Can Music Complement a Book?

Generally speaking, reading is a solitary, independent activity. There are exceptions, but in most cases readers and writers are alone, experiencing something independent of human contact.

I wonder sometimes how to implement another dimension. A writer must do so properly – I have no desire to smell real smells or hear real sounds when prose can provide these sensations without the scientifically inaccurate "fourth dimension" gimmick.

And yet, I still wonder if I AM DRUMS could use a soundtrack. An original one, with no prior connections in the reader’s mind. Not stock songs people have heard before – those come with their own ideas and memories and feelings. And nothing with lyrics that directly spell out the reader’s experience. My debut novel already has enough words, I think.

I’d like to create fresh perspectives with any music meant to accompany Sam Morris’s story.

I wrote and recorded the below instrumental song about a year ago. It has issues, as most works in progress do. The tempo should be a tad faster. The bass needs a little more oomph. It was recorded in my former apartment, which had terrible acoustics, without a real drum set (a crime when your song accompanies a book about drums), as playing one in an apartment complex tends to make your neighbors think an asteroid has collided with the building.

But this song is something, and I know I was thinking about Sam at the time. It’s called FIGHT BACK for a reason, but I'm not sure how to explain said reason.

But do books need music to be complete? They don’t need artificial smells, sounds, or surfaces to fill your senses.

I feel like designing audio for the sole purpose of accompanying a reading experience implies that words are not enough. Even as a musician I do not believe this to be the case.

But this song exists, and I’m not sure what to do with it. Maybe I won't do anything, and that's okay, too.

*****

Mike Grosso is the author of I AM DRUMS, a debut contemporary middle grade novel for musicians of all ages. It was orphaned due to the closing of Egmont USA, but has found a new home at Clarion Books and an updated release date of September 16, 2016. The Fall Fifteeners have been nice enough to let him hang out even though he's technically a sixteener now.

You can visit Mike's website here or follow him on Twitter @mgrossoauthor.

R U OK?

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day (and this is National Suicide Prevention Week). 

If you are a survivor of a friend or loved one lost to suicide, you can join millions of other people tonight by lighting a candle near a window at 8 p.m. your local time. I’ll be lighting one. 

Over 800,000 people around the world end their lives each year. For teens and young adults in the U.S. it’s the second leading cause of death, and about 25 attempts are made for each completed suicide. 

The biggest predictor for suicide is depression (although suicidality only affects a small subset of those suffering depression). Alcohol or substance abuse makes things a lot worse.

Depression is highly treatable.

Suicide is preventable.

My YA thriller, Romancing the Dark in the City of Light, deals with suicide. You could even say that it’s about suicide. It’s a topic in which I’ve long been interested.

It’s still a difficult subject that makes most people uncomfortable. The stigma surrounding it (in the west) is strong. This dates back at least to medieval times and the stance the Christian church adopted toward suicide. Even though we've rethought the old desecrate a suicide’s corpse, bury them at the crossroads, seize all their assets and exile their family, we've still got a ways to go.

If we can’t talk about it, we can’t help someone who needs it--including the devastated family members who survive a loved one’s suicide.

Let's talk about it. We can save lives.

If a friend or loved one is showing any of these signs, ask them if they’re okay.

R U OK? is the name of a national Australian suicide prevention program.

Have them call 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255) or text "go" to 741-741.

“The act of showing care and concern to someone who may be vulnerable to suicide can be a game-changer. Asking them whether they are OK, listening to what they have to say in a non-judgmental way, and letting them know you care, can all have a significant impact. Isolation increases the risk of suicide, and, conversely, having strong social connections is protective against it, so being there for someone who has become disconnected can be life-saving.”

The International Association for Suicide Prevention, part of the World Health Organization is sponsoring World Suicide Prevention Day and the quote above is from their site.

The American Federation for Suicide Prevention sponsors National Suicide Prevention Week.

The Signs of Stress

I'm not going to lie. I almost forgot to write this post. Like I've forgotten to do a lot of things lately.

Sometimes you have a bad day. Or a bad month. And things get thrown to the side whether you like it or not.

August has been a terrible month. I'm keeping a positive attitude about it, but that's really just spit-shining a turd.

My mom looked at me the other day and said, "You know, Mike, you're really showing signs of stress." Then she pointed at my eye and said I'm blinking 3,245,987 times per minute.

That's not to say there aren't great things happening. Today I'm going to close on a house. It is not a big house, but it doesn't need to be. It just needs to be my house, and it most certainly is.

The path getting there has been insane and stressful. And losing daycare for my son two weeks before my school year started? I have a new vein in my forehead that I now call my DAYCARE VEIN.

A whole host of other personal and professional tomfoolery piled on, and all of a sudden I'm out of time for reading, writing, finishing copyedits, planning for my school year, and meaningful father experiences.

Oh, and my book was initially supposed to come out this month, but it won't for another year. So I'm kind of sad about that. It deserves a blog post of its own when the time is right. And Amazon still hasn't updated its listing.

My point -- besides tangential whining -- is that I'm learning how much the writing life relies on you keeping other affairs in order. You can't be productive and inspired when a million other tasks are weighing you down. Letting stress get to you has physical and emotional side effects. It's inevitable at times, but I'm really thinking I have to let go and convince myself the world around me will not fall to pieces if I take a break now and then.

Because that's a lot of freaking blinking.

* * *

Mike Grosso is the author of I AM DRUMS, a debut contemporary middle grade for musicians of all ages. It is currently orphaned due to the closing of Egmont USA but is on its way to finding a new home. The Fall Fifteeners have been nice enough to let him hang out in the meantime.

You can visit Mike's website here or follow him on Twitter @mgrossoauthor.

Do Something Unexpected

Why reinvent the wheel? I'm linking to Chuck Wendig's always interesting Terrible Minds blog where he recently posted 100 RANDOM STORYTELLING TIPS. Some thought-provoking writing advice awaits you. A lot of thought-provoking writing advice.

I taped number 4 near my keyboard to refer to as I struggle with my work-in-progress:

 Do something unexpected in the story. Yes, right now. If not now, then soon.

The power of the unexpected in storytelling is one of my favorite subjects and I still need to remind myself to remember it. If everything happens as expected, there's no story!

So, surprise us.



via GIPHY

I also like number 98:

 The best stories make us feel giddy and afraid not only when we read them — but when we’re sitting there writing them, as well.


Next month on September 10,  I'll be talking about National Suicide Awareness Week. It's one of my favorite times of the year. Join me!

Release Day for From Where I Watch You by Shannon Grogan

It's Release Day for Shannon's book

From Where I Watch You!

Here is my book, summarized in 3 Gifs!

Stalker

Baking

KISSING

Available now from
B&N | Amazon

Why I Read Young Adult

Neighborhood friends keep forwarding me emails inviting me to their next book club meeting. While I am never one to turn down free wine or any appetizer made with cheese (or any appetizers not made with cheese, for that matter), I continue to politely decline. I read at least a book a week, so you'd think I'd be drawn to this like college kids to Panama City during Spring Break.

The truth is, I would rather spend my time reading Young Adult novels than the ones on their book club lists. Yes, I know that a woman my age should probably prefer books in in the genre of Women's Fiction. But as my first love Tim W. told me when he broke up with me in sixth grade: The heart wants what the heart wants.

I prefer not to invest my beloved reading time in story lines where middle age women question their life choices and struggle against the conflict that results when dysfunctional families are put under duress. Obviously. If I wanted that kind of drama, I wouldn't waste twenty dollars on a hardcover book at Barnes and Noble. All I'd need to do is go in my family room and attempt to wrestle the remote away from my sons in a bitter battle wherein I try to switch the channel from ESPN to HGTV.

I choose to read Young Adult fiction because the characters are more emotionally charged and the conflicts are more intense and fast paced. Maybe it's the resilience of youth, but YA fiction leaves me feeling more hopeful and positive about life. Or maybe I love YA because it submerges me in the kind of passion that ignites when your life is so ripe with yearning and potential. Or maybe I just feel grateful to be done with all that adolescent angst.

So there you have it. My name is Lynn and I read YA fiction. Give me the Teen Department in the book store over Oprah's suggestions any day. And if you don't know where that's located, you're really missing out.

"...it's impossible to put the book down. Conspiracy, loyalty, secrets, oaths, lies, and riddles flourish, making this the perfect book for readers who love to untangle mysteries by puzzling things out."  -BOOKLIST 

"At the end of the day, it’s Talan and his endearing combination of bravado and vulnerability, coupled with the crackling chemistry he shares with Laney, that will keep readers turning the pages. A satisfying read for secret-society fanatics and romantics alike."   -KIRKUS REVIEWS

Lynn Lindquist (Chicago, IL) lives with two overly social sons who provide fodder for her young adult novels and growing anxiety disorder. Her contemporary thriller Secret of the Sevens is set for release on June 8, 2015 from Flux Publishing.  To learn more, follow Lynn on lynnlindquist.com or on Twitter at @LynnLindquist.

The Mystery of Creativity: Should You Be Surfing the Internet or Should You Be Writing?

This is excerpted from a post I did on Through the Toll Booth in 2008.

You are a writer; an artist. If all your novels, stories and poems flow forth abundantly—golden words, clever concepts, satisfying connections and solid structure tumbling fruitfully from your brain to your fingertips and onto the page or screen, then this post will be of no interest.

If you occasionally struggle, or if you are procrastinating right now because you sat down to write and could not think of a darn thing to type, read on.

I’D RATHER BE WRITING (NOT).

George Orwell said, “All writers are vain, selfish, and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives there lies a mystery. Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not DRIVEN ON BY SOME DEMON whom one can neither resist nor understand.”

If it’s so hard, why do we write?

Because we're driven on by some demon – whom one can neither resist nor understand.

  

We all know that writing productively is magic. But sometimes it's that being productive part that's hard.

Robert Olen Butler says in his book, From Where You Dream, that “…Writer’s block probably suggests that you have an artist’s instinct. [It happens to writers] because  some important part of them knows that they’ve got to get to the unconscious. But they’re not getting there; they’re thinking too much, so there’s nothing there. Except it’s not quite nothing—you sit there thinking, fussing, and worrying: ‘Gee, I’m not writing,’ ‘I’ve got to write now and I’m not writing,’ ‘Oh my God, I’m not writing.’”

Creativity. Visits from the muse. How can we as artists tap into that all-important creative part of our brains? Keep it healthy and well-oiled? Strengthen it so it’s not fragile and temperamental?

After all is said and done, when our writing is not flowing, we’ve got two choices:

1. Show up with no excuses. If necessary, force yourself with tricks and treats to work and plunge past the block,

or

2. Back off and go “refill the well.” (See Jane Cameron and THE ARTIST’S WAY)

Option 1 is usually the right answer, and the more you do it the better you get at it. If you’re a pro, you produce. But every now and then you have to go with option 2. And surf the Internet.

If there’s one thing to learn about the writing life, it’s patience. Patience for learning the craft, patience with the process and learning how you work best, patience for a “finished” work, patience, lord knows, for publication. And faith all along the way.

In the end, we must have faith. In ourselves. And, I believe, in the universe.

Remember in the film, Shakespeare in Love, how the theater troupe was always one step from disaster? Financial, creative or legal? But how the production would always come together beautifully, even transcendentally in the end, and the players all had faith in the fact that it would work out?

Phillip Henslowe: Mr. Fennyman, allow me to explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster.

Hugh Fennyman: So what do we do?

Phillip Henslowe: Nothing. Strangely enough, it all turns out well.

Hugh Fennyman: How?

Phillip Henslowe: I don't know. It's a mystery.

It is that, for sure. 
Now go back to work.

Ann Jacobus's YA thriller ROMANCING THE DARK IN THE CITY OF LIGHT will be out from St. Martin's Press on October 6, 2015.