Tuesday Tunes: Shred Kelly

This past week of writing—or plotting for NaNoWriMo, as it were—has been mostly accompanied by Shred Kelly's 2012 album, In The Hills. On repeat.

If you've never heard of them, check out their album at shredkelly.bandcamp.com. It's most excellent. For this Tuesday Tune, here's one of my faves:


At first listen it seems to be a song about a bear. My theory is that it's actually about Sage being the stalker-girl she was born to be. What do you think?

That's all for today. Off to do some more NaNo plotting...
S.

Tuesday Tunes: She Wants Revenge

My brother introduced me to She Want Revenge's music about four years ago. I like almost their entire library, especially when I'm writing a scene where the character is pissed and is going to make some serious changes—or do some serious ass-kicking. Must be the beat.

So that's the tune for today. Yesterday went as planned (mostly) and didn't have that typical Monday shit (mostly) just as I'd hoped. I ran through two chapters of edits (although, honestly, they might need a bit more polish) as well as two chapters of critique. Which isn't too bad, considering both of my chapters were long ones (over 5K words each) and that I had to work in a dog walk, a trip to the airport to pick up some friends, and a short visit with family as they passed through Calgary.

Oh, and dinner was on the table promptly at six. Let me just apologize to all the women's lib folk out there right now, for the fact that by the time Idiot #1 made it home from work I had the house clean, the yard clean, and dinner on the table. Sick.

So for Staycation Real Day #2, I've got big plans. I'm hoping to cruise through three or four chapters of edits (which would pretty much finish this round of revisions), finish another few chapters of critique, get a plan together for my halloween costume (yes, I know it's still August) and figure out which trophies and medals I need to order for the derby I host every Christmas. See, I'm kind of a plan-ahead type gal.

That's quite a bit to get done, so until next time,
S.

Tuesday Tunes: Right Where it Belongs

I've been busy. Writing is on hold for a few days because we've got a friend staying with us for a few days, which was a very last minute thing. But he's the kinda guy who likes to be always doing something, or always discussing something. Not in annoying way, he's just very conversant. So that's a distraction, and I'm not going to be a shitty host and tune him out while I write. Ah well, I've got all of next week off to write to my heart's content.

I've started getting back into NIN again, after about a year and half's hiatus. I'd over-listened to my NIN playlist for a while, but I think the familiarity has worn off again. And come on, it's NIN. Some of Trent's songs just grab my attention and won't let go. Like this one:

That's all for now,
S.

Tuesday Tunes: Let it Die

After a week and a half long bender, yesterday went pretty well. I managed to dialogue and then prose a new chapter (called "9B" for now) though it ended up being shorter than most of my chapters, at about 2K where I'm usually around 5K. I'm not really sure what to do about it at this point. I think the content justifies its own chapter, so for now I'll leave it alone. Once I get this revision done I'll skim back through chapters 9 - 11 and see how 9B best fits in.

So I finished 9B, which was my goal for yesterday. Then I also managed to jump ahead and pretty much finish off the edits to chapter 10, which put me ahead a day. Which is great, because I'm sure some kinda nonsense will come up during the week, or next weekend, that puts me behind a day. Then I'll be right back on track ;)

Tonight's goal is to dialogue chapter 11. This scene used to be fairly simple and low-key: Deyl had abandoned her friends (for reasons discussed in 9 & 9B) and now she finds them and rejoins them. They're pissed with her at first, but they quickly reconcile and get back on the road. I've decided to rewrite it with more action and more emotion. Instead of Deyl just explaining to her friends why she left, and why they should take her back, she shows them why they need her. They're in trouble now, providing the reader with another view of the Hunters, and Deyl's going to have to rescue them. Whatever their feelings were about her abandoning them, this rescue should prove where her loyalties really lie. Well, we'll see how it goes tonight.

And part of dialoguing an action scene means I'll be listening to my aptly-named "Action" playlist. So for today's Tuesday Tune here is the Foo Fighter's Let it Die, one of the songs from that list:

S.

Tuesday Tunes... oh dear...

You're all going to have to forgive me for this one.

When I drove back to Kenora for the May Long weekend I found a stack of CDs in my old bedroom. It was funny to run through them, in an "omigod, I can't believe I used to listen to this" sort of way. Some of the tunes weren't bad, honestly. Green Day's Dookie album still rocks. But No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom was in the stack, and for some reason I felt compelled to download most of those old CDs into my iTunes.

And then this song got stuck looping through my brain, so I've actually added it to a couple of playlists. To be honest—and I'm kind of embarrassed to admit it—I've got more than a few Tragic Kingdom songs on my writing playlists now. I'd like to claim it's just a nostalgia thing, but that might possibly be a lie... sorry!

Try to enjoy it. I was in like grade four when this hit shelves, so cut me some slack —.—

I'm also home sick while I write this. Caught some kind of flu bug, lucky me. But I'm determined to get a few chapters edited and some critique work done anyway!

S.

Tuesday Tunes: Them Crooked Vultures

I really should look back through my posts and see if I've already done this song... but I'm lazy, and I'm 90% sure I haven't.

Them Crooked Vultures only has one, self-titled album out there. But it's an awesome chunk of music. That being said, it's a little too laid back for my usual writing tunes. Great for editing to, though! Very relaxing when focusing on those troubling logic problems. And for whatever reason, I really love this album on repeat while I'm designing at the office.

Not now, chief. I'm in the fucking zone.

And I realize I haven't posted since last week's Tuesday Tunes, which isn't very good of me, considering that I recently resolved to post more often... oh well. I made it back to Calgary in time for the weather to turn shitty again, making me wonder if everyone lied about the nice weather they had during Stampede. Hm?

On my return I found my garden in total disarray, but still growing strong. Mostly. I definitely have a slug problem. Let me know if you have toads to sell or give away. The strawberry patch is thriving, and I've found more time for editing than I'd anticipated.

I've finished the simple and easy revisions: the little problems like repetition, grammar, word choice, etc. that my critique partner pointed out. These were mostly changes that I didn't have to spend much time thinking about, it was a simple matter of keeping what I had, smacking my forehead at obvious mistakes and changing it, or a short deliberation and then writing something new or cutting something entirely.

But along the way I've made notes on the bigger issues. These are going to take some serious think-time and list-making. Like introducing Deyl's split personality, which I had halfway decided to cut but my critique partner has convinced me to include. Which means the dual personality parts need to be beefed up, and that affects the entire story in a lot of different ways. I'm also taking another look at how quickly Deyl's knowledge and use of power develops, and thinking about slowing it down. Seems to make more sense if it takes her longer. I also need to clarify a few things throughout the entire work, like what Deyl's weaknesses are and how the fae use their powers. All of these things will affect larger parts of the story, so I want to be sure I have a road map for the changes before I make them.

Since my critique partner is in China until the end of the month, I'll move on to the list-making process while she's gone, and see what I can come up with. Onward!

S.

Tuesday Tunes: Clutch

I've had Clutch's album Blast Tyrant on repeat for a couple of weeks now. I love the southern rock sound with the heavy rock energy. Though their Wikipedia page says they've been around since 1992, I only first heard their music about a month ago.

This song is Ghost. It might not be my favourite off this album, but I find it great for writing to. Maybe it's the pace. Who knows. It just works.

I finished editing chapter twelve this morning, after a couple hours of critique work. I'm hoping to get chapter thirteen done and get into fourteen this evening...

Hope everyone out there is enjoying the same beautiful weather I am!
S.

Oh, the insanity!

Now, I don't want to get too wild and crazy, but—brace yourselves—today I'm combining a Three Things post with a Tuesday Tunes post!

I know, I know, it's madness up in here.

But (and forgive me if I've mentioned this before) I find I can't listen to playlists while editing, or at least not the same way I listen while I'm writing. When I'm writing I listen to music for inspiration and energy, sticking to different types of playlists depending on the type of scene I'm working on. Editing is a totally different process, and I need the music to be more of a background thing—I don't want it to distract me.

I find that listening to just three or four songs together, on a repeating loop, works well for this. Of course, they have to be songs I won't get bored with quickly. So, without further ado, here are Three Things That Are Also Tunes:

Thing #1: Where is My Mind by The Pixies

Thing #2: Out of Control by She Wants Revenge

Thing #3: Is Your Love Strong Enough by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

Tuesday Tunes

I actually started listening to the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack months before I watched the movie. I loved the Immigrant Song cover—I'm also a big Zeppelin fan.

When I finally did watch the movie, the opening title blew me away. As a graphic artist the visuals, combined with Reznor's sound... wow. Just, wow.

During editing, I like to listen to one song on repeat. Lately, it's been this tune.

P.S. I feel like I've been waiting forever for the new How To Destroy Angels album to come out! Soon, I hope. Very soon...

Tuesday Tunes

Today's tune is Heads Will Roll by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs! It keeps finding its way onto my one-song repeat... and the video is pretty cool. Love the end!

I'm completely new to this band, but so far I love what I hear. A little bird told me that Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) and Atticus Ross were getting together to do the soundtrack for the new Hollywood version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. This was pretty exciting news, because I loved their work on The Social Network soundtrack, I'm a huge Reznor fan, and because I really liked Larsson's Dragon Tattoo trilogy.

Then, that same little bird told me that one of the songs on the new soundtrack was going to be a compilation between Trent and Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. At the time, I had no idea who these Yeah people were... but that was soon rectified. I think I must have heard Dull Life somewhere before, but they've got a handful of really awesome tracks to go along with it. I'm no music guru, so I'm not going to get technical here. Whatever it is, the energy in their songs just really hits me and the word count skyrockets. Which is always a good thing.

Great writing tunes... I especially love Dull Life, Maps, Date the Night, Gold Lion, and Y Control. Check them out!

Music to My Ears

I'm actually tossing around a blog idea in my head: Tuesday Tunes. I like the alliteration. Music is a huge part of my writing process, and I thought I would chat a bit about that - what inspires me, what I'm into at the moment, how different pieces play into certain parts of my writing. Why I own four iPods...

But wait, it's Wednesday.

The hell you say! Oh... Touché.

Well, this is kind of the unofficial start of Tuesday Tunes, because I'm not actually talking about any particular music yet. Today, I'm just excited to be finished the copy edit stage of my manuscript. That's right: I HAD TO FALL is all done. Complete. Fin. And I found (shockingly!) that music and copy editing don't go together. I read aloud during that stage, making sure everything sounds right. I kind of need absolute silence for that.

But now that it's done I can toss the headphones back on and bring music back into my writing time. Which is good, because I almost feel lost without it. Definitely less inspired.

Music simply draws me into another world, into a character's life right inside my head. You should see me out there cutting the grass. Get the old push mower out, plug in the iPod and lose myself in the monotonous task. I fall into the music and my imagination takes off. And then a great idea hits me upside the head, I drop the mower in the middle of the lawn and dash inside. I'm sure the neighbours all think I'm out of my mind.

Sanity is in the eye of the beholder...?

So you've been warned: next Tuesday, first installment of Tuesday Tunes!