I found the "soundtrack" for my next book!

Captain's Log, Stardate 03.24.2009

I tend to have a “theme song” for the main protagonist in each of my stories. It just helps me when I’m writing to keep to the character’s theme.

I also like listening to entire albums as “soundtracks” for each book as I write. For instance, for Only Uni, I listened to two albums—Brave and This Mystery by Nichole Nordeman. Trish’s “theme song” was “Fool For You” from This Mystery.

Right now, I’m working on my next book for Zondervan, which is a contemporary romance that will release in May 2010. I’ve tentatively titled it The Year of the Dog, but I don’t know if it’ll keep that title or not.

I’ve been searching for a good theme song for the hero and heroine in that book, Charles and Tessa. And I happened upon an album I’ve had a while but haven’t listened to that much, Rush of Fools.

I’m excited because many of the songs on the album touch on emotional themes explored by the main characters. Not all the songs, but several of them—enough that I can listen to the entire album as I’m writing and be inspired by it.

I’ve found the “soundrack” for The Year of the Dog! I usually set the album on repeat when I’m writing, and it’s funny how I will be writing certain scenes and songs that pertain to them happen to play at the same time.

I haven’t yet decided on each character’s “theme song,” but I’ll blog about them when I figure it out. I’m thinking that Charles’s song might be “Undo.”

Comments

Unknown said…

What a cool idea to find theme music for your characters. I need complete silence when I write, but I might try to find a theme song to listen to before I start writing and maybe afterward. I'll have to check out Rush of Fools on iTunes. Thanks!

Tue Mar 24, 09:03:00 AM 2009

Karen said…

Love these guys! "Undo" and "Wonder of the World" are awesome.

Tue Mar 24, 09:22:00 AM 2009

Chas. Funderburg said…

Actually, I find myself doing the same thing.

My 2nd MS had "High Roller" by the Rippingtons as the protag's theme song.

The next ms will have 'September' by Earth Wind and Fire as the theme song.

Tue Mar 24, 09:55:00 AM 2009

Tabi socks, part deux

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.25.2008 (If you're on Ravelry, friend me! I'm camytang.) I made tabi socks again! (At the bottom of the pattern is the calculation for the toe split if you're not using the same weight yarn that I did for this pattern (fingering). I also give an example from when I used worsted weight yarn with this pattern.) I used Opal yarn, Petticoat colorway. It’s a finer yarn than my last pair of tabi socks, so I altered the pattern a bit. Okay, so here’s my first foray into giving a knitting pattern. Camy’s top-down Tabi Socks I’m assuming you already know the basics of knitting socks. If you’re a beginner, here are some great tutorials: Socks 101 How to Knit Socks The Sock Knitter’s Companion A video of turning the heel Sock Knitting Tips Yarn: I have used both fingering weight and worsted weight yarn with this pattern. You just change the number of cast on stitches according to your gauge and the circumference of your ankle. Th...

Z Sales Meeting

Captain’s Log, Supplemental My trip to Grand Rapids: My trip went so great! I’m hoping I remembered people’s names correctly. I arrived in Grand Rapids around 3 in the afternoon, and Joyce Ondersma (Author Relations) picked me up at the airport. I’d met Joyce last year at ICRS and she’s a wonderful person. She has glorious red hair that I totally envy. We had dinner with Sue Brower (Senior Editor) and Sherry Guzy (Marketing Director). I also met Marla Bliss and Karwyn Bursma (Marketing Director for Fiction Inspiration) and Joe Questel, who’s part of the Sales department. We had these Bang-Bang shrimp appetizers that were a blast! (heheh) They were really spicy but really good. I fought Joe for them. The day at Zondervan was fabulous. First I was shown to a separate “author lounge.” Now isn’t that just way cool? They actually had my name on the door—well, underneath John Ortberg, pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian church (I had gone to Menlo Park Pres a few times when I was in college) ...

Excerpt - A HUNDRED YEARS OF HAPPINESS by Nicole Seitz

Captain's Log, Stardate 03.05.2009 Update: Sorry, this giveaway is closed. A Hundred Years of Happiness by Nicole Seitz A beautiful young woman. An American soldier. A war-torn country. Nearly forty years of silence. Now, two daughters search for the truth they hope will set them free and the elusive peace their parents have never found. In the South Carolina Lowcountry, a young mother named Katherine Ann is struggling to help her tempestuous father, by plunging into a world of secrets he never talks about. A fry cook named Lisa is trying desperately to reach her grieving Vietnamese mother, who has never fully adjusted to life in the States. And somewhere far away, a lost soul named Ernest is drifting, treading water, searching for what he lost on a long-ago mountain. They're all longing for connection. For the war that touched them to finally end. For their hundred years of happiness at long last to begin. From the beloved author of The Spirit of Sweetgrass...

I GOT A 3-BOOK CONTRACT WITH ZONDERVAN!

Captain's Log, Supplemental My agent called me today with the great news! Zondervan has contracted me for another three books! Right now, they’re all stand alone books—not a series. The first book is slated to release May 2010 and is tentatively titled The Year of the Dog (they’ll probably change it). It’s a women’s contemporary novel. Here’s the back cover blurb from my proposal: Tessa Ota, a professional dog trainer, is having a bad year. While moving ahead with renovation plans for her new dog kenneling and training facility, Tessa needs to move in with her disapproving mother and her antagonist sister. She convinces her ex-boyfriend to take her dog for a few months … but discovers that his brother is the irate engineer whose car she rammed a few weeks earlier. Charles Bretton has enough problems. His mama has just shown up on his doorstep all the way from Louisiana, and his brother has to move in with him after being kicked out of his apartment—with a dog in tow. And guess who...

Grace Livingston Hill romances free to read online

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci...

Search This Blog