And the 'official' launch of Crystal Clear!
I have a lovely day planned today - lunch with some of my favourite people, Phillipa Ashley, Elizabeth Hanbury and the lovely Lizzie Lamb who is coming from miles away!!! Plus of course this cyber party for all my online friends who couldn't have made it to a real life launch.
To kick us off here's the blurb from Crystal Clear:
Crystal Clear by Nell Dixon
Fall in love with this sparkling story of crystals, chaos and re-kindled romance!
For years Zee has tried to ignore her real name (who calls their kid Azure Dawn?) and her mother Marla’s alternative lifestyle. A million miles away from all that new-age nonsense, she’s got a reliable teaching job, a perfect life plan and sensible accountant Simon for a fiancé. But when Marla gets sick, the foundations of Zee’s rock-steady world are seriously shaken. Soon she’s back home, in touch with the boy who broke her heart and even being sucked into one of her mum’s hare-brained schemes. What about Zee’s plans for the future? Could they ever include a free-spirit from her past?
‘A brilliantly fun read that will have you hooked!*****’ (OK! magazine )
When I write my books I create playlists of songs which pick up different parts of the story and help me get the right mood. Over the course of the story one sone more than any other becomes - for me - the one that sums up the feel of the book.
Here's the playlist for Crystal Clear:
Radio Nowhere - Bruce Springsteen
Turn it up - The Feeling
I love it when you call - The Feeling
Waiting on a sunny day - Bruce Springsteen
All Summer Long - Kid Rock
Photograph - Nickelback
What I go To School For - Busted.
No prizes for guessing that last track was for the last part of the story. One song though became the one which for me is Crystal Clear and that track is Bruce Springsteen - Girl's in their summer clothes. Listen Here
Everyone posting throughout today will be entered for door prize draws and I'll be pulling some names out to win signed print copies of Crystal Clear!
So, until I get back from lunch - tell me what music for you sum up which books - obviously Wuthering Heights can only be Kate Bush - Remember I've got goodies waiting!!!
27 comments:
ooh caught you in time. Happy Birthday Nell. Have a lovely day.
Mel x
Happy Birthday, Nell! :) I love that you had such a great review from OK! (can you tell me which issue that was? I might be able to find it here.)
I do the same thing with music - the playlists I create can have an almost Pavolovian effect, after a while, triggering ideas no matter where or when I hear the songs.
When I was writing "Ask Me..." there were a few songs which came to represent the story - but most of them were in Italian, so it's kind of hard to explain them, here. The titles and artists were:
"Una Delirante Poesia (A Delirious Poetry)" - Samuele Bersani
"Vita d'altri (The Life of the Others)" - Subsonica
"Volta la Carta (Turn the Card)" - Fabrizio deAndre'
The songs in English which capture the tale?
"The Waiting" - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"Coming Back to Life" - Pink Floyd
"Love and Anger" - Kate Bush
Of course, those are just my thoughts. Others may view it completely differently. :)
Congrats on the new release, hon! I wish for much happiness and success for you in the coming year! Now go have some birthday cake! :)
Love ya!
Happy Birthday Nell. Have a really great day.
I've been thinking about the soundtracks to books and the music that accompanies 'Blue Remembered Heels' are Elvis Costellos 'Watching the Detectives' (because of the lovely Mike) and 'Accidents will Happen' (as Abbey was stuck by lightening)also I can't miss out 'Brilliant Disguise' by Bruse Springsteen
Hopefully other people will have better ideas than that!
Hi Mel, waving!
Kim, I'll have to look those up. I know the Kate Bush track though - good choice.
Happy birthday, Nell, and have a fantastic day!
Emma, thoses are inspired choices. One of the tracks for Blue Remembered Heels was Tell me Lies by Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello I can totally see working.
Hi Nell, you snuck in a birthday as well as a new book - go you! I don't work to music, except what I hear in my head LOL. But since we're doing classics, I'd match DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE to Simon & Garfunkel's "I am a Rock."
Darnit, now I have that song in my head:-
A winter's day
In a deep and dark December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
All success with the new book!
Valerie
Ooh, I like that one, Valerie.
Hi Nell - see you soon btu until then, my song for Decent Exposure was A Glorious Day by Embrace. Its from Will's POV of course - I used tp play it while out on my work travels and remember sitting in some wild half built housing development in Burton, waiting to hear if LBD were going to buy it and give me a Glorious Day too!
"Who could send something so pure to lure me away
I fought with the last of my breath
But you came along on a glorious day
By the time that you left I was crawling again
Yeah you came along on a glorious day
Now I want you to save me again
The fire that they said would burn just lights up the way
I lie in the place where I fell
And three years on, the nine day wonder
won't go away
Till you bring an end to my hell
But you came along on a glorious day
By the time that you left I was crawling again
Yeh you came along on a glorious day
Now I want you to save me again
How spooky is this? My Nickelback CD was playing and 'Photograph' came on just as I clicked on your blog. And what a brilliant song it is!
Happy Birthday, Nell! Hope you have a wonderful day.
Nell, haven't had my caffeine yet this morning so am clueless on songs though I do have a "life" playlist full of country songs for really down days LOL. Going through Hell, Lean On Me (the Haiti Now version) etc.
Congrats on the book and I am just glad that you aren't in a blizzard so can get out and about!
Peace, Julie
Happy birthday, Nell! Hope you have (had?) a marvellous day.
I'm way behind on reading, as I'm busy writing to a deadline, so the only soundtracks in my head relate to my own books.
For the hero of my previous book, Dark Country, the hero's theme songs were definitely early '80s Waterboys - especially A Pagan Place. All that raw male energy fitted him perfectly ;-)
My current hero is intense rather than raw, with a lot going on beneath a polished surface. Iris from the Goo Goo Dolls fits him pretty darn well :-)
I'd better get back to the writing - and give him some more trouble to be intense about, and crack that surface control!
Nell, I am just glad it isn't snowing so you can get out and about.
Congrats on the book. All Summer Long is one of those songs that really perks me up. I have a life playlist with everything from the High Kings to Eric Clapton on it, "Lean on Me" to "Be Thou My Vision" to "Going through Hell" by Rodney Atkins.
Peace and sale blessings, Julie
A very happy birthday Nell - I hope that you have a brilliant time.
One of my favourite soundtracks to a book?
'In the Deep' by Bird York.
Gorgeous lyrics.
This is one of my fav YouTubes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=DnJLgyonhNA
And I have my copy of Crystal Clear right on top of my TBR list!
:-)
Happy Birthday, Nell!
Oh tunez. I do love anything Fleetwood Mac. Good choice for Blue Remembered Heels. Of course there is the Enrique song for Be My Hero. He makes a rather good hero himself too. jx
P.S. The book I am writing features The Killers Read My Mind. I love that song.
Happy Birthday, Nell! The book sounds lovely - wishing you many sales!
Happy BIrthday to you!!!!
And I can't wait to read this one. It sound greatQ
Happy Birthday Nell. Lovely to see a launch. All the Bats in the Cave will probably fwap in say somethng too. Your blurb makes me want to get this book.
Happy Birthday. I tried to order CC from Waterstones on Saturday but they told me that they couldn't. I ended up ordering it from WHS. Look forward to reading it.
I just got back from a lovely birthday lunch to find all these wonderful comments. Thank you all so much! I'm getting lots of tips too to add to new music for my playlists.
Happy Birthday/release day Nell! How funny that you and your book sort of share a "birthday" now. ;) Beautiful cover too.
--Dara England
http://www.daraenglandauthor.com
Happy Birthday Nell. I hope you have had a wonderful day.
Interesting about the play list, do you choose the music after you have an idea for a scene, or do you hear a song and it sparks an idea?
Hi Jane, thank you for stopping by! I get the idea and somehow songs just appear as if by magic that seem to fit. The book I'm writing now, my next LBD called Just Look at Me Now, I had a song in mind called Love Scenes by Beverley Craven which I thought would be the song but then driving to my day job I heard Breakfast at Tiffany's and I 'knew' that was the one. Serendipity at work!
Lizzie, it was fab to see you today. I do wish you were closer, Hopefully we can have a good natter at the conference.
Happy Birthday. Loved the playlist.
Sorry to be so late!!! I hope you had a marvelous Birthday!! Congrats on your release day too. Sounds fantastic!!
Again HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!!!!
Judy
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