Authors Blog Hop July 3rd - July 10th Giveaway

Welcome authors!!! I'm so excited and can't help but do a giveaway here, but before you start scrolling, let me say, thank you. I am so thrilled you stopped by my blog on this first ever blog hop for authors, organized by the lovely and talented Amber Garcia from Lady Amber's Reviews, thank you Amber for organizing this awesome hop. Now for the nitty gritty, after you read about my all so inspiring music, I'm offering a $10 Gift Card to  Amazon or Barnes & Noble to one lucky winner and winner's choice of one of my own signed paperbacks to another so don't forget to enter on the Rafflecopter below.

A lot of people think that being an author is a lonely endeavor, but for those of us who slave away in front of our laptops, desktops, or whatever type of medium you use, pouring out our souls as creatively as we can, understand. You know when we talk to our characters we are never alone. Another outlet to snuffing out the lonely bug is music. One of my favorite questions to other authors is what type of music do you listen to while writing or do you have a play list that inspired your last book? So naturally, I like to answer that question as well.

I’m one of those authors who cannot listen to music while I write, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get inspired from it. In fact, I frequently reference different songs in my books that I tend to listen to and find inspiration for a scene. So if you read my books and come to a spot where I mention a song, you can bet I’ve been listening to it.

With Whisper Cape, I listened to Phantom of the Opera so many times I think my husband was ready to throw the CD out the car window. Gerard Butler’ voice in the movie helped keep my characters alive.

Though the Phantom did not inspire Cael’s character, the music did spark (no pun intended and if you don’t understand what I mean, ask me or, better yet, read the book!) my imagination for Addison’s. I’ve always said that Gerard Butler was and still is my main influence for Gerry Briden’s character in both Whisper Cape and Reflections. I have to admit though, looking at this picture from back when the movie was made, Gerard could most definitely have been my vision for Cael. This is pre 300 days, but yummy.

  There is a scene in Phantom of the Opera where Christine is in the cemetery singing to her deceased father. Of course, in the movie and the live production it is snowing so the setting has nothing to do with a particular scene I wrote for Whisper Cape. But the lyrics and the mood are what ignited my inspiration. Addison is distraught after almost fatally injuring Cael and runs to the edge of the cliff, wishing she could talk to her father once more. In the music video below, right before Christine starts singing, she whispers about her father promising to send her the “Angel of Music.” After she sings “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again,” the Phantom sings, “Wandering Child,” luring her to him, reinforcing his deception of being the promised “Angel of Music.” It was the idea of Christine whispering to her father, singing to him that gave me the inspiration for that scene.

WISHING YOU WERE SOMEHOW HERE AGAIN:

WANDERING CHILD

Of course, it doesn’t happen anything like this in Whisper Cape but the music and the lyrics were so very inspiring.

Because of Aiden and the Band in Reflections, there were quite a few songs mentioned and I’d love to share them with you.

Aiden sings

Just the Way You Are, Bruno Mars. Here is a video of Bruno Mars performing in the studio

Adele’s soft melody, Make You Feel My Love

Careen Faraday performs. Everyone is stunned at her beautiful voice, considering she’s not the most pleasant person to be around.

Make you Feel My Love: Adele’s live performance dedicated this song to the late great Amy Winehouse.

No one sings this song in the book, but it was a huge inspiration for me while writing Reflections. Enjoy.

Don’t you Remember – Adele

Lyrics:

When Will I see you again.

You left with no goodbye, not a single word was said

No final kiss toseal any sins

I had no Idea of the state we were in

I know I have a fickle heart and bitterness,

And a wandering eye,

And a heaviness in my head

But don’t you remember?

Don’t you remember?

The reason you loved me before,

Baby, please remember me once more.

When was the last time you thought of me?

Or have you completely erased me from your memory?

I often think about where I went wrong

The more I do, the less I know

But I know a fickle heart, and bitterness,

And a wondering eye,

And a heaviness in my head

But don’t you remember?

Don’t you remember?

The reason you loved me before,

Baby, please remember me once more.

I gave you the space so you could breathe,

I kept my distance so you would be free

In hope that you’d find the missing piece,

To bring you back to me.

Why don’t you remember?

Don’t you remember?

The reason you loved me before

Baby, please remember me once more.

When will I see again?

For Allusive Aftershock, I listened to Pink's Try over and over again. The scene with Coutland carrying Adela through the forest fire was inspired from this song.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check out all the other blogs on this hop from the list below. I know I will be. Thanks so much for stopping by and feel free to contact me through this blog or email me anytime. I love sharing writing stories with other authors.