Category: Cool tunes

Playlist, Land of Entrapment

Hi, all!

OMG I’ve totally been going nutso over in Spotify with playlists. I just did one for the first in my mystery series, Land of Entrapment. It’s 30 songs (OMG WTF SHE WENT CRAY CRAY OVER THERE)/artists that served as a soundtrack for this particular book.

As I noted over on Women and Words, each one of my projects tends to have its own soundtrack, though some songs/artists have crossover with more than one project. Speaking of Women and Words, I posted the playlist for my novella, From the Boots Up, over there. Here’s the linkie dinkie.

Anyhoo, here’s the playlist for Land of Entrapment.

It may take a little bit to load fully on your device, so don’t panic. Here’s a URL for it, too, in case you just can’t stand it and you have to go to Spotify RIGHT NOW, dang it. If you don’t have a Spotify account, you can log in with Facebook.

And now, here’s some MOAR INFO about Land of Entrapment:

K.C. Fontero left New Mexico in the wake of a bitter breakup to take an academic fellowship in Texas. With a doctorate in sociology and expertise in white supremacist groups, she’s well on her way to an academic career. But a plea for help from her ex, Melissa, brings K.C. back to Albuquerque to find Melissa’s troubled younger sister. Megan has disappeared with her white supremacist boyfriend and K.C. knows she has the expertise to track the mysterious group, and she knows she’ll be doing a public service to uncover it. What she doesn’t know is how far into her past she’ll have to go to find both Megan and herself and the deeper she digs into the group, the greater the danger she faces.

Winner, 2009, Golden Crown Literary Society award, best lesfic mystery
Winner, 2009, Lesbian Fiction Readers’ Choice award, lesfic mystery

Here’s an excerpt.

MOAR FUN STUFF!

Interview with K.C. Fontero, the main character
Interview with photographer Sage Crandall, K.C.’s love interest

And there you go. Happy reading, happy writing, happy listening, happy Friday!

by Categories: Cool tunes, Excerpts, Music, Things you might likeTags: , , 1 Comment

Chuck Wendig’s Blackbirds

Happy Friday, peeps!

I’ve provided links to author Chuck Wendig’s writing tips in the past, because I love his irreverent, often profane take on this nutty writing life.

He just released his novel Blackbirds, and it’s getting a ton of well-deserved praise and buzz. Check out the sexy-time cover:

source: Angry Robot Books

Here’s what it’s about, from Angry Robot:

Miriam Black knows when you will die. She’s foreseen hundreds of car crashes, heart attacks, strokes, and suicides.

But when Miriam hitches a ride with Louis Darling and shakes his hand, she sees that in thirty days Louis will be murdered while he calls her name. Louis will die because he met her, and she will be the next victim.

No matter what she does she can’t save Louis. But if she wants to stay alive, she’ll have to try.

Here’s part of the buzz, all from Angry Robot:
“Trailer-park tension, horrified hilarity, and sheer terror mixed with deft characterization and razor plotting. I literally could not put it down.”
– Lilith Saintcrow, author of Night Shift and Working for the Devil

“A gleefully dark, twisted road trip for everyone who thought Fight Club was too warm and fuzzy. If you enjoy this book, you’re probably deeply wrong in the head. I loved it, and will be seeking professional help as soon as Chuck lets me out of his basement.”
– James Moran, Severance, Doctor Who and Torchwood screenwriter

“Gritty and raw, Blackbirds sports a unique heroine in the form of Miriam. Both sympathetic and pitiable, she dances through Chuck’s brilliant turns of phrase and crisp writing to an illuminating ending which begs the question: Are we truly masters of our own fate?”
– Allison Pang, author of A Brush of Darkness

That might not be the kind of book up your alley, but what I also dig about Chuck is how open he is with and about his process. Here’s part of the story BEHIND Blackbirds, done in his “25 Things…” format. It’s worth the trip over. CLICK THIS LINK HERE OR BE FOREVER DOOMED TO THE WALK-IN FREEZER OF MORDOR!

Happy Friday, y’all, and may we all find that “god I love this novel this is the one that will take me to the fire goddess Pelé and buy our way out of her wrath with a cocky grin and a song and make sure I have plenty of party favors” novel within us.

by Categories: Books, Cool tunes, Inspiration, WritingTags: , 1 Comment

Music Break, people! Get funky!

Hi, peeps (ha ha! Get it? Peeps! It’s Easter!)

Anyway, after a brunch today, I went to do errands and was in a Celia Cruz kinda mood. I think you all need some of the late, great Celia Cruz to get you moving, get you shaking off the winter, and get you ready for spring. So here she is, in a fab dance mix of “Guantanamera”, by D’Menace:

No, this is not a video. It’s the song on YouTube, though. So just turn up your speakers and SHAKE IT!


link

Whew. If that doesn’t get you up and about, well, I can’t help you. Perhaps you’re a zombie.

Happy five minute dance party!

by Categories: Cool tunes, MusicTags: , ,

Music to soothe the savage beast

Hey-dee how-dee.

I’m here to pimp a couple of my fave websites that stream music. I listen to music pretty much constantly, especially when I’m writing, and each project I work on requires a different kind of soundtrack, though I’ve found that trance music is providing a soundtrack for virtually anything I’m working on, much to my delight in some ways.

With that in mind, one of the best-kept secrets, I think, is Digitally Imported (electronica and everything like it). I’ve been listening to this site for at least three years now. I upgraded to the paid premium (about $5 a month and it’s well worth it), and turn that pup on and away it goes pretty much all day.

Another is Pandora, and I know some of you already listen to that and have created your own radio stations. One of the down sides — and I haven’t upgraded to a paying customer over there — is that the playlist on any particular station repeats after a while. Another pain in the butt is that in order to create a varied playlist, you have to constantly click that you “like” a particular song so Pandora remembers it and plays stuff like it. If you don’t click “like” for a while, Pandora will basically stop, because “it’s not sure you’re still listening.”

Another site I’ll use is 365Live, which offers virtually every genre under the sun. The site’s a little difficult to navigate, and because it basically just serves as kind of a clearinghouse, you have to click the station link to see if your player is compatible. But there are some truly great stations there, including world music, which is another of my faves.

AOL Music is offering free world music, speaking of. I haven’t really explored this site, but some of the genres are super cool.

And if you’re feeling totally new-agey or yoga-ish, Sky.fm has a New Age music stream. Super mellow.

One more tip–if you find a station you just love to death and you listen to it quite a bit, think about upgrading if it offers that option. No commercials, better sound, and you’re contributing to great music.

Happy listening!

by Categories: Cool tunes, Inspiration, MusicTags: , , , , , ,

Mellow Music tip

Hi, folks! Yeah, Sunday I usually do a reading tip, but today I’m working on some editing projects and I like to have some music going for that. Because I’m on a nostalgia kick, I’m here to recommend Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. Specifically, their debut album Rattlesnakes.

LC&C formed in 1982 in Glasgow. Between 1984 and 1989, they scored 4 top 20 albums and 5 top 40 singles in the UK. The band broke up in 1989 and Lloyd has been doing some solo stuff. In 2004, they re-formed briefly to do a mini-tour. I had the good fortune to catch LC&C live at a teeny-ass venue in Denver in the fall of 1985. GREAT show. What’s their music like? Think if Chris Isaak went into a pub in a small English village and hung out with John Mellencamp and they got the guitarist from early Wolfgang Press totally stoned and then had a jam session with the Dream Academy.

Rattlesnakes included the hits “Perfect Skin”, “Forest Fire”, and the title track. One of my all-time fave numbers by LC&C is “Forest Fire.” Here it is (not the video! Just listen and feel groovy!):


linkage

by Categories: Cool tunes, Music, The AwesomeTags: , , , ,