Nancy E. Dunne's Blog, page 15

Music Monday: Love Of Mine (Lyrics)

If you know me, you know I love Imagine Dragons, and I've said for ages that if I were to ever work on a soundtrack for a movie version of my books, they would be my first stop. There is so much in their catalogue that IS Orana and all my characters that live there...but this time I'm hearing them in a new light and with a new story in mind. My new project is the combination of several manuscripts in my never ending quest for a vampire story - kind of a Lost Boys meets Pretty in Pink urban fantasy...and this might be a good place to start. (No lyrics because they are in the video!) Enjoy.

Book Signing News! The Upstate Renaissance Faire In Greer, SC

Author Event, 742 in Rock Hill, 8/6/2022So, I'm taking this crazy show on the road again, but not that far up the road this time. I will have my own booth (provided I can get that sucker set up and it isn't too windy that day) at the Upstate Renaissance Faire in Greer, SC this coming Saturday (Sept 10th). 

Y'all... I'm nervous. The good thing is that if I need something I have loads of people nearby that can come help - instead of at least two hours away like at the Carolina Ren Fest or the Atlanta Steampunk Expo. My trusty Sherpa, Anne, will be at the same faire but is working with the Hounds of East Fairhaven, and while hubs has the day off we don't want to leave the dogs alone that long.

You know what will make it better, though? If you come out to see me! You don't even have to buy a book (though that would be amazing, I really don't want to have to take all this stuff back home with me). Just come say hi and hang out in what I hope is a properly decorated booth run by a mostly properly decorated author.

Question...can I actually sign books while wearing my usual rennie garb? Only one way to find out...for more info, check out the link above or go to my website.

 

Music Monday: If you didn't see it...

You need to find the bit of the tribute concert that happened over the weekend at Wembley in London for Foo Fighters late drummer, Taylor Hawkins when his son Shane hopped on the drums and LEFT EVERYTHING HE HAD ON THAT STAGE. I mean, the entire event was emotional and I'm so upset that I didn't get to see the entire concert, but if you can find it, look for My Hero. I've posted the song and I've got to say that if the Foos don't recruit that boy they are missing a trick. 

You might also check out Wolfgang Van Halen performing Hot for Teacher along with Foo Fighters and the lead singer of The Darkness. That was something else, and just proves how strong genetics can be.

My Heroby Foo Fighters
Too alarmin' now to talk about
Take your pictures down and shake it out
Truth or consequence, say it aloud
Use that evidence, race it around
There goes my hero
Watch him as he goes
There goes my hero
He's ordinary
Don't the best of them bleed it out
While the rest of them peter out?
Truth or consequence, say it aloud
Use that evidence, race it around
There goes my hero
Watch him as he goes
There goes my hero
He's ordinary
Kudos, my hero
Leavin' all the mess
You know my hero
The one that's on
There goes my hero
Watch him as he goes
There goes my hero
He's ordinary
There goes my hero
Watch him as he goes
There goes my hero
He's ordinary

Music Monday: Diabolical Blue

This song came up on a playlist recently and while I'm not sure yet, I think it will be very important come to November's Nanowrimo. Or I just like Elbow. One or the other. Or both. Enjoy.


What Am I Without You?by Elbow
The universe keeps singing this songYour eyes are diabolical blue, oohI've been watching you walk on the water latelyMy arms outstretched when you do
What am I?What am I on the earth forIf not to put you to bed?If not to remind you to eat sometimes, if...If not to cradle your head?What am I without you?
The universe keeps singing its songI can't get it out of my headIt skips right along like a stone on waterAnd I think I know how it ends
The last eyes I wanna seeAre yours, are brown and diabolical blueThey never once criеd without laughing, babySo I'll line up a zinger for youThat's what I'll do
Ooh-ooh-ooh-oohWhat am I without you?Ooh-ooh-ooh-oohWhat am I without you?What am I without you?What am I?

Man, it has been a week...

Cover Art: The TempleSo I am back at the DayJob™ now and...y'all. How did I forget everything that it entails in one short summer break? I mean, I haven't forgotten how to interpret, thankfully, but the other stuff has put me in the front seat of the struggle bus. It's also made me put off things that need to get done for my other life as a writer.

One thing that is coming up sooner than I'd thought is the release of my 8th Orana Chronicles novel, The Temple. EIGHT! I don't know how that happened or what I was doing when it did, but this beauty will be in preorder for e-book starting in October and released in all formats on November 5th. What?

I look back at those seven books in line ahead of The Temple and I can see a definite progression in the story arc, in my writing, and in character development, and that's a good thing. But it is leading me to think more broadly and after I got book two in the Arcstone series pulled into a second draft for last July's NaNoWriMo I think I might be ready to add a second book to the Luminous Beings series as well as branch out into some vampire fiction.

And here is where I can clearly hear the voice of my mother in the back of my mind cautioning me to finish one thing at a time because she knew me very well and she knew that often my excitement can override my ability to manage my time. 

So for now...let's just focus on The Temple, which follows the events of Red. Where that book gave Tairn a chance to step into the role of the main character, this one gives that same ability to Hack and Elys. I say every time that this is my favorite of the Orana characters, and while I love Hack and Elys dearly I still have a soft spot for Tairn. They have a strength of character that she has only just developed - and they have each other.

And that's all I can say without pulling my usual spoilers, so there ya go. Watch for more information on the release of The Temple...and be good to yourselves. Time flies by, whether you're having fun or not, it would seem.

Music Monday: A Journey to the 80s

The year was 1983. I was in seventh grade. And this magnificent band put out hit after hit...and now, a few years later (I'm not going to concede that the 80s were more than about 15 years ago, so don't try) this song hits differently. And when you put it with my WIP that you will have the chance to read in November, it just speaks to me of REDACTED and REDACTED and what happened at the end of Red. Also...it is a perfect example of 80s ballads at their best. Enjoy.

Send Her My Loveby Journey
It's been so longSince I've seen her faceYou say she's doin' fineI still recall a sad cafeHow it hurt so bad to see her cryI didn't want to say goodbye
Send her my loveMemories remainSend her my loveRoses never fadeSend her my love
The same hotelThe same old roomI'm on the road againShe needed so much moreThan I could giveWe knew our love could not pretendBroken hearts can always mend
Send her my loveMemories remainSend her my loveRoses never fadeSend her my love
Callin' out her name, I'm dreamin'Reflections of a face I'm seein'It's her voice that keeps on haunting me
Send her, send her my loveRoses never fadeMemories remainSend her, send her my love

Music Monday: A Bit of Shakespear...

I don't know what I was doing this past week when this song came to my attention...because I hadn't heard it in...well, several years. But I really listened to the lyrics and...Em. Lex. Arcstone. That's all I can say because of SPOILERS but...that manuscript is in the cooling-off time now and STILL, they are asking for me to tell more of their story. Yeesh.


Stayby Shakespears Sister
If this world is wearing thinAnd you're thinking of escapeI'll go anywhere with you
Just wrap me up in chainsBut if you try to go aloneDon't think I'll understand
Stay with meStay with me
In the silence of your roomIn the darkness of your dreamsYou must only think of me
There can be no in betweenWhen your pride is on the floorI'll make you beg for more
Stay with meStay with me
You'd better hope and prayThat you make it safeBack to your own world
You'd better hope and prayThat you'll wake one dayIn your own world
'Cause when you sleep at nightThey don't hear your criesIn your own world
Only time will tellIf you can break the spellBack in your own world
Stay with meStay with me
Stay, stay with meStay, stay, stay, stay, stayStay with me

Music Monday: Fighters, in All Forms

I write a LOT of female characters. Some of them are strong from the get go (Em/Madelyne, Annie, Elys) and others have to come into their strength (Gin, Lucy). But one thing that both types have in common is that they have an opposite, a motivator, and that isn't always the antagonist. Tairn, for example, could sit back and blame Taeben for her woes but her motivator is herself, really. She is fighting against years of letting herself believe that she is inferior to her sister, Nel. That's what makes her a fighter...

Fighterby Christina Aguilera
After all you put me throughYou'd think I'd despise youBut in the end, I wanna thank you'Cause you made me that much stronger
Well, I thought I knew youThinkin' that you were trueGuess I, I couldn't trust, called your bluffTime is up 'cause I've had enough
You were there by my sideAlways down for the rideBut your joy ride just came down in flames'Cause your greed sold me out in shame
After all of the stealing and cheatin'You probably think that I hold resentment for youBut uh-uh, oh no, you're wrong'Cause if it wasn't for all that you tried to doI wouldn't know just how capable I am to pull throughSo I wanna say thank you
'Cause it makes me that much strongerMakes me work a little bit harderMakes me that much wiserSo thanks for making me a fighterMade me learn a little bit fasterMade my skin a little bit thickerMakes me that much smarterSo thanks for making me a fighterOh, oh, oh, oh, oh-oh-oh, yeah, yeah, yeah ohh
Never saw it comingAll of your backstabbingJust so you could cash in on a good thingBefore I realized your gameI heard you're goin' 'round playin' the victim nowBut don't even begin feeling I'm the one to blame'Cause you dug your own grave
After all of the fights and the liesGuess you're wanting to hold meBut that won't work anymore (no more, aha, it's over)'Cause if it wasn't for all of your tortureI wouldn't know how to be this way now and never back downSo I wanna say thank you
'Cause it makes me that much strongerMakes me work a little bit harderIt makes me that much wiserSo thanks for making me a fighter
Made me learn a little bit fasterMade my skin a little bit thickerMakes me that much smarterSo thanks for making me a fighter
How could this man I thought I knewTurn out to be unjust, so cruel?Could only see the good in youPretended not to see the truthYou tried to hide your liesDisguise yourself through living in denialBut in the end you'll see, you won't stop me
I am a fighter and I (I'm a fighter)I ain't gon' stop (I ain't gonna stop)There is no turning backI've had enough
Makes me that much strongerMakes me work a little bit harder (oh)It makes me that much wiser (oh yeah, oh yeah)So thanks for making me a fighterMade me learn a little bit faster (yeah)Made my skin a little bit thicker (yeah, yeah, yeah)Makes me that much smarter (yeah)So thanks for making me a fighter (Fighter)
You thought I would forget but I, I remembered (ooh-ooh-ooh)'Cause I remembered (ooh-ooh-ooh)I rememberedYou thought I would forget (ooh-ooh)I remembered (ooh-ooh)'Cause I remembered (ooh)I remembered
Makes me that much stronger (ooh-ooh)Makes me work a little bit harder (ooh-ooh)It makes me that much wiserSo thanks for making me a fighterMade me learn a little bit fasterMade my skin a little bit thickerMakes me that much smarterSo thanks for making me a fighter

Music Monday: Bringing the...Hell?

So, in another Tiktok introduction, I bring you this song that follows the folk song tradition in that there is a story within its three and half minutes...but I came up with at least two more as I listened. This kind of music is what writers like me (pantsers) listen to when we need inspiration...or we just want to stare at a blank screen and pretend that we know what we are doing.

Hell's Comin' With Meby Poor Mans Poison
They all laughed as he turned around slowThey said you ain't welcome 'round here anymoreYou just might as well go
He wiped the blood from his face as he slowly came to his kneesHe said, I'll be back when you least expect itAnd hell's coming with meHell's coming with me
There is a hill at the bottom of the valleyWhere all the poor souls go when they dieAnd if you listen real closeYou can hear em' like a ghostSaying you're never gonna make it out alive
There is a town at the bottom of that hillThey got a secret that they keep like a slaveThey got a black magic preacher (ooh)We'd do well to let him teach herYou'll be heading up that hill to the grave
And it is well, with my soulYou line your pockets full of money that you steal from the poorAnd on your way down to hell, you hear me ring that bellI'd pay the devil twice as much to keep your soul
There was a drifter passing through that little valleySee he had promised he was coming back to town (coming back to town)They didn't know him by his face, or by the gun around his waist (ooh)But he come back to burn that town to the ground
First there was fire, then there was smokeThen that preacher man was hangin' by a ropeThen they all fell to their knees and begged that drifterBegged him please, as he raised his fist before he spoke
I am the righteous hand of GodAnd I am the devil that you forgotAnd I told you one day you will seeThat I'll be back I guaranteeAnd that hell's coming, hell's comingHell, hell's coming with me
And it is well, with my soulYou line your pockets full of money that you steal from the poorAnd on your way down to hell, you hear me ring that bellAnd I said, hell's coming with me (hell's coming with me)

Music Monday: I'm Only Real...I Mean Human

I may have posted this one before, but it occurs to me how perfect it is for my current WIP for this month's Camp Nanowrimo. The discussion of who is human/real and who isn't is at the center of this second foray into Arcstone, and while it is on the second draft it still needs a lot of work. But...I'm only human...don't put the blame on me, hey?


Humanby Rag'n'Bone Man
Maybe I'm foolish, maybe I'm blindThinking I can see through this and see what's behindGot no way to prove it so maybe I'm blind
But I'm only human after all, I'm only human after allDon't put your blame on me
Take a look in the mirror and what do you seeDo you see it clearer or are you deceived in what you believe
Cos I'm only human after all, you're only human after allDon't put the blame on meDon't put your blame on me
Some people got the real problemsSome people out of luckSome people think I can solve themLord heavens aboveI'm only human after all, I'm only human after allDon't put the blame on meDon't put the blame on me
Don't ask my opinion, don't ask me to lieThen beg for forgiveness for making you cry, making you cry
Cos I'm only human after all, I'm only human after allDon't put your blame on me, don't put the blame on me
Some people got the real problemsSome people out of luckSome people think I can solve themLord heavens aboveI'm only human after all, I'm only human after allDon't put the blame on meDon't put the blame on meI'm only human I make mistakesI'm only human that's all it takes to put the blame on meDon't put your blame on me
I'm no prophet or messiahShould go looking somewhere higher 
I'm only human after all, I'm only human after allDon't put the blame on me, don't put the blame on meI'm only human I do what I canI'm just a man, I do what I canDon't put the blame on meDon't put your blame on me