Music to Write By – My Current Playlist

Posted in Music, Movies, and other Muses by

Right now I’m more in editing (and rewriting) mode in my work than I am first-draft writing. But no matter what I’m writing, music is my tool for getting me out of daily life mode and into composing and storytelling mode.

Here’s a sampling of what I’ve been listening to lately:

AOMusic – Edge Walkers

Nothing like soothing instrumental music when I just want to let my mind relax. To properly brainstorm, I find that I need to be relaxed–or, at least, not all mentally involved in or stressed about something. The music of AO never fails to pull my mind into the music, and, by extension, pull me into the worlds I’m creating.

Gjallarhorn – Suvetar 

Since I’m writing a story that’s loosely inspired by the legends of Finland, it’s almost necessary that I listen to Finnish folk music and/or songs about their mythology. Besides, it’s a cool music video.

Ulla Pirttijärvi – Mattharaku askai

The Sami people of arctic Finland are important players in my story, so I use their music for both research and for inspiration. Ulla’s songs are some of my favorites.

The Two Towers – The Riders of Rohan 

High fantasy, dramatic battles, and the Viking-like people of Rohan – what’s not inspirational about this track from Lord of the Rings? Specifically, though, Howard Shore’s amazing score (all of it – not just this track) plain gets me excited about storytelling.

Eivør – Min Modir (My Mother)

Besides the fact that Eivør makes it onto almost any “music favorites” or “currently playing” list, the tribal arrangement of this song is powerful and empowering. Eivør’s voice is otherworldly, and always puts me in a writing frame of mind.

Valravn – Marsk

More instrumental music, this time with a primitive and folk-ish sound. Perfect for conjuring up images of people and places in my fantasy world.

What’s on your current writing playlist?

Remember the Time – A Summer Vacation Tale

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Once upon a time, not so long ago (before the days of ipods and blogging, but after cars and air conditioning were invented), two sisters went on a trip with their parents.

They went on a trip every summer, but this summer was different. This summer, instead of going to the tropical heat of small-town North Carolina, they would be traveling to the shady cool woodlands of small-town upper New York state. To visit a mansion.

In the mansion lived a man named A. No other letters, not even a noun after it. Just A. He was a distant cousin of the girls’ mother, and one of the last living relatives on that side of the family. A was delighted to see his cousin again, and especially the two little girls, and was a gracious host—but even so, he seemed a bit peculiar in the head, as one might expect from a man who lived alone in a great old mansion.

The two sisters explored the mansion, and found oddities and marvels at every turn. Every room was so full of furniture they could hardly walk. Heavy tables and faded armchairs and dark wooden bookshelves—the sort of furniture one might see in a museum, all huge and old and carved with elaborate designs. Books everywhere, producing dust from their crumbling leather bindings, overflowed the bookshelves and sat in stacks on the tables, the armchairs, the floor.

The sisters found a box of doilies and little knitted things. There were some tiny mittens and hats that might just fit their dolls. On a shelf in a musty closet were toys—toys too dusty and old to play with. Wooden pull-toys missing their wheels, rickety metal cars with the paint peeling off. Who made children’s toys out of sharp-edged metal and paint that peeled? The sisters had heard something about lead paint and how poisonous it was—maybe that was why A was so odd.

There was a marble chess set, in green and white and black. The chess board alone felt as heavy as one of those great carved tables covered in books. The sisters wanted to play a game, but one piece was missing. Their mother explained: one Christmas, her mother had mailed the marble pawn to A’s mother, just for fun. The next Christmas she mailed it back. The tradition went on for years, mailing the chess piece back and forth across the country. The girls thought it an impractical thing to do, at least with a chess piece—it made the game playable only every other year. The two old mothers were now dead, and no one remembered who’d last had the pawn. The sisters looked at the empty cradle in the black velvet case and didn’t play chess.

When the sisters and their parents went back home, they had a car full of stuff and memories. Their parents took some furniture (small things—no museum tables), and books and fragile dishes with fancy patterns. The two sisters had mittens for their dolls, and books, and funny little plastic and metal figurines that A said he got from a gumball machine. All the sisters had ever gotten from gumball machines was stickers and jelly bracelets and gum that lost its flavor too fast.

On the long drive home, the sisters talked about dotty old A, the mansion full of treasures and dust, and the marble chess set missing its pawn. The older sister thought she might like to write a story one day about the old house, and what might have happened to the green marble chess piece.

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 Even though I came late to this blog-hop, I wrote this post as inspired by Emily of The Waiting blog. It’s well worth a read!

Zebra Garden

The Nitty-Gritty of Writing: Frequently Misspelled Words

Posted in Writings about Writing by

This subject could be novel-length—or at least long enough for several blog posts—but I’m going to cover just a select few words that I often see misspelled or misused. I encounter these a lot, whether it be the quick Facebook comment where spelling doesn’t matter as much, or the story or blog post by a professional where correct usage does matter.

Alright: This is not actually a word at all. The correct spelling is all right—two words. It is used in place of okay, such as “All right, Joe, we’ll do it your way,” or “What happened to you? Are you all right?”

It’s not related to the word already, which seems to be the popular belief, judging by the common usage of alright. Already and all ready have two different meanings: “Is it time to go already? Wow, time went fast,” versus “Are you all ready to go?”

But all right stands alone, as a two-word phrase.

Then/Than: Both of these are perfectly legitimate words, but I see them mixed up all the time.

Then is most commonly an adverb, and describes time or an order of events. It’s also used in a cause and effect scenario. “I took a shower, and then went to bed,” or “If you drop that bowl, then it will shatter.”

Than is primarily a conjunction, and is used as a comparison word. “I like turkey more than chicken” or “She is older than her brother.”

The most common misuse I see of “than” is it being used in the cause and effect-type of sentence, like “If Stan wants to talk to me, than he will call me.”

And similarly, I see “then” being misused as a comparison word, such as “I like apples more then oranges.”

If you’re not sure how to keep the words straight, then take a moment to analyze the sentence. If the sentence involves time in any way, it’s probably going to use “then.” If it’s a comparison of any sort, “than” is usually a safe bet.

Ya’ll: This is not a word either. The correct spelling is y’all.

First, a quick definition for anyone who doesn’t live in the American south—y’all means “you guys,” as in more than one person. It’s a contraction of “you all.”

The apostrophe indicates that there is a letter taken out—same as in words like don’t (do not) or it’s (it is). In this case, it’s the –ou taken out of you. Spelled ya’ll, it makes no sense.

And also remember, it’s a plural word. Y’all should not be used if one person is talking to one other person, unless the speaker is talking about a group of more than one. If you’re writing a story with a character from the American south, make sure that you don’t use this word if the character is having a one-on-one conversation with someone.

Correct: “Hey, Sammy, are you coming over tonight?” (Sammy alone has been invited)

or,

“Hey, Sammy, are y’all coming over tonight?” (correct only if it has been revealed earlier that Sammy, his wife, and his son have all been invited. In this case, the context indicates that Sammy is representing his whole family)

Incorrect: (romantic moment between guy and gal)—“So, Clara, do y’all love me?” (romantic moment turns disturbing here. Does Clara have someone else living inside her?)

I hope this helps to clear up some confusion about some of those troublesome words!

The ABCs of My Awesome Life

Posted in Music, Movies, and other Muses, Writings about Writing by

I totally stole this idea from The Magic Violinist. She has a great blog, so pop on over there (after you’re done reading my blog, of course!) So in this post, I reveal many deep secrets (or not) about myself, in alphabetical order.

Ambition: My ambition is to be a successful author. What makes a successful author? Having ten loyal fans? A hundred? A bazillion? Dunno. But I’ll start my journey of success by getting published first (hopefully by the end of this year/early next year).

Bad Habits: Sleeping late. Personally, I don’t consider this a bad habit unto itself—except that the world is run by morning people, so I wind up looking lazy by trying to sleep in till a decent hour.

Celebrity Crushes: That guy who played Hawkeye in Avengers. And the guy who played Thor. I don’t keep up with celebrities, and I’m too lazy to go look up the actors’ names. But who doesn’t like hunky superheroes?

Drink: XS Energy drink. I’m not an energy drink fan, really, but since XS is more of a nutritional drink than a standard “energy” drink, I’m all about it. Lots of flavors to chose from, too. Which is good, because I like variety.

Education: Always. I have a college degree, but I don’t think that education should be defined by the number of schools attended or the certificates on your wall. If you read, or connect with new people, or basically live life with your eyes open, you’re learning (or you should be). My education is increasing every day.

Food: Chocolate. Peanut butter. Chocolate and peanut butter. I also like fresh fruits and veggies, and hotdogs that have been cooked over an open fire and are all crispy and burnt on the outside.

Guilty Pleasures: I’ve never been quite sure what this is supposed to mean. I try not to do things that I will feel guilty about later. With the possible exception of eating cheese or ice cream. I’m lactose intolerant, but man, I love dairy. Sigh.

Hometown: Richmond, VA

Ice Cream: Love it. Except, as I just mentioned, I can’t have diary. Sigh.

Jonesing for: Ice cream, since I’ve been writing about it. Sigh.

Kryptonite: Bunny rabbits. And music. If I’m out in public and a song I like is on the muzak, then I’m pretty much ignoring my shopping or my lunch partner till it’s over.

Lookalike: Periodically, I’m informed by random strangers that I look like Meg Ryan. And a friend recently said that I look like Eivør, which I find flattering beyond words. When I grow up, I want to be as pretty and talented and famous as Eivør is…

Movies: Lord of the Rings (all of Peter Jackson’s thus far to date). Star Wars (all of them, but mostly the original trilogy). Miss Potter. Clue (y’know, that 80s movie based on the board game). August Rush. Most anything starring Will Smith.

Nickname: Don’t really have one. Some people call me “Gracie,” which is fine.

Obsessions: Music. Writing fantasy stories. And those forbidden dairy products. Sigh.

Perfume: I don’t use it.

Quirk: Which one? I’m rather quirky (aren’t all writers, really?) I’d be happy to live every day and go everywhere in sock feet. I’m borderline neurotic about checking my notifications on my phone, Facebook, etc. It bugs me to have a bunch of little icons or red flags in my notification bar.

Regret: I don’t do regrets. Sure, there are some things in the past that I wish I’d done or hadn’t done. But since I can’t change the past, I’d rather devote my mental energy to making sure that I don’t do or neglect to do something in the future.

Starbucks: Nope. I don’t like coffee. And there are cheaper places to get tea or giant cookies.

The Last Book You Read: I’m always reading 2-4 books at once. Some recent reads I enjoyed: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. Wisdom by Bonnie Watson. You can always stalk me on Goodreads if you really want to know what I’m currently reading.

Vacation: I went to England and Norway a couple of years ago, and I’m hoping to go to Iceland later this year.

Wine: Don’t drink it much—maybe one glass a month. I prefer red over white.

X: X-Men. I spent my college years and most of my 20s reading nearly every X-Men comic in existence.

Years: I’ve lived a few, and I intend to live many many more.

Zen: I guess this means what brings me bliss or peace? Music. Long walks in the woods. Scratching my rabbits’ ears.