Chris Akin Books
The Online Authoring Home of The Classic Metal Show Co-Host Chris Akin
...AND OTHER THINGS I SHOULD NOT SAY...
“The second you let yourself fall into a pattern is the second you become part of that pattern. I’m just not willing to do that.” - Author Chris Akin, October 2019
Chris Akin is a lot of things. He’s an entrepreneur that has built and owns multiple businesses. He’s a highly regarded hard rock/heavy metal comedic shock jock that has been featured on radio, television and documentaries for more than 20 years. He’s a father of three. He’s the most loyal and honest guy you’ll ever meet. He’s also a successful author.
“When I’m asked what I do, I always say “author” first,” Akin admits. “The businesses, the radio and the other stuff are all fun, but writing books that move people in various ways is just the thing I take the most pride in.”
His first 5 books have been well received for different reasons. His CAUSE & EFFECT series of heavy metal books have taken a personal-yet-industry-phobic look at albums that heavily changed the way fanbases looked at some of the biggest bands in the world. His books LITTLE VICTORIES and CALL ME CHRIS have been widely regarded as “self help” novels that have shown how he tackled two of the hardest situations he’s had to endure - divorce and an industrial explosion that nearly killed him.
Based on these books, Akin’s latest book ...AND OTHER THINGS I SHOULD NOT SAY... is bound to send a shock to the system of people that are looking for more of the same type of writing.
“If you are looking for more inspiration, I suggest you look past this one,” Akin says with a chuckle. “Not everything I’ve ever done is all flowers and candy. There’s not a lot of “self help” here. Just a need for some mental help!”
Unlike his past works, ...AND OTHER THINGS I SHOULD NOT SAY... is geared more toward the fans of his radio show than his previous books. While autobiographical, Akin has chosen to tell stories that (like with most people) should probably have stayed in the back of his memory as “crazy things” he did in his youth.
“We’ve all did really stupid things when we were kids,” the author admits. “I was just more wild and dangerous than most people. I packed a lot of crazy living into a very short period of time.”
...AND OTHER THINGS I SHOULD NOT SAY... covers a small, defined period of Akin’s life. The stories told in this book cover a small period of time between 1986 and 1990, when he had just graduated high school, joined the military and quickly found himself living in Korea as a member of the Armed Forces. As he admits, it was just a long party.
“It was all sex, booze and partying,” Akin recalls. “Yes, I was in the military and I played that game as much as I had to, but in the end, all I wanted to do was run around, party hard, drink myself into oblivion, and repeat.”
As you will see in ...AND OTHER THINGS I SHOULD NOT SAY…, Chris Akin did just that. While some of these stories are absolutely ridiculous, calloused and, well, crazy, Akin tells these stories in a way that will make you laugh if you aren’t overly sensitive or looking to impose today’s standards of conduct onto actions from 30+ years ago.
“I doubt I’ll be making any new friends or fans with any of the overly sensitive, social justice douchebags of the world with this book,” the author laughs. “That’s not really the point. ...AND OTHER THINGS I SHOULD NOT SAY... is probably the most appropriate title for any of my books. Every story in this book, every word of it, are real events that happened. I’m not proud of all of them, but I wouldn’t take any of them back either. We’ve all lived through stupid things we’ve done as people. Too many people live in fear of people finding out about their past. I don’t and won’t. Here is it. It’s ugly. It’s filthy. It’s wrong. And it’s mine. I fear nothing. These stories are things that society would instruct me not to tell. Because of that, both middle fingers are up and aimed firmly at society. I don’t do anything else based on what anyone wants. This is no different.”
...AND OTHER THINGS I SHOULD NOT SAY... will be released on November 29th, 2019 by Rich With Hatred Publishing.
LITTLE VICTORIES - A Tale of Divorce, Debauchery and Finding Happiness
LITTLE VICTORIES: A TALE OF DIVORCE, DEBAUCHERY AND FINDING HAPPINESS is the story of a shock jock’s emotional struggles. It’s a real world, raw emotional look at a year that saw not only a shattering divorce, but a rebirth of a person who had spent his whole life raging against everyone, everything and who purposely pushed every button to come off as the most powerful person in any room. It profiles the victories as well as the defeats; some of which are so sickening in emotional scope that they leave you questioning how his friends ever stuck around to see him through the tough times.
CALL ME CHRIS - A Tale of Healing, Recovery, Selfishness and Resolve
Chris Akin shares his real life experiences as he worked through every aspect of being burned nearly to death. Full of the goriest details and yet told with surprising clarity and emotion, Akin shares all that is involved going through the life-changing experience of being severely burned. This includes accepting deformity, the mental anguish and horror that comes with acceptance, the effects on family and the risks he took while pushing himself to recover. Never one to try to paint himself in a good light, Akin shares the ugliness he exhibited toward family and friends during this time, the selfishness he showcased, and his theory on why he needed to be far from friendly in order to obtain his ultimate goal, which was to return to a “normal” lifestyle. CALL ME CHRIS is the third release from Chris Akin.
Cause & Effect: Metallica
CAUSE/EFFECT: METALLICA is a look at the album METALLICA (commonly referred to as "The Black Album" by heavy metal critic and co-host of THE CLASSIC METAL SHOW radio program, Chris Akin. In the book, Mr. Akin remembers back to the leadup and eventual release of METALLICA, including stories of how the release effected him as a person, the line in the sand it drew between old school and new school Metallica fans, and how the release singlehandedly changed the way commerical rock radio stations were programmed.
Cause & Effect: Motley Crue
Always rebellious, and for years the setter of trends instead of the follower of them, Motley Crue seemed like they could act as the bridge between what was and what used to be. Armed with new vocalist John Corabi and a sound that, from start to finish, sounded nothing at all like anything they had done previously, their self-titled release was pushed out to the masses in 1994. CAUSE & EFFECT: Motley Crue reviews this controversial release from 1994, as well as it's personal effects on author Chris Akin. It's definitely a very interesting tale.
Cause & Effect: Judas Priest
For a teenaged Chris Akin, the album TURBO fit in perfectly with where he was at as a person. “I was a 17 year old kid when TURBO came out,” the author remembers. The new book, entitled CAUSE & EFFECT: TURBO, highlights many of the events that were going on within Judas Priest at the time, as well as many of Akin’s own personal recollections from that period in his life in 1986. It's an inspired look into the extremely controversial album, how it changed the band's fan base, and finally how it was received by author Chris Akin.