Writing about Relationships using Song Lyrics

Once again it is Music Monday! (If you missed last week's Music Monday- check it our here: Slipknot- Snuff.) I am so excited to write about this next artist and some of his songs. Whenever I want to write anything romantic, or anything dealing with love, sex, relationships- I turn to - who I consider the Prince of R & B (let's face it, R. Kelly is still the King), Trey Songz!



Not only is he a GORGEOUS man, he also has a sexy, velvet voice and very interesting song lyrics. Obviously if I am looking to write the next literary masterpiece I won't seek inspiration from "LOL Smiley Face :) " but I may look to some of his more intricate song lyrics to help me write a scene in a story from the male perspective.






For example, he has a song called "Yo Side of the Bed"(yes, YO side) he says "All I know is that, Our bed, Our Sheets, Our Pillows, Get lonley...on your side of the bed." Ladies (and some gentelmen), would you not swoon if a man/woman said this to you ????



On the other hand, if you are trying to capture that emotion of losing someone because your love has just died and there is no salvaging it, a good song to listen to by Trey Songz would be "Black Roses." Some of the lyrics help to give some emotional insight to the male side of a break up: "Who knew our love would ever be called a memory? Who knew my home for happiness would soon be misery? Hate that we're so distant girl do you even miss me at all? I guess, life's just not fair."



So, if you are looking for inspiration for writing raw human emotions when it comes to love, sex, relationships, and romance- go for Trey Songz' CD: Ready.





Are there any other artist/song that help you write about relationships?

Go here to check out a live version of: Invented Sex/Say Aaah: http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/465669/i-invented-sex-say-ahh-live.jhtml#artist=1838768

Free Friday

First off, yes, I realize that today is Saturday...I had a busy, busy day in London, England yesterday and did not get the chance to come online. I was gone from around 9:40 a.m., until 11:00 p.m. looking at things like Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament and the Tower of London. I was dead tired when I got back to my room.

Anyway, on Fridays I will blog about anything from a movie I want to see on the weekend, a recipe that I have tried (that may or may not have turned out well), or random thoughts on books that I have read. Today, I would like to combine the two. I found myself at one point trying to determine who I would cast in a movie version of The Hunger Games (this doesn't seem too far-fetched. There is bound to be a movie made from the book soon). I would like to share my thoughts with you on who I think would do well in the major roles:

Katniss Everdeen: AnnaSophia Robb (she would have to have dark hair of course- she is the girl from Bridge to Terabethia and Race to Witch Mountain)

Peeta: Jake Abel (Check him out on IMDB.com)

Gale: Rafi Gavron (see Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist or Inkheart)

Primrose Everdeen: Elle Fanning

Mrs. Everdeen: Julianna Margulies

Haymitch: Steve Buscemi

Effie Trinket: Susan Sarandon

If you have read the books, or have any idea of the characters at all, who do you think will be a good person to fill any of these major roles? OR is there a book that you have read and you automatically thought about who would play the major character (or characters) in the film? You have? Then tell me about it!

Thriving Thursday

Hi again :) It is my goal to give you updates on the thriving world of fiction and children's literature, as these are the areas I will write in, on Thursdays. I will give you links to check out Publisher Weekly's (PW) website in order to participate in some of their blog discussions and I will update you on the top sellers in various categories. This way you can keep an eye out for where your work will fall in!


According to Publisher's Weekly.com for the week of January 4th, 2010 the fiction and children's literature bestsellers are (by category/top 10):


Fiction:










The Lost Symbol. Dan Brown, Doubleday









I, Alex Cross. James Patterson, Little, Brown
Under the Dome. Stephen King, Scribner
Pirate Latitudes. Michael Chrichton, Harper
U Is for Undertow. Sue Grafton, Putnam
The Help. Kathryn Stockett, Putnam/Amy Einhorn
The Last Song. Nicholas Sparks, Grand Central
Ford County. John Grisham, Doubleday
The Christmas Sweater. Glenn Beck, Threshold Editions
Breathless. Dean Koontz, Bantam


Children's Literature:








The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins, Scholastic





Catching Fire. Suzanne Collins, Scholastic Press
The Book Thief. Markus Zusak, Knopf
Million-Dollar Throw. Mike Lupica, Philomel
The Magician’s Elephant. Kate Dicamillo, Candlewick
Beautiful Creatures. Kami Garcia, Little, Brown
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Sherman Alexie, Little, Brown
Graceling. Kristin Cashore, Graphia
Shiver. Maggie Stiefvater, Scholastic Press
Return to the Hundred Acre Wood. David Benedictus, Dutton


If you would like to see more, visit Publishers Weekly's site: http://www.publishersweekly.com/bestsellerslist/2.html?channel=bestsellers


This week, I wanted to provide a link to a blog over at Publishers Weekly.com. This discussion focuses on authors taking risque topics and not writing to their full ability because they feel as if they can rely on the fact that there work is obscure. The writer of the blog discusses Mario Acevedo's forthcoming Werewolf Smackdown , which they credit as a good book as Acevedo generally gets good reviews. Go to the following link, read the opening paragraph and decide for yourself whether you agree or disagree with this generalization.


http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/400000640/post/830051683.html

Once Upon a Time...When I was Young

Yeah, it's time for YA Highway's Road Trip Wednesday question again...how I've missed this! There is nothing a writer likes more than writing/talking about him/herself. :) This week's question is so awesome and I can spend hours writing about it, but I will limit it to the next few paragraphs- promise!!!

The question is what did you write when you were young?

I started seriously writing when I was about 10 to 11 years old, before that I would scribble some ridiculous poems and short stories about me and my mom going to the store, or my grandmother straightening my hair. My first poems were all about the things in life that I had not yet experienced, but that I thought would happen to me eventually. Love, shopping, best friends betraying me etc.

I also kept a journal of poetry in my teenage years and they were pretty much about my social awkwardness, the boyfriends I wish I had, the experiences I wish I had, and a few were about teachers that I couldn't stand :)

After writing my first poems, I realized this wasn't enough. I started to then write stories and "novels." At first, I felt like my stories and novels had to focus on my lifestyle and my race/culture. My cousin, sister, and I would write about African American males and females living in the "ghetto," getting high, having sex, joining gangs- all things that I had never done and couldn't imagine doing. I completed a novel around the age of 13-14 about a African American male dealing with family trouble, girlfriends, and murder/gang violence.

When I got into high school, I branched out. I felt like I didn't want to be this stigma writer- I didn't have to just write about my own race. I started to experiment with the other cultures that I longed to know more about and (at some points) that I wished I were more like. I wrote stories and novels about Latin Americans, and White Americans in high school dealing with normal teenage problems. I wrote a series called Milton High School about a group of friends struggling with relationships, family problems, drug use etc.

The one thing I'm really proud to say that I wrote around the age of 15-16 was a novel called Annette and Jason. It is heavily influenced by R.L. Stine and other authors that I read who wrote thrillers/suspense. It is about an abusive relationship between two high school students.
The writing is extremely cheesy, but I was pretty impressed with my take on the subject matter at such a young age. Maybe I can re-visit it one day :)

Anyway, that's the cheesy crap I wrote when I was a young adult. What about you ???

Tuesday Tantalizer :)

Once again, I have gotten this idea from my cousin, and I am running with it! She said that it is pretty standard for writers to release parts of their work on their blog- so here is my first go at it. I will try and leave it up for awhile, just to see if anyone decides to actually visit and comment on it.

I am working on a novel that I may call Chasing Manson. It is based on a very sloppy screenplay that I wrote some years ago. It is about a main character, Blue, who is fresh out of high school (I am hoping to market this as YA) and he and his friends go on a road trip to California from West Virginia in order to meet Charles Manson in 1972. It combines my love for YA, music, history, and thriller/suspense novels. I am hoping that everyone will get enticed from this little snippet and decide to come back for more :))

Chapter Three-We Gotta Get Out of This Place
The officer didn’t know this of course, but he would become completely fascinated with me. At that particular moment, when we first met, he was just annoyed. He rolled his eyes, fiddled with the low-hung belt around his waist, and sucked his teeth. Occasionally, he used his pen and pad to jot down a note or two.
“What did they look like?”
I looked up at him. We were in the John’s office. I sat in one of the folding chairs across from John’s throne and Jinks sat cross-legged on the floor next to me. The officer rested his butt on the edge the desk.
“They were wearing ski masks. I don’t know what they looked like.”
“No idea?”
He tapped his pen on the pad in a rhythmic tone that reminded me of The Beach Boys’ “Komoko”. I can’t stand The Beach Boys so I couldn’t stop myself from letting out a small huff.
“No, sir. They were wearing ski masks.”
“Accents?”
“They sound like you or me.”
“Can you be more specific?”
“Excuse me?”
“Did they sound like you, or did they sound like me?" He asked this with an absolute straight face. I didn’t really understand the question. To me, we both sounded the same. White males from West Virginia don’t really have any distinctions in their voices.
“What I mean is they sound like they are from West Virginia, not England or anything like that.”
“Are you sure?” The way he watched me, I knew his question was serious. His burnt brown mustache twitched as he spoke. His hair was the same color and almost as coarse. It bothered me.
“This is John Lennon’s number one fan. He would know an English accent.” Jinks responded as he tapped my leg. He smiled and pushed his hair behind his ear, he was proud of himself- like he was a character witness for me.
The officer was not amused.
“So…no accent?”
“No, sir,” I responded. This time, I kept the huffs to myself. I figured that would make the lame ass interrogation go by a lot quicker if I was polite and cooperated.
“Please, call me Officer Stanton, or better yet- call me David.” David stood and took a card out of his back pocket. He would tell me later it was because he knew how to play the game. He knew what kids like us wanted, if we had to refer to him as Officer Stanton, we would never feel comfortable enough to tell him anything.
“Why don’t you give me a call if you can remember anything else?” He extended the card to me and then put his pad away in his breast pocket.
I took the card and read the bold name in cursive. He looked like he was a David. Davids seem like assholes, like arrogant, annoying, cops.

What is it about "Snuff" by Slipknot?

So, like my wonderful cousin and writing counterpart, I realized that if I gave myself things to talk about each day on the blog, I will be more "bound" to visit and write on my blog- hopefully you guys will start coming as well :)

Anyway, I thought I would like to start off each week by talking about one of my other loves- and I think most writers agree that this goes hand and hand with writing- music. I would love to spend each Monday discussing the music that inspires me to write, or that makes me think about new material.

This week I will highlight one of my all-time favorite songs- Snuff by Slipknot. I can't really figure out why I love this song, but it just does something to me- lyrics like "break yourself against my stones...and spit your pity in my soul." These are the kind of words that I wish I had written! The kind of lyrics that inspire a writer to pick up a pen (or open up that laptop) and just flow... Can you think of a song that you like right now that evokes this same response???

Go here to watch the Snuff video: http://www.noisecreep.com/2009/12/18/slipknot-snuff-short-film-premiere/

Posted Blog

My Blog post on Real Life Horrors was posted on YA Highway...please go and check it out here.... Real Life Horrors. Thanks!

By the way---I wrote this in ENGLAND- can't freakin' believe it!! I am here for my MFA program and I am way excited to go and see Oxford and London. Hopefully, I will post some pictures here so that everyone can take a look!!!