Thursday's Children - Soundtrack to a Book

First off, in case you can't tell, I'm going through a bit of an identity crisis.  I decided to change the name of my blog, but haven't decided what it's going to be called yet.  I also changed my name *on* my blog, so don't be confused.  I'm still me.  J

Ok, on to the Thursday's Children portion of this post.  This was not the topic I planned on writing about today.  The topic I had in mind is more serious and I decided I just didn’t have it in me today to tackle it.  So instead, I’m going to share my playlist for my current work in process. 

I’ve talked about a song in particular that inspired a project, but never the playlist for my current story…the one I plan to finish this year. 

I will freely admit that I have no idea why some of these songs make me think of this project.  There are songs that I hear and I think of a certain character, or scene or place.  And then other songs, it’s just more of a vibe, something I can’t really describe.

I fully expect this list to grow as I work towards the end of the book, but this is where the playlist stands right now.

Vanilla Twilight – Owl City

I Won’t Give Up – Jason Mraz

Brighter Than the Sun – Colbie Caillat

Where You Are – Gavin DeGraw

Burn it Down – Linkin Park

Brave – Josh Groban

Are We Afraid – Toad the Wet Sprocket

How Soon is Now? -  Love Spit Love

Angel Mine – Cowboy Junkies

The Boys of Summer – The Ataris

Colorful – Rocco DeLuca & the Burden

Follow Through – Gavin DeGraw

The Great Escape – Boys Like Girls

Everybody’s Changing – Keane

Walk On – U2

All I Want – Toad the Wet Sprocket

Crushcrushcrush – Paramore

The Lighthouse’s Tale – Nickel Creek

Cry in the Sun – Better Than Ezra

No One’s Gonna Love You – Band of Horses

Now that I have the list typed out and staring at me, I’m not sure how some of these songs even relate to the same book.  But they do, in my mind anyway!  Below are a few videos I pulled off YouTube, for what I feel might be a couple of the more obscure songs (and one of my all-time favorites).

Click here to view the other blogs in the Blog Hop (and to join in, too!)

Monday's Musings - Sort Of

So I’m a day late with my post this week.  I blame it on my lazy Sunday, which made me forget I had a blog to write.  This week’s topic is “What do I need to write?”  This can be interpreted a few different ways, I’m choosing to go with what are those quirky things I need to have so that I can actually sit down and write?

Be sure to check out my fellow Monday’s Musings bloggers at the links below to find out what they have to say:

Chris Allen-Riley

Tess Grant

Lynn Doezema

When trying to come up with what I need to have handy to help me accomplish my writing goals, I had a hard time.  I’ve never really thought about it much, to be honest.  I’ve never thought about the entire writing environment and process in these terms.  But I did come up with a few things.

Music, I have to have some sort of music playing.  I can’t concentrate when there is no background noise.  If it’s dead silent, my mind tends to wander more.  It’s like there’s a part of my brain that needs to be kept occupied so the other part can concentrate on the task at hand.

No clutter is another one.  I absolutely cannot concentrate if my office is cluttered in anyway.  Even if the first floor of the house needs a good cleaning or straightening, I have a hard time focusing.  It’s something about the disorder; it interferes with my ability to think.  I was that way all through school, too.  I couldn’t concentrate on homework if the area where I was working was a mess. 

I also need to have some sort of comforting beverage on hand, be it Diet Dr. Pepper (I have a *slight* addiction there) or tea.  It usually depends on how cold my office is to determine which one I go with.

Hand in hand with things I need are things I don’t need.  I really need to learn to turn off the wireless on my computer so I can’t access the internet.  I know it’s been said before, but the internet is the downfall of many a writer.  There are way too many fun things that can distract when you’re already stuck and can’t decide where to go next.

I’ll tell you another thing I don’t need is my cat walking on my laptop, lying on my notebooks, curling up on my arm, and repeatedly rubbing up against the monitor as if to claim it as his.  Every time he rubs the corner with his head, he jostles the laptop and closes it just a little bit more.  At least he's affectionate, I guess.

So, anyway, there are a few things that either help or interfere with my writing process.  What do you need to get those creative thoughts flowing?

Monday's Musings - Favorite Movies and TV Shows

It's time for another Monday’s Musings post and our chosen topic this week is favorite movies and TV shows.  I’m going to narrow the field down a little bit because I feel like topic is one that could take on a mind of its own.

First off, I’m going to stick to movies.  The main reason for that is, I’m completely addicted to a certain TV show at the moment (see last week’s office tour post) and I if I tried to write anything on that topic it would be way more than anyone wants to read and basically just an excuse to include pictures of a certain person. J So instead, I’m going to write only about movies, specifically my top five favorite movies that are based on books.  These are in no particular order because I couldn’t possible rate them.

Check out the links below to see what movies and TV shows my fellow bloggers are into:

Chris Allen-Riley

Tess Grant

Lynn Doezema

To Kill a Mockingbird

One of my all-time favorite books is also one of my all-time favorite movies.  Atticus Finch is an amazing father figure and no one could have played him as well as Gregory Peck. 

Robert Duvall plays the infamous Boo Radley in one of his first film roles.  It’s almost strange to see him play such a shy, quiet character since one of the things I’ve always associated with the actor is his powerful voice. 

The story is one that portrayed a very serious and touchy subject through the eyes of a child, and I think the movie was able to do the same thing in an equally impressive way.  While Scout may not have understood 100% of the situation, she experienced the emotions of those around her and knew this wasn’t just any trial for her father.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Little Women

There have been many versions of this move over the years and I’ve seen them all, but my favorite is the version with Wynona Ryder and Susan Sarandon.  No one could play Marmee like Susan Sarandon and who doesn’t love a young Christian Bale as Laurie? 

I especially love the re-creation of Orchard House, which is such an integral part to the story.  It was so true to life, it made you feel like a part of the March family and I always wanted to be Jo. 

While the other versions of the movie are great in their own ways, this one stands out because the actors come across so natural, it pulls you in and you forget you’re even watching a movie.

Little Women

Pride and Prejudice

Like Little Women, there are many versions of this movie; my favorite is the BBC version with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy.  Colin Firth *is* Mr. Darcy as far as I’m concerned.

This version, while close to five hours long, is totally worth the viewing time.  It runs as closely to the book as just about any movie I’ve ever seen and the locations used are straight from Jane Austen’s imagination. 

This movie is one I always watch when I’m sick, getting lost in the scenery and characters makes me feel better every time.    

Pride and Prejudice

The Princess Bride

The love story in this move is timeless, but it’s the characters other than Buttercup and Westley that really clinch it.  Inigo Montoya has one of the best lines in all of movie history.  Say it with me now, “Hello.  My name is Inigo Montoya.  You killed my father.  Prepare to die.”

Andre the Giant is wonderful as Fezzik (he is the brute squad) and Billy Crystal is beyond funny has Miracle Max.  Westley is the hero we all want who would fight for his love to the end of the earth, even when he’s mostly dead. 

When I was younger I would get annoyed at the breaks in the story that pulled you back to the present and showed the grandfather and grandson.  As I got older though, I realized the importance of those scenes and it just made me appreciate the story more. 

The Princess Bride

The Last Unicorn

This one is a new addition to this particular list, I only recently found out it was based on a book.  Like the story of Buttercup and Westley, I have watched this movie more times than I can count.  So many times, in fact,  that when I pulled it out a few weeks ago and watched it for what was probably the first time in five years I still knew every word.

The basic synopsis is this:

There is a unicorn in a forest who overhears two hunters talking and learns she is the last unicorn left in the world.  She meets a butterfly who tells her the story of the Red Bull that took away all the unicorns years ago.  She decides to go on a quest to find out if this is true and where the other unicorns are.  Along the way she meets a magician named Schmendrick who is not the best magician in the world, although he does possess true magic.  He decides to accompany the unicorn on her quest. They also pick up one other traveler on the way, a woman named Molly Grue. 

Eventually they end up at the castle of King Haggard and his son Prince Lir.  At this point, the unicorn is in human form (courtesy of Schmendrick) to prevent the Red Bull from discovering who she truly is.  Eventually they learn what happened to the unicorns and there is a final showdown.

I’m not going to go through the rest of the story because I don’t want to give away the surprises and the ending.  This is an absolutely beautiful animated movie; it was really my first exposure to Japanese style animation.  The characters are voiced wonderfully (Jeff Bridges, Alan Arkin, Christopher Lee, Mia Farrow) and the band America performs the music. 

The Last Unicorn

As you can see, I had a hard time toning down the hyperbole in this post; I just love these movies to pieces.  If you haven’t seen any of them, I recommend putting them on your watch list as soon as possible.  You won’t be disappointed.

What about you, what are some of your favorite movies and TV shows?

Monday's Musings - Office Tour

Happy Monday Morning!  I’m trying a new take on the start of the week this time…something a little more chipper.  I’m not really much of a morning person but we’ll see if faking it puts me in the right mood for the week.  J

This week, the Monday’s Musings gang is taking you on a tour of our offices/writing spaces/corners of the dungeons where we work. 

Please make sure to check out the links to my fellow bloggers below:

Chris Allen-Riley

Tess Grant

Lynn Doezema

Finally, after months of adjusting and organizing, my office is just about the way I want it.  I’ve gone through two desks, three layouts, a paint job and a really bad stenciling job that I still need to paint over, but my space is cozy and comforting.  It’s not a very big space, but below are a few pictures to give you an idea of where I spend a fair amount of time.

Above is a picture of my desk (the second one I tried) with the green lamp I picked up on a whim.  It doesn’t really match, but I don’t care, I like the color.  I love the sloping ceiling above the desk; it makes me feel like I’m writing in an out of the way attic room in an old house.

My bookcase.  I keep only certain categories of books in my office, the rest are on bigger bookcases in the dining room.  This holds my writing and researching books, my physical ‘to be read’ pile (the rest are on my Kindle) and my more inspirational books I guess you could say.  My Alcott, Austen, Shakespeare, Whitman, Dickinson, etc. 

This is my board where I try to keep some sort of inspirational quote.  This one has been up for a while, but I feel like it’s really appropriate for me lately.  It’s from the movie Inception and is spoken by Eames (also known as the fantastic Tom Hardy).  In case it's a little hard to read it says, "You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling."

A picture of Louisa May Alcott’s home, Orchard House, that I purchased a few years ago when I visited Concord, MA.  Getting to tour Orchard House was a total pilgrimage for me.  Little Women has been one of my all time favorite books since the first time I read it in fourth grade.

Just a couple more pictures.  

This is my squishy, book-reading chair.  Although lately it’s been my squishy, Doctor Who watching chair.  Not that I’m addicted or anything. 

Ok, yeah, totally addicted.  David Tennant has absolutely nothing to do with my office, but a random picture of the Doctor never hurt anyone.  J

My little electric fireplace that keeps my room cozy warm in the winter.

Finally, a picture of purple lilacs (my favorite flower) that my mom painted for me.  Can you tell purple is my favorite color?  The color in this picture is a little off, the frame is actually silver, but you get the idea.

So, that was probably more than you wanted to know about my office and more pictures than you needed, but I’m quite proud of it.  (Except for that terrible stenciling above the bookcase.)  It’s comfortable and cozy and I love spending time here. 

Where do you write?  Do you have a dedicated spot or do you like to move around and change it up?