Romance and excitement. Confusion and deceit. Apathy and anxiety. Worship and desperation. Loss and remorse. Follow him as he makes his way through the cosmos finding women who each bring new perspective, as well as different aspects of love. On a Saturday night as any other, he sits alone by choice, watching the Saturday Night Movie of the Week. Then comes the knock at the door. That sobering rap that brings him back down to earth and reminds him of what could have been. His best friend and first true love is getting married and surely nothing will ever be the same. I'll always love you he reminds himself against a bustling city skyline, just like I promised I'd do. Too far to hear his lament, she walks home, out of his life and into another's. Dating would provoke the greatest challenge of all as he sets off to find and reclaim a love as intoxicating as she. A trip to a museum to see mummified remains. A drunken dance on a harbor's dock. A dinner made with every consideration and care for the Pretty Girl who took casual Friday just a bit too far. No woman the same and yet all strangely familiar.One may love and see the other as their moon. If that's true than would she not be cold and desolate? Two-faced? Then she's your stars, perhaps. Scattered and distant? Your sun. Exposure and you're burned? The old cliches won't know what to do with themselves as Iron Of The Sky grips the reader on every page, turning any preconceived notions of modern dating upside down. And begging the question if true love really does still exist in an ever-expanding and seemingly endless universe.
About the Author: Five years ago, Philadelphia area native Ryan Downey was sitting at dinner with his cousin, two ex-girlfriends, and a future love interest, maxing out another credit card in what was the first of many desperate weekends attempting however vainly to complete his first independent film. He would run out of money long before Souvenir City, a fun, energetic dramedy following two best friends at the beach on a fool's errand, would ever be finished. Four years ago, he would be forced to give up on yet another, more modest project when his partner informed him she was parting ways. Several higher concept projects were never even attempted. And while the skit videos funded through his start up company, Buncha Haxe Films, would achieve a collective thousands of hits, they failed to provide the momentum really needed to jumpstart his career.Out of money, out of a partner, and out of patience, he turned to a project he never put much weight in. A one-off idea that had hit him one night and somehow stayed in his stream of consciousness for years. With no better options and a great idea, he did what any self-loathing, misanthropic, substance abusing, Irish American would do. He wrote a book.Born in Darby, Downey was raised in the small town of Aldan and attended high school at Monsignor Bonner where he began to establish himself creatively. There he appeared in plays, was lead anchor on the morning news, and wrote his first full length play. His college career saw him star in several works, including Synge's Riders To The Sea and led him to Temple University where he graduated with a B.A. in Communications and Theater and a minor in History. He has devoted countless efforts and funds towards conservation and environmental causes, one of his truest passions. And he has worn out his welcome in the restaurant industry. His love life may have never led him down the aisle, but it led him to create his greatest work yet.