'Dreams do still come true' in a new novel by Dolly Parton and James Patterson

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

When you're Dolly Parton, why settle for co-writing a novel when you can record a whole new album to go with it?

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RUN")

DOLLY PARTON: (Singing) Run, run, run, run, run. Run, run, run, run, run. Run, run, run, run, run. Come on.

MARTIN: Dolly wrote the songs while she was writing a book called "Run, Rose, Run" with famed author James Patterson. It's about an aspiring country singer, AnnieLee, trying to shake a dark past and make it big in music. AnnieLee gets help from a mega country star named Ruthanna, who wears wigs and fake nails and has charisma that won't quit. The parallel was hard to miss.

PARTON: Ruthanna is very much my personality this day and time. And I'm hoping to get to play her in a movie that we are going to make from the book. We're in process of doing that now. But I really think that I know Ruthanna very well. And I think that I can do that part very well. I don't think have to do too much acting on that one (laughter).

MARTIN: (Laughter).

JAMES PATTERSON: The only the only difference is Ruthanna in the book has retired, and Dolly is never going to retire.

PARTON: Well, that's true.

MARTIN: A lot of the scenes take place in this bar in Nashville, this dive bar. And, I mean, this is where Ruthanna, you know, first sees AnnieLee. And I just love the description of the place.

PATTERSON: You know, I had to visit a lot of bars to, you know...

MARTIN: I was going to ask...

(LAUGHTER)

MARTIN: ...What was that research like?

PATTERSON: Well, you know, I went to Vanderbilt. So I went to school in Nashville.

MARTIN: Ah.

PATTERSON: And back then, one, the Grand Ole Opry was still in town. And in those days, it was kind of small honky-tonk bars. And you could not sit in one for 15 minutes without somebody coming in off the street and just sitting down and starting singing.

MARTIN: Dolly, do you have your own memories of places like that?

PARTON: Oh, absolutely. And I think there are still plenty of bars just like that scattered around throughout the country where there really are still honky-tonks. And we've got some, you know, upgraded ones in Nashville now 'cause everybody has a bar. We got wonderful places. But, yes, I've worked in every little bar. I've done everything in my lifetime - VFWs and, you know, where I used to run around singing with my uncles. I had the Bill Owens combo when I was just a young girl. And so I've been in every bar, every kind of situation in the world. You kind of have to do that when you're starting out in country music.

MARTIN: When's the last time you were in a dive bar, Dolly?

PARTON: Oh, just the other day.

(LAUGHTER)

MARTIN: I don't know if I believe you. But they're - part of that story - AnnieLee doesn't - she can't afford her own guitar, so she plays the guitar that's at the bar. And I notice kind of a throughline in the novel, right? There are these instruments that carry a lot of significance, a lot of emotional weight to the artists. And this is just an excuse for me to ask you, Dolly, is there a particular guitar in your past or present life that carries a good story with it?

PARTON: Absolutely. I had a little Martin guitar. When I was 7 years old, I got my first guitar. And I loved that little guitar. I wrote songs all the way up until I left home at age 18. I put it up in the loft of a house that we had, with all the intentions of when I got rich or could afford it, I was going to get it restored and keep it forever. But unfortunately, the loft burned out of our house - Mom and Dad's house - and I lost my little guitar. So all through the years I have still collected little baby Martin guitars 'cause that's still my favorite guitar.

MARTIN: I love the portrait that is drawn in this book of the character Ethan Blake because these are the kind of session musicians who make the industry work. They are supertalented, but they aren't the big stars. Dolly, why was it important for you and Jim to capture this in this book?

PARTON: Well, I think that it's very important that you tell the truth. And that's kind of the way that it happens, even though, you know, AnnieLee had a darker past than I did, of course. But almost everybody that comes here has a past. And they're always running to something. And some are running from something. But mostly they're running to a future. Now, I certainly relate to the hard times, having to keep your eyes out for the snakes in the grass, the people that are out to just make money off of you, use you up, whatever. That happens all the time. But so I completely thought - myself - that it is important - was important for us to capture that. And James has done a wonderful job doing that for sure.

PATTERSON: There's so much talent - and Dolly knows this better than I do - There's so much musical talent in Nashville and elsewhere. And so many people dream of making it. And some of them don't make it. And that's one of the things that drives this story. I mean, look, you go way back - Dolly, you know, came from the hills of Tennessee, and she arrives in Nashville. And she's got all the talent in the world. But that doesn't mean she's going to make it.

MARTIN: At one point early in the book, Ruthanna is trying to test AnnieLee to see if she's got the real stuff it takes to make it. And she is describing - Ruthanna is describing how tough life can be as a touring musician, especially when you're first starting out. And then, Jim, you wrote this line. Ruthanna says, quote, "it's not a normal way to live."

Dolly, have you given that warning to aspiring musicians?

PARTON: No. I think that everybody has to walk that road according to their own rules and according to their own talent and what they're willing to sacrifice and hope they don't have to sacrifice too much. But Ruthanna - she had told her to go home, get out of the business, whatever. I would never do that 'cause I'd never crush another, you know, person's dreams like that 'cause I know how serious they are. But that's another part of this book that I love, to show you that no matter how hard it is, that dreams do still come true.

MARTIN: Dolly, I need to ask - you were nominated to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last month. You released a statement saying, quote, "even though I'm extremely flattered and grateful to be nominated, I don't feel I have earned that right. So I must respectfully bow out." But you're still on a list of nominees. People can still vote for you. Today is actually the last day of voting. The inductees are going to be announced next month. What do you do if, despite your objections, you're still inducted?

PARTON: Well, I'll accept gracefully.

MARTIN: Yeah.

PARTON: I will just say thanks, and I will accept it because the fans vote. But when I said that, it was always my belief that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was for the people in rock music. And I have found out lately that it's not necessarily that. But if they can't go there to be recognized, where do they go? So I just felt like that it was - I would be taking away from someone that maybe deserved it, and certainly more than me, 'cause I never considered myself a rock artist. But obviously, there's more to it than that.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BIG DREAMS AND FADED JEANS")

PARTON: (Singing) Big dreams and faded jeans fit together like a team. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.