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Book Blog, Keeping Score Series, Promotion and Publicity

Blame it on Pearl Jam

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I believe 'cause I can see . . .

You know, there are songs and then there are songs.

The first time I heard Pearl Jam’s Future Days, I was speechless. Breathless. I cried. This song . . . the music and the lyrics . . . they utterly destroyed me.

At the time, I was writing I Choose You, the third book in the Perfect Dish Romance series, and the song influenced the very end of the story.

I almost never use the same song twice in two different books’ playlists, but when I began naming the books in the Keeping Score Trilogy, I kept coming back to Future Days. I’d already decided on When We Were Us, and it was important that the third book incorporated an ‘us’ or . . . a ‘you and me’. As I listened to the lyrics of Future Days, I knew I’d found the title of Book 3.

I believe,
And I believe ’cause I can see,
Our future days,
Days of you and me

This is so much Quinn, and Leo, and Nate. Leo could have sung this song. It is a song of love, of forgiveness, of reaching a place of acceptance and looking forward . . . it IS this book.

And so there was no doubt that this song had to be part of the play list. I’ll admit, too, that I listened to it rather a lot as I wrote Days of You and Me. 

This playlist is one of my all-time favorites. I have a feeling I’ll be playing it for a long time to come, and I’ll never hear it without thinking of Nate, Quinn and Leo.

 

Book Blog

June Is Bustin’ Out All Over

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Happy June! Are you ready for summer? When I was a kid, I lived for June. It meant the end of school (in the northeast, we didn’t finish until about mid-June)–and the best part of school, really, since we had half-days, movies and more fun than work. Plus, in my family it meant we returned to our trailer at the shore on weekends, going to the beach and the boardwalk. And two of my favorite holidays were Flag Day (June 14) and Independence Day (okay, that’s July, but so close to the end of June. . .)

Music was huge in the summer. We listened to tapes as we drove to the shore or hung out by the pool. And my parents, as always, shared their favorites with us, including cute stories about the memories the songs prompted.

I always think of my mother when I hear this one. She used to sing it to us, and then laugh as she shared how her siblings would say, “Here comes Jeannie in her polka dot bikini!”

Such a sweet, innocent song from 1960 . . . this poor little girl who was afraid to come out the locker room!

I hope your summer is filled with chances to wear bikinis–or enjoy the view of them. Oooh la la!

 

 

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When the song tells a story

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When I was growing up, we spent a lot of time in the car. My dad was in the Army, and then he was with a company that moved us around quite a bit–and beyond that, we loved to travel, so we drove across the country, east to west and north to south. I loved it.

One of my favorite parts was listening to music with my parents. Both my mom and dad had a passion for popular music that they’ve passed on to their children and grandchildren. I enjoyed the music, of course, but I especially liked the stories that my dad told about the lyrics, the artists or even about how he and my mom had discovered this song or what it meant to them.

Stagger Lee was the song my dad sang at the ninth grade lip synching contest at school.

When he first heard Herman’s Hermits singing I’m Into Something Good, he made an unprecedented mid-week call from West Point to my mom in New Jersey, to play it for her.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight came out my dad’s first year at West Point, when he wasn’t allowed to listen to radios or records. He heard bits and pieces of it from the rooms of upperclassmen and was mystified by the weem-o-wep.

Today it’s me telling my kids the stories, both from their grandparents and from my own history. Someday, they’ll tell their own children. It’s our own personal form of oral tradition.

And sometimes, those stories spark an idea that leads to a book. Those are good days.

Next week we’ll talk about songs that tell a story all their own.

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The First One: Country Heartbreak

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As we discussed last week, The One Trilogy is totally country. Sam was the fan in The Last One, but in The First One, both Ali and Flynn grew up in Burton, and both appreciate country music.

Their story was actually inspired by a country song. Years ago, when I heard Tim McGraw’s Everywhere, I told my daughter that there was a story in that song. In my mind, a young woman lived in a small town, and her high school boyfriend, who had left town without her when she changed her mind about leaving, returns home. I didn’t see all the details, but I knew the feelings.

iphone6greyleft_579x1711While writing The Last One, I knew that Sam had a sister, but I thought she was simply a divorced mother. Imagine my surprise when Ali began telling Meghan her story. . .how she’d been in love, had a last-minute change of heart about leaving town with her lover and then discovered her pregnancy after he’d left. Everything clicked: Ali was the heroine of my Everywhere story, and Flynn was the high school boyfriend.

This playlist has some fun songs, too: Luke Bryan’s All My Friends Say tells about his raucous night at The Road Block when he’s both trying to forget Ali and trying to make sure she knows he’s over her. (He’s not, incidentally.)

Run over and check it out here.

Oh, and don’t forget . . . The Last One is free for a limited time and The Only One is coming in eight days! Preorder now. . .

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Sometimes Music is Best Served Cold

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< voice of Sophia from the Golden Girls> Picture it: Florida, 2013. I’m on my way home from a quick trip north to NJ with my husband, and we’re cruising down 95 with the radio playing on the country station when a song comes on and he reaches over to turn it up.

“Have you heard this? It’s good.”

REVENGEThe unmistakable crackle of Miranda Lambert came over the speakers, and as I listened to the words, I began to smile. This song had sass. It had spunk. It had. . .sizzle. I kind of fell in love with it right there.

I added Mama’s Broken Heart to my playlist and listened to it regularly that summer. I’d just finished up The King Series that spring and written and released The Posse in July. I wanted to do something with this new genre called New Adult, because it was something I enjoyed. I wasn’t sure what yet. . .and then a line from Miranda’s song got stuck in my head.

Can’t get revenge and keep a spotless reputation
Sometimes revenge is a choice you gotta make.

Aha. There was a story there.

Julia emerged more slowly than many of my other characters. She was cautious, giving me bits and pieces of who she was and what happened between her and the infamous Liam. Some of her experience was actually based on my own high school life, with a little more drama added.

But whenever I’d get stuck and a little frustrated with her reticence, I’d just go for a drive and turn on the music. Helped me every time.

It was important to me that all of the Best Served Cold music was sung by women. This was a story of empowerment and strength and growth. I wanted that reflected in the songs.

So, without further ado. . .go check out the Best Served Cold playlist here. See what you think. And share your favorite revenge song.

Next week. . .a very special Ava and Liam playlist from Just Desserts.

 

If you haven’t read Best Served Cold, grab it NOW–it’s free for a very limited time (going back to regular price next week!). Best Served Cold - Tawdra Kandle

 

Julia worked for weeks planning the perfect surprise birthday party for her boyfriend, Liam, but that night, she was the one who got the biggest shock. He broke up with her in front of all their friends, humiliating her in the process.

Clearly revenge was in order.

The plan is simple. Make him jealous, win him back, and then crush his heart. Fair is fair. However, there is one little hiccup, and he has curly brown hair and dimples.

Jesse is everything she wants. With him, she could almost forget her bruised heart. Almost. Julia has one choice: let Liam walk away after everything he did, or lose a chance at love in pursuit of payback.