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Come on and join author Melissa Bradley as she sets off on her latest adventure...

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If you are not 18, please exit stage left. While there is normally nothing naughty here, I do write and review erotica so there are links to spicy stuff and the occasional heated excerpt.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

On Music And Writing... Author Jeffrey Beesler


I am very excited to be hosting author Jeffrey Beesler today. The Imaginarium is the latest stop on his great and powerful blog tour for his debut fantasy novel, Spell of Enchantment. Take it away, Jeffrey...

If you’ve known me for a while, you’re probably aware that I often speak about music on my blog. Heck, I’ve gotten to the point of punctuating my posts with a music video. For example, during a recent discussion on pronouns, I showcased Cyndi Lauper’s “She Bop”. In measuring the distance I’ve gone through my writing journey, I shared Matchbox Twenty’s “How Far We’ve Come”.

Tying my posts to music isn’t the only thing I do with the stuff, however. I always listen to music while I write. I suspect many writers do the same thing, too, especially since I’ve read about them doing so. There’s just something about music that helps bind the writer to the creative act. I’m not quite sure why it works, but it does.

Here’s where I stray from other writers, though. I hear of them requiring their music to not have words in it whatsoever. This may work for them, but I actually thrive on songs. I need the words. They are our tools after all, right? You’d be surprised how often I change the words too and create new lyrics a la Weird Al Yankovic. While part of me might do so out of being a goofball, I also think doing this helps me to take something apart and rearrange the pieces into something new.

Almost like playing with Legos, I think.

Lastly, I’m also getting to the point where I’m thinking about what songs mesh with my characters. The Kinks’ “Don’t Forget to Dance” is a prime example of this. I have a character in one of my stories whose plight fits almost perfectly in tandem with their song. Such synergy makes my heart sing. Is yours singing?


Bio: Jeffrey Beesler was born on May 2nd, 1978. In addition to self-publishing his debut novel, Spell of Entrapment, he has had a short fantasy story published in Abandoned Towers #4, The Broken Pipes of Drei City. He is a graduate of the Long Ridge Writers Group correspondence course, Breaking into Print. His book can be purchased here:
Amazon:

Barnes & Noble:

Smashwords:


Blurb:
When a knight, Sir Patrew of Trava, infiltrates sorceress Embekah Mare’s home, a magical backlash renders her unconscious. She awakens to discover a spell of entrapment binding them both inside the manor’s walls. Now forced to live with him after twenty years of solitude and exile, she must navigate her way through alternating feelings of distrust and attraction.

As the weeks pass with no end in sight of the hex, a shape-shifting spirit arrives inside the magical barrier’s walls to target Embekah specifically. When she seeks out Patrew’s help against this new threat, she uncovers a secret in his past that could very well destroy her future. With the help of her trusty toad Halscrad, Embekah must see through the deceit and find something long lost to her.
But not everything is as it seems. With lies all around her, Embekah finds the truth to be more elusive than the freedom right outside her manor. Can she survive long enough to figure out what’s real and what isn’t?

22 comments:

  1. Thank you for hosting me today, Melissa! I really appreciate it!

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    1. Anytime! It's a blast having you here. I love music when I write as well. I find it soothing and inspiring. Thanks for sharing.

      Can't wait to read Spell of Entrapment. What an intriguing premise. :)

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  2. Hail to the Beesler :)
    "Trava" means grass in Serbian :)

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    1. That's really cool, Dez. I always learn something from your comments. :)

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  3. If you still play with Legos, I want pictures, because that means you're making cool space ships and stuff!
    I've always listened to music while I wrote.
    Looking forward to hosting you on Monday, Jeffrey!

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    1. Legos are the best, aren't they? I play with them, too, when I visit my nephews. I'm the cool auntie building spaceships and other weapons of war on the floor with the boys. ;)

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  4. I love music while I write - proper music with words, like you. I like to sing along, and you'll often find me dancing at my keyboard!

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    1. Dancing at the keyboard...I love that image. I love music when I write as well. Especially when I have a great scene going.

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  5. Sometimes I need the words to help set a specific mood or theme. I had to listen to a few specific country songs even time I opened up my third novel so I could get into the characters heads. When I go back and revise/edit I still listen to the same songs. I've added a few others.

    I mostly write to music only though because I get distracted easily, and one good song leads to another, and next thing I know I'm surfin U-tube instead of writing.

    ......dhole

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    1. I hear you. I could just surf You Tube all day if I let myself.

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  6. I think music and writing are synonymous. They both necessitate our creative energies.

    Very intriguing premise for a novel. Mr. Beesler brought wonderful wisdom to your blog, Mel. Great spotlight!

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    1. Thanks, Matt. You always say the nicest things.

      You're right, music and writing are a perfect combination together. I do find myself writing at a quicker pace when I have music going.

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  7. Mel, thanks for introducing Jeffrey to us. Aren't you the coolest blog host ever!:P

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    1. Aww...thanks! I'm happy you enjoyed reading Jeffrey's post. He's incredible.

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  8. Dezmond: And here I thought it was just a word I'd made up.

    Alex: Nope, haven't touched a Lego since I was little.

    Annalisa: Sometimes I headbang to a scene I'm writing.

    Donna: Distractions can happen at any time and anywhere.

    Matthew: Thank you for the compliments!

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  9. Great spotlight post, Mel - and the book sounds very intriguing, Mr. Beesler! Music is an essential component when I'm writing screenplays - I forgo it most of the time when I'm blogging or nattering in comments. And I love Legos too!

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    1. Thanks Craig. I'm happy you liked Jeffrey's post and hearing about his book.

      Yay, you love Legos, too. I think they rock. :)

      Funny, I don't listen to music when I'm commenting or posting, either.

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  10. Good luck with your book, Mr. Bees! More magic...Just what the world needs :)

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    1. I love magic, Siv. It really does make the world better. :)

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  11. Hi Melissa, hi Jeffrey!! I always thought I needed absolute and complete and utter silence when writing - until early this year when I entered a call for story submissions - with the criteria that I must listen to a favourite song from YouTube and write a flash fic story. And I did!! And it worked!! And I had to really put aside my deep deep deep reservations about having music on while writing - and it was such an effort but et voila! It worked! So now I'm just discovering the wonderful synergy I get from both art forms. I still struggle to produce something readable of course but somehow the music masks such things and I don't notice until I turn the music off! LOL!! At the moment I am obsessed with Enya - whom I never really took too originally but boy oh boy!!

    Take care
    x

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    1. Hi Kitty!

      Thanks for sharing your flash fiction experience. I never used to have music on, either, but when I was working on a tale that referenced a lot of Aerosmith. I started listening to to it and found having music very good for my creative juices. Now, I can't stop. :)

      Enya's great, isn't she?

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