Character Playlist: The Music Behind Fairyproof

May 23, 2012 by

Today on Character Playlist, I’m going to talk about one very special song that been near-and-dear to my upcoming novel Fairyproof.

It will surprise none of you that it’s a Rick Springfield song.

I was already deep in the revising (read: fourth or fifth draft) of Fairyproof when the album Venus in Overdrive came out, but the first time I heard the song “What’s Victoria’s Secret” I felt it was a perfect representation of Daniel’s feelings in this story.

Rick Springfield – “What’s Victoria’s Secret”

My heroine may not be named Victoria, but she’s hiding a lot from Daniel in the beginning the book, including her name. And even though, my fairies don’t have wings, pre se, he’s still quite concerned that she will “fly away” from him.

This song is even a little more special, because I was at a Rick Springfield concert just a few weeks before I received a publishing contract for this book. When he sang this song, I just got a feeling that good things were around the corner.

Prophetic? Probably not. But the song is still special.

Filed Under: Crescent Moon Press, Fairyproof, Music Tagged With: , , , , , ,

New Gig: Fridays at Blinded By Sound

April 20, 2012 by

Those of you who frequent these pages know that I’m a big ’80s geek, complete with pink converse high tops and leg warmers. And that I use to write for and edit the music section over at Blogcritics.

An article here a few weeks ago opened a discussion with a fellow editor who moved on to his own site. This led to that and today I’m so happy and proud to announce I will be writing a weekly feature about Retro music and how and why it’s still relevant.

At least in my life.

Head over to Blinded By Sound and check it out.

 

 

Filed Under: Blinded by Sound, Life, Music Tagged With: , , ,

The Power of One

April 3, 2012 by

A little over a year ago I read something in Rick Springfield’s biography Late, Late at Night that not only resonated, but stuck with me.  I tried to find the exact passage a few weeks ago and couldn’t put my finger on it, but in essence it was about the effect one person’s faith in you can have on you and your psyche. What one person who believes in you can do.

I’d had plenty of experience with the reverse of the concept: One bad apple… Who hasn’t had the experience of one person’s negative attitude having the power to drag down a whole room of people. Even knowing that, I wondered can one person saying or doing something positive to/for me really have that big of an effect.

Around the first of the year I decided to work hard at putting negative feelings aside. I’d realized I’d allowed myself to get caught up in a bad place, and that I’d developed (quite frankly) a bad attitude. And if someone around me was being negative, and I felt it effecting my mood, I simply excused myself from the conversation/situation. I didn’t give “that one” the power to effect my mood. I’m pleased to report it did begin a chain of positive changes in me.

Any one who is an artist; whether it’s painting, drawing, music or writing, etc, knows that when you reveal your work for public consumption some of what you get back is going to be negative. A person’s taste in arts in way-to-subjective and as the old adage says you can’t please all the people all the time. Sometimes, as the creator though, it’s hard not to focus on the naysayers.

That is, until that one person who knows something gives you the ultimate praise. When, oh, let’s say an editor likes what you’ve written and wants to publish it. The power of that validation goes beyond being liked. That power, the few words of praise, can heal the numerous cuts of repeated rejection.

And it only takes one.

Filed Under: Life, Writing Life Tagged With: , , , , ,

Music: The Deeper Side of Pop Music

February 28, 2012 by

I talk about music a lot on this page. Not only is it soothing for me, but it often serves as inspiration.

So it’s not unusual for music to become a topic of conversation between my trainer and I when we’re working out.

Last week, it went something like this:

Trainer:  I’m going to see group XYZ up in Michigan tomorrow night.

Me: That’s awesome. Should be a great show.  I’m going to see Rick Springfield next week in Detroit.

Trainer. Yes! Bruce!

Me: ::Eye roll:: Not Springsteen, Springfield.

Trainer: ::blank stare::

Me: ::Soul dies a little::  Jessie’s Girl.

Trainer:  Oh that’s cool.  Not as cool as Bruce, but you know…

It’s not the first time I’ve been criticized for clinging to 80′s pop music. What can I say, some things really were better then. And while the long list of top 40 hits, is definitely part of what I love about the RS experience, it’s often what I find when I dig a little deeper on the albums that touches my soul.

Here today, I’m sharing a video of a lesser known Springfield song, and will do the same at my facebook page for the rest of the week. These are the songs that go a little deeper. Touch emotions that some of the hits may not do.

It’s the deeper side of pop music.

Rick Springfield – Honeymoon in Beirut

Filed Under: Life, Music, Writing Life Tagged With: , , , ,

It’s All About the Experiance

February 21, 2011 by

Anyone who writes knows that we do our best work when we can draw from experiences. The best descriptions of falling in love are those that are reflections of our own hearts and pasts. Same goes for anger, pain, grief…

Not that we’ll always use analogy like the coffee cup to the left suggests, but the best way to paint how a character feels, or know how a character is going to react to a situation we put them in, is to have been there, done that.

An example: When I’m working on a scene which requires one character to be attracted to another, I draw upon the things I’ve experienced: the sweaty palms, the “light stomach,” the racing heart…you get the idea. The same goes for fear, pain, grief, etc.  I have a very full box of experiences to draw from, simply because I’ve lived my life.

I try hard to be fearless when it comes to trying new things and engaging in different activities (even if I’m sure it’s not going to be my cup of tea) because a) we don’t really know until we try and b) I don’t ever want to try to imagine what something feels like by reading an analogy. I want to know what it’s like, because I’ve done it.

All of it: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Is part of my reasoning about keeping that writer’s resource box full of great ideas? Maybe a little. But, for the most part, it’s about adventure. It’s chasing falling stars and living out dreams. It’s sticking my toes in the Pacific ocean even if it’s a frigid day, just because it was something I’d always wanted to do. The crisp water washing over my feet and the icy sand scratching the bottom is a sensation I wouldn’t have known otherwise.

Traveling to Vegas — pretty much on the drop of a dime — because a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity came up is one of the crazy life experiences that tops my list, not only for the actual event but every little step from making the decision, to a celebrity viewing on my layover.

I think the pictured coffee cup got it wrong. Life shouldn’t be like an analogy. Life is for making experiences. What are some of your craziest?

Note: There wasn’t a blog post this past Friday, because I was out making memories.

Filed Under: Life, Music, Writing Life Tagged With: , , , , ,

Somedays Holding On is All You Can Do

January 14, 2011 by

A very short on words post–and they aren’t even mine. Keeping with the “New Year Inspiration” theme — Stand up and hold on to your dream!

This song came up on the iPod while I was working out this morning. I’d been trying to come up with a blog post while walking, and realized the perfect message was right here.

Take a good look, you don’t like what you see, (no)
You just don’t come this far and never get scarred, baby
It all seemed like fate
The big dreams weren’t hard to make way back then
Something pure about that suffer for art, passion and pain
Standing here
What happened to those dreams
Don’t tell me they’re over
While your heart is still beating — “Hold On to You Dream” – Rick Springfield

Check out the video below for this uplifting message about never giving up. No real video, but that’s okay. The power is in the words.

Filed Under: Life, Music, Writing Life Tagged With: , , , ,

Music Makes it Easier

October 29, 2010 by

This is Friday, and for the foreseeable future, Friday posts are about lessons learned through my attempts to be healthier.

Anyone who knows me knows that music is a big deal to me. Even in my writing, when I’m trying to get inside a character’s head, I will create a play list of their favorite music. It helps me to understand who they are and how they will react to given situations.  But this week I was reminded how music can effect how we endure a work out.

The gym where I’ve been working out is relatively new and each piece of  cardio equipment has its own TV. So for the first few weeks I used the bike time to catch up on the news, but that did little to push me through an extra few minutes when the muscles started screaming uncle.

Than I remembered how, on previous attempts, music helped me set a pace and while saying “just do three more minutes” seemed impossible, working through one more song isn’t so bad.  A mental trick? Yes, but whatever works, right?

So, last week and this week I experimented with different play lists and albums to try and find the one that worked the best. I’ve also been reading Late, Late at Night (The Rick Springfield Biography) and while reading the section where he discussed the Shock Denial Anger Acceptance album, I remembered how much I liked the driving beat of that album and used it three days last week. Those were the days I was able to endure the longest.

Over the weekend I want to try to create some play lists with a variety of songs that would give me 45 minuets of a driving beat with one or two songs to warm up/cool down to on either side.

Any suggestions?

Filed Under: Life, Road to Fitness, Writing Life Tagged With: , , , ,

Writing Lessons From Rick Springfield

August 9, 2010 by

So, I’m a little late getting back to the grind. The week following RWA was filled with much more ‘catch up’ than I anticipate. I saw Rick Springfield at Centennial Terrace in Sylvania, OH  last night, which inspired this post.

I’ve talked about it on these pages before. A lot of my inspiration comes from things I hear in music. I happen to see one of my favorites, Rick Springfield last night and while listening to the music many of the similes and metaphors for love rang out like a church bell.

Finding new ways to express true, deep and resonating emotions can be difficult and some of the best come out in song. I’ve always felt a special kinship to the line in “Venus in Overdrive” – “I write words about it / but I doubted / if I even / have a clue.” Writing about love and loving relationships is difficult. (Not sex, tab a inserted into slot b is the easy stuff) but the underlying emotions and the true affairs of the heart well, that’s a very different story isn’t it?

(Note: after I hit publish I felt the need to clarify. Writing good physical encounter scenes is hard. Very hard. But for me, personally, the hardest part of it is making sure the emotions and the sensuality are being conveyed)

So find below a list of just some of my favorite lyrics about love and life, all found in Rick Springfield songs.

• “Affair of the Heart” – “The smell of your skin can light up the fires in me.”
• “Souls” – “He met her one endless night / her eyes had a light.”
• “Love is Alright” – “With the night comes a feeling that I’ve got this incredible power
Gonna love her Daddy, she’ll be feeling it tonight.”
• “What’s Victoria’s Secret?” – “But I know she’s not what’s best for me / and I know she’ll cause me harm / And I know she’d rather fly away / to someone else’s arms.”
• “Beautiful You” – “Beautiful you / You don’t have a clue / You star in the story of my life.”
• “Will I?” – “So I lied and said that I’m okay / Cause there’s the way you are / and the way I wish you were.”
• “Living In Oz” – “I’m thirsty for affection / let me drink from your loving cup.”
• “One Reason” – “Trying to get faith from the $8.50 paperbacks / Hoping they’ll show me the way (the way to what).”
• “Lust” – “Insipid smile on my face and a dumb remark / I trip, slip, slide over the precipice.”

And of course, what kind of list would it be without a “Jessie’s Girl” Lyric: “I feel so dirty when they start talking cute / I wanna tell her that I love her but the point is probably mute.

Here’s a video of “What’s Victoria’s Secret?” Just for fun.

Filed Under: Life, Music, Writing Life Tagged With: , , , , ,

Monday Musings: Fine Line Between Sympathetic and Sleazy

November 9, 2009 by

As a writer trying to get published I find myself dissecting other works. Whether it be books, television or the movies; when something resonates with people, I try to pull it apart to see why. What is so appealing about this scenario, characters, or plot-line?In the same vein, when it comes to TV, I don’t have a lot of extra time to watch, so something has to resonate with ME, before it makes it onto my ‘must see’ list.

While I’ve heard good things about the Showtime series Californication it took word of a story arc featuring Rick Springfield to get me to tune in this season. (Yeah, I know, big surprise there too.) The semi-autobiographical, bigger-than-life character the singer/songwriter/actor is taking on has made me giggle, I must say. It’s been a lot of fun. What’s surprised me though is I’ve found myself pulled into the main characters, their stories, and Hank Moody (David Duchovny) in particular.

californication-_david_duchovnySo, the real question is why?

My local writing group has been talking a lot lately about appealing characters, rooting interests, sympathetic heroes, etc. and on the surface poor Hank is the kind of sleazy, stereotypical guy’s guy who can’t keep his pants zipped and is driven by his need for carnal satisfaction. I shouldn’t care what happens to him, in fact, I should probably wish some unconventional, painful death on him. But I do care, and I want everything to work out for him.

Why?

The answer came to me while watching last night’s episode.

I care because Hank cares.

Despite what the student in his class thinks, he does care about whether or not she continues to pursue her education. He cares about his friends, his daughter, and most importantly ‘the soul mate’.

I don’t kn0w if this charecter archtype could be pulled off in another scenario and work as well.  There’s a delicate balance to be walked and it’s a fine line between sympathetic and sleazy that Hank Moody walks. But as long as I feel like Moody still cares, I think I’ll care enough to continue watching.

Filed Under: Life, TV, Writing Life Tagged With: , , ,

Monday Musing: Feels Like a Monday

November 2, 2009 by

“Feels like a Monday, I probably should have stayed in bed.” — “Beautiful You”, Rick Springfield

It seemed really apropos when that song came up on the iPod this morning while I was making the morning drive. Last week was rather long and really stressful.  The front half was spent prepping for company and the second half was enjoyable, spending time with family.  When the visit was over, though, it was like every last bit of energy seeped from my body and I needed the weekend to do absolutely nothing. Now that it’s Monday, I look at everything I should have accomplished last week and over the weekend and there’s a part of me that wants to crawl back under the covers.

We’re coming off relaxation mode with a full t0-do list. I often find that so overwhelming. Monday can be so intimidating.  Is that why they get such a bad rap?

But if you dig deeper into the song (Video below), it’s about so much more than dreading Mondays. If we want to wallow in the gloom and doom of that there is always “I Don’t Like Mondays”. Right?

So I’m going to dig a little deeper into today. Try not to over-think the fact that it’s a Monday, and scratch those items off the to-do list one more time.  After I give the song one more look/listen.

Filed Under: Life, Music Tagged With: , , ,
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