I have no idea how I got to #1 on Kindle’s Military Sci-Fi
list. Or how I’ve been so lucky as to bounce around on Amazon’s top ten in
sci-fi for over a week. Or how I’ve seen Good Intentions jump back into the top
100 for erotica… but thank you. So much. I hate to lead off a blog post for the
second time with a big “thank you,” but it certainly seems appropriate.
On to another topic:
This probably won’t come as a shock to anyone, but music
plays a big component of getting into the mood and mindset for what I write.
I’ve got playlists for things I write. Hell, I sometimes have playlists for
specific characters.
I can’t have the music on very loud when I write. It messes
with my head and disrupts the flow of actual words until all I get are
repeating images that I can’t type out. I’ve also found that music without
lyrics is much easier to write with… but I’m simply not into much classical
(and basically no jazz), so my selections in that regard are a little thin.
I wanted to share what I’ve used as playlists for my two
novels. I would absolutely be interested in hearing if anyone has music they have tended to listen to while reading my stories! Comment below!
Poor Man’s Fight has on an iTunes playlist I have quite
literally labeled “Iiiin Spaaaace!”
1. Tomorrow Never Knows as performed by Carla Azar
& Alison Mosshart
2. Second Chance by Shinedown
3. Storming New Caprica off the Battlestar Galactica
soundtrack (Season 3)
4. Indestructible by Disturbed
5. Walk by Foo Fighters
6. Sing by My Chemical Romance
7. Hold On by Sarah MacLachlan
8. Fumbling Towards Ecstasy by Sarah MacLachlan
9. Diamond Eyes by Shinedown
10. The
Farthest Star by VNV Nation
11. Legion
by VNV Nation
12. A
Good Lighter off the BSG soundtrack (Season 1)
The first two songs off this list completely captured the
mood of the story for me. Each time I heard them, I felt like it was time to go
write… and so I played them over and over again when I felt like I should be
writing. As an aside, “Storming New Caprica” went on repeat for me during the
pirate raid on Qal’at Khalil. Merciless, pounding drums, right?
Good Intentions… well, that one has some songs for specific
characters:
Lorelei:
Joan Jett -- Do You Wanna Touch
My Darkest Days -- Porn Star Dancing
Theory of a Dead Man -- Bad Girlfriend
Bette Davis Eyes – Kim Carnes
Substitute for Love -- Madonna
Rachel:
Orianthi – According to You
Lady Gaga – Born This Way
P!nk -- Trouble
P!nk -- Raise Your Glass
Alex:
AC/DC -- Highway to Hell
Jimmy Eat World -- In the Middle
Rev Theory -- Hell Yeah
Michelle Branch -- All You Wanted
Nelly -- Just a Dream (flashbacks)
General:
Social Distortion -- Bad Luck
Katy Perry -- Teenage Dream
Jason Derulo -- In My Head
Delhi 2 Dublin -- Dil Nachide (This is, by the way, the
greatest band you've never heard of.)
Asia -- Don't Cry
Lady Gaga – The Edge of Glory
Sympathy for the Devil –
Guns ‘n’ Roses cover
That's it for tonight. However, I want to give notice: the next blog post (or perhaps the one after it) will likely feature the prologue to my next book, the sequel to Good Intentions. I'm currently working with the title of "Natural Consequences," 'cause, well... you just can't wreak that much havoc without it coming back to haunt you one way or another. :)
Just a quick question for you. The sequel to Good Intentions isn't going to be an erotica on the same level that AD&A was, is it? I'm just assuming that because you're writing it as a sequel to Good Intentions , which was essentially a censored AS&A.
ReplyDeleteSo will you ever go back to writing the types of stories you wrote while on Literotica? Or even maybe once the sequel is published, go back and add the full erotic scenes? You are truly one of my favorite writers, but I especially liked how well you did AD&A, so I was just wondering if we'd ever see something like that again?
This is entirely a matter of the eye of the beholder. Some readers think there's way too much erotic content and that it bogs down the story. Others want more. There will never be an amount that is just right for everyone.
ReplyDeleteI have not stopped writing erotica. I am simply also writing other things.
As for the sequel: At this point in the rough draft, there is quite a bit of erotic content. It will likely not get erotic as frequently as it did on Literotica, because as noted in a previous blog post that was a serialized format where it was important to have something steamy in almost every post. A novel doesn't need characters to get it on in every single chapter.
There will be some kinks that weren't there before. There will also likely be a few things that don't happen that may surprise some readers. Sadly, all I can tell you without giving anything away is to wait and see... but it's still Lorelei, Rachel and Alex and most of their friends from the first novel, and it's not like any of those people put things off until marriage...
Wow. Fumbling Towards Ecstasy. 1994 Everglades. Laying on a picnic table in April, praying for a tan before prom. Wondering why the hell my Spring Break was spent fishing, seeing the country's smallest post office, and sitting on an alligator at some roadside tourist trap. Yes. I really did sit on an alligator.
ReplyDeleteI will dust off that CD and re-read Poor Man's Fight. But that album will always be filtered sunshine on a paint-chipped picnic table.
Ohh... I so know where that comes from...
ReplyDeleteI once wrote a story while hearing just one track over and over again. It was THE piece of music for that story and even got featured in it. It was Bring me to Life from Evanescence.
I also understand that cvertein tracks are associated with projects or characters. Not alien to me. Not at all.
I fact I'm qite happy to find out that there are other people like me (in this particular area). ;-)
Mike I know exactly where you are coming from. While not a published author (yet) I recently heard a song that sent my mind running through a story line that I just had to get down. That song was Clarity by Zedd. If you don't know it have a listen to the lyrics maybe you'll see what I mean.
DeleteI listened to Clarity and Spectrum by Zedd a lot while reading Good Intentions and Natural Consequences. Need you now by Lady Antebellum made an appearance as well.
ReplyDeleteNice selection of tunes mate. I'm 40 something and my ITunes playlist is just as eclectic as yours.
On the books - seriously I loved them as in - laugh out loud, fall in love with and even cry a little in happiness - love them. You chose the right path redemption and love. My only problem now is that there are only 2. I've been spreading the word. Hope it leads to more sales.
Now back to my own writing.