Local author/publisher Kevin Sampsell was surprised to discover the other day that a chapter of his memoir had been adapted into a song by Illinois songwriter Paul Kotheimer. Wondering aloud about royalties and trademarks, I asked Kevin how he felt about the homage.

Mercury: One word, synergy. Writing. Publishing. Retail. And now, music. Do you plan on expanding your influence into the music world more?

Kevin: First off, I want to point out that Reclinerland made a (not very well publicized) CD of songs based on SEVERAL chapters of my memoir. Find it on iTunes. It's called "Secret Notebook."

Now, to answer your question: I would love to pull "a Robert Pollard" and have a late-starting but very influential career in songwriting, but whenever I try to write things that rhyme, it always starts to sound like a bad Prince song. In other words, they read like Vanity 6 B-sides. Thanks for asking!