Christina Dodd's Blog, page 3
October 18, 2016
A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT RELEASE DAY!
Today, A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT is out and most of you, my dear and faithful readers, do not care. A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... includes the three previously published Virtue Falls short stories … and you already have them. But some readers are new to the series and some readers prefer a compilation. So! A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT includes:
THE LISTENER: Misfit and computer security expert Cornelia Markum hacks into a text conversation between unidentified Virtue Falls residents … and realizes she’s stumbled into a murder plot. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
THE RELATIVES: When relatives invite themselves to visit a wealthy couple’s Virtue Falls home, events take an unexpectedly dark—and fatal—turn. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
LOVE NEVER DIES: A murder committed. A love lost. A ghost haunted by his past. Only one woman can right all the wrongs… If she can survive the night… https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
These Virtue Falls short stories are available for purchase as singles.
A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT also includes the alternate conclusion of acclaimed action-filled adventure OBSESSION FALLS, Readers’ Guides and excerpts from the newest Virtue Falls thrillers, BECAUSE I’M WATCHING (out now) and THE WOMAN WHO COULDN’T SCREAM (out September 2017.) It also includes previously unpublished extras from the full-length suspense VIRTUE FALLS.
You can purchase A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT in eBook (even with the extras it’s too short for paper.) Kindle, Nook ,Kobo, iBooks
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
Remember to send me a friend request.
www.christinadodd.com
THE LISTENER: Misfit and computer security expert Cornelia Markum hacks into a text conversation between unidentified Virtue Falls residents … and realizes she’s stumbled into a murder plot. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
THE RELATIVES: When relatives invite themselves to visit a wealthy couple’s Virtue Falls home, events take an unexpectedly dark—and fatal—turn. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
LOVE NEVER DIES: A murder committed. A love lost. A ghost haunted by his past. Only one woman can right all the wrongs… If she can survive the night… https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
These Virtue Falls short stories are available for purchase as singles.
A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT also includes the alternate conclusion of acclaimed action-filled adventure OBSESSION FALLS, Readers’ Guides and excerpts from the newest Virtue Falls thrillers, BECAUSE I’M WATCHING (out now) and THE WOMAN WHO COULDN’T SCREAM (out September 2017.) It also includes previously unpublished extras from the full-length suspense VIRTUE FALLS.
You can purchase A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT in eBook (even with the extras it’s too short for paper.) Kindle, Nook ,Kobo, iBooks
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
Remember to send me a friend request.
www.christinadodd.com
September 27, 2016
Men and Women are Different
Jacob was using Maddie's razor to shave when, without fanfare, the door opened. He swung around, ready to kill whoever stood there.
It was Maddie. She held an arm full of clothes.
He was naked.
If she cared, she didn't show it. She put the clothes on the hamper. "After the cops left, I went to your house & found you something to wear. You have good clothes in the closet, & you were wearing…these." With two fingers, she picked up his pants, his underwear, his t-shirt. "I'll take them to the garbage. You're a pig."
"You sound like my mother."
"That's because we both have vaginas. People with vaginas are smarter than people with penises. If we weren't, we'd live like pigs, too."
His penis apparently heard its name mentioned & took this inopportune moment to remember she had a nice ass.
So much for his comforting theory that he was impotent.
He turned back to the sink & leaned against the cold porcelain. That knocked back his erection.
Damn Madeline Hewitson. Like he didn't have enough trouble already. Horniness: God's gift for caring whether Maddie walked off a cliff.
-BECAUSE I'M WATCHING: Get it now in eBook, beautiful shimmery hardcover, and NOW IN AUDIO!
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
NYT Bestselling Author
September 10, 2016
TOP TEN REASONS TO BUY CHRISTINA DODD'S SOME ENCHANTED EVENING:
10. Reading SOME ENCHANTED EVENING teaches you how to catch a prince or, if you're an underachiever, an earl.
9. The "Desperate Housewives" episode is a rerun.
8. SOME ENCHANTED EVENING can easily be read while vacuuming.
7. Hardcover of SOME ENCHANTED EVENING always checked out of the library.
6. No commercials
5. Trying to confirm your suspicion that Christina Dodd and Lisa Kleypas are really the same person because the cover of SOME ENCHANTED EVENING is the same as SECRETS OF A SUMMER NIGHT except for that lady dressed in the red gown on the terrace.
4. No calories.
3. Reading SOME ENCHANTED EVENING the only way to stop humming the song from the musical now stuck in your head.
2. Beat the rush before Oprah recommends SOME ENCHANTED EVENING.
And the TOP reason to buy SOME ENCHANTED EVENING!
1. Your husband will never know what hit him.
Best,
Christina Dodd
Remember to send me a friend request.
www.christinadodd.com
9. The "Desperate Housewives" episode is a rerun.
8. SOME ENCHANTED EVENING can easily be read while vacuuming.
7. Hardcover of SOME ENCHANTED EVENING always checked out of the library.
6. No commercials
5. Trying to confirm your suspicion that Christina Dodd and Lisa Kleypas are really the same person because the cover of SOME ENCHANTED EVENING is the same as SECRETS OF A SUMMER NIGHT except for that lady dressed in the red gown on the terrace.
4. No calories.
3. Reading SOME ENCHANTED EVENING the only way to stop humming the song from the musical now stuck in your head.
2. Beat the rush before Oprah recommends SOME ENCHANTED EVENING.
And the TOP reason to buy SOME ENCHANTED EVENING!
1. Your husband will never know what hit him.
Best,
Christina Dodd
Remember to send me a friend request.
www.christinadodd.com
August 31, 2016
How Christina Dodd Built Virtue Falls
Ten years ago, my husband and I moved from Houston, Texas — conservative, cosmopolitan, friendly, high temperatures — to a small town in NW Washington state — liberal, wild and wooded, peopled with eccentrics. And there's this white stuff … it falls from the sky … it's cold…
We have five and a half acres on a mountain side. Our view includes the town, a lake, a mountain range and, if we walk to the end of the road, the Pacific Ocean. I literally can see Canada from my front door. We're surrounded by forest, fight herds of deer for the right to let our roses bloom, and our dogs treed a bobcat in the backyard. From the very top of the bookshelves in my office, I have a view of a volcano. (We built me a spot up there to write. Yes, I am spoiled.)
I love Houston, but it is so flat you can stand on a box in the middle of downtown and see for fifty miles in any direction. Here, in this corner of Western Washington, the mountains leap out of Puget Sound and everywhere you look, it is beyond belief gorgeous.
You get it, right? Those two parts of the US could not be more different, and moving here involved some culture shock.
But when you're a writer, dealing with culture shock consists of saying to yourself, "What is going on here, and how can I use this in a book?" It took a challenge from my editor before I could put it together.
She said, "Create a town that is in itself a character."
I said, "I'll build Virtue Falls, a small town on the isolated Olympic Peninsula where the investigation of an old unsolved murder raises the specter of a serial killer!"
She said, "Great idea!"
And I said, "I'll start the book with an earthquake!"
To say my editor was dismayed is an understatement. She was horrified.
But the first thing my husband and I realized when we moved to Washington was that the scale of possible disasters changed. Not that Houston doesn't have disasters. In the twenty-one years we lived there, we survived a hurricane, a tornado and far too many tropical storms. But in Washington, what lurks the breathtaking beauty is the seething possible of major disaster. In 1980, Mt. St. Helens blew its top. In 2001, the largest earthquake in Washington history registered 6.8 on the Richter Scale. When you drive the coastal highway, low areas have tsunami warning signs. We watched with fascination the footage of the Japanese earthquake and resulting tsunami (think deer in the headlights.) I have actually said to my husband, "If I'm ever in Pike Place Market (in Seattle) and an earthquake occurs, I'm running uphill as fast as I can."
It sounds dramatic, but the Washington population (and on the whole west coast) live with the knowledge earthquakes could happen at any time, tsunamis could quickly follow, and being in the wrong place at the wrong time could be fatal. We don't brood about it (at least, I don't), but we're aware.
After I presented my ideas for the town of Virtue Falls, peopled with eccentrics, tourists and long-buried secrets, my editor agreed an earthquake and tsunami could work, plot-wise, as long as I didn't get too technical. Which is a good thing, because I'm at best an armchair geologist.
You're probably wondering how, after ten years in Washington, we're fitting into this land of grand landscapes where proud eccentrics live off the grid? Turns out we fit in pretty well. One day about six years ago I looked out our bedroom window at our side yard and suggested we build a stone circle. And…
I was born and raised in California. I've lived in Idaho, Oregon, Minnesota (for a summer), Texas and now Washington. Where have you lived?
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
NYT Bestselling Author
We have five and a half acres on a mountain side. Our view includes the town, a lake, a mountain range and, if we walk to the end of the road, the Pacific Ocean. I literally can see Canada from my front door. We're surrounded by forest, fight herds of deer for the right to let our roses bloom, and our dogs treed a bobcat in the backyard. From the very top of the bookshelves in my office, I have a view of a volcano. (We built me a spot up there to write. Yes, I am spoiled.)
I love Houston, but it is so flat you can stand on a box in the middle of downtown and see for fifty miles in any direction. Here, in this corner of Western Washington, the mountains leap out of Puget Sound and everywhere you look, it is beyond belief gorgeous.
You get it, right? Those two parts of the US could not be more different, and moving here involved some culture shock.
But when you're a writer, dealing with culture shock consists of saying to yourself, "What is going on here, and how can I use this in a book?" It took a challenge from my editor before I could put it together.
She said, "Create a town that is in itself a character."
I said, "I'll build Virtue Falls, a small town on the isolated Olympic Peninsula where the investigation of an old unsolved murder raises the specter of a serial killer!"
She said, "Great idea!"
And I said, "I'll start the book with an earthquake!"
To say my editor was dismayed is an understatement. She was horrified.
But the first thing my husband and I realized when we moved to Washington was that the scale of possible disasters changed. Not that Houston doesn't have disasters. In the twenty-one years we lived there, we survived a hurricane, a tornado and far too many tropical storms. But in Washington, what lurks the breathtaking beauty is the seething possible of major disaster. In 1980, Mt. St. Helens blew its top. In 2001, the largest earthquake in Washington history registered 6.8 on the Richter Scale. When you drive the coastal highway, low areas have tsunami warning signs. We watched with fascination the footage of the Japanese earthquake and resulting tsunami (think deer in the headlights.) I have actually said to my husband, "If I'm ever in Pike Place Market (in Seattle) and an earthquake occurs, I'm running uphill as fast as I can."
It sounds dramatic, but the Washington population (and on the whole west coast) live with the knowledge earthquakes could happen at any time, tsunamis could quickly follow, and being in the wrong place at the wrong time could be fatal. We don't brood about it (at least, I don't), but we're aware.
After I presented my ideas for the town of Virtue Falls, peopled with eccentrics, tourists and long-buried secrets, my editor agreed an earthquake and tsunami could work, plot-wise, as long as I didn't get too technical. Which is a good thing, because I'm at best an armchair geologist.
You're probably wondering how, after ten years in Washington, we're fitting into this land of grand landscapes where proud eccentrics live off the grid? Turns out we fit in pretty well. One day about six years ago I looked out our bedroom window at our side yard and suggested we build a stone circle. And…
I was born and raised in California. I've lived in Idaho, Oregon, Minnesota (for a summer), Texas and now Washington. Where have you lived?
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
NYT Bestselling Author
August 26, 2016
Today is National Dog Day
Today is National Dog Day so we're taking over Mom's Goodreads page.
Hi, I'm Miss Elizabeth Bennett Dog, known as Lizzie. I'm the brunette, the guard dog, and I'm in charge. The parents picked me up at a shelter in Houston and since then I've dedicated my life to training these people to walk me every morning, take me to lunch every noon, and feed me salmon and lamb for dinner. It's been tough, but I just about have them whipped into shape. I'm fifteen years old which in human years is, um, a lot.
Hi, I'm Ritter. I just met you and I love you. My folks trained me to be a CCI assistant dog to help a person in a wheelchair. I was doing great, too, but they got all fussy about how I jumped around when I meet you and the way big fuzzy mascots (the kind at ball games) scare me. So I flunked out of college and now stay home. My hobbies are lolling around and being petted.
Oh! I almost forgot! Since I'm Mom's assistant dog, I also write all her books. I'm not a ghostwriter, I'm a poochwriter.
Here I am with my newest suspense, BECAUSE I'M WATCHING.
Do you have any furry friends? Tell us about them.
Want to know more about Ritter the (Almost) Assistance Dog? You can read about him here. http://www.christinadodd.com/photo/ch...
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
NYT Bestselling Author
Hi, I'm Miss Elizabeth Bennett Dog, known as Lizzie. I'm the brunette, the guard dog, and I'm in charge. The parents picked me up at a shelter in Houston and since then I've dedicated my life to training these people to walk me every morning, take me to lunch every noon, and feed me salmon and lamb for dinner. It's been tough, but I just about have them whipped into shape. I'm fifteen years old which in human years is, um, a lot.
Hi, I'm Ritter. I just met you and I love you. My folks trained me to be a CCI assistant dog to help a person in a wheelchair. I was doing great, too, but they got all fussy about how I jumped around when I meet you and the way big fuzzy mascots (the kind at ball games) scare me. So I flunked out of college and now stay home. My hobbies are lolling around and being petted.
Oh! I almost forgot! Since I'm Mom's assistant dog, I also write all her books. I'm not a ghostwriter, I'm a poochwriter.
Here I am with my newest suspense, BECAUSE I'M WATCHING.
Do you have any furry friends? Tell us about them.
Want to know more about Ritter the (Almost) Assistance Dog? You can read about him here. http://www.christinadodd.com/photo/ch...
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
NYT Bestselling Author
August 24, 2016
Have you ever followed your dreams?
When I say I have never based a book on a dream, I mean it…until OBSESSION FALLS. One night I dreamed I stood in a mountain meadow and heard a man's voice say, "Get him out of the trunk." A child's scream pierced the air and I realized I had stumbled into a murder for hire. What could I do? I had no weapon, no defense. I only knew I faced a moral dilemma. I could flee and report the crime. The child would die and I would live with guilt for the rest of my life. I could attempt to distract the murderers, get myself and the child killed. Or I could distract the murderers and succeed, allowing the child to escape and thus saving his life.
In OBSESSION FALLS, Taylor Summers faces this exact situation. She is an interior decorator, a woman who sacrifices her life for a unknown child. She flees into the mountains, her reputation is destroyed, she loses her identity, she becomes a woman who will do anything survive … and when she arrives in Virtue Falls, she turns the tables on the men who hunt her. She becomes the ultimate survivor. What would you do to save a child's life?
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
In OBSESSION FALLS, Taylor Summers faces this exact situation. She is an interior decorator, a woman who sacrifices her life for a unknown child. She flees into the mountains, her reputation is destroyed, she loses her identity, she becomes a woman who will do anything survive … and when she arrives in Virtue Falls, she turns the tables on the men who hunt her. She becomes the ultimate survivor. What would you do to save a child's life?
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
August 19, 2016
BECAUSE I'M WATCHING EXCERPT
Jacob was in Maddie's shower for a long time, and when he came out he smelled like he'd fallen into his mother's herb garden. He was using Maddie's razor to shave when, without fanfare, the door opened. He swung around, ready to kill whoever stood there.
It was Maddie. She held an arm full of clothes. His clothes.
He was naked.
If she cared, she didn't show it. She put the clothes on the hamper. "Here. After the cops left, I went to your house and found you something to wear." Her lips curled with disgust. "You have perfectly good clothes in the closet, and you were wearing … these." With two fingers, she picked up his pants, his underwear, his t-shirt. "I'll take these out to the garbage. You're a pig."
"You sound like my mother."
"That's because we both have vaginas. People with vaginas are smarter than people with penises. If we weren't, we'd live like pigs, too."
His penis apparently heard its name mentioned and took this inopportune moment to remember she had a nice ass. He turned back to the sink to finish shaving.
"When you come out, if you want, I'll give you a hand cutting your hair." She said, "Wow, you're skinny."
He glanced at her.
She was looking at his face. "Shaving makes you look even more like a concentration camp survivor. Not a good look. You should eat something."
For whatever reason, his penis found that exciting, too. So much for his comforting theory that he was impotent.
He leaned against the cold porcelain sink. That knocked back his erection.
Horniness: God's gift for caring whether Maddie walked off a cliff. — BECAUSE I'M WATCHING, Sept 6
Read more and find links at: http://www.christinadodd.com/book/bec...
It was Maddie. She held an arm full of clothes. His clothes.
He was naked.
If she cared, she didn't show it. She put the clothes on the hamper. "Here. After the cops left, I went to your house and found you something to wear." Her lips curled with disgust. "You have perfectly good clothes in the closet, and you were wearing … these." With two fingers, she picked up his pants, his underwear, his t-shirt. "I'll take these out to the garbage. You're a pig."
"You sound like my mother."
"That's because we both have vaginas. People with vaginas are smarter than people with penises. If we weren't, we'd live like pigs, too."
His penis apparently heard its name mentioned and took this inopportune moment to remember she had a nice ass. He turned back to the sink to finish shaving.
"When you come out, if you want, I'll give you a hand cutting your hair." She said, "Wow, you're skinny."
He glanced at her.
She was looking at his face. "Shaving makes you look even more like a concentration camp survivor. Not a good look. You should eat something."
For whatever reason, his penis found that exciting, too. So much for his comforting theory that he was impotent.
He leaned against the cold porcelain sink. That knocked back his erection.
Horniness: God's gift for caring whether Maddie walked off a cliff. — BECAUSE I'M WATCHING, Sept 6
Read more and find links at: http://www.christinadodd.com/book/bec...
August 14, 2016
They've arrived!
As an experienced, mature author with 54 books in print, I'm able to receive the first copies of BECAUSE I’M WATCHING, open the box, calmly hold one &
OH MY GOD HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING SO GORGEOUS IN YOUR LIFE?!? IT'S THE BEST BOOK I'VE EVER WRITTEN & IT'S THE BEST COVER I'VE EVER HAD—IT SHIMMERS!!!—AND THE ENDPAPERS ARE EVOCATIVE AND…as I said, I treat the arrival of BECAUSE I'M WATCHING with aplomb. And maturity. Soooo much maturity which involves very little squealing. Really. This is seriously beautiful. Wait until you see it in person.
:cough: Such good news! You have one more chance to win one of 50 BECAUSE I’M WATCHING arcs before the book releases on September 6! RT Book Reviews gave the book a Top Pick! “Virtue Falls has seen its fair share of the evil that can live in the hearts of some individuals, but it has also seen the triumphant spirit of others.…From the opening page, Dodd reels readers into this eerie and darkly suspenseful tale…”
Enter now! https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/en... The contest ends August 18. Want to double your chances? Tell your reading friends. If one of you wins, you can share.
To those of you who won an arc in the previous contests — thank you so much for the Goodreads reviews. As of this writing, BECAUSE I’M WATCHING is at 4.48 stars. These ratings are so important to book sales and to me personally. BECAUSE I’M WATCHING is the best thing I’ve ever written and I truly want all of you, my readers, to enjoy it! So if you’ve read it, write a review, and if not, enter now to win an arc.
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
OH MY GOD HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING SO GORGEOUS IN YOUR LIFE?!? IT'S THE BEST BOOK I'VE EVER WRITTEN & IT'S THE BEST COVER I'VE EVER HAD—IT SHIMMERS!!!—AND THE ENDPAPERS ARE EVOCATIVE AND…as I said, I treat the arrival of BECAUSE I'M WATCHING with aplomb. And maturity. Soooo much maturity which involves very little squealing. Really. This is seriously beautiful. Wait until you see it in person.
:cough: Such good news! You have one more chance to win one of 50 BECAUSE I’M WATCHING arcs before the book releases on September 6! RT Book Reviews gave the book a Top Pick! “Virtue Falls has seen its fair share of the evil that can live in the hearts of some individuals, but it has also seen the triumphant spirit of others.…From the opening page, Dodd reels readers into this eerie and darkly suspenseful tale…”
Enter now! https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/en... The contest ends August 18. Want to double your chances? Tell your reading friends. If one of you wins, you can share.
To those of you who won an arc in the previous contests — thank you so much for the Goodreads reviews. As of this writing, BECAUSE I’M WATCHING is at 4.48 stars. These ratings are so important to book sales and to me personally. BECAUSE I’M WATCHING is the best thing I’ve ever written and I truly want all of you, my readers, to enjoy it! So if you’ve read it, write a review, and if not, enter now to win an arc.
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
August 10, 2016
CHRISTINA DODD GIVES YOU HER BEST WRITING BUSINESS ADVICE
Marry money.
If it’s too late for that — you need to define yourself and your work clearly. When you sit down with an agent or an editor, you should be able to tell them specifically what you write and why your fiction will fill a need in the marketplace. For instance, “I write women’s fiction filled with the warmth and conflicts of family life. As the large number of chick lit readers raise their own families, they’ll want more depth about relationships lightened by humor, and they’re my market.” Or, “I write historical romance with a Gothic twist, and as the paranormal market grows, the Gothic will fill the gap for those readers who like a darker edge and human characters.” Agents and editors are more likely to take a chance on you as a writer if you point out the direction you intend to go. Don’t brag. Don’t be modest. Analyze what you do and be factual. Remember, if you don’t toot your own horn, someone will use it for a spittoon.
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
New York Times bestselling author
While you’re on Goodreads send me a friend request!
http://www.christinadodd.com
If it’s too late for that — you need to define yourself and your work clearly. When you sit down with an agent or an editor, you should be able to tell them specifically what you write and why your fiction will fill a need in the marketplace. For instance, “I write women’s fiction filled with the warmth and conflicts of family life. As the large number of chick lit readers raise their own families, they’ll want more depth about relationships lightened by humor, and they’re my market.” Or, “I write historical romance with a Gothic twist, and as the paranormal market grows, the Gothic will fill the gap for those readers who like a darker edge and human characters.” Agents and editors are more likely to take a chance on you as a writer if you point out the direction you intend to go. Don’t brag. Don’t be modest. Analyze what you do and be factual. Remember, if you don’t toot your own horn, someone will use it for a spittoon.
Warmly,
Christina Dodd
New York Times bestselling author
While you’re on Goodreads send me a friend request!
http://www.christinadodd.com
August 6, 2016
Is anyone missing a song? Because Christina found one.
I’m working in the kitchen, cooking, cleaning up, gloating over my absolutely fabulous refrigerator not to mention the two convection ovens and the gorgeous range top, and I find myself obsessively singing. And what am I singing?
“So This is Love.”
From Disney’s “Cinderella.”
Don’t get me wrong. I adore Disney movies (I do an entire speech on the classic novel structure of “Beauty and the Beast” and can do a rip-roaring imitation of Luminere singing “Be Our Guest.”) I adore Disney music. But while I love the movie Cinderella (you’ll notice all my historical romances tend to be Cinderella — the impoverished young woman who rises from the ashes to win a prince), the music and lyrics from Cinderella was not a high point in musical innovation. It’s bad enough that I know all the sappy words (“So this is love, woo woo woo woo, so this is love, so this is what makes life worthwhile”), but why did this song from this movie that I haven’t seen since my kids were in grade school suddenly swamp my brain (Woo woo woo woo)?
What’s more, this isn’t the first time this has happened. At the most inopportune times, the notes from the Who’s “Who are You?” (Whoooo are you? Doot doot, doot doot) will aim for my brain — and stick. Where did these notes come from? Okay, so “Who are You?” comes from watching too much CSI, but why does it play over and over for weeks to such an extent I would do anything, including watch “The Addams Family” with its inescapable theme (doo doo doo doo snap snap), to drive it out?
Here’s my theory. The universe is not made of protons and electrons, as we’ve been taught, but of song notes. The composers compile them into songs, play them, and at the speed of light they travel to the nearest brain where they embed themselves into the gray matter there to play over and over again until they’re ejected by an even more obnoxious song — i.e. Margaritaville (“Wasting away in Margareeetavillllle, looking for my lost shaker of saaalt”). Sometimes it’s possible to cleanse the brain completely of a song, but that creates a vacuum, and as we all know, nature abhors a vacuum. So if you’re somewhere near someone who successfully ejects their song, it zooms to your brain and sticks like one of those trick arrows right through the skull. It's not fatal, but it's damned annoying.
I figure I must have been wandering the grocery store, minding my own business when some mother of small children, exposed to too much Cinderella, ejected “So This is Love” from her brain and it zoomed to fill the nearest vacuum — my brain.
What do you think? Does this ever happen to you? Does my theory have validity? And what horrible songs are you currently ejecting … and sending winging my way?
Pardon me while I duck.
Best,
Christina Dodd
www.christinadodd.com
Be sure to send me a friend request.
“So This is Love.”
From Disney’s “Cinderella.”
Don’t get me wrong. I adore Disney movies (I do an entire speech on the classic novel structure of “Beauty and the Beast” and can do a rip-roaring imitation of Luminere singing “Be Our Guest.”) I adore Disney music. But while I love the movie Cinderella (you’ll notice all my historical romances tend to be Cinderella — the impoverished young woman who rises from the ashes to win a prince), the music and lyrics from Cinderella was not a high point in musical innovation. It’s bad enough that I know all the sappy words (“So this is love, woo woo woo woo, so this is love, so this is what makes life worthwhile”), but why did this song from this movie that I haven’t seen since my kids were in grade school suddenly swamp my brain (Woo woo woo woo)?
What’s more, this isn’t the first time this has happened. At the most inopportune times, the notes from the Who’s “Who are You?” (Whoooo are you? Doot doot, doot doot) will aim for my brain — and stick. Where did these notes come from? Okay, so “Who are You?” comes from watching too much CSI, but why does it play over and over for weeks to such an extent I would do anything, including watch “The Addams Family” with its inescapable theme (doo doo doo doo snap snap), to drive it out?
Here’s my theory. The universe is not made of protons and electrons, as we’ve been taught, but of song notes. The composers compile them into songs, play them, and at the speed of light they travel to the nearest brain where they embed themselves into the gray matter there to play over and over again until they’re ejected by an even more obnoxious song — i.e. Margaritaville (“Wasting away in Margareeetavillllle, looking for my lost shaker of saaalt”). Sometimes it’s possible to cleanse the brain completely of a song, but that creates a vacuum, and as we all know, nature abhors a vacuum. So if you’re somewhere near someone who successfully ejects their song, it zooms to your brain and sticks like one of those trick arrows right through the skull. It's not fatal, but it's damned annoying.
I figure I must have been wandering the grocery store, minding my own business when some mother of small children, exposed to too much Cinderella, ejected “So This is Love” from her brain and it zoomed to fill the nearest vacuum — my brain.
What do you think? Does this ever happen to you? Does my theory have validity? And what horrible songs are you currently ejecting … and sending winging my way?
Pardon me while I duck.
Best,
Christina Dodd
www.christinadodd.com
Be sure to send me a friend request.
