Music Monday: Carry You Home

I was driving back from an interpreting gig recently and heard a song come on my playlist that I think I added after hearing it in a commercial. Now, y'all know that my style of writing is to watch my characters do whatever it is they want to show me and then write up the incident report, right? Well, sometimes they decide to talk to me when I can't write...like when I am driving. I've tried doing a speech to text note in my phone but the Google is a fickle mistress when I'm stuck in traffic on I-85.

Last week on my way down to see my sister I saw a trailer being towed by a vehicle (because it merged in almost on top of me) that was painted red and had the name Lark in the upper left corner. Lark. Sweetie. Please, I want to hear from you and I want to get you and Connor out into the wild but THAT IS NOT THE WAY TO GET MY ATTENTION. Creole vampires, I tell ya.

Well this song hit me today in almost the same way, so my co-author (bless him) got a speech to text message from me detailing what popped into my mind. I think we have sorted out another bit of our take on vampire lore which is good, but again, NOT IN THE CAR and NOT WHILE I'M DRIVING, PLEASE?

Anyway, here's the song. Might be more like 150 years for Connor and Lark, but it still applies. Enjoy.

Music Monday: Scream!

And not just because I'm a Clemson fan...

I love Florence and the Machine and this new album looks great. But when I listened to the first released track, one of my newer characters whispered in my ear that this would be a great song for dancing by a picture window with a glass of wine. So this is for Lark. I hope y'all get to meet her soon. 

Music Monday: Spellbound

This week's tune is from the playlist for my current WIP, and it absolutely spoke to me about the FMC...I could see her standing in the picture window in her second floor flat in Savannah, watching humans walk up and down the street below as she sips her wine. She's looking for someone specific, and now and then a dark haired male will catch her eye...but it isn't him. 

Also, it's Siouxsie, y'all. Enjoy.

Music Monday: The Untold...Her

This song...y'all. If you're a Lindsey Sterling fan, then you probably already know this song. It's typically soaring and beautiful and just makes you catch your breath to listen. If you're a Team USA Olympic gymnastics fan, then you know this song from Suni Lee's similarly breathtaking routine that eventually won her a bronze medal..I think. That seems to change daily.

I listened to it with several of my characters in mind, and one stepped forward and strapped on her ice skates while her long-lost love watched from a window - he hasn't revealed himself to be back in her life yet. As goes with a lot of things that have Lindsey Sterling involved, this is going on my writing playlist. Enjoy. (No lyrics.)

Music Monday: Of Befores and Afters

Today's Music Monday is a little bit about my current WIP and the FMC, but also a lot about me and my current situation. I was listening to it the other day and just reveling in the lyrics as I often do with Taylor Swift's music, but then I saw the video. All those past iterations of her arguing at the end made me think - I am not the same person I was this time last year when Eugene was discovered to be stage III breast cancer and not just a recurrence of my cyst from a decade ago. I've heard Hoda Kotb say that she has two lives now, pre and post breast cancer and that's very true.

It isn't just about the ways in which I look different now, post-chemo/radiation/bilateral mastectomy. Those things are surface level, really. The change that is sticking and that I'm thinking a lot about today is the change that happens to the me that was and the me that is. In early days, I just wanted to be through all the treatment, "so I can get back to my life." That, at the time, meant back to my then normal - hybrid remote work for the DayJob™️, appearance at the Georgia Renaissance Festival with Ciaragh, working all kinds of fandom conventions and other faires to sign my books...getting on with working toward being a full time author. Planning for our move abroad. Hanging out as much as I can with my US based friends before that move happens.

That stuff belonged to who I was before. Some of it has transitioned with me: the friends, the book signings on a smaller scale, the working toward being a full time author, and the DayJob™️ have all remained, just in different guises and on changed levels. But the renaissance festival appearances with the Hounds of East Fairhaven are in limbo at present - Ciaragh's death from lymphoma means I no longer have a rennie hound. The move abroad has been put off for a bit. Hanging out with the friends as much as possible has become keeping in touch as best I can and hanging out once in awhile.

But it's all okay. Eugene...look what you made me do. I am now worth the changes, even though they were awful in a lot of places. Welcome to the second half of my life.

Lyric Video: 

Regular video with, oddly, Japanese captions:

Music Monday: Je Me Casse

I missed last Monday, not sure why, but honestly I didn't think of it until end of day on Tuesday. So here we are a little late, but...

I heard this one and thought immediately of the MC in my current WIP. She's very serious and careful about her outward appearance, but my writing partner said that he would like to see her dancing and letting go now and then. I can just see her dancing around in her flat on her own after carefully making sure there is no one around. It's also a fantastic song, another Eurovision number and we all know how much I love Eurovision. Malta did not disappoint here.

"Je me casse" is a slang French phrase that means "I'm outta here," and is something that I can hear Lark muttering under her breath when humans hit on her or just generally get in her face. Sometimes it's just too much for a vampire to keep her cool, you know?

Je me casse. (lyrics are in the video)

Music Monday: You're gonna go far, kid.

So, full disclosure...I was reminded that I was once punk-adjacent and loved The Offspring when I heard this song in a video game advert. But I couldn't help thinking of the characters in my current WIP, the collaboration with my brother, and all of the fighting that is to come in the latter parts of their story. I mean, what's a good story without a boss mob to take down?

Yeah, that's back to the video game. Fair enough. But if you just need a good song with a pounding beat and some fairly dodgy and yet still awesome lyrics that you can almost belt out in the car or at the gym, The Offspring is a good bet. Works double for authors, you see - our characters can beat up on the bad guy while we beat up the keyboard writing those scenes. Win, win. What are your favorite songs to get ramped up and ready for (literary only) destruction?

Or maybe you're just staring down a new nano month and you need some motivation? I got you. GET IN! (Lyrics are in captions, and it's a bit NSFW in places but hey, that's the punk-adjacent way, man.)

Music Monday - I Walk The Line [Lyrics]

So today continues the tradition, apparently of the remnants of cancer treatment keeping me from remembering to do a Music Monday. At least I remembered while it was still Monday...
Today's choice is a song I came across by accident while looking up a song from a commercial. I have long been a fan of Halsey but hadn't realised she did this cover of the Johnny Cash classic, I Walk the Line. Once again, the MC from my current WIP popped her head out of the ether and mentioned that this song would be a good choice when she is contemplating the pull toward her wicked past... including a glass of wine and a picture window overlooking a rainy night in Atlanta. Well...if that doesn't scream ADD ME TO THE PLAYLIST I don't know what does. Enjoy - lyrics in the video. 

Music Monday: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow...

No, I'm not going to quote the Scottish play. But I am going to recommend a singer that I'd never heard before tonight, as I was watching a rerun of a Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episode that had this song in one of the scenes. I closed my eyes while I was listening and the voice of one of my MCs that has been ignoring me lately (I'm spending this Camp Nano session on something other than her) came through in the music. It's lovely, and I'm going to listen to more of Madi Diaz's work thanks to this one.

Tomorrowby Madi Diaz
So loudThe sound of my blood is rushingToo highI'm making myself keep climbingYou keep calling, you keep callingYou keep calling, so I'll turn aroundStill aching, you keep shakingBut I don't hear you nowOoh, never look back, never look backTomorrow, tomorrowOoh, never look back, never look backTomorrow, tomorrowTomorrow, tomorrow, ohSlow downI'm miles away from crashingIt's all over nowI still see your green eyes flashingYou keep calling, you keep callingYou keep calling, so I'll turn aroundStill aching, you keep shakingBut I don't hear you nowOoh, never look back, never look backTomorrow, tomorrowOoh, never look back, never look backTomorrow, tomorrowOoh, I'm over this feelingOoh, I gotta believe itOoh, never look back, never look backTomorrow, tomorrowOoh, never look back, never look backOoh, never look back, never look backTomorrow, tomorrow, ohTomorrow, tomorrow, ohTomorrow, tomorrow, ohTomorrow, tomorrow, ohTomorrow, tomorrow, ohTomorrow, tomorrow, ohTomorrow, tomorrow, oh

Music Monday: Sweet Lark...I mean, Melissa

Yeah, so today's song is speaking to my current #WIP but only in the eyes of the male MC I think. But at the same time, it is a call back to a different version of me at a very different time in my life, when all I had to worry about were my grades at school and remembering the bug spray when I went for a campout or creek hike (those two things have their own songs). Enjoy.

Music Monday: Willow, hold the Pickle.

 This week's Music Monday has a dual meaning. I first heard it and thought of the project I'm working on with an author friend of mine. Some of the lines make me think of the two MCs and their relationship. But also, this has been a rough time lately for our youngest dog, Willow-Pickle. So...here we are with Taylor Swift. The video has captions and is absolutely charming and worth a watch. Enjoy.

Music Monday: Starting as I mean to go on...

First Music Monday, just a week late! This song fell into my lap, as many by Florence + the Machine do, and immediately spoke to me in the voice of a character in my current WIP who has been irritatingly silent up to now. This is a very personal song that takes a Bible story and turns it upside down with Delilah betrayed by Samson this time. Perfect, since my MC has a relationship from her past that mimics that gender-bent retelling...and y'all do not KNOW how hard I'm avoiding spoilers here! Enjoy...it comes complete with the angelic voice of Florence Welch.

Delilah

by Florence Leontine Mary Welch, Isabella Janet Florentina Summers

Drifting through the halls with the sunrise

(Holding on for your call)

Climbing up the walls for that flashing light

(I can never let go)

'Cause I'm gonna be free and I'm gonna be fine

(Holding on for your call)

'Cause I'm gonna be free and I'm gonna be fine

(Maybe not tonight)

Now the sun is up and I'm going blind

(Holding on for your call)

Another drink just to pass the time

(I can never say no)

'Cause I'm gonna be free and I'm gonna be fine

(Holding on for your call)

'Cause I'm gonna be free and I'm gonna be fine

(Maybe not tonight)

It's a different kind of danger

And the bells are ringing out

And I'm calling for my mother

As I pull the pillars down

It's a different kind of danger

And my feet are spinning around

Never knew I was a dancer

'Til Delilah showed me how

Too fast for freedom

Sometimes it all falls down

These chains never leave me

I keep dragging them around

Now I'm dancing with Delilah and her vision is mine

(Holding on for your call)

A different kind of danger in the daylight

(I can never let go)

Took anything to cut you, I can find

(Holding on for your call)

A different kind of a danger in the daylight

(Can't you let me know?)

Now it's one more boy and it's one more lie

(Holding on for your call)

Taking the pills just to pass the time

(I can never say no)

'Cause I'm gonna be free and I'm gonna be fine

(Holding on for your call)

'Cause I'm gonna be free and I'm gonna be fine

(Maybe not tonight)

It's a different kind of danger

And the bells are ringing out

And I'm calling for my mother

As I pull the pillars down

It's a different kind of danger

And my feet are spinning around

Never knew I was a dancer

'Til Delilah showed me how

Now I'm dancing with Delilah and her vision is mine

(Holding on for your call)

A different kind of danger in the daylight

(I can never let go)

Took anything to cut you, I can find

(Holding on for your call)

A different kind of a danger in the daylight

(Can't you let me know?)

Strung up, strung out for your love

Hang in, hung up, it's so rough

I'm wrung and ringing out

Why can't you let me know?

Strung up, strung out for your love

Hang in, hung up, it's so rough

I'm wrung and ringing out

Why can't you let me know?

It's a different kind of danger

And the bells are ringing out

And I'm calling for my mother

As I pull the pillars down

It's a different kind of danger

And my feet are spinning around

Never knew I was a dancer

'Til Delilah showed me how

It's a different kind of danger

And the bells are ringing out

And I'm calling for my mother

As I pull the pillars down

It's a different kind of danger

And my feet are spinning around

Never knew I was a dancer

'Til Delilah showed me how

Too fast for freedom

Sometimes it all falls down

These chains never leave me

I keep dragging them around

Too fast for freedom

Sometimes it all falls down

These chains never leave me

I keep dragging them around

Music Monday: Before you go...

Hey, so I'm still safe from Whamaggedon as of this morning. You? I'm also up to my ears in Getting Things Done for the DayJob™ so I'm going to leave you with this pretty little song that speaks to me of my current WIP (not to be confused with the Orana novel Edit In Progress that is sadly ongoing) and of the two MCs that seem to orbit each other at the moment without being physically together. Cryptic enough? I'm also coming off a very happy Critmas celebration with my DnD group yesterday, followed by trees taking out my power for a few hours so...normal levels of insanity around here. Lewis Capaldi, do your magic! (Lyrics in video.)

Music Monday: Thanksgiving Leftovers for Birthday Dinner

The title is part of a joke that used to go around my house on my birthday, which sometimes fell on actual American Thanksgiving Day. "What do you want for your birthday meal, Nancy? Ah, well, we're having turkey." I should have made the switch to vegetarian sooner.

Also, I guess, it's my birthday. Hooray. I mean, it is my birthday, but things like baldness and chemo have stolen some of today's joy. But not my niece, Joy. She is still pretty dang awesome.

Anyway!

Last night, as I was driving back from having a late lunch/early dinner with my sister and her family to celebrate my birthday, I got stuck in traffic. I mean, GENIUS move, traveling anywhere further than the postbox on the Sunday after a holiday, but it is what it is. This was 4mph for many miles of traffic, the kind where you think you've made progress only to find it took almost an hour to go 15 miles - and you have less than a quarter of a tank of gas. But as I sat there on the highway surrounded by trucks, I heard this song and knew it was today's Music Monday.

It speaks to a current WIP that will get more attention after Nano is over. Picture two vampires, whose long lives keep intersecting due to a shared destiny, sitting in comfy chairs by a fire sharing a nice bottle of red wine and telling stories about their time apart from each other - when they suddenly realize WHY they keep finding each other. That's what kept me from losing my mind in the car...Connor and Lark, I'm coming for you soon - get ready!

Fix Youby Coldplay, Cody Fry
When you try your best, but you don't succeedWhen you get what you want, but not what you needWhen you feel so tired, but you can't sleepStuck in reverseWhen the tears come streaming down your faceWhen you lose something you can't replaceWhen you love someone, but it goes to wasteCould it be worse?Lights will guide you homeAnd ignite your bonesAnd I will try to fix youTo fix youHigh up above or down belowWhen you're too in love to let it goBut if you never try, you'll never knowJust what you're worthLights will guide you homeAnd ignite your bonesAnd I will try to fix youTears stream down your faceWhen you lose something you cannot replaceTears stream down your face, and ITears stream down your faceI promise you I will learn from my mistakesTears stream down your face, and ILights will guide you homeAnd ignite your bonesI will try to fix you

Multiverse was a blast, and was so much fun that I apparently forgot to do a NEW Music Monday. Sorry about that. But Sister Moon is speaking to me in terms of the WIP for NaNoWriMo so you got it twice. This time I was thinking about Moonlighting because it was just released on streaming and I made sure to watch my two favorite episodes...one of which featured the song below during a dream sequence. Good, fantastic stuff.

The lyrics are below because this one doesn't have captioning but it does have Sting, so I think that's... no it isn't really a good trade, but it has Sting. Enjoy. This time next week I will be well into my 2k words a day, so I'm going to just lean in to the vibe this song creates.

Big Man on Mulberry Streetby Billy Joel
Why can't I lay low?Why can't I say what I mean?Why don't I stay home?And get myself into some boring routineWhy can't I calm down?Why is it always a fight?I can't get unwoundWhy do I throw myself into the night?
I'm on the outsideI don't fit into the grooveNow I ain't a bad guySo tell me what am I trying to proveWhy can't I cool out?Why don't I button my lip?Why do I lash out?Why is it I always shoot from the hip?
I cruise from Houston to Canal StreetA misfit and a rebelI see the winos talking to themselvesAnd I can understand
Why is it every time I go outI always seem to get in trouble?I guess I made an impression on somebodyNorth of Hester and south of Grand
And so in my small wayI'm a big man on Mulberry StreetI don't mean all dayOnly at night when I'm light on my feetWhat else have I gotThat I'd be trying to hide?Maybe a blind spotI haven't seen from the sensitive side
But you know in my own heartI'm a big man on Mulberry StreetI play the whole partI leave a big tip with every receiptI'm so romanticI'm such a passionate manSometimes I panicWhat if nobody finds out who I am?

Music Monday: Keep on, Carry on...

Before you ask, no, I have not seen the series finale of Supernatural. Much like I tried to do with Star Trek: Voyager, I am choosing to believe that the boys are still traveling around, spreading salt circles and listening to great music through Baby's speakers. I have a problem with change and endings, okay?

Anyway, this song came on my radar awhile ago, but my writing partner heard it and came up with an entire scene in his head for the WIP we are working on currently...so I am posting it today, for him and all of you that can see movies in your heads (I'm lucky if I can get a limited run series to pop into my mind's eye at one time). You are the writers I want to be when I grow up, so...carry on.

(Lyrics in the video)

Music Monday: A Journey to the 80s

The year was 1983. I was in seventh grade. And this magnificent band put out hit after hit...and now, a few years later (I'm not going to concede that the 80s were more than about 15 years ago, so don't try) this song hits differently. And when you put it with my WIP that you will have the chance to read in November, it just speaks to me of REDACTED and REDACTED and what happened at the end of Red. Also...it is a perfect example of 80s ballads at their best. Enjoy.

Send Her My Loveby Journey
It's been so longSince I've seen her faceYou say she's doin' fineI still recall a sad cafeHow it hurt so bad to see her cryI didn't want to say goodbye
Send her my loveMemories remainSend her my loveRoses never fadeSend her my love
The same hotelThe same old roomI'm on the road againShe needed so much moreThan I could giveWe knew our love could not pretendBroken hearts can always mend
Send her my loveMemories remainSend her my loveRoses never fadeSend her my love
Callin' out her name, I'm dreamin'Reflections of a face I'm seein'It's her voice that keeps on haunting me
Send her, send her my loveRoses never fadeMemories remainSend her, send her my love

Music Monday: I'm Only Real...I Mean Human

I may have posted this one before, but it occurs to me how perfect it is for my current WIP for this month's Camp Nanowrimo. The discussion of who is human/real and who isn't is at the center of this second foray into Arcstone, and while it is on the second draft it still needs a lot of work. But...I'm only human...don't put the blame on me, hey?


Humanby Rag'n'Bone Man
Maybe I'm foolish, maybe I'm blindThinking I can see through this and see what's behindGot no way to prove it so maybe I'm blind
But I'm only human after all, I'm only human after allDon't put your blame on me
Take a look in the mirror and what do you seeDo you see it clearer or are you deceived in what you believe
Cos I'm only human after all, you're only human after allDon't put the blame on meDon't put your blame on me
Some people got the real problemsSome people out of luckSome people think I can solve themLord heavens aboveI'm only human after all, I'm only human after allDon't put the blame on meDon't put the blame on me
Don't ask my opinion, don't ask me to lieThen beg for forgiveness for making you cry, making you cry
Cos I'm only human after all, I'm only human after allDon't put your blame on me, don't put the blame on me
Some people got the real problemsSome people out of luckSome people think I can solve themLord heavens aboveI'm only human after all, I'm only human after allDon't put the blame on meDon't put the blame on meI'm only human I make mistakesI'm only human that's all it takes to put the blame on meDon't put your blame on me
I'm no prophet or messiahShould go looking somewhere higher 
I'm only human after all, I'm only human after allDon't put the blame on me, don't put the blame on meI'm only human I do what I canI'm just a man, I do what I canDon't put the blame on meDon't put your blame on me

Music Monday: Cuckoo

 Y'all. I love Rising Appalachia...but this song is just AMAZING. I can't even put into words yet why it strikes me so, but I can tell you that this song speaks in the voice of one of the MCs and I am obsessed.  Enjoy, won't you?

[Chorus]Oh, the cuckooShe’s a pretty birdAnd she warbles as she fliesAnd she neverHollers 'cuckoo''Til the fourth day of July
[Verse 1]Jack of diamondsJack of diamondsI know you from oldYou’ve robbed my poor pocketsOf my silver and gold
[Verse 2]Gonna build meA log cabinOn a mountain so highSo I canSee WhitlockAs he passes by
Oh, the cuckooShe’s a pretty birdHow I wish she was mineShe never drinks whiskeyShe only drinks wine
[Chorus]Oh, the cuckooShe’s a pretty birdAnd she warbles as she fliesShe neverHollers 'cuckoo''Til the fourth day of July
Mmm-hmmUh-huhMmm...Mmm-hmmUh-huhMmm...

Music Monday: On Leaving my Nano World...for now...

I added this song to my Camp Nanowrimo First Round for 2022 Playlist (I promise that's not the name of it) just on whim because I liked the music. But this song has a lot of the same themes as that WIP and I remember sitting up one night working on a scene where my MC meets his daughter - of course, he doesn't know that yet...and neither do you, dang it, SPOILERS! Anyway, it just fit the scene so well that at one point I was sitting in my bed with my eyes closed listening and typing. More on that MC and that story later. For now, enjoy a little Shinedown.

Unity

by Shinedown

I found a note with your name
And a picture of us
Even though it was framed
And covered in dust
It's the map in my mind that sends me on my way

They say it's never too late
To stop being afraid
And there is no one else here
So why should I wait?

And in the blink of an eye the past begins to fade

So have you ever been caught in a sea of despair?
And your moment of truth
Is the day that you say "I'm not scared"

Put your hands in the air
If you hear me out there
I've been looking for you day and night
Shine a light in the dark
Let me see where you are
'Cause I'm not gonna leave you behind

If I told you that you're not alone
And I show you this is where you belong

Put your hands in the air
One more time

I've seen a million miles
Met a million faces
Took all I knew
To reach all these places
And I'd do it again
If it brings me back to you

So have you ever been caught in a sea of despair?
And your moment of truth
Is the day that you say "I'm not scared"

Put your hands in the air
If you hear me out there
I've been looking for you day and night
Shine a light in the dark
Let me see where you are
'Cause I'm not gonna leave you behind

If I told you that you're not alone
And I show you this is where you belong
Put your hands in the air
One more time

Put your hands in the air

Put your hands in the air
If you hear me out there
I've been looking for you day and night
Shine a light in the dark
Let me see where you are
'Cause I'm not gonna leave you behind

If I told you that you're not alone
And I show you this is where you belong
Put your hands in the air
One more time
Put your hands in the air
One more time