Welcome Wednesdays – The Sound of Music (part 1)
Welcome to this week’s edition of Welcome Wednesdays! I hope y’all are finding new authors to read, and new readers for your books with these weekly questions.
Today we’re talking about music, and the writing process. For a lot of authors, those things go together – they have particular music that helps them get (and stay) in the right frame of mind to write. Or, sometimes, there’s a song or artist that inspires them to write a particular story.
So, authors, tell us about music and how it helps you write, inspires your stories or any other way that music factors into your writing process.
I’ll begin! I almost always have classical music on when I’m writing. I usually find that having something familiar puts me in a good mental state to write, and music without words is helpful because there’s nothing to break my concentration (Heaven knows there are enough other things to do that!).
And now it’s your turn! Be sure to leave a link and brief description of your book/series!
(when you’re done here, please stop by Exquisite Quills, where there are daily memes just like this one and plenty of fantastic authors you can discover!)
by
13 Replies to “Welcome Wednesdays – The Sound of Music (part 1)”
Music is wonderful! I love and listen to a variety of music, just depending on what I’m doing at the moment. When I’m actually writing I need complete silence though, otherwise I get way to distracted because music moves me way to much. However, some music such as dance or today’s hit music make me actually want to get up and do something, and some music such as Enya and classical selections help me to calm and refresh my mind. Then you have inspirational/Christian music that helps me get a grip of who God is and how to best go about writing my books.
I’m the author of Growing Up Neighbors, a novel that embarks its readers on a journey through life as two young neighbors come of age, experience life’s ups and downs and may even find something more than friendship in one another. All four and five star reviews! You can find it at the link below in paperback or kindle edition!
http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Up-Neighbors-Frances-Hoelsema/dp/1503224104/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1446644637&sr=8-1&keywords=Growing+Up+Neighbors
It’s funny because I do not consider myself very musical. I listen to a lot of epic soundtracks, movie soundtracks, and gaming music (especially World of Warcraft and Myst music) … but I generally have a different soundtrack for each book. With Beggar Magic I looked into steampunk music … it’s kind of ironic that I don’t consider myself musical because music is a HUGE theme in Beggar Magic, almost a character in a way.
http://mybook.to/beggarmagic
In Gelia City, magic is music – a constant, ever-changing melody known as the Strains. All can hear the Strains…but not everyone can use them equally.
Leilani is Common, able to do only the most mundane “beggar magic,” but when she befriends the gifted Highmost girl, Zebedy, she is swept into the gilded world of the upper class, who can access the magic’s full potential. Behind the polished, academic façade of the Highmost manors, the girls run headlong into danger. An unknown force is consuming the Strains, leaving heartrending silence behind. Desperate to save their beloved Strains, Leilani and Zebedy soon realize that solving the mystery may cost them their friendship, or even their lives.
Saw your post over on kboards. Thanks for the opportunity to visit! Music in most forms has been a big part of my life, and it’s no surprise to me that music’s played a huge part of my writing. I grew up on movies and television, and pretty quickly got into loving their soundtracks and scores. Science fiction, fantasy, and western series and movies in particular are big draws for me, and I’ve followed a lot of different composers over the years. John Williams, James Horner, James Newton Howard, Marco Beltrami, and so many others. Oh, video games too–video game music scores have gotten really good in recent years.
I have well over 400 soundtracks and scores and I’ve created a lot of different genre-themed playlists that I play constantly when writing. The series I’m currently working on, Pistols and Pyramids, is an ancient Egyptian-themed weird western with magic and mummies. So the playlist for P&P is filled with recent Western soundtracks as well as music from a couple Egyptian movies, video games, and other pieces I’ve picked up along the way.
The genre playlists help me get into a specific mindset and mood that helps me drop into the flow of writing. I can’t write in silence; I always need some sort of non-lyrical music on in the background. So the themed playlists really help to transport me to that other world.
Anyway, happy to hear about other authors and how music impacts their writing. Thanks again for the opportunity to play on your blog! Come visit mine any time.
Since I discovered Spotify a few years ago, I have developed a great love for putting together playlists for specific books. Parts of these playlists happen as I’m writing, parts after the book is over, and I often add to them when I hear a song that fits a particular book.
Here’s a link to the very first “book playlist” I put together on Spotify. It’s for Waking Up Dead:
https://open.spotify.com/user/12121922418/playlist/7dyrLTOCmHPzN7MGuwA7Kl
Waking Up Dead
She expected heaven or hell. She got Alabama.
When Dallas resident Callie Taylor died young, she expected to go to heaven, or maybe hell. Instead, when she met her fate early thanks to a creep with a knife and a mommy complex, she went to Alabama. Now she’s witnessed another murder, and she’s not about to let this one go. She’s determined to help solve it before an innocent man goes to prison. And to answer the biggest question of all: why the hell did she wake up dead in Alabama?
Buy Waking Up Dead:
Kindle from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Waking-Dead-Margo-Bond-Collins-ebook/dp/B00HKQQRJA/
Connect with Margo
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I don’t listen to music when I write; I find it distracting, perhaps because I’m an (amateur) musician and play the flute and the piccolo.
I do have a musician as one of the characters in a four-way romance in Broken Bonds http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Bonds-Novels-Aleyne-Book-ebook/dp/B00E5SGVSS/
She plays a stringed instrument called a rill, which I picture as looking something like an autoharp. It comes in various sizes and is tuned to the range of its owner’s voice. Since I am a wind instrument player. I can’t write about anything unless I can completely picture it in my head, so even though I made up the instrument, I did my research.
I can’t write about characters in a house unless I can picture the floor plan and the furniture, either; just another one of those vagaries of a writer’s brain
Like Margaret, I can’t listen to music while writing because as a professional musician I start analyzing the piece. (Old music ed habits die hard.) But while doing mindless chores I DO listen to Baroque, Classical, and Celtic instrumental music to clear my head and ready my mind for writing.
Because I also write music, I have some of my musical characters sing songs they have written, but I haven’t yet figured out how to incorporate the melodies. The words to some of the songs are in my books….
Thanks, James, for posting another interesting Wednesday question! 🙂
When I’m composing my chapters long-hand, I like quiet. However, when I’m word-processing what I’ve written, I find music almost a necessity. My favorite musical accompaniment is the film score, the more lyrical the better. I have a weakness for old-fashioned, string-heavy film scores from the classic era; again and again I turn to my collections of Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Miklos Rosza. Among more recent film scores, I find the work of Thomas Newman, especially his scores for “Fried Green Tomatoes” and “Little Women,” can put me in the appropriate mood. Certain classical composers work as well, especially Debussy, but also Rachmaninoff (who was once criticized for writing music that sounded too much like film scores) and Chopin.
I’m very fond of writing about musician heroines. The female lead of my novel “Atterwald” discovers that her gift for music is more powerful than she ever imagined: it can weave visions for the hearer, and it becomes crucial in her efforts to heal a bedridden young man. Here’s the Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Atterwald-Nan-Monroe-ebook/dp/B00QVT79QM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1446656047&sr=1-1&keywords=atterwald
The female lead of my short story “Neighbor Haint,” published in Gilded Dragonfly Books’ collection “Finding Love’s Magic,” is also a musician.
http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Loves-Magic-Melba-Moon-ebook/dp/B00VSV1FBI/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1446656144&sr=1-1&keywords=finding+love%27s+magic
I do use music when writing my books. I usually have a specific tune that relates to the book’s heroine/hero. I have written a book called Love Songs, that features a band and a lead singer.
Love Songs
Separated by fame, reunited through music.
When Jennifer Summers returns to the U.S. after spending two years in Africa, she has some decisions to make. Should she resume her singing career or continue to live a secluded life out of the spotlight in the hopes that her stalker won’t be able to locate her?
Years ago Jake Ackerson let Jennifer go so she could pursue her dreams. When she suddenly returns to their hometown he’s determined to rekindle his relationship with the woman he never stopped loving.
Jake’s band is temporarily without a singer, and Jennifer agrees to take the position, but in doing so she is once again pushed into the limelight, and she knows it’s only a matter of time before danger strikes.
Will Jake be able to protect her, and can he convince her to put past hurts aside and give their relationship another shot?
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Songs-Constance-Bretes-ebook/dp/B00OM8996W/
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-songs-constance-bretes/1120574365?ean=2940150720602
Content Warning: contains some sexual content
Constance Bretes, Author
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Lately I’ve been writing about small town, country boys so country music has been my inspiration. I love how each song tells a story. My favorite hero is Cole Tucker. He sings off-key to Chesney and Paisley and Shelton and has a pick up line for anyone in a skirt. He’s a flirt by nature, a good boy at heart, and a total hottie.
From Cole Tucker’s book, False Impressions:
Recovering alcoholic and former party animal, Cole Tucker would be an idiot to start something with his newly hired right-hand woman, Samantha Chase. It figures he can’t seem to keep his mitts of the sexy, five-foot-nothing single mom who can toss a sack of shingles over her shoulder and rewire a house better than the crew from Extreme Home Makeover. Her incredible strength and self-confidence draw him in; something Cole has pretended to have for years. All he has to show for himself is his uncanny use of pick-up lines, a hand-me-down farm and some small-town rental properties. When he learns Samantha’s husband and daughter were killed by a drunk driver, the shame of his past experience with a DUI and near-death accident is the last thing he wants to mention to her.
Samantha has no problem accepting her new boss, flaws and all. His simple life is charming and exactly what she hoped to find for herself and her son in Newhall, New Hampshire. Cole wins her over by befriending her fatherless son and making her laugh again, something she hasn’t done in four years. When she learns about his shady past with the bottle, her heart tells her to forgive, but the painful memories of her past are too deep to overlook.
Amazon http://goo.gl/rqT03b
Amazon UK http://goo.gl/hcl0cK
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/false-impressions/id1001761582?mt=11
Barnes & Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/false-impressions-marianne-rice/1122058236?ean=9781622102013
I love to listen to music when I’m writing my first draft. The type of music changes, depending on the story I’m writing. When I’m proof reading or working on edits, though, I prefer quiet.
St. Augustine’s Silhouettes
A killer runs loose in a small American town. When free-spirited Katherine allies herself with a man dubbed Satan by the townsfolk, has she found the man of her dreams or has she fallen into the hands of a murderer?
http://kate-hill.com/staugustinessilhouettes.html
The most conducive music to my creativity is found in my extensive play list of world music. The exotic instruments help convey me to the international locals that are prominent in many of my stories. Also, most of my list contains instrumental songs, with no lyrics to distract me. So, if you enjoy being transported to exciting far away locals I hope you’ll check out my adventures like Marked in Mexico or Shrouded In Secrets. Learn more at http://KimMcMahill.com or follow me on twitter at https://twitter.com/kimmcmahill
For me it’s Conway Twitty and his romantic songs and just the way he sings them that fills me with romantic book ideas.
Music is my life while writing. I have it going right now in fact. It’s iHeartChristmas on iHeartRadio. Not sure how that ties into my paranormal story I’m doing, but it’s working for me, haha. Normally I love background music (meaning it can merge into the background). Like Classical, New Age, the occasional Classic Rock or Hard Rock when I really need some hard core scenes done.
I have a few favorite soundtracks and people which are: 300 (both soundtracks for the two movies), Lord of The Rings, and Ludovico Einaudi (amazing pianist). Those are just the favorite I’ve been working lately. Otherwise we’d be here a while. It used to be Sarah McLachlan’s albums that I would have on repeat over and over while I did short horror stories. Then other times I will go with Sarah Brightman for regular writing. It depends on my mood and what music my brain will tune into, but out of so I can still write and work thoughts. Music with words can distract many times when I need my characters to chit chat and really focus on what they are saying up there in my brain, but at other times, those words in a song may trigger a great line for a character. So it depends every time I sit down to write (which is every day).
My latest novel came out today (Nov 5, 2015) actually. I’m super excited about it. Don’t Go Far has a great combination (as most of my books do) of Paranormal, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Horror, and even deep soul mate style Romance. My editor tells me it’s my best work yet, which thrills me, but you can decide for yourself since it’s your opinion that matters.
Read the first Chapter now before purchase here – http://kimberlysueiverson.com/dont-go-far-chapter-one/
iBooks – https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1049626743
Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016NHSATG
Smashwords (all formats) – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/585199
Kobo – https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/don-t-go-far
Barnes and Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dont-go-far-kim-iverson/1122797541?ean=2940152320305