Guest Post: Music+Writing by YA Author Taylor L. Stimac

Music and writing have always gone hand and hand for me. There is nothing like putting a playlist on shuffle and letting the first thing that fills your ears set the scene. So many times while writing my debut novel, Trusted, I would pop in my earbuds and just let the songs take me away. There is something freeing about letting the vibes of a good song work their magic through your words. Music has always served as an escape for me and it's no different when I'm writing.

There were many times while completing my novel that a particular song would captivate not only me, but the characters as well. While they weren't specifically named in the book itself, each song left it's imprint on the overall product. Below is the playlist that I worked up for Trusted. Each of these songs were scene setters that just wouldn't let go.

TRUSTED PLAYLIST

Taylor Swift                 Everything Has Changed

Weezer                                  Island In The Sun

Alice Cooper                                 School's Out

YB Mobstaz                                       Umbrella

Modest Mouse         Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes

Nirvana                                                Plateau

Foo Fighters                                   All My Life

Stone Sour                                 Through Glass

The Goo Goo Dolls                          Better Days

The White Stripes     We're Going To Be Friends

• 
  

Music continues to inspire me as I write and I love sharing the songs that influence my characters.

How does music inspire you?

Trusted, the debut novel by Author Taylor L. Stimac, is available exclusively on Amazon.

Interested in receiving a free copy in exchange for an honest review? Click here.

To find out more about Taylor and her writing:

Visit Webpage | Follow on Twitter | Like on Facebook | Connect on Goodreads

Please leave a comment, follow, and +1. Thank you for supporting the blog.

Debut-A-Thon: Progress

The Debut-A-Thon hosted by Books of Amber has well and truly kicked-off. I'm super excited to delve into my reading. Though I have three books I might want to read, my goal is two books since I still have school on Thursday and Friday. I started this read-a-thon on the 37th page of Ink byAmanda Sun. All my progress will go up on this post so remember to come back to check my progress. Leave your links in the comments because I'd love to check out your posts as well! Also, remember to enter the challenges that will be hosted on Amber's blog and mine each day.

Thursday
Books completed so far: 0
Pages read so far: 270
Pages read today: 270
Percentage of current book: Ink - 82%
Friday
Books completed so far: 1
Pages read so far: 493
Pages read today: 223
Percentage of current book: Reboot - 42%
Saturday 
Books completed so far: 2
Pages read so far: 485
Pages read today: 262
Percentage of current book: Fighting For Flight - 12%
Sunday 
Books completed so far: 3
Pages read so far: 884
Pages read today: 399
Percentage of current book: -

Please leave a comment, follow, and +1. Thank you for supporting my blog.

Debut-A-Thon: Sign Up

Debut-A-Thon is a read-a-thon hosted by Books of Amber to celebrate YA debuts in 2013. All information and sign ups can be found here.

I've been doing a bunch of things ending in a-thon lately but I'm not ready to stop. I find these super fun and they always give me a boost of motivation. This Debut-A-Thon starts right after my Review-A-Thon ends so I'll be heaps busy for a while. I was about 10% of the way through Ink when I found out about this so I stopped reading that and started a different book. I thought I may as well save it for the Debut-A-Thon. Now four days is a pretty short time span and I honestly don't think I'll get that much reading done. My goal is to finish off Ink byAmanda Sun, read Reboot byAmy Tintera and if I somehow I finish those two, I want to also read  Fighting for Flight byJamie Salsbury. I'd be happy if I'm able to start Reboot.

Get a free audiobook when you try Audible
Buy Books on the Book Depository
Please leave a comment, follow, and +1. Thank you for supporting my blog.

Guest Post: Inspirational Music by YA Author Suzy Turner

I love to listen to music while I write and as my books can be a little dark and eerie, I like the music to be equally haunting to inspire me.

My first series, The Raven Saga, was inspired by a visit to western Canada where much of the scenery is reminiscent of the area in and around Forks in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight. No surprise then that I found myself listening to a number of songs from the soundtrack. My favourites included Lykke Li's Possibility...

...and Flightless Bird by Iron & Wine. Basically, anything with a haunting feel was put on my playlist. Aiden's Cry Little Sister (made famous in The Lost Boys movie), Klaus Bedelt's Premonition (from the movie of the same name), Lisa Marie Presley's Raven...

...there are so many! As soon as I hear the songs start, I get a tingly feel all over and I just want to write. It's an amazing feeling.

My new series, The Morgan Sisters has a bit more of an urban feel to it, as it is set primarily in London so I found myself being inspired by Coldplay and Lana del Rey...

 

...both of which feature in the novella, Daisy Madigan's Paradise.

The first full length novel in the series, The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw, is free at the moment so why don't you grab a copy while you can? I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I loved writing it! Its sequel, The Temporal Stone is available too.

The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw

Adopted sisters Lana Beth and Emma Jane are polar opposites, but when the same strange 'tattoo' suddenly appears and winds its way up their bodies within days of each other, they soon realize there's more to their relationship than they could ever have imagined.
Sent off to London for two weeks of 'work experience', the Morgan Sisters soon find themselves being initiated into the ancient Praxos Foundation, one that protects the innocent while fighting evil, both human and supernatural.
At the same time, Lana Beth and Emma Jane must also investigate why the sweet but sometimes pesky ghost of Josiah Grimshaw just won't leave them alone.

For more information about Suzy, visit:

Website

Blog

Suzy's Facebook Page

Suzy on Twitter

Please leave a comment, follow, and +1. Thank you for supporting the blog.