Interview and Coffee Chat with Author DL Richardson

Ready for coffee and book talk?

I'm so pleased to welcome back a former guest. D L Richardson was here in May to discuss Young Adult fiction (link to article), but today we have something even more unique. She's showing us how she incorporated music into her latest release, Little Red Gem.

Welcome, Debbie! I think you had an announcement before we get started.

DL:  I do.
"One lucky reader who comments on this blog post will be randomly selected to win an ebook copy of Little Red Gem. Good luck!"

Ally:  That's terrific! So let's get started by taking a look at your bio for our new readers...
BIO: Music first captured the creative interest of D L Richardson. She got her first acoustic guitar at age ten, and in high school she sang with the school band. When she left school she helped form her own rock band where she sang lead vocals, played bass guitar, and wrote all the lyrics. At age 26 she realized she wanted to write novels for the rest of her life, or die trying, so she sold her equipment, quit pursuing a music career and began writing instead. She’s had two young adult novels published and is currently pitching a third and writing a fourth. She lives in Australia on the NSW South Coast with her husband and dog. When she’s not writing or reading she can be found practicing her piano, playing the guitar or walking the dog.

Author contact links:

website:  www.dlrichardson.com
email:  dlrichardsonbooks@bigpond.com  
blog: dlrichardsonwrites.blogspot.com  
facebook:  facebook.com/dlrichardsonbooks
twitter:   twitter.com/#!/DLRichardson1

Ally:  In Little Red Gem, you appear to have found a way to pursue both of your creative careers, writing and music. Explain the part that music plays in this novel. Is it merely background, a catalyst or even a minor character?

DL:  Music is a major part of Little Red Gem. The main character, Ruby, sings in an all-girl band and her boyfriend, Leo, also sings and plays in a band. That in itself isn’t enough to make the music a major component, but the way in which the music is used to communicate makes it a major player. Music is also the trigger for Ruby driving off into the night and to her death. Although Ruby dies after an argument with Leo, when she finds a way to come back from the dead, there is a catch - she can’t return in her body. So she possesses the body of her half-sister, Audrey. When she realizes that she isn’t getting through to Leo she decides to use the auditions for the national TV talent show as her way of communicating. She believes that Leo will be able to hear that it’s her beneath this façade if he listens to her voice. She believes that souls connect on a level that doesn’t rely on a familiar face. Unfortunately she gets this bit wrong.

Ally:  I know these are your own songs and lyrics. Did you write them specifically for this book? Tell us how you chose the music to include.

DL:  I wrote all the songs specifically for Little Red Gem except one. Side of the Road is a song I wrote in 1991. I was 21 at the time and still singing and playing in my band. This wasn’t the type of song we’d ever play in our band, and that also gave me the idea to have Ruby and Leo in a secret competition with each other to perform songs for the national TV talent show that they wouldn’t normally perform. Most musicians explore songs that are not for the band.

Anyway, the idea for the song came to me in the same way that I portray it in the book, minus the near death experience. I was on a trip and I saw crosses at the side of the road with flowers, in memoriam of the people who had died in car accidents. And I got to thinking how awful it would be if you were a ghost who watched people come to your gravesite to replace the flowers and you couldn’t communicate with them to tell them you were okay.

Ally:  Have you recorded any of these songs? Is there anywhere we can hear them?

DL:  I recorded Side Of The Road using my phone and put it on You Tube. It’s raw, but it’s also honest and I suppose that’s why I’m happy to share it with everyone. It could sound better, and if I had spare cash I would love to professionally record these songs even if it was just for my own pleasure.
                                                     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7rYl_Oj0XI&feature=youtu.be
I am in the process of creating a second You Tube video featuring the song that Ruby performs for Leo titled A Million Miles. When this is done I’ll post the link to YouTube on my blog, website and Facebook so please make sure you follow me if you want to hear more songs from the novel.

Ally:  What's next on your writing agenda?

DL:  My current WIP is a sci-fi/dystopian novel. I wish I could give more away but I am at the first draft stage, however I can state that I have just finished reading Robocalyse and I can see that I have more work to do to build up this world I’m creating. It’s been put on hold while I publish and promote Little Red Gem. I am also considering writing the sequel to Feedback. It has an open ending, and I could leave it at that, but I feel as if I’ve left the characters dangling and they’re screaming out for a conclusion. And then I want to write a novella about what happens to Audrey who is trapped in limbo while Ruby possesses her body as part of my marketing strategy. Yes, I struggle with the same thing most writers do – so many things to write and so little time.

Ally:  A few quick answer questions:     

favorite breakfast item: coffee. If I have nothing else, I must have my coffee.          last vacation destination: USA – Los Angeles, Colorado, Alaska, Las Vegas.          favorite sport: To do – nothing if it is classified as a sport. I am a klutz and every time I get involved in sports I break something – i.e my bones and it hurts. To watch – I love to watch motor sports live. Speedway, car racing, rally cars, motor bikes, dirt bikes, speed boats. I have just returned, covered in dust, from watching a rally race in the nearby bush – awesome!!!          favorite type of jewelry: I adore rings, though I am hopeless at wearing them. I buy them and they end up sitting in the jewelry box because I actually find that wearing rings becomes annoying after about ten minutes.         spike heels or sneakers: Sneakers. I live in sneakers and jeans whenever I can. And t-shirts. If I could I’d live in jeans, sneakers and t-shirts.
Book blurb:

Love can make you do crazy things as Ruby Parker discovers when she dies and returns from the grave to unearth how much Leo Culver loved her. With the aid of bad advice from a ghost who is trapped by a curse, a little bit of magic courtesy of her unsuspecting half-sister, and a televised music talent show coming to town to hold auditions, Ruby Parker makes more of a mess in death than she ever did in life. Can she fix everything before it’s too late? Or will she spend eternity as a ghost, haunted by the unknown depths of love? Either way, one thing Ruby learns is that while love can make you do crazy things, it can make you do amazing things too. But at what cost?

eBook

Smashwords:   https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/365185
Kobo:    http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/little-red-gem
Barnes and Noble:   http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/little-red-gem-d-l-richardson/1117076354?ean=2940045315517
Amazon:    http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FUMQDUO
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Red-Gem-D-Richardson-ebook/dp/B00FUMQDUO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1382054810&sr=1-1&keywords=little red gem

Print

Create Space:    https://www.createspace.com/4465741
Amazon:      http://www.amazon.com/Little-Red-Gem-D-Richardson/dp/1492939927/

            Thanks so much, Debbie, for visiting us and sharing your books and music!
                         Readers, don't forget to comment to enter her drawing!