What would your soundtrack be?

I love music. Most of you know this. I took piano lessons when I was a kid but never stuck with it. I try to sing in the privacy of my own home and I can hear dogs howling miles away. So not really great at actually producing music just love listening to it. Anyone who is good at it --kudos --I highly respect you.  ***hands clapping***

Music can set a mood. Just watch a movie and listen to the background. If you took it away--it would probably be boring. Not that actors don't do a good job.  It's just adds something more to the scene. Another thing I'm so not good at--acting.  Tried that in high school too--it didn't turn out so well.

My brother is great at both --yea I'm jealous of him. jealous.

Anyway, music.

It is vital to my creative process. Everything I have written has a soundtrack. When I hear the songs that gave birth to the characters in my head--I can feel them, hear them, see them. It's almost scary. The soundtrack to my current WiP is listed over there ===> (on the sidebar). I would hope (I'm dreaming here) if my WiP was ever loved by an agent, and published that maybe if there was ever a movie deal (see told you-- dreaming here)-- that some of these songs better be on the soundtrack.

So, I thought I would point out the most important songs. The songs that still give me chills and let me see, feel and hear my characters vividly.

 1. Panic Switch--Silversun Pickups.  (song #12 on my playlist). This is the song that struck me with the whole idea. The rest of the album Swoon pretty much help write many chapters, along with Carnavas (another album of theirs). I'm in love with this band. I guess their recent album's name sums it up--Swoon. :)

2.Quiet in my Town and Letters from the Sky by Civil Twilight.  Another band I'm in love with. My CPs know my Chapter 3 and well Quiet in My Town is what played when I wrote it. Letters from the Sky just puts me in a zone (eyes glare over) because I can see my MC so clearly --it's scary. Two other songs are inspiring on this album. Human (#44 on the playlist) --which I'm writing a chapter to now and Next to Me (#38 on the playlist). The rest of the album is great too.  Quiet in my Town (#1 on my playlist) and Letters from the Sky (#11 on my playlist). The links I gave you --You may have to hit play or just go to their website http://civiltwilightband.com/

3. I will follow you into the dark--Death Cab for Cutie-- (song #28 on my playlist) This band in general has way too many songs to choose from for this WiP, but this song would describe my MCs to a "T". I don't want to say too much about this one. Gives too much away.

4. M79-Vampire Weekend. (song #11 on my playlist) O.k. I will admit part of my initial attraction to this band was their name. Now, I'm a full blown fan. Absolutely love them and this song helped a very cute chapter.

5.Knights of Cydonia-Muse. (song #21 on my playlist). This band is just awesome. This song sparked a huge scene which I can't say too much about. Many of their other songs do help too. Hysteria being one of them. (song #24 on the playlist).

So there are the major players. The other songs over there remind of my MCs and all the other characters that invade my brain. All of the songs set the mood for my current WiP. I put where they are at on my playlist if the links don't work.

On some of the links you may have to press play (not to buy the song-- just to listen) or you can find it on my playlist.

 Since I'm posting M/W/F this will be up for a couple of days. This week is also hectic cause I have family stuff so it may be up a little longer. ***I thought you guys can post any songs that you would love on your soundtrack (particularly for your story). Either post them in the comments below or post about it on your blog and leave the link in the comments below. I would love to check it out. I'm a music lover of all kinds of music so don't be shy. :)

Also, I missed out on Arlee Bird's many blogfests and blog hops. A lot of them about music. Sorry. I hope to join in on one soon. I think he may have one going on now. Check out his blog.

Hope you have a great day!

Reviews and Thanks

First, I wanted to thank everyone for visiting my blog and leaving their inspirational comments yesterday.  I took all to heart so thanks for taking the time. By the way, Karen G --I thought of you as I made my kids lunch--so thanks.
Also, a big thank you to Carolina (Carol's Prints) for the lovely Silver Lining Award. I think I have to name some blogs that are uplifting. This is hard for me to do because all the blogs I follow are inspirational. I guess I will narrow it down.



                          

1. Kelly's Compositions

2. Beautiful Chaos

3. Jenni James

4. The Climb

I am still trying to figure out the how to link the blogs I mention so when someone clicks on your blog name it will go directly to your blog.  So if anyone has any pointers let me know :)

My post today is simple I decided to give some thoughts --well-- reviews of a couple of things.  Both are things I love --reading and music.  I am not an expert in either field but I thought I would share my opinion.

Book Review--- I finally finished the book Shiver by Maggie Steifvater. I liked it.  I thought some things could have been chopped because towards the middle of the book my mind seem to wander but by the end it started to pick up.  I really like how the author wrote from two perspectives.  Both main characters got to express their feelings and thoughts and the author wrote it smoothly so there was no confusion when she switched to each character.  She also described things beautifully-- her words made me envision what she was trying to convey (very clearly I might add). 
I could have used less of the food --there is a lot of meals being made in great detail and I thought there was too much time spent on this.  I really didn't think it was needed.
I also thought there could have been a little more conflict for the couple in love.  They needed some bumps in the road to hold their love true. I like conflict --you know--fight for their love.

So there you have it-- my opinion on the book Shiver.  The next book I am reading is --hush,hush by Becca Fitzpatrick stay tuned for that review.

Music review- I really like the band Vampire Weekend.  I have their self titled debut album and absolutely love it.  So I was a little nervous about their second album Contra.  I was nervous because sometimes when I love an album completely the next one has a lot to live up to.    So when I first bought this I was not sure of the outcome.  The result--I love this one too.  Each song has it's own feel and these guys have a knack for producing interesting mix of beats and melodies.  My kids even love the single "Cousins".  They dance around the room when they hear the first couple of chords.  Great to release energy :0

Does anyone have any favorite books or music they would like to share? What do you like to get out of a book or album? What inspires you to write?