In addition to one of my favorite Into The Fire teases, I'm sharing two lines from the blurb today...
At fifteen, an accident turned my world upside down. Scarred in everyway possible, I shut down, finding comfort by self-inflicting pain.
Happy Monday! Welcome the fabulous Mindy Hayes as she shares her musical muse with you...
Like most authors, music plays a HUGE part in my writing process. I can't write without my ear buds in and the music blasting. If I get a good song it can carry an entire book. Grandfather Said by The Ethnographers was on repeat while I wrote my first book, Kaleidoscope. Most people haven't heard of them. Look them up. I love them. Honestly, every song by The Ethnographers inspired something in The Faylinn Novels--from lyrics to the melody to a feel of their songs--they were my Faylinn anthem.
The song I really wanted to talk about today is Skin by Zola Jesus. I'd been stuck trying to evoke the emotion I needed for a particularly emotional scene in Me After You, where the main character, Sawyer, learns her husband was assaulted and is in critical condition (that might sound like a huge spoiler, but I promise, it's not!). When I heard Skin, I started to cry because the scene instantly began to play in slow motion inside my head. It wasn't so much the lyrics as it was the piano and emotion in the singer's voice. For the next hour I wrote with tears pouring down my cheeks!
Have you read Me After You? Do you remember the flashback? Can you see the scene play out with the song in the background?
I'm doing a reading challenge. If you missed the post you can find it HERE, but the gist is I'll post what I'm reading weekly here and pin the books on Pinterest too. I'd love to hear about your reads in the comments. Join me as we read through 2015 :) (track my posts here with the tag:
Book by an author you haven't read yet - Beauty in the Ashes by Micalea Smeltzer NA Drama/Romance
He's messed up, she's messed up, they're messed up together.
Exciting news! I have a cover and a blurb for 'Into The Fire' so I'll be sharing that very very soon. I'll also try and set a release date very soon.
Until then here's a little tease...
‘Dani’
All the way home I stare at my name scribbled in familiar chicken scratch across the pale purple envelope. No one has called me Dani in a year. It was his nickname for me. Jonah. He started it when we were just kids…
A memory from grade school flashes before me - a crowded table at lunch and a gorgeous blond-haired boy frowning because he accidentally called me Dani in front of a bunch of boys in our class.
“Dani? Oooooo,” the crowd teases, and Jonah’s cheeks turn crimson as he lowers his head. Giggles follow as one of the girls seated near me leans over, her lips forming a perfect ‘O’ before she asks, “Are you and Jonah boyfriend and girlfriend now?”
“Ewww, no! He’s like my brother,” I protest, and more giggles fill our table.
“Boys are so stupid,” says Julia, a stuck up little thing who always wants to be the center of attention. "Plus, Dani is a boy’s name."
Now it's my turn to frown.
“It's a nickname, and I like it,” I argue back, perhaps a little too forcefully, and Jonah lifts his head, a lopsided grin on his face. We hold each other’s gaze as though we’re sharing a secret.
Perhaps we were sharing a secret back then. Our tight-knit bond was never understood by our friends, especially not at the age when they all thought members of the opposite sex had cooties. The memory makes my heart hurt. After that day, friends slowly began calling me Dani. It stuck, but it was always Jonah’s first.
Happy Monday! New year, new blog features! I'm dedicating Monday to music!
Music plays an important part in creating a story. Who doesn't recognize the two deep notes (E and F) that play when Jaws is lurking? How many of us can name Star Wars or Harry Potter within a few bars?
When writing, many authors use music as their muse. We set our stories to playlists, we pick characters favorite songs or script love scenes with the help of a melody. Music is key. (see what I did there!)
Each week I'm asking authors, bloggers, designers in the writing world to share their musical muses with you. I'm excited to see how music plays a roll in their creative process. I hope you are too.
I listen to music whenever I'm writing. All kinds of music. Sometimes I hear a song and the lyrics or feel of the song completely create a new scene for me. Then other times, I'm listening to something and I'm struck at how perfect it matches up with something I've already done.
Today I'm sharing a song from From The Wreckage. I love my playlist for FTW. There are a lot of angsty, I need you songs on there making it totally fit with Jules and West's story. Here's one...
Gavin's one of those people who keeps showing up on my playlists. I love his storytelling. I recall ONE line from this song catching me while I was writing FTW - 'Even if you've been through hell, you're back.'
As you continue to listen you realize so many of these lyrics fit FTW so amazingly well. I kept hearing 'everything will change' and it inspired Jules. Everything did change for her.
What do you think? Does it sound like a FTW song to you? Let me know in the comments and stay tuned for some amazing guest posts each Monday!
You can grab From The Wreckage for FREE everywhere if you haven't read it yet.
(Click the cover on my Books page for buy links)
