I always have a hard time coming up with guest posts topics, but after pondering it a while, I thought I'd address a concept I believe might be a creation of the 21st Century.
These days, we're living in the era of the...
Book Entourage
In recent years, it seems books are no longer presented to the world, naked, with only a cover to well...um...cover them. Books are accompanied by blog tours (like the one I'm on now), author interviews, character interviews, swag, street teams, cover reveals, etc. In essence, books now have an entourage, for lack of a better word, to follow them around. A book entourage is fun, and a development I find interesting, because my stories have always had an entourage of sorts, beginning with the first one I wrote for public consumption, all the way back in 2009 (tongue firmly planted in cheek.) This entourage concept most likely developed because my early writing was serialised stories posted at A Happy Assembly, a website devoted to Jane Austen. That format made it easy to add author notes giving readers insight to my various sources of inspiration: settings, passages in the original Austen work, real life experiences and, in particular, musical inspiration.I've talked to a lot of authors at book fairs and festivals who use music in some form or other when they write. Some have playlists of instrumental music that they listen to during the writing process. Some can even write while songs with words are playing.
I regret that I can't use music this way; I'm too auditorally distractible. In fact, as an experiment, I'm sitting here now, trying to write this post while music from Undeceived's playlist fills the air. It's difficult. The commercials (I have the free Spotify version that interrupts with commercials every few songs) don't distract me nearly as much as the songs themselves do. I get caught up, and the music fills my brain, drowning out the words that are residing there. (So you'll know, when I go back to edit this piece, that I've turned off the tunes!)
Music is very important to my book entourage though, because I use it as an anchor to ground my mind into a scene or chapter. Sometimes it's as simple — and as complicated — as informing a sense of time or place in the story. While music is playing, I'll see something in the scene or feel some sensory detail that wasn't there when I was putting dialogue on the page.
For example, when I was writing the sections of Undeceived that take place in East Germany, the Bob Seger ballad "Main Street" kept playing on a loop in my head, providing an evocative fuzzy guitar riff that "described" to me how Darcy might have noticed and longed for Elizabeth. He knew he would never approach her (or would he?). He was resigned to just admiring her forlornly from afar (or was he?). It got to the point where listening to "Main Street" would plunk me right in the middle of those scenes. I could see Darcy in my mind's eye, lurking outside the theatre door on a crisp clear autumn night, pretending to talk to someone else as Elizabeth walked away, alone.
Weird, huh?
But I guess every writer has her quirks.
So with that in mind, I'm going to share my Spotify playlist links and the YouTube channel links I created for Undeceived. The playlists are in general chronological order that parallels the novel. There's some overlap between the playlists, but there's some live music on the YouTube channel that adds a different flavour to the "soundtrack". Thanks to my generous beta reader Agnes, who is from Hungary, the YouTube channel also has a selection of Hungarian music from the Undeceived era, in addition to a classical jazz song played by a Hungarian band.
Karen's
channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/kmcbooksUndeceived
playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLl8BgKm61G8rSDS_8JxvvDRtOU4eqMct9Karen's
profile: http://open.spotify.com/user/kmc1512Undeceived
playlist: http://open.spotify.com/user/kmc1512/playlist/4qfyHDdskisCjYvullF8jFSo enjoy the music, bookmark the links, and while you read Undeceived, see if the music has that same anchor effect on you. Are there any other tunes you would add?
Book Blurb
William Darcy appears to lead a charmed existence, but now he finds himself fighting for his career and against his growing feelings for the young woman he doesn't know is watching his every move.
Elizabeth wants to throw the book at him, but the facts don't match her preconceptions. Is Darcy being set up?
Are there darker forces at work? Or is William Darcy a skilled double agent after all? Nothing is as it seems, however, and the closer Elizabeth gets to the truth about Darcy, the more she spirals into danger.
Undeceived, the new novel by award-winning author, Karen M. Cox is part romance, part spy game suspense — a compelling variation on Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's classic tale.
Author Bio
Karen M Cox writes novels accented with romance and history. All three of her published novels: 1932, Find Wonder in All Things and At the Edge of the Sea, have garnered awards from the independent publishing industry, taking top honours three out of the five times they were recognized. Last year, she also participated in Meryton Press's inaugural anthology, Sun-Kissed: effusions of summer, with her short story, Northanger Revisited 2015. Her fourth full-length novel, Undeceived: Pride and Prejudice in the Spy Game, will be released in early 2016.Karen was born in Everett WA, which was the result of coming into the world as the daughter of a United States Air Force Officer. She had a slightly nomadic childhood, with stints in North Dakota, Tennessee and New York State before moving to her family's home state of Kentucky when she was almost twelve. She lives in a small, quiet Kentucky town with her husband and children, and works as a pediatric speech pathologist. She spends her off hours reading, writing and being a wife and mom — and spoiling her new granddaughter.
It sounds like a fun one!
ReplyDeleteYes '80s playlist. Perfect for your book. Perfect!
ReplyDeleteI think we all are aware of the emotional response (connection?)that a song can evoke. Mine usually take me back to a time/place in my life. But I've never heard of that same response to a book!
ReplyDeleteI think yours is the first play list I've looked at in which I recognize the majority of the performers and songs. :) Love me some Pat Benatar and Bob Seger.
ReplyDeleteI get caught up in music and can't write even a letter or an email let alone a book or blog post.
Loved the story! I'll have to listen to the play list. Thanks!
It sounds like a fun read.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Luthien, for inviting me to guest post on My Love for Jane Austen! I so appreciate you sharing your enthusiasm for "all things Jane"!
ReplyDeleteI find it fascinating to read about how some writers associate music with their work. If I'm lucky enough to win a copy, or even if I have to buy a copy, I'll definitely be playing the music along with it. Thanks Karen.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a fun book.
ReplyDeleteIt is a fun--and smart--read!
ReplyDelete