Nancy E. Dunne's Blog, page 25

Music Monday: Still alive, mostly

So I'm still working on Tairn's novel and still enjoying getting to know the different parts of her that made her who she was in the Nature Walker Trilogy as well as seeing how those parts fit together to make her who she is becoming in her own story. This song has so much of Tairn in it - her full name, Tairneanach, means thunderous in Scots Gaelic after all.

Aliveby Daughtry
I was born in a thunderstorm
I grew up overnight
I played alone
I played on my own
But I survived
Hey
I wanted everything I never had
Like the love that comes with light
I wore envy and I hated that
But I survived
I had a one-way ticket to a place where all the demons go
Where the wind don't change
And nothing in the ground can ever grow
No hope, just lies
And you're taught to cry into your pillow
But I survived
I'm still breathing, I'm still breathing
I'm still breathing, I'm still breathing
I'm alive
I'm alive
I'm alive
I'm alive
I found solace in the strangest place
Way in the back of my mind
I saw my life in a stranger's face
And it was mine
I had a one-way ticket to a place where all the demons go
Where the wind don't change
And nothing in the ground can ever grow
No hope, just lies
And you're taught to cry into your pillow
But I survived
But I'm still breathing, I'm still breathing
I'm still breathing, I'm still breathing
I'm alive
I'm alive
I'm alive
I'm alive
You took it all, but I'm still breathing
You took it all, but I'm still breathing
You took it all, but I'm still breathing
You took it all, but I'm still breathing
You took it all, but I'm still breathing
You took it all, but I'm still breathing
You took it all, but I'm still breathing
You took it all, but I'm still breathing
I have made every single mistake
That you could ever possibly make
I took and I took and I took what you gave
But you never noticed that I was in pain
I knew what I wanted, I went out and got it
I did all the things that you said that I wouldn't
I told you that I would never be forgotten
And all in spite of you
And I'm still breathing, I'm still breathing
I'm still breathing, I'm still breathing
I'm alive (You took it all, but I'm still breathing)
(You took it all, but I'm still breathing)
I'm alive (You took it all, but I'm still breathing)
(You took it all, but I'm still breathing)
I'm alive (You took it all, but I'm still breathing)
(You took it all, but I'm still breathing)
I'm alive
I'm alive
I'm alive
I'm alive
I'm alive

Music Monday: No Rest for the Wicked

 I'm starting to plan my projects for the next few months (because let's be honest, I've been coasting since the holidays), specifically for Camp Nanowrimo next month, and I'm thinking of a second draft for Tairn's story in Red and possibly a new Arcstone. As always, I'm working with any inspiration I can find, and this oldie from my days of walking the many hills in Athens, GA working freelance gigs popped up in my playlist - and it works for either of those stories. Tairn thinks she is wicked and Val CERTAINLY is, so I'm still left with a decision. Anyone got a quarter I can flip?

Ain't No Rest for the Wickedby Cage the Elephant
(He was a)(You know it)(He was a)
I was walkin' down the streetWhen out the corner of my eyeI saw a pretty little thing approaching meShe said, "I never seen a manWho looked so all aloneOh, could you use a little company?
And if you pay the right priceYour evening will be niceAnd you can go and send me on my way"I said, "You're such a sweet young thingWhy you do this to yourself?"She looked at me and this is what she said
"Oh, there ain't no rest for the wickedMoney don't grow on treesI got bills to payI got mouths to feedAnd ain't nothing in this world for freeOh no, I can't slow downI can't hold backThough you know I wish I couldOh, no, there ain't no rest for the wickedUntil we close our eyes for good"
Not even 15 minutes laterI'm still walkin' down the streetWhen I saw the shadow of a man creep out of sightAnd then he swept up from behindHe put a gun up to my headHe made it clear he wasn't lookin' for a fight
He said, "Give me all you gotI want your money not your lifeBut if you try to make a move I won't think twice"I told him, "You can have my cashBut first you know I gotta askWhat made you wanna live this kind of life?"He said
"There ain't no rest for the wickedMoney don't grow on treesI got bills to payI got mouths to feedAnd ain't nothing in this world for freeNo, I can't slow downI can't hold backThough you know I wish I couldOh, no, there ain't no rest for the wickedUntil we close our eyes for good"
Well, now a couple hours passedAnd I was sitting in my houseThe day was winding down and coming to an endSo I turned to the TVAnd flipped it over to the newsAnd what I saw I almost couldn't comprehend
I saw a preacher man in cuffsHe'd taken money from the churchHe'd stuffed his bank account with righteous dollar billsBut even still I can't say muchBecause I know we're all the sameOh, yes we all seek out to satisfy those thrills
You know there ain't no rest for the wickedMoney don't grow on treesWe got bills to payWe got mouths to feedAnd ain't nothing in this world for freeNo we can't slow downWe can't hold backThough you know we wish we couldNo there ain't no rest for the wickedUntil we close our eyes for good

Music Monday: Life in (Semi) Lockdown

I'm going to make a slight departure from my normal Music Monday post to tell you about a song that you just need to hear. If you aren't familiar with British artists, this may go over your head without the video to watch (it does for me when I just listen to it) because like the ever famous We are the World and Band-Aid compilations, there are almost more artists here than you can follow. But this should be the official lockdown/pandemic theme song, and it is just good stuff. Like those hugs that we all still look forward to getting. Enjoy.



Times Like These (BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge All-Stars/Foo Fighters)
One, two, three, fourI, I'm a one way motorwayI'm the one that drives awayThen follows you back home
And I, I'm a street light shiningI'm a wild light blinding brightBurning off alone
It's times like these you learn to live againIt's times like these we give and give againIt's times like these you learn to love againIt's times like these, time and time again
I, I'm a new day risingI'm a brand new skyTo hang the stars upon tonight
I, I'm a little dividedDo I stay or run awayAnd leave it all behind?
It's times like these you learn to live againIt's times like these you give and give againIt's times like these you learn to love againIt's times like these, time and time again
Let's goIt's times like these that we activateDo something to improve, don't procrastinateI've been cooking now make a wicked pasta bakeStream games at 11 but I clap at 8
And I'll do a facetime if you tempt meTime to pay back with all the health docs lent meAnd for me west ten's elementaryBut right now I wanna see ladbroke grove emptyYou get me?
We make it better together we'll make a better lifeBecause the pressure is ever upon us every nightAnd everyday so we pray and we will forever fightWe'll make it better together, we'll make a better life
I, I'm a one way motorwayI'm the one that drives awayThen follows you back home
I, I'm a street light shiningI'm a wild light blinding brightBurning off alone
It's times like these you learn to live againIt's times like these you give and give againIt's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these, time and time againIt's times like these you learn to live againIt's times like these you learn to love again

Music Monday: Wishing Well

I'm going in a slightly different direction this Music Monday and introducing you to a band that I first discovered on TikTok (I'm one of those old ladies now, it seems) and have since found matches a lot of what I look for in writing music. The first song I found by The Dead South was In Hell I'll Be in Good Company, but then I found this little gem and it speaks to me in reference to the Appalachian project I'm working on - and not just because these fellas are amazing on traditional instruments like banjos. Now, which of the Wraiths are speaking to me through this song?


"Wishing Well"
by The Dead South

So sweet so genuine.
I bet you taste like sweet cherry pie.
So gorgeous every man's jaw drops.
When will you choose my straw.

So I find you put flowers to shame.
You've got all the guys playing your game.
In the moonlight I will ask you to dance.
Will you let me taste sweet romance.

I throw my penny into the wishing well.
What that wish was I will never tell.
Can I be by your side at night?
Can I be your everlasting light.

I will be your warrior.
I'll be the one who takes care of you.
Just let me know when shit get tight.
Oh baby please just let me ignite.

I'll be the one to control disease.
I'll change the weather anytime you please.
Everyone will know your name if you please just be my queen.

I throw my faith into the wishing well.
What that wish was I will never tell.
Can I be by your side at night?
Can I be your everlasting light.

I throw my fate into that wishing well.
I pray to god that I don't go to hell.
No no no...

I throw my fate into that wishing well.
I pray to god that I don't go to hell.
No no no...

I throw my fate into that wishing well.
I pray to god that I don't go to hell.
No no no...

I throw my penny into the wishing well.
What that wish was I will never tell.
Can I be by your side at night?
Can I be your everlasting light.
Can I be your everlasting light.

In which I get fancy and then throw Gin off something...

 The length of the aptly titled Very Short Story catches me out every time. I had a whole post in my head with lengthy and, if I do say so myself, literary comparisons between a sunrise and Sath's fur, and then suddenly I didn't have enough characters left and...well, this happened:

Gin closed her eyes and thought of another morning long ago, when the sunrise bathing the land in pinks and purples reflected in the mirror surface of the #river running under the stone guard tower - the same stones now under her feet.

She opened her eyes and jumped.#vss365 pic.twitter.com/qLamnTiuWV

— NancyD_writes📚 (@nancyd_writes) February 10, 2021

Music Monday: Yep, I'm THAT Supernatural Fan...

 So...2021 feels a bit like a repeat of 2020 so far, right? At least we didn't wake up to THIS on January 1st.  #IYKYK

Heat of the Momentby Asia
I never meant to be so bad to you
One thing I said that I would never do
A look from you and I would fall from grace
And that would wipe the smile right from my face
Do you remember when we used to dance
And incidents arose from circumstance
One thing led to another we were young
And we would scream together songs unsung
It was the heat of the moment
Telling me what my heart meant
The heat of the moment showed in your eyes
And now you find yourself in '82
The disco hot spots hold no charm for you
You can concern yourself with bigger things
You catch a pearl and ride the dragon's wings
'Cause it's the heat of the moment
The heat of the moment
The heat of the moment
The heat of the moment showed in your eyes
And when your looks are gone and you're alone
How many nights you sit beside the phone
What were the things you wanted for yourself
Teenage ambitions you remember well
It was the heat of the moment
Telling me what your heart meant
The heat of the moment showed in your eyes
It was the heat of the moment
The heat of the moment
The heat of the moment showed in your eyes
Heat of the moment
Heat of the moment
Heat of the moment
Heat of the moment...

Sometimes I fancy myself a writer of space operas...

 And when I do, this happens over on Twitter for #vsspic: 

Translator crept down the sandy path to where the little one stood. I knew to let him approach first-some young ones had never seen humans before, despite their outward appearance.

Her balloons...that looked like our planets?

"From First Earth," he said, noticing my stare. pic.twitter.com/JQTmMyvnB8

— NancyD_writes📚 (@nancyd_writes) February 2, 2021

Music Monday: Welcome Home, Scarlet.

Back in November, I was working on a piece that was supposed to be a ghost story based on my experiences at a small college in the mountains of North Georgia. As predicted, though, by anyone that knows me, it turned into a weird paranormal mythology-influenced story...with a wolfhound. There are bits of my original idea still there: a girl grows up steeped in her family's legacy and duty, taking care of the old gods of the mountains to keep them from swarming down into the human population and causing havoc. So I'm going to let that biz ruminate for a while. 
I worked on a cover for the book because apparently, I have flipped the normal process for writing and need to have the cover ready for a manuscript that may or may not be written. As I was getting it ready to put on Tiktok (because I'm one of those middle-aged women authors that discovered the app during the pandemic) I found a song that I thought was perfect for the little 60-second cover reveal: Welcome Home, Son by Radical Face. It is very much like my main character, Scarlet: sweet-sounding and cozy on the outside but a hot mess on the inside. Enjoy.


Welcome Home, Sonby Radical Face
Sleep don't visit, so I choke on sun
And the days blur into one
And the backs of my eyes hum with things I've never done

Sheets are swaying from an old clothesline
Like a row of captured ghosts, over old dead grass
Was never much, but we made the most
Welcome home

Ships are launching from my chest
Some have names, but most do not
If you find one, please
Let me know what piece I've lost

Peel the scars from off my back
I don't need them anymore
You can throw them out
Or keep them in your mason jars
I've come home

All my nightmares escaped my head
Bar the door, please don't let them in
You were never supposed to leave
Now my head's splitting at the seams
And I don't know if I can...

Here beneath my lungs
I feel your thumbs press into my skin again

Music Monday: Of Poetry and Prose...It's a Trap!

This song is what it's like to be a writer. Those of you that know me in real life have NO IDEA how many times I have used your voices, your gestures, your attitudes, and sometimes your words to bring my characters to life. And instead of thinking of that as creepy, think of the gift of immortality I've given you! "I have written you down/Now you will live forever."
There have only been a few that I have written down in the way that Bastille describes in the song. I promise. No? Still creepy? It's a cool song, anyway...

 

Obsession, it takes control
Obsession, it eats me whole
I can't say the words out loud
So in a rhyme I wrote you down
Now you'll live through the ages
I can feel your pulse in the pages
I have written you down
Now you will live forever
And all the world will read you
And you will live forever

In eyes not yet created
On tongues that are not born
I have written you down
Now you will live forever
Your body lies upon the sheets
Of paper in words so sweet
I can't say the words
So I wrote you into my verse
Now you'll live through the ages
I can feel your pulse in the pages

I have written you down
Now you will live forever
And all the world will read you
And you will live forever

In eyes not yet created
On tongues that are not born
I have written you down
Now you will live forever
I have read her with these eyes
I've read her with these eyes
I have held her in these hands
I have written you down
Now you will live forever
The virtue's in the verse
And you will live forever
I have written you down
Now you will live forever
And all the world will read you
And you will live forever
In eyes not yet created
On tongues that are not born
I have written you down
Now you will live forever

Music Monday: Sometimes I...Think about Tairneanach

 One part of being a writer that I hate is when I get a whole bunch of words put down on a page, put them away for a bit, and then get them back out to find out that they are not at all what I meant for them to be. I have said before that I identify more with Tairn, a character in the Nature Walker Trilogy than I do with Gin these days which has surprised me. Gin is so good and fair, and she is who I think I would like to be...but I am not. Gin comes out of an incredibly painful and difficult time with her compassion not only intact, but still worn on her sleeve. That is amazing - but not me.

I've pulled out the manuscript for Tairn's book in the upcoming Guardians of Orana series and whooo. I know that I'm my own worst critic but after a certain point that is a steaming pile of disjointed garbage. Ah, the revision stage! But I admit that this time I was not sure how to fix it. It has been so long that I wasn't hearing Tairn's voice like I was before.

And then I heard this song, from a recommendation by a dear friend on social media, and there she was, that sideways grin that means WE ARE IN FOR AN ADVENTURE plastered across her face, pale blue eyes gleaming. I've missed you, Red. Let's get to work.

Sometimes Iby Raising Appalachia
Sometimes I
I feel far
Far away
From my home
And sometimes I
I am lonely but sometimes
I like the way i roam
Sometimes I
I pace forward
I pace back, yeah
Bending, breaking
Tall grass shaking
Beneath my weight yeah yeah
Sometimes I
I get stuck inbetween
Between my love for the jester
Or my love for the queen
Sometimes I
I see your eyes
Across the roof, yeah
Fading, narrow
Bonesharp arrow
Harbouring, yeah
Sometimes I
I am tired of being alone
And I know sometimes I'll be mighty baby
And I'll sit upon your thrown
Knocked me over
Freightrain lover
Chew me up and spin me out
Tiny spout and muddy river
Whisper softer softer
Sometimes I
I need my skin to touch the breeze
And Sometimes I
I found beauty brings me down
Down to my knees
And sometimes I don't know where I am going
And I don't care
And sometimes I need my roots
And sometimes i need my essence
Sometimes I am far away...