LHM Part Four: Playlist

 

If you missed it over the weekend, Lord Have Mercy Part Four dropped on Friday! 

If you click on the "Music Monday" tag on the blog, you can find the playlists for the first three parts. I discovered Shaboozey while writing Part Four and his music was profoundly helpful in that endeavor. I can't recommend him enough especially "Last of My Kind," which I feel speaks to both Mercy and Ghost, and which you should definitely listen to. 

Music Monday: Big Son

 

I don't usually put together a playlist post until after a book drops, and that's not what I'm doing here, but I HAD to come rec the album that's been powering me through LHM part four. The whole thing's gold, but two songs specifically just scream Lean Dogs, and will definitely make it onto the final playlist I share. 

"Horses & Hellcats"

and

"Last of My Kind"

both by Shaboozey. Sometimes, I pick a song because of the lyrics, and sometimes because of the sound, and his music hits both perfectly for this group of characters, and this story.

We ride palominos like they're SRTs (Yeah) 

Once I pick a speed, ain't no catchin' me, ayy

Lookin' for me, I be out in Tennessee

I don't stay the night, grab the cash and leave

And there's no way out of the life that we chose

Everyone knows where it goes

Ayy, we ride palominos like they're SRTs

Once I pick a speed, ain't no catchin' me

Rising Sun: The Playlist

 

A road trip playlist, but make it tense and unsettling. 

Lord Have Mercy Part III: Rising Sun is one week old today! I'm working away on part four - it's the only project I'm concentrating on at the moment - but in the meantime, make sure you're all caught up on the first three parts. You can grab Part Three in ebook or paperback formats:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

#CollegeTown: The Playlist

A shallow grave where I can keep it safe

Or hide away, for just in case I need it

My old friend, it's time to say goodbye again

No need to tell me where you've been

I feel it

Shallow graves for shallow hearts

For pick-me-ups and fall-aparts

For promises that never started right

 

~ "No Place Like Home," Marianas Trench

 

 

I have extremely eclectic taste in music, but this book playlist just might take the cake. The top list is songs I listened to while drafting the novel, some of which would slot easily into a soundtrack, some which Lawson would listen to with headphones in the middle of his teen angst, but a few which were simply fun to revisit to get in a late 90s, early 2000s mindset. 

The Stardust Set List is all the songs most frequently played during my own roller rink days at Sparkles, and which Lawson, Dana, Tommy, and Noah definitely skated to before they got too cool for the rink and migrated permanently to the arcade. 

College Town is live for Kindle, paperback, Nook, and Kindle:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

"Everything You Want" - Vertical Horizon 

"By Now" - Marianas Trench 

"Every Day Is Exactly the Same" - Nine Inch Nails 

"Photograph" - Def Leppard 

"All You Wanted" - Michelle Branch 

"Easy Lover" - Philip Bailey & Phil Collins 

"Deep" - Nine Inch Nails 

"I Can't Make You Love Me" - George Michael 

"Four-Thirty" - Sara Evans 

"Grown Men Don't Cry" - Tim McGraw 

"No Place Like Home" - Marianas Trench 

Stardust Set List

"Quit Playing Games With My Heart" - Backstreet Boys 

"Wannabe" - Spice Girls 

"Barbie Girl" - Aqua 

"Jump Around" - House of Pain 

"Want You Back" - Nsync 

"I Wanna Dance With Somebody" - Whitney Houston 

"Freedom" - George Michael 

"No Scrubs" - TLC

"Everybody" - Backstreet Boys 

Fortunate Son: The Playlist

 

For The Good Son, I did a whole chapter-by-chapter song list breakdown, with scene cues and everything, because that's how it all played out in my head while I was writing. With Fortunate Son (available now! run go get it!) the vision wasn't one-song-per-chapter, but, rather, a few specifics accompanying certain scenes. I've included scene cues below. Starting with:

opening scene
(light coming up on the exterior of the police precinct)
"long cool woman (in a black dress)" - the hollies 

.

alex goes to the clubhouse
"white rabbit" - jefferson airplane 

.

refrain throughout
"fortunate son" - credence clearwater revival

.

aidan and tango
"sweater weather" - the neighborhood 

.

fallon gets a drink (and more than he bargained for)
"in-a-gadda-da-vida" - iron butterfly 

.

alex comes back to Knoxville
"ride the lightning" - warren zeiders 

.

the car chase
"cochise" - audioslave 

.

alex up a tree
"rooster" - alice in chains

.

at walsh's old place by the train tracks
"way down we go" - kaleo

.

at the funeral home
"dear god" - XTC

.

final scene
opening notes
"the killing kind" - marianas trench

.

The Good Son Playlist

I don't listen to music while I write, but music has always played a tremendous role in the story-mapping and scene-setting stages of my creative process. I listen to music while I walk, or work out, or clean house, and those are the times when I lay out the book like a movie in my mind, complete with scene transitions, interesting camera angles, lighting, and soundtrack. Story-wise, I tend to have a thing for song intros, as opposed to choruses, and it's often more about the "feel" of a song than its lyrics, but not always. 

Each series has its own vibe, and there are certain songs and certain artists that repeat throughout. With Dartmoor, I lean heavy on rockabilly, classic rock, and with a little select country thrown in. AC/DC and Marianas Trench are my favorite bands of all time, so those are always woven into everything I write. Mercy, specifically, has two songs I think of as "his." One is "Rooster" by Alice in Chains, and the other is "Master of Puppets" by Metallica, so both those songs will repeat through the Lord Have Mercy song list. 

I had fun putting this together, and I highly recommend going back to listen in order with each chapter/scene in mind to enhance the overall experience.  

chapter one

stranglehold - ted nugent 

(opening riff)

chapter two

strange desire - the black keys 

chapter three

down to the river to pray - alison krauss

chapter four 

strange - miranda lambert 

chapter five

take it easy - the eagles 

chapter six

outlaw man - the eagles

chapter seven

if you want blood, you got it - ac/dc

chapter eight

rooster - alice in chains

chapter nine

working man - rush

chapter ten

future starts slow - the kills 

(Alex in his motel room)

chapter eleven

goodbye babylon - the black keys

(cue scene: church starting)

chapter twelve

city of new orleans - willie nelson

(pulling up to the house)

chapter thirteen

master of puppets - metallica

(at the old cattle property barn) 

chapter fourteen

enter sandman - metallica 

(in Briar Hall's barn)

chapter fifteen

saturday night special - lynyrd skynyrd

(at The Bait Shop)

chapter sixteen

act nice and gentle - the black keys 

chapter seventeen

one way out - the allman brothers band

chapter eighteen

welcome to the jungle - guns 'n' roses 

chapter nineteen

the killing kind - marianas trench 

(back at the precinct)

chapter twenty

something bad - carrie underwood and miranda lambert

chapter twenty-one

hell on heels - pistol annies

twenty-two

the killing kind - marianas trench

(2:00 onward when Mercy first sees Alex)

twenty-three

hells bells - ac/dc

(softly underneath the festival scenes)

chapter twenty-four

stranglehold - ted nugent

("c'mon, c'mon"  bridge to end)

 

#MusicMonday - The Wild Charge

 I don't talk about music that much, despite the fact that music is such an integral part of my writing process. I don't listen while I write - I prefer to have low-stress cooking or home reno shows on in the background while I work - but I listen to music while I work out and while I brainstorm. I have very eclectic taste and listen to every genre - save bro country. Ugh. When will singer/songwriter country return? Anyway...

I prefer pop and rock. I used to always say my favorite band was AC/DC, and it IS. My gosh, I love them, and always will. But...they have some competition, which is why I have to say that I have two favorite bands. 

I graduated college in 2011, and things weren't great. I had applied everywhere, couldn't get an interview, and despite querying a multitude of agencies, couldn't get a whole manuscript request. Basically, I was talented, but not marketable. I didn't know what to do...and that was when I found Marianas Trench.

Over the years, thanks to some ugly behind the scenes nonsense, I've hesitated to share much of my inspiration, despite music's role in my creative process. But I realized it's more important to share than it is to protect my process. MT's "Ever After" touched me so much that it made me brave enough to self-publish, and their work has continued to inspire me ever since. Josh Ramsay is my favorite vocalist; he's so talented, can do a falsetto and a deeper, growlier voice; he also orchestrates all the amazing string and French horn parts of their songs which elevate the band from simple pop to movie soundtrack worthy. (And as a former French horn player, I'm so weak for good brass)

"The Killing Kind" is on my The Wild Charge playlist. 

"Masterpiece Theater III" was on my Loverboy playlist. 

Hope you'll give them a listen, because they're so, so good. 

#GoldenEagle: A Playlist of Sorts

I don't typically listen to music while writing - I need quiet for that. A cooking show on in the background with the volume nearly silent, just enough to keep the dog from barking at every little creak of the wind in the eaves. But music plays a huge part in my creative process; I do most of my listening while I walk or work out, and that's when I do my best brain-storming.

To be honest, it's hard coming up with distinct playlists for each Sons of Rome book because there's so much overlap between scenes and moments: I have a series playlist, instead. But two songs standout for Golden Eagle. Both from Florence + The Machine. One for Nikita, and one for Sasha.

For Nik: "Shake it Out"

For Sasha: "Howl"

Other listening for Golden Eagle:

"Heavy In Your Arms" - Florence + The Machine

"Centuries" - Fall Out Boy (the original is perfect, but give this remix a try, because oh man)

"Way Down We Go" - Kaleo 

"Crossfire" - Stephen 

"Run For Your Life" - The Siege 

"Peter and the Wolf" - Sergei Prokofiev (If you've never listened to this, you have to)

#MusicMonday 6/18

Currently listening to:

This killer Imagine Dragons mashup.

 - Found via this killer Marvel fanvid.

"Good to You" - Colum Scott   - currently being used in an AmEx commercial, and really love it.  

"The Wolf" - Siames 

"God's Gonna Cut You Down Remix" - totally a Sons of Rome song pick

"The Man" - Ed Sheeran 

"Judas" - Lady Gaga - another SoR pick 

#RedRooster Playlist

I say "playlist," but I really mean "soundtrack." This is an odd mix of scene-setting and character favorites. The order loosely adheres to the pace of the novel, so there's that!

"Working Man" - Rush

"In For the Kill" (Skream Remix) - La Roux

"Howl" - Florence + The Machine

"Rooster" - Alice in Chains

"Two Against One" (Feat. Jack White) - Danger Mouse

"Tom Sawyer" - Rush

"Let The Flames Begin" - Paramore 

"No More Sorrow" - Linkin Park 

"In For the Kill" (Skrillex Remix) - La Roux  - (this is for THE fight scene. You'll know it when you get to it)

"Shadow of the Day" - Linkin Park

"Ain't It Fun" - Paramore - Final Trina/Lanny scene of the book

"Hells Bells" - AC/DC - last chapter 

#AmericanHellhound Song List

Most of these tracks I've shared previously in the writing process - you can check the Music Monday tag - but I wanted to compile the unofficial-official American Hellhound Song List.

These are the songs that inspired me while writing:

"Heart of a Dog" - The Kills

"Run" - AWOLNATION

"Way Down We Go" - Kaleo

"Heart Like Mine" - Miranda Lambert

"Believer" - Imagine Dragons

"I Can't Go On Without You" - Kaleo

"Let Me Know" - No Wyld

"Future Starts Slow" - The Kills

Highly recommended for getting in the mood to read the book very, very soon...

#MusicMonday 5/8

Another American Hellhound track for the day:

"Diamond Eyes" - Shinedown

There's a specific scene from Fearless that I wanted badly to echo in Hellhound. I think I've just about pulled it off, so that's exciting! For me, anyway. You take the little victories on the long slog through the process.

While writing this weekend, I tried to pinpoint why exactly this book seems to be taking so long - it actually isn't taking any longer than any other book, it just feels that way, each word count goal painfully met, with none of my two a.m. manic writing sprints, fingers flying over the keys in moments of rabid inspiration. It feels slow and careful, like a school project on a complicated subject. Loverboy felt this way, too, so I think it boils down to this:

A desire to up the ante.

The urge to echo without repeating myself, without dragging out something in the same way, at the same pace, with the same layers of character realization. The need to go bigger, better, more explosive - while simultaneously maintaining a level of intimacy that keeps the story personal and relevant, and not just an array of special effects. So to speak.

The first book in a series of books is just that, the first. Everything is fresh and new. And you want to maintain that freshness through each consecutive book, while keeping things familiar and cozy, taking the characters to deeper places, pressing just a little harder each time. It's a balancing act. Juggling with raw eggs, and it comes with no small amount of pressure.

Sometimes I look at it and think "it shouldn't be this hard." And sometimes I think the opposite, that maybe the fact that it's hard means it's a worthwhile effort.

At the end of the day, my main driving force behind each new installment in a series is my readers. Having been on the viewing end of beloved media that went astray, I always want to deliver to you guys on an emotional front. I don't want that horrid moment of "WTF is this??"

Because upping the ante is only worthwhile - for me - if it's done in a fulfilling, rewarding way. There are enough stories out there that end in disappointment; I want to be one of the creators who delivers the kind that makes you smile.

Music Monday 5/1

Happy Monday and happy May! I miss blogging - when the book's done, I look forward to getting back in the habit.

Last night, I had my iTunes library on shuffle while I was writing - which I love, because a song pops up you haven't listened to in a long time and you think "hey, why don't I listen to this anymore?" - and this song struck me as very present day Ghost and Maggie, perfect for a montage of their greatest hits as a couple, so to speak.

"Best I Ever Had" - Gavin DeGraw

"...

If she pressed in a little harder, she thought they might just fuse together into one creature, something with fangs, and claws, and blood on its hands, and a tender heart. All this painful love for the family they’d made together: a family made of their children, and of the lost souls they’d invited into the club together. Her eyes searched them out in the crowd: Walsh, Michael, Tango, Mercy. All the young ones Ghost had brought up in the new tradition. When she’d met her man, the club had been a den of angry, snarling strays…but it had become a sanctuary for the misplaced and unloved, somewhere where they could finally find what had always been missing in their lives.

They’d done that. Ghost had done that. Taken a crippled club and turned into a multinational powerhouse, the strongest and most infamous MC in the world.

..."

Monday Check-In

Today's #MusicMonday pick is very Ghost and Maggie: "Believer" by Imagine Dragons. Pay attention to the lyrics on that one: spot-on.

I had a very productive weekend, writing-wise. I surpassed my word count goal both days and made some important story decisions that will take me through to the end of the book, so I'm thrilled about that. At this point, the deadline seems scary-close, but I know what I need to write - it's a matter of putting the work in at this point.

Right now, I'm in full writing lockdown mode, which means I'm only on the web long enough to post things, and I'm unfortunately behind on responding to messages and emails. I promise I'm not ignoring you! I'll get caught up. But I make the best progress when I pretend the Internet doesn't exist.

There are more character-centric teasers on the way, on FB and Instagram (@hppress). This book, like Fearless, has parts for everyone to play, the whole giant family chiming in, so I'll try to share  spoiler-free tidbits as we go along.

I'm back to work, just wanted to check in and say that writing's going great! Happy Monday, everyone.

American Hellhound: A Synopsis

American Hellhound

A Synopsis

Recommended Listening:

"Heart of a Dog" - The Kills

"Walk All Over You" - AC/DC

"Down In A Hole" - Alice in Chains

"Hair of the Dog" - Nazareth

Black dogs. Demons. Hellhounds. Damned souls that haunt crossroads, taking the forms of hulking dogs with glowing red eyes. Legends of the Old World, but just stories meant to scare lonely wanderers.

Mostly.

Knoxville, Tennessee boasts black dogs of its own: the mother chapter of the Lean Dogs Motorcycle Club. And like all legends, the Lean Dogs draw challengers from every corner of the underworld. War’s brewing in Tennessee, and the Dogs’ first family is about to face its biggest challenge yet: the past.

Ghost Teague has spent the last twenty-five years transforming a once-rough club into an empire with his queen by his side, the fearless girl who turned his life around when he needed her most. This new threat is a personal one, aimed at him, at Maggie, and it’s calling into question all the decisions they’ve made thus far. With a rival club in town, and an old nemesis preying on their doubts, they’ll have to save the city, the club, and their family. And there’s only one way to do it: together.

With past and present storylines, the sixth installment of the Dartmoor Series explores the king and queen like never before, an epic tale of rising, and ruling, and leaning on one another.

American Hellhound, coming May 6^th, 2017.

Monday Planning

Currently listening to: "Way Down We Go" by Kaleo

It's Monday, and it's a work day! Baby steps, still, baby steps.

Being as sick as I have the past month has reinforced the necessity of something I've been thinking - but not doing - for a while now. It's time to get more organized. My book-publishing MO tends to be "work as fast you can" and "decide where you're going when you get there." This is partly because I'm really impatient, just in general. Partly because I have too many projects I want to wok on. And partly because I don't want to disappoint my readers by making them wait. But as I've realized, while I've had much too much time to reflect on things while I recover at a snail's pace, this way of doing things actually makes the process much more difficult and stressful than it needs to be.

Organization is important.

Specifically, for me, organizing projects and planning release dates far enough in advance. It's time for me to face facts: I have too much to do these days to get away with "when it's done" anymore.

This weekend, I looked through my projects folder and my calendar, and opened myself up to the idea of scheduling work time for projects I don't plan to release until fall of 2018. I laid out release dates for several big works I want to incorporate into my schedule, and the best part was, planning that far ahead, I felt relieved rather than stressed. I've been frustrated lately, thinking there are books I want to write but don't have time for. Putting them on the schedule helped with that stress. It was really freeing to think of the next two years, rather than worry about trying to get everything done at once.

My new strategy is to save "brainstorm" files on my computer for my future projects. When inspiration strikes, I go type up the notes, and then make myself step back. Priorities! And then when it's time to really dig into the meat and potatoes of writing those stories, I'll get to it.

It's been so easy for me to add extra work - new spinoffs, new bonus scenes, holiday stories, promises to title books I don't have time to write. I still want to be able to provide free and bonus content - I don't do the ARC thing with bloggers; if I'm giving stuff away, I want it to go to fans and regular readers - but I have to be better about managing my writing time, and making sure I have time to work on the big projects that are important to me.

Right now it's full-steam ahead on American Hellhound. I have a feeling that when everyone reads this book, they'll ask for a follow-up about a specific character. It's a possibility, for sure, but it's got to wait its turn and find a spot in the schedule. Too many books, not enough hours in the day!

In case you missed it, I released a post-Walking Wounded Valentine's Day short story titled "Love Is..." yesterday. You can find it here on Amazon.

#MusicMonday - Walking Wounded Tracks

In case you missed the announcement this weekend, Walking Wounded is live on Amazon and B&N!

Kindle

Nook

The paperbacks should be live tomorrow, and I'll be selling signed copies after the first of the year for anyone interested.

I haven't done a Music Monday post in a while, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite song picks for WW. In my mind, most of the soundtrack is comprised of alternatingly melancholy and hopeful instrumental pieces (secret life goal: write something worthy of an instrumental soundtrack one of these days), but there are a few songs that inspired the storytelling:

"Ever After" - Marianas Trench (this is *THE* song, for both storylines, just THE song, I just love it, okay)

"If I Lose Myself" - One Republic

"I Can't Go On Without You" - Kaleo

"MF" - AWOLNATION (song for the club scene)

"Wild Things" - Alessia Cara

"Mona Lisa" - Nat King Cole (1950; Leena)

#MusicMonday 10/3...and other things.

"Run" by AWOLNATION is giving me all kinds of Maggie and Ghost vibes. That's how it always works - start working on one project, and you have all these ideas about one you aren't supposed to be working on yet.

So far, I've got the broad brush strokes of the plot, and I've got their personal plot as a couple pretty firmly nailed down. The rest is set to simmer patiently, and it's going to be pretty epic.

Also, we've got a title now:

American Hellhound

#MusicMonday - 9/19

I'm sad to say that I didn't get any real writing done this weekend. My "allergies" of last week turned out to be some sort of cold/flu/who knows what, so I was pretty puny the last few days. I'm all medicated up and hoping to get some work done on Dear Heart today.

In any event, I managed to get some research and story-mapping done for my NaNo project, and I am just so excited about that one. Today, I'm listening to the album that has been such an inspiration and is more or less a soundtrack for the book...but I don't want to share it just yet. Not until we're somewhere close to release for this one.

So instead, you should totally check out these other two songs I've been listening to on repeat:

"Perfect Illusion" - Lady Gaga

"Cool Girl" - Tove Lo

*Also, 'Bama is 3-0, so Roll Tide!!!

#MusicMonday - 9/12

You've probably heard this song - it's the one they're using in that Star Wars-heavy Starz promo. I heard it a few weeks ago and immediately had to go search the lyrics and download it. It's now a part of my general writing playlist. The video's kinda cool too.