Music to Write Books By

Tags

Music, Music to write to, Playlist, Playlist for the Writer and The Rake, Romance, sci-fi, Shehanne Moore, The Writer and the Rake, Time-travel

 

 

 

https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/2017/07/24/carrotranch-writeprompt-pies/

Brittany. Oh God, not you lot again. Darlings, don’t you have a cage or something to be in? Your little balls to play with? Hmm?

Brittany. All the better to amuse yourselves with then darlings. Now  then  what is it you want to know? So long as it’s not will I ever be  a nice Georgian housewife,  how to instruct a servant, or can you have one of my fags, or any of my booze, we’re good.

Brittany . But I do, darlings. So? Playlist? Well when she was writing the Viking and the Courtesan which I understand  is about my granddaughter Malice…

Shey listened a lot to the first  piece on this list, probably because she plays and has taught it several times too.  So obviously when writing more of the series  it was her starting point, just as Mitchell and I are. I think she found  the epic scope of it inspiring, although our story was not nearly as epic as all the things Malice went through, a shipwreck, a convent raid nearly being burned to death in a Valhalla style funeral in Viking times, being kidnapped, locked up and then incarcerated in a lunatic asylum in Regency times, all the time just trying to find her way to where she wanted to be. 

The rest though? Well, these were ours, pure and simple.  As to why darlings? Well, you’ll just have to listen won’t you? Any lines about smiling like you mean it which I do all the time, sort of anyway, being far apart on this old carousel,  and people rather being lonely than being by someone’s side, are of course incidental….

 

 

 

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Music That Means Something Challenge.

Tags

Dishwalla, Music, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Paul Andruss, Sally Cronin, T.Rex, The Beatles, Winnie Shaw

 

Right dudes, that’s enough. Paul Andruss, in the short time I have known him,  has proved to be a wonderful author and a very kind and supportive friend. I love his blogs. They are fun and informative and I’m enjoying his choices

http://www.paul-andruss.com/

Paul is also writer in residence over at Sally Cronin’s blog

Writer in Residence- Paul Andruss https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/writer-in-residence-writer-paul-andruss/

The posts are always a treat.

So? Without further ado, here’s my five and why out of all the music I’ve listened to and loved– and music has always been a huge thing in my life– I have chosen these pieces. The first I’ve got here twice because the first vid is only the tap dance–I can’t find the whole thing. But the tap dance? Well, let’s just say they don’t do them like this any more. AS to why I have really chosen this…read on.

Why did I choose this piece? It’s not of my era at all. Because the music I grew up with was these oldies. We lived in a tough sink scheme and we had an old gramophone

No, it wasn’t. Shut yir gub. It kinda looked like this.

And piles of old 78s, which the wee boy next door and me, used to drop paper and plastic astronaut figures from the Rice Krispies box on and watch them spin to see what would happen.  ( Usually a whack.  )  Yeah of course vinyl was invented but these oldies were the background to my life. People had very little. My dad, who was high up in bomb disposal, had come out the army.  He’d come back with my mum and sister from what was probably quite a glitzy life in Hongkong, to nothing.  No job. No house. This music reminds me of my mum and dad who originally belonged to THIS 30’s glamorous era, at least on the surface when in fact they were from far, far, worse tough and harder, than what I grew up in. It was an era where cinema was  a great escape and my hometown had a ton at that time.

Not long before my mum died, I had complimentary tickets to a special showing of Top Hat and I took her. I’m glad I did because she was enthralled. Before I get too sloppy..

‘I’m sorry I ate your fish,’ she said to him one night in the middle of a heated row after he’d weaved home from the local with a fish supper.

“So am I. I hope it chokes you,”  said he.

It’s that dynamic I try to get at in my books.

Next.

Let us NOT underestimate this NOT written by The Beatles song when it was sung by them. Forget everything they went on to do. Imagine that we have NEVER known of them and what they gave the world. Okay? On that same ‘Radiogram’ Elvis was banned. We were not allowed to listen to ‘certain’ kinds of music. The staple diet was, ‘Bali Hi’ ( WE LISTEN EVERY NIGHT, EVERY DAY) ‘Shall We Dance,’ –nothing wrong with that as I once helped demonstrate to a hall full of kids to the horror of my own when I re-enacted that scene for a giggle. AND to quote the words in that musical, our staple diet was etc etc., and crooners.

SO my big sis goes away for the summer to work and she comes back, having met her future hubby, an art student. (Get this, the now world famous photographer, then just another art student, Albert Watson,  was the best man at that wedding. ) And she whispers , ‘Come here.. .listen to this… You HAVE to listen to this. THIS is what is out there.’   And she puts on this sound that I have never heard –a very quickly snatched and scratched sound when our mum came in. I have to tell you, laugh all you like, but it was like a window on another world.

Talking windows, I include the above.  It’s music that means something after all. I preferred T. Rex in their folksie days but then you could not dance with your pals when your folks were out, the music blaring, the lights down, the neighbours complaining to the police,  to that. Hot Love and Jeepster now? A few years back at a Hogmanay Dance I bumped into a  friend I have known since I was 6, (CLEARLY FROM THAT ERA) but don’t see often and the DJ was asking for requests. So I gave him those for a laugh. And know what??? Yep. My pal rushed over and we got on the floor. I like to think folks stepped back cos we could still do all the steps to both, from those days. Hell. Once danced, never forgotten.  We did it for a challenge.

It was like how  you will always be certain things inside, no matter what. Not always easy in life but vital as breathing. Forget that and you forget everything. I still love to blare out Jeepster when I am cooking and do all the steps, with the carving knife and all……. Doot, doot, doot, chopping the veggies. ( Neighbours can complain all they like. Big mistake.)

Give this next choice a moment…

Ok. So sometimes life takes a hard twist. Hell, show me the straight path and I will laugh. That is why I won’t bore you with the details. I have two versions here because it depends if you like  noisy-ish or quiet.-Let’s just say I found something in the words and the tune.

So now we move on.  Talking dark twists, Nick Cave’s life has had a few. A few years ago my younger girl came to me one night and she said, ‘I have something to tell you and I don’t know what to do.’ And I couldn’t be happier or more blessed about what she did do, despite being in the middle of a law diploma, despite having no money, despite her partner just having set up for himself and having no work.  I have a lovely wee grandbaby who leaves me breathless every single time I see him. (And not cos he is a powerhouse.) He stills everything in me.  AND, the funniest thing? He first heard this favourite of mine on my last birthday, where he came in shouting ‘Partay!’ and jammed the Cd player up full volume (can’t think who he takes that off at age two and a half )  and he went, ‘Nina, we dance,’ and every time he hears it, he goes, ‘Nina, dance wi me,’ and he stands there and takes my hands. He has had my heart since I first saw him at half past three in the morning of the difficult night he was born. He always will.

Nominations? Please. All of you try boiling your life to five songs, cos in a way that is what you are doing, have a go  and post your choices. it is harder than you think. Even the dudes have shut it for once.

 

Kevin Cooper, Kits, Caboodles and Hamsters.

Tags

Caboodle and the Whole kit, Kevin Cooper, Music, Musician, New book, Writer

 

 

 

 

Kev…

Er, Caboodle is not exactly a hamster Caboodle, though I’m quite sure that hamsters the world over will like it all the same as it also includes short stories of interviews with all kinds of characters as well as other stories, and poetry about all kinds of things. (Why oh why didn’t I do an interview one with a hamster?!!!) But…..dudes! Let me start by saying, it’s a real honour to be interviewed by such famous outstanding hamster dudes who have graciously provided me with an opportunity to talk about my latest book release, Caboodle & The Whole Kit.

 

Kev.  Well… Er, Caboodle is not really about people and things as much; it’s more about experiences in life. I’m quite sure you dudes will be able to relate to some it it… sort of… (Big open smile)

Kev. Er, no. (Kev fidgets with his fingers and toes and moves about uncomfortably while waiting for the next question.)

The wonderful collection of short stories, poetry, and songs has been grouped together to bring a variety of tales that are mostly based upon true events, people can easily relate to.

Kev. (Oh dear!) Mm… Good question! Yes. You do make an excellent point. I think somebody should, er, definitely write something about you. After all, you are the most excellent hamster dudes I’ve ever met.

Kev. I had several completed works lying around and several others that I was still working on which didn’t seem to relate to one particular genre or topic, so I thought, Why not throw them all into one work, grouped into their respective genres/topics and that way, I will have everything I’ve written to date (apart from my memoir and fantasy sequel which I’m still working on) published and out there for folks to enjoy… That’s pretty much how Caboodle & The Whole Kit came about.

Kev. That was my most difficult challenge. I couldn’t for ages think of a suitable title, then one day while I was musing over it and having a really good talk with myself (as you do) I said to myself, it’s sort of like the whole kit and caboodle… then it hit me (a stroke of genius, I must admit) I’ll call it Caboodle & The Whole Kit! I love my mouse!

Kev. Er, I mean muse. I like hamsters too…

Kev. I’m more of a songwriter than an artist. I’ve had four single releases so far, three of which will become part of my album: The Right One when it’s finished. Christmas Time was my first release, last year. I will be promoting it again this year and it will probably become part of a second album I’m working on which I haven’t decided upon a name for yet.

Kev. My music is varied, but The Right One will bring together all my love songs and ballads with a couple of folk & country songs in the mix.

My second album will focus more on my less serious topics including The Boogie Song and a few other bouncy, dancy, wobbelly jobbelly type of songs… Pretty much all humour.

 

Kev. I perform live in my spare room and around the house occasionally if that counts. Aragorn likes to hear me sing and watch me play the guitar. Sometimes, we dance together. Rico looks at us like we’re stark raving bonkers then tends to disappear which is probably what my audience would do if I performed on stage… Don’t know why though, I do all my own moves. We should do a gig together sometime, we could call it Kev and the Hamster Dudes. Play that banjo!

 

Oh yes, definitely! I’ve seen him, or her, didn’t exactly get to ask about the gender.

But that’s how I got to know the hamster dude called, Clarence.

I was having a stroll in the woods one day, minding my own as you do when this big, wet blobby grassy, er mossy things jumps out of nowhere and blocks my path.

“Yuuu’man!” It growled

“Who me?”

“Yuuu’man!” It repeated

I looked around. Nobody. “Oh, you must mean me.”

“You, yuuu’man!”

“Oh, you mean, I’m human! It’s actually pronounced with an H, you know. Like this, Hu… man. Go on, give it a try.”

“I eat yuuu’man for halloween treat!”

“Ah, right, well… That changes things a bit doesn’t it?”

Just as the moss monster was about to pounce upon me, some strange music started playing… it sounded like a clarinet. The moss monster turned and ran towards the music. Living with cats for all these years, curiosity got the better of me, so I followed it to see who was playing the clarinet.

 

Turns out it was a hamster dude called, Clarence who upon seeing me in danger had gotten out his clarinet to distract the moss monster. Then he ran to the edge of a cliff and hid behind a rock while playing his clarinet. The moss monster, confused by the echo the music coming from the cliff’s edge ran over it and fell into the ravine.

If it hadn’t been for the hamster dude, Clarence and his clarinet that he played like the pied piper, I would have become the moss monster’s Halloween treat.

This is an exclusive for the hamster dudes. Copyright. Kevin Cooper.

 

 

 

Well, I’m currently working on my final memoir: Miedo 3: Fragments of Fear. I’m doing it as an unedited serialisation on my blog at the moment. Since, my son had a hamster, there will most definitely be a mention of that later on in the book. I still have fantasy sequel to write as well, but I’m also thinking about writing Animal Tales 2 which will definitely have a couple of hamster tales in it along short stories of other famous animals.

Thanks again for having me over on your site hamster dudes. I’ve really enjoyed it.

Kevin Cooper was born in Hull, East Yorkshire, England in 1963 and moved to the USA in 1985 when he was 21 years old.

Having left high school in England with only three CSE’s (Certificate of Secondary Education) in English Composition, Maths, and English Literature, he spent his first year in America studying for a GED followed by ACT. After passing his college entrance exams, he studied both music and religion for two years at Western Kentucky University before transferring to Asbury College to enroll in their pre-professional track in psychology. He obtained a recognition on the Dean’s List, and graduated with a BA in Psychology with a minor in Classical Greek.

Kevin started post-graduate studies in counselling and psychotherapy at Asbury Theological Seminary where he remained for two years before transferring to the Grand Canyon University in Arizona where he was awarded a research scholarship in their M.Ed program. He did his teaching practicum at Phoenix High School, completed his student teaching year at Peoria High School, and graduated from Grand Canyon University with a M.Ed.

While in America, Kevin has been a College Lecturer of General Studies, a Manager for The Hertz Corporation, who acknowledged him with awards of recognition for his service and dedication to the company. He was a Substitute Teacher for several years, a Private Tutor, a university tutor, and even did volunteer work as a children’s reading mentor in a Phoenix library.

Kevin now resides in England with his wife, and is an established Author of several works.

Connect with him  here https://kcbooksandmusic.wordpress.com/

Caboodle is filled with relaxing episodes of life, family, love & romance, faith, and even the odd, inadvertent run-ins with some quite unsavory characters.
The wonderful collection of short stories, poetry, and songs has been grouped together to bring a variety of tales that are mostly based upon true events, people can easily relate to.
The whole kit is designed to ignite a mixture of emotions to bring smile, laughter, and moisture to the eyes. There is something for everyone in Caboodle.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kit-Whole-Kaboodle-Kevin-Cooper-ebook/dp/B01M7UOP7G/ref=la_B00EWFEYKQ_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1478547120&sr=1-1

 

Iyana Jenna, love and inspiration.

Tags

Ed Sheeran, Evernight Publishing, Gavin DeGraw, guest blog, How Long WIll I love YOu?, inspiration, Iyana Jenna, Jakarta, M/M Romance, Music, playlists, writing

 

 

 

‘First of all, I’d like to thank you for having me on your blog. It means a lot to me.’

‘I would like to share with you and your readers my main inspirations of this story.’

‘Okay. One day, my dear friend Louis Stevens posted a video of a sing’r Gavin DeGraw on his Facebook account. It was lovely and I loved the singer’s song. Well, one of my favorite singers is Ed Sheeran and I told Louis it would be a dream come true if Ed sings together with Gavin. A moment later, voila! Louis posted a video of them both singing together!

‘Long story short, How Long Will I Love You was born. The title of this story was from a song but it was another story altogether and it wasn’t sung by any of the men.’

By the way, here is the video of Gavin and Ed performing together on stage. I totally fell in love with them. I got completely inspired. My story isn’t in any way a real story about them, though.

Now if you watch the video until the end, it was their hug that completely melted my heart.

Playlist

”To tell you the truth, I’m not really familiar with Gavin DeGraw’s work. It’s Ed Sheeran’s I totally love. I kept listening to his songs while writing How Long. Here are some of my very favorites:’

(My thanks to Louis Stevens to show me this the first time!)

The A Team

Kiss Me

Firefly

Blurb:

It might look weird for a musician to *fangirl* another musician, but Ed Finley didn’t give a damn. He adored and had a crush on singer and pianist, Gavin O’Malley—to the point of sticking O’Malley’s pin-ups all over the walls of his room. Ed thought his dream had come true when he was scheduled to perform together with his idol on stage.

Gavin O’Malley thought Ed was okay when they ended up being together that night. The night meant everything to Ed, while it was only another one-night stand for Gavin.

Ed decides to stay away while Gavin, after rejecting Ed, couldn’t stop thinking about the other man. Will Gavin get a chance to tell Ed his true feelings?

Buy Links:

Evernight Publishing ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon UK ~ Amazon Australia ~ Amazon Canada

All Romance Ebooks ~ Bookstrand

Author Bio:

Iyana writes M/M short stories and novellas. Her works have been published by Evernight Publishing, JMS Books, Books to Go Now, Torquere Press, Bitten Press, Leap of Faith Publishing, Breathless Press, and Alfie Dog Fiction.

Iyana lives in Jakarta, a city famous for its traffic jams, a lot of cars and motorcycles, and people selling stuff on the roads. You can spend two hours on the road going to a place you can reach in half an hour in a normal situation. Thanks to the traffic jams, though, Iyana can come up with a lot of stories, mostly shorties, as she prefers to spend the time during her trips writing into her cell phone rather than sleeping.

Another thing Iyana loves is kitties. Right now she has three of them. Their names are Cil, Horus, and Betsy, and one kitten. When she doesn’t write, she plays with them, or they would play with her when she writes.

Author Links: Blog  Website Amazon Goodreads Facebook Twitter Pinterest

Dale J. Gordon…The truth is out there.

Tags

Dale J. Gordon, Digital Wiccan, Ghost Candy, John Rapp, Music, Musicians, The Chris Brake Show

Oh now, what is it?

 

 Dale’s not scary.

No, he doesn’t.

Given you’re not exactly a lady, what’s the problem?

Oh well, I will just have to interview Dale on my own. What a shame when he’s a guy and you love interviewing dudes. Flint anyone?

Well, then there’s hamstahs week….

But there. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.  

And what this girl is doing today is welcoming to The Spooktacular the very special, the wonderfully talented, the ONE and ONLY……

But you don’t want to do them, or mention our other Spooktacular guests. So.

Dale–music man extraordinary, you’re originally from West Virginia, have been homeless in Nashville, oh and there’s Trenton.

Any truth in the rumour you faked your own death?

DALE. I was born and raised in “extra-rural” West Virginia yes, I did ten years in New Jersey’s state capital. A month before a well planned move to Nashville TN, I had a house fire that complicated the move and therefore left me without housing before my departure and well into my arrival, that’s the long and short of that, stay tuned for a book on that whole “chapter”…whooo.

 I’ve never had enough spare time to fake my own death. No.

Shey.  Seriously Dale–as we get here anyway–how long have you been involved in the music biz?

Dale.  I first started recording when I was nine years old,

got an actual musical instrument around fifteen, wrote, recorded on various tape machines,  did several albums in high school. I played guitar in a bar band when I was sixteen up until graduation. I first recorded an album in a studio when I was eighteen, did all the art work, pressed it, sold it. DIY ever since.

Shey.  Oh and then, the next year …obviously…..you got in tow with John Rapp from The Chris Brake Show.

No. He’s not.   How did that happen  and what’s with this biz of you being the ‘dreaded frontman of the grunge band, Pats!e.’ You’re not dreaded are you?

Dale.  I met Chris and John while they were touring through the Northeast, been friends ever since, that was 2008 I believe. PATS!E was a band that I started in high school, it ate and spit out many members over many years since 1999, lots of recordings and shows and stories and gray hairs, stay tuned for a bio pic. Dreads?…..Ah, those were like the bell bottoms of my generation a few years back, I still pull em’ out of the closet to show to company sometimes, “If those dreads could only talk….”

Shey. Seriously…I do like to be serious..not….how many albums have you recorded since starting out?

Dale .I really cant give you a straight answer or number, Yes, there are many albums and recordings, bands and short lived collaborations over the years. Its best to leave this in the air for now.

Shey. Can it. Not you Dale…Sylv. The man don’t want to talk, the man don’t

want to talk. What’s  been your main musical influences?

Dale. A. W.H. Auden, Miles Davis, Mark Twain, Robert Johnson,The Dead Boys, Captain Beefheart, The Butthole Surfers, Franz Lizst, Tom Waits, Billie Holiday, Black Sabbath, John Prine, Jim Carrol, Nirvana, Suran Song in Stag, Bill Hicks, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Murphy, Malcolm X, Frank Zappa, Howlin’ Wolf, Blood Cow, The Melvins, Neil Young, Mack Lindsay, J.T. Habersaat, Doug Stanhope and (early) Alice Cooper (the band)……I’ll stop there for now.

Shey.  Wow-how-how.

 

I’ve been listening to  a few of your tracks–courtesy of the fab John Rapp and your equally fab self and I have to say in addition to totally agreeing about your ‘soaked in booze and cigarettes’ amazing voice, it’s hard to pin down your style, which is brilliant. You say Americana but it’s far more than that. It’s a touch of just about everything. 

For someone who has never heard your work, but say may like a certain type of music—they like Zappa, for example, or maybe they like Tom Waits, which album would you suggest they listen to? I ask cos I urge you folks reading this blog, to give Dale a try. His voice, words and music are something else. And there really is something for everybody in his work.

Dale.  Oh, For a Tom Waits fan I guess “Ghost Candy”-2008 would be a good start.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi0USiP2bCA

Shey. Suitably spooky.

Dale. For a Frank Zappa fan “White Trash Jazz”-2011 or “Digital Wiccan”-2010 may suffice.

Shey. Honestly though I haven’t heard two tracks the same in your work. Is it a love of various music genres that means you like to write in different ones, or do you do it cos you like a change, or being hard to define?

Dale.  I have a very varied musical “diet” so I suppose that it shows up in my work. Sometimes I may run with a certain style for a while, perhaps for the duration of an album, other times it seems that every other song could be considered a different genre, I also have always enjoyed doing instrumentals and “sound collages” and skits. I’m sure there is a doctor out there who would say “Now, thats ADD if I’ve ever seen it” But it really is second nature to me now, to change and adapt when and where I see fit.

Shey. Oh don’t come crawling out the pumpkin now dudes cos you’re worried about Hamstah week. Dale, tell us about your new album?

Dale.  This album will be mainly acoustic guitar and vocals, A very stripped down, straight to the point type sound to properly represent the live show ; I’m sure I’ll manage to make it “strange” somehow. Hope to have it out and about by early 2015.

Shey.  Dudes……what did we just say? Where does your inspiration come from?

Dale. Ah, Thats more of a “the question” than “Will you marry me?”

Reptiles, bugs, mammals, family, friends, contemporary artists, performers and bands. Bookers,

history (in general), de-construction, disection, photography, film, sanity/insanity, the wee hours of the mornin’, and coffee of course.

Shey. Are you still between jobs, girlfriends, haircuts and houses?

Dale.  No,No, I have ONE good job after having worked two jobs for nine months, FINALLY found a flat here in Nashville after quite an exhausting hunt, Not sure that what is on top of my head constitutes as a hair cut but it seems to be getting the job done just fine thus far. That between jobs bit was the opening line for my stand up act just so ya know, not entirely rooted in truth.

Shey. What’s next for Dale J Gordon?

Dale. Explore Nashville, Press this album, Play lots of shows, hit the road, keep writing, and try to learn how to “take it easy” every once in a while.

Shey. Sounds good to me.

http://reverbnation.com/dalejgordon