Steffan Piper's Blog, page 5

Here's a fact: Most writers read reviews. However, most writers will try to sell you the lie that they don't read the reviews of their books. Some will just say that "Oh, I was just obsessively checking the ranking." Some will say that they were "checking the page to make sure it was still there and that it wasn't all a dream."

Myself, it's all three. I check my book pages almost every morning, in every country, as I have them all tabbed and ready to click, and I love reading the reviews people leave. Sometimes I respond to them directly, sometimes I don't.

Recently I noticed that the cover art for my book had mysteriously changed. Here's what I saw:




I was horrified and immediately thought that there was something going on with my monitor and checked the settings. Quickly I realized my error -- and then scratched my head. Then I drank some more coffee and scratched my head again. I had no idea there would be a change to the graphic. Usually, my Publisher, Amazon Publishing, keeps me pretty well informed. 
It hurt my eyes to keep staring at it. I felt blinded. So, I fired off an email. I think I upset some folks because I suggested that people were wasting precious time and resources goofing around with the cover art -- AFTER the book has been out for almost THREE years. Yes, Greyhound came out April, 2010. The same day the Deep Water Horizon Tanker exploded all over the news.
For the record, here is the original image that was put up when the book came out:

I didn't mind this image at all, even though I always thought there was a bit too much turquoise in the design. The book doesn't take place at sea and I make no references to Moby Dick or anything else nautical. But, everyone interprets art differently, so I was okay with it. Red and Turquoise happen to be my favourite colors, btw.

When the book came out, I made a fevered and award-winning pitch to every Barnes & Noble in Southern California to carry the book. I must've went into over 40 stores back then. Sadly though, I always encountered two things:

1) "That book isn't within our company's model." I kept hearing this line, like it was something that came down from B&N's legal department. At the time, Amazon Publishing was at war with the rest of publishing world and thus nobody would carry it, barring a few independent bookstores that I had previous contact with.

2) "Is your book Gay Fiction?" I was stunned the first time I heard this. I think it had to do with the rainbow stripe down the side and it threw me back off my heels. I've read a lot of Gay Fiction over the years and James Baldwin happens to be one of my favourite authors. Giovanni's Room was a fascinating and engrossing read.

But, alas, Greyhound isn't that. So, I made a pitch to my publisher about 9 months later to remove the stripe. They agreed, sided with me and the image was changed globally. This is what was put out:



So, for about the last year, this has been what buyers / readers see when they go to purchase my book. Not a bad cover. A lot of folks have said that the cover is not reflective of the genre, tone, nor the material, and while I do agree, it is pretty. I currently have a small poster of it hanging in my garage. It's nice on the eyes.
After I emailed and then ruffled some feathers, the image  changed a few more times. I didn't catch two of the versions, but this next one was easily my favourite and I had hoped it would remain as the thumbnail / cover art for the book.

I like this a lot. It's balanced, you can see my name, you can read the title of the book. It looks a bit more juvenile as it should and is quite pleasing. I'd buy that book. It looks cool. In fact, as I've stated before, Greyhound is now used in public school systems across the US, supplanting Catcher In The Rye. You'd be surprised how many parents complain about CITR, saying it's too negative. So, kids are given the choice of both books -- and guess which one they pick most?
One of the school kids that read the book and had emailed me, said this: "I picked Greyhound because it looked a whole lot cooler and modern."
After the dust had settled, the image changed one more time. This one though, hurt the most:


My name, which is important, is smaller, as is the title. The cool graphic and everything else seem lost on the page. It looks unbalanced, and anyone with any artistic aesthetic, would likely feel the same. Too much dead space.

I had a dream that night where I woke up and they had changed my image again and it looked like this:




And then the next day it looked like this:



At the end of the day, I am an artist and aesthetic is everything. I think about aesthetics while shaping paragraphs, sentences, putting on my clothes and putting marmalade on my toast. Even editing blog posts for typos. It's unavoidable. Let's just say, my Publisher has ceased returning my emails. It's fine. I don't expect them to cater to my every demand, even though I have very few of them. They're busy doing what they do, and I don't begrudge them kicking me down some bacon & silence. I'm definitely used to it. Try marriage for 12 years, haha.

I would think that that much effort and time being spent adjusting my cover was for something, or had a purpose, and I'm yet empty-handed with no explanation. I doubt I'll get one, but that's what life is like some days. Gotta just ramble on.

Lastly, this was the cover that I designed for the manuscript before Amazon Publishing picked it up. I like it, it is a bit darker in tone, even though it does have a generic feel. It's a bit sub-par in lay-out, but definitely balanced. For the record, I did take this photo myself:



I just thought I'd post this for curiosity and posterity for any and all to see, in case, you too, saw some of these incarnations on the page. And to quote Forrest Gump: "That's all I have to say about that!"

3:23pm update: a few hours later, after authoring this, the image was changed again. Still no explanation though. Alas. Thankful however.



***
Steffan Piper is the author of several novels including Greyhound, Yellow Fever and Fugue State. He was once kicked out of Nome, Alaska due to a minor misunderstanding. He has a blog, a Facebook page, a favorite film and lives in Palm Desert, CA.

"Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles... As you wish ..."

Just prepared this for an email I'm about to send out. Some things fit so perfectly you would think God's favourtie thing is warm socks.

"So ... you've written a book? I'm a Literary Agent!"


Anyone that knows me well, that has suffered my company long enough in dimly lit bars, surrounded by tall glasses of cold pilsner, has likely heard my unending ranting regarding agents, the decline of modern publishing, the struggles against the tide by Amazon and new media – even if the jukebox might've been too loud that night. I do like to orate whilst imbibing, I'm a people pleaser, thus entertaining is a natural mode. It's putting it lightly saying that I loathe agents. If I had to classify them by hierarchy and significance they might rate just above mold, but definitely not as wonderful as lichen.
Some might say, I'm jaded, or that I've been manhandled inappropriately by some industry type, but it's only half true, and that's stretching it. I do believe most agents are only interested in giving you a quick hanny, usually over the phone (only) and typically after glancing at whatever legal documents you might send their way so they can skim their cut off your earnings, which will likely pay for their beer bong adventures and hipster weekend jaunts to Portland while you worry about your student loans. They'll take that money for the entire life of your material, regardless of how they feel about you. Most of them will smile and turn a screw, quickly, to get you in their mitts, but the truth is that – now get ready for it – they'll hate you, and their hatred will be perfect.
Like a shining diamond, like a knife, like a mountain, like a tiger, like hemlock.





"Haha ... I'm supposed to be doing something for that author I represent! OMG!"


Sound about right? They won't give a damn about you when their cream curdles, they won't call you, forget it. You won't be finding out all the nice things they've cobbled together with your publicist on whatever coin you paid them down the line. You won't find yourself yapping on some panel about the classics or Memoirs of modern Los Angeles - presented by Cal State Northridge. Nope.
The reason why I'm going off a bit, is because once in a while get a bite from another foolish, lost fish from the sea of agents. Sometimes they call, sometimes they email, but regardless of how they find my name, it always ends the same. The last few have stung, thus I feel compelled to comment. Last week one more showed up in my inbox. But it's always the same. They've read Greyhound, were emotionally knocked off their feet, maybe cried, destroyed a Kleenex box or laughed out loud at night while laying in bed, waking up their significant other. It's some version of the same story I've heard numerous times. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful and very humbled.
But then, what comes next, always comes next. I'm always happy to hear from them and I respond timely and politely just as I would if it were normal contact from a reader. I never say anything unkind or pushy, I don't ask for anything or drift into weird territory. The call ends, they're ecstatic and ready to FedEx me documents within a few days. And then … yep … you guessed it. Nada. Nothing but midnight static. I always hang up knowing full well that it's the final call, regardless of how effusive she is. It's usually a she, by the way. I can no longer count on two hands how many times this has gone down.
To tip my hand, let me illustrate the picture. I've gotten calls from people who have worked with Oprah Winfrey, who are now independent agents (this scenario has actually happened three times – I now think it's a cheap pick up line and am skeptical of it completely, haha.) I've gotten calls from Fox Studios, and a litany of people that I had to Google afterward. I recently got a call from the office of a legendary Hollywood producer who read Greyhound and somehow got ahold of a copy of FugueState about the time the Advance Review copies showed up on my doorstep and was moved and wanted to option it and develop it into a major production. I was told they would get back to me in December with “a package”, whatever that means. “A package” … back in the bar, you might get slapped for telling me you got a package for me.
So, my general opinion of agents … you tell me. Like I said, I'm not bitter, that's not really it.
Point blank, I've got a complete life history of people who have walked out on me, didn't really care enough to be polite about it, talked a lot and never delivered, tossed me in the closet and acted like I wasn't there when things got difficult or rough. So just forgive me ahead of time if I have a natural fear of being mishandled when you call me promising a way out. I don't have a criminal record, I'm not a fugitive and I never puked on Warren Beatty's lap at a wedding after eating too many raw oysters, so I have no answer why I always get tossed under the bus repeatedly. Maybe I'm just being penalized for being an early adopter of new media, whatever that means. That's a bit provincial, but whatever.
If you call or email, and you play me off, don't be surprised if I'm not interested a year later when you return the call, mispronounce my name and say I wrote a book called Greydog. See what I'm saying?
I had to post this as almost a legal record of events because I doubt anyone is ever going to give a damn about my side of the story when it's all said and done. If I'm ever an historical footnote, someone's going to say: “Why didn't Steffan have an agent?”Well, now you know.

***
Steffan Piper is the author of several novels including Greyhound, Yellow Fever and Fugue State. He was once kicked out of Nome, Alaska due to a minor misunderstanding. He has a blog, a Facebook page, a favorite film and lives in Palm Desert, CA.

One of the most interesting aspects about my book Greyhound is that it won't stop selling. Yes, there are some definite low months, but overall, the book has a frequency that's pretty impressive. My publisher once said "it's the train that keeps on chugging."

When the book first came out in 2010, it was heralded by librarians and became the subject of discussion in Booklist, a monthly publication from the American Library Association, which is probably read by every active librarian, especially those in charge of purchasing materials for their location. For about a year, it seemed like the book was the darling of educators who were definitely in my corner.

One would think I was destined for greatness with this book, but sadly ... the world was happening. The day the book came out, the Deep Water Horizon Platform exploded, not that it affected sales, but there would be no further twists of fate in my favour. Oprah wasn't saying: "Steffan Piper? Call him." Amazon was at war with Macmillan that summer and the tone at the time was to blacklist any author who sailed under the Amazon Publishing banner, myself included. Several of the authors who initially signed up, actually jumped ship as the pressure was too intense. Now, I might actually be their longest signed client, but that also gets me no favours. Some days it feels like a curse, as I might remind them of 'yesterday' or 'start up woes.' Marketing Literary Fiction is not something people wake up to happily and say "Wow! What debut Lit Fic author do I have on my plate today? Yay!" No. It's a hot mess and likely always will be. People need to believe in you without any wavering. They need to be ready to put you on a shuttle mission if need be.




As time has gone by though, an interesting thing occurred. I started getting email from High School students. At first, a friend casually mentioned to me that my book was being read by another friend in his High School. I was shocked. No one told me. Then, the emails started trickling in. I discovered that  Greyhound was being used actively in the Los Angeles Unified School District, The San Bernadino and Riverside School District. My book was being offered alongside Catcher in The Rye as an alternative. Kids in school were predominantly choosing my book -- and loving it. Thank you awesome cover art! I honestly never cared much for Salinger's book and always scratched my head over its popularity, so when I heard this, I couldn't help but emit a sly smile.

Once in a while, I get an email from a teacher, educator, librarian, graduate student, or the like and I'm always riveted, because it's always some effusive, glowing response to the book and a report about how much the students loved reading it. A Grad Student, at the University of Missouri, once adapted the book to a two person stage production. I also recently got an email from an educator in Georgia, where her students made promotional videos for the book after reading it. Schools across the Southern states of the US are quickly picking up the book and using it (Georgia, Tennessee  Arkansas, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico).  This is a double edged sword though. I'm now getting emails from parents, white households, complaining that it seemed to them:

"All your white characters are evil and the hero is a negro. I don't think that's a positive message for school children. Your book is teaching kids to not trust people. I don't think it should be used in school."

Yeah, before you gasp -- that's an actual quote lifted from an email, and I've gotten more than one. Clearly, they didn't finish the book, because the opposite is actually true in regards to the message of the book. Some people doth sip heartily from the cup of stupid.

I don't receive official letters from school boards informing me that my book is being used, I usually find out later, after the fact. If there's some process, I'm currently unaware of it. I'm incredibly thankful for the work the librarians have done on my behalf and for the fruit that's been reaped and all the young minds that have crossed the country on a Greyhound via the 256 pages. Mission accomplished. Maybe this is how a book becomes a classic.

A few weeks ago, I was approached by a fourth grader (!) that had read my book and proceeded to tell me how much she loved it and what her favourite parts were. My eyes were as big as tea-cup saucers and I really didn't know how to respond, but I'm definitely thankful. When I asked "What was your favourite bit?" She replied, "The suitcases cracked me up."

Gotta love it.


***
Steffan Piper is the author of several novels including Greyhound, Yellow Fever and Fugue State. He was once kicked out of Nome, Alaska due to a minor misunderstanding. He has a blog, a Facebook page, a favorite film and lives in Palm Desert, CA.

Earlier today, I shut down my Facebook Account. Yes. I shut it down. New Years Resolution? Maybe. Good idea? Absolutely.

I had been sifting the idea for some time and weighing whether or not it was worthwhile keeping it active. After all, since 2007, for more than five years, I'd been uploading hundreds of pictures through my phone of my son, my own adventures, commentary, notices, book announcements, you name it.

Of the 355 friends I had, most of them were readers that had sought me out after reading Greyhound , a smaller percentage were friends that were writers and authors and the rest, less than twenty, were family members. Thus, the point of Facebook for me was that it was a connection between myself and readers.

But in the end ... all that lost out to the most inescapable reason. Facebook is a huge waste of time where you get sucked into staring at it for hours upon hours, reading every manner of personal thought from people you likely don't even know, (Sorry, truth is painful). For no reason at all, I found myself checking the updates, scanning the feed, looking for something worthwhile like it's just another channel on my DirecTV. And usually, there's very little that's stimulating. While it had its benefits, I decided I would rather have my time back to do other more pressing things.

While it is uplifting to hear the good news of friends and the new high points they're attaining, we all know that like a tree falling in the woods still making a noise, all these things would still happen whether I'm watching or not. I'll miss the direct contact with a lot of you, but the world of Facebook will be just fine without me.

After being connected for so long, It might be comical to chronicle my withdrawals from modern social media.

I also have a twitter account, but I'm going to resist letting that become addictive. If it does, it will be shut down as well.

Today, my new book Fugue State releases, and I can only hope that the book finds its way safely out into the world and into the hands of appreciative readers. It took a lot to get down on paper, and even more to continually go over and edit, even as difficult as it was due to the nature of the material. I've blogged a lot about the book recently, and from the product description, I've already been answering a lot of concerned questions from people near to me, who either a) really didn't know me well, or b) never took the time to get to know me well. It's okay, I'm used to it.

Without gilding the lily, I just want to say thanks to everyone who made the book possible. My good friend Courtney Abruzzo who helped me with working out the story and initial edits. David Downing for his amazing thoughtfulness as an editor. Nick Podehl for doing such an outstanding job bringing my characters to life in the audiobooks, making it surreal to hear the days of my life brought to life again and dramatized. When I was kid, I always knew I wanted to have my stories on audiobooks and I saw it as the pinnacle of success in being an author. 

Of course, like I've said a million times, everyone over at Amazon Publishing for making it all happen. Especially Terry Goodman and Jeff Belle. Without the direct support from these two people -- it wouldn't have happened.

I also want to thank my good friend Mark Espinosa back in New Jersey, who has been much too absent from my life in these last two years. You pushed me over the hill and kept me going as a writer when I thought I was just wasting everyone's time.

I even want to thank U2, for years of life-sustaining inspiration, even though they didn't give us permission to use a line of lyrics from Bad in my book -- even after numerous phone calls and beating down the door. I have nothing but love for you guys.

I truly mean everyone of Andrew Goldberg's lyrics:

If I had the money ... I might start a Charity called Guitars not Guns and do everything I could to personally give a free guitar (a nice guitar) and amp (and a hug) to anyone who ever filled out a background check form to buy a gun. I believe in gun ownership, but I believe people that need help -- should get it. I fully understand that getting through life can be painful, full of disappointment and often lonely. 

I also believe strongly in the power of music. Guitars not Guns. Before this year ends ... I'm going to give a guitar to someone. Those above, pictured, are mine ... message me if you know a teenager that could use a guitar and would benefit from the power of music.

My son, Fox, is five and I've been to too many birthday parties for his friends in the last few months to not feel an intense and sorrow-filled heartache right now. Every parent likely feels this right now.

If you wish to donate anything towards this cause, I've created a fundly site. I will be giving guitars to kids no matter what. I will likely give one of my own first.

http://fundly.com/guitars-not-guns

Inside the opening pages of my last book, Greyhound , there's a musical quotation from the rock band U2. It's a single line of lyric from the song Acrobat, released in 1991.

Don't believe what you hear, don't believe what you see ...
If you just close your eyes, you can feel the enemy.

I've often heard back from readers about the haunting nature of that line in context with the book and how touched they were by it, and how many of them sought out the song, as they may have heard it before, but they probably didn't listen. And, yes, there's a huge difference between the two.  It's like the difference between speed reading -- and reading normally. Lots of ideas get jettisoned very quickly in the turbulent wake.
In my current novel, Fugue State, which deals a lot with the entire album The Unforgettable Fire, the effect it had on me when I had joined the Marine Corps, as well as going onto the battlefield of the Persian Gulf War. Most specifically, my memories had been kept safely inside, guarded by the lyrics of the song Bad. I wanted to put them at the front of the book in much the same manner we did with Acrobat and Greyhound, but the lawyers were hesitant in this new era of extreme litigation, even from a band that has prided (sorry) themselves on taking the high road with this particular subject, repeatedly.
If you twist and turn away. If you tear yourself in two again. If I could, yes I would.
If I could, I would let it go, surrender, dislocate.

So, it was suggested that we contact their Principal Management company in Dublin, get them on the phone, and see if you could open a channel for this dialogue to let this occur. I fretted ringing them up. I was in a deep fear over it. Why? You may ask? 
After all these years of speech training, trying to sound legitimate in large groups of adults, and remaining calm, I still stutter. When I'm nervous, I stutter badly. It's just a residual effect of a childhood trauma and the welling up of uncontrolled fear. It happens to a lot of adults, so I know it's a common thing for some folks. I can cope, but it's never easy. I do my best.
So, I begged my good friend Terry, over at Amazon Publishing, to see if he could get Amazon's Lawyer's to call over for me and get permission. From what I understand, both things happened: he called, and then Legal followed up -- both to no avail. Feeling smoted, blighted and sad in my semi-diffused state, I sucked it up and called them myself. Yeah ... I got nowhere. I did get my words out, but nothing happened. It was like speaking into a tin can. The only difference was that I couldn't see the bottom of the empty tin. 
It was heartbreaking. Nobody called back, and thus I was confronted via email that the text had to be stricken as well as a line towards the end, where I'm sitting in my Humvee, emotionally detached, listening to Bad, over and over. The last time I spoke with Terry, I could tell from the tone in his voice that no one had responded back to our request. 

Now, those that know me, know that I could tell them volumes of different and interesting stories about my own travels, which usually include U2 in one way or the other, or even just stories about U2 themselves. I can sing almost their entire catalogue, which I do via karaoke in my front room with my five-year old son, Fox, who firmly believes that Bono (Paul Hewson), is my dad or rather, "Papa's Papa." I never had a father, and in all honesty, the truth of the lyrics and the hypnotic tone of the music were, sometimes, the only touchstone I had when I was trying to get through some very, very difficult years. It made sense to my son, and I left it at that because I knew my own father would never walk through the door laughing heartily, be happy to see us, and bellow out "Hello, everybody!" 
"Why doesn't papa's papa come see you?"
"Well, in our family, Foxey, what we do, is try to do our best to make other people happy. That's what papa's papa does too. You'll do the same when you're big."
"But he never comes home."
"Well he does, Fox. Everybody goes home at night."
Bono's conviction in the living was what I needed. I wrote at the end of Greyhound how they had made my life more bearable and worth living when things got too dark to see. Fox has several favourite songs and will likely continue my love of these guys. I honestly don't give a damn if people just don't understand. It might have been me that got through those times, but while I was alone -- I honestly wasn't alone. For some, that's what music is.
Yes, I'm just a fan. I saw them in Los Angeles, once, during the Pop tour, and was overwhelmed. I've written a lot of different product reviews on them, both good and bad, gotten into public forum debates about small details, but I became a fan when everyone thought it was cool to speak poorly of them and whine endlessly about U2 trying to rise too high and too quickly with Rattle & Hum. 
I documented my feelings quite extensively with my disdain for Roger Ebert (god bless him) who seemed to slip into a vacuum during the eighties, hating everything that was honest and lasting from that whole era, Blade Runner being the most glaring. Ebert's sway prompted Rolling Stone to crap on R & H as well, which pretty much set the tone of the reception. We now have another documentary called From The Sky Down, which chronicles this debacle closely and functions as an almost direct answer to all that nonsense which never really went away. If you haven't seen it, you probably should. Regardless how you feel about the band.


So, here I am, just a few days before Fugue State comes out, milling around my house in Palm Desert, watching Rattle & Hum on the home theatre, loudly, and wondering how the world is going to receive the book, which is raw, honest, and gives the reader an over-the-shoulder look at my life from 1988 - 1992, which I can only hope is received well. I doubt I'll clean up, or pay off my student loans, or even get ahead, but I hope enough people read it and see themselves and their own journey through mine. That's the point. Greyhound, now, is a testament to just that.
Thought I'd share this as I move closer to the book launching and perhaps give the reader something else to think about when it does.
All the best ...


***
Steffan Piper is the author of several novels including Greyhound, Yellow Fever and Fugue State. He was once kicked out of Nome, Alaska due to a minor misunderstanding. He has a blog, a Facebook page, a favorite film and lives in Palm Desert, CA.

I've been reading a lot of the articles and blogs recently concerning the Simon & Schuster deal that occurred where they launched into the Self-Publishing market with Archway. For those not in the know, Archway is actually Author Solutions, one of the most disreputable of all the Self-Publishers in business currently.

Everything I've read has all been negative. All of it. It's also hard to imagine how anyone could honestly think that something like this would be perceived as a good PR move, or that there just wouldn't be blowback onto the primary brand. With as much information out in the world these days about 'Pay-to-Play Publishing', one would think that this would be one of the last things to come out of the Big 6, er Big 5. But one has to ask the main question? Why? Why would they do this?

The answer is simple. Simon & Schuster obviously got to see the raw data pitched to them from Author Solutions about participation in their service. Random House tried this a few years back with Xlibris and that didn't go very well on the PR front either. But who reads the news anymore? Who follows publishing news with every heartbeat? I knew for sure who doesn't. And that's what they're betting on.

The saddest thing about this -- is the most obvious victim. Aging Baby-Boomers who are looking to publish their "memoirs" or stories, who have little to no knowledge about publishing and who are thinking that this is actually a legitimate route into publishing because it's being promoted by Simon & Schuster. Many retirees actually have a few thousand dollars to spend on something like this, but many don't. Regardless though, many of them will take the plunge, hoping to make financial gain.

"Jo Rowling raked it in ... why not me?"

Many in that particular 'generation set' were raised on a specific principle about money. There's a persistent belief that because you are paying money, there is an inferred sense of legitimacy. The more you do pay, the more legitimate it must be. And from all outside appearances, this is being pushed by Simon & Schuster. What can go wrong? Well, twenty five thousand dollars can go wrong. That's what. Yes: $25,000.

Ever been to Writing Conventions or even BEA (Book Expo of America)? Ever notice that there are often hundreds to thousands of elderly people there participating, far outnumbering everyone else? While that's definitely not a bad thing, they're already used to the 'Pay-to-Play' model, as many of the more enterprising seniors engage in it themselves directly, although with a much more altruistic lean. They honestly have good intentions and wish to publish materials they like, and obviously for a reasonable price. Most of them have already paid for something along the lines as well. I've spoken to many, and have a large cadre of elderly friends, that would desperately do anything to get their memoirs published. Many work at it like there's some more immediate deadline. In their mind, I'm sure there is.

This is incredibly sad and incredibly predatory by Simon & Schuster. They know it's wrong, they know that their targeted demographic are seniors citizens in doing this, and yet they're pressing forward. To me, it's just one more disgusting facet in the on-going drama of people trying to bilk senior citizens for all they're worth and the wheezing, dying gasps of an outdated industry that continually doesn't have a clue.

It's elder abuse. Plain and simple.

It seems as of late, everyone now has a soundtrack that goes along with their book and they love to tell you how much music inspires them and what songs specifically stand out to them, or have connective tissue to their work. Most people who create, are typically careful about whatever motivational stimulus they prefer and keep close and are very driven by popular media like music and films.

The last two books that I've written, have not only had a lot of music associated with it, within the story, but also in the creation. I made a post, similar to this back in 2009 for another book I wrote called Yellow Fever, which is finally coming out on Kindle this spring. In 2010, I posted a much longer and detailed list of music for Greyhound.

For this post, I'm not only including a list of music that I overdosed on ad naseum, which a few tracks become almost a central character within the story, but the films that I had on in my office everyday, keeping my company while I wrote. I have a difficult time spending too much time alone, and I definitely -- spend too much time alone. Yes, I often get a lot of work done, but, like everything there is an emotional cost. This isn't make-believe, sparkly Vampire Romance that I've written, so the emotional investment, at least to me, is pretty high. I have a tendency to expose a lot to the reader, for good reason, so I figured it's only natural to share these lists.

All the best ...

Music:

The Unforgettable Fire - U2 *(the entire album is a character in the book)
Bad - U2
Gold Dust Woman - Fleetwood Mac
Sara (Cleaning Lady Version) - Fleetwood Mac
The Audio portion of Blade Runner on Cassette tape.

Only in Dreams - Weezer
Going to California - Led Zeppelin
Help Me Through The Day - Freddie King
Same old Blues - Freddie King

Philosopher's Stone - Van Morrison
Drawing / Track 08 - Guy Farley
Kathy's Song - Simon & Garfunkel
Heartland - U2

Memories of Green - Vangelis
Blood of Eden (Film Version) - Peter Gabriel
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Still in LOve With You - Thin Lizzy

Lonely Woman - Ornette Coleman
Close to you (Take 4) - Frank Sinatra
Only The Lonely - Frank Sinatra
I wish you Love - Dean Martin

I Still Can't Believe You're Gone - Willie Nelson
I Feel Like A Bullet (in the Gun of Robert Ford) - Elton John
Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John
Till The Cops Come Knockin - Maxwell

Christmas, Baby, Please Come Home - Darlene Love
A Forrest - The Cure
Close to Me - The Cure
Me and The Devil - Gil Scott Heron

[I'll post a Youtube playlist to this a bit later]


Films:

Blade Runner *(A character in the book)
Fight Club
Maltese Falcon
The Big Sleep
In a Lonely Place
Zodiac (David Fincher's version)
Lawrence of Arabia
Forrest Gump
Until The End of The World,
Casablanca
Girl, Interrupted
Cashback
Almost Famous
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Exorcist (while I was writing the sections about DC)
Platoon (while I was writing the very ending)
U2 - Rattle & Hum
Sting - Durham Cathedral
U2 - Live at Slane Castle
Cello Suites - Rostropovich (especially the interview parts with Mstislav speaking)