Music Monday - Isn't That Scary?

This week's Music Monday is meant to be a scary one, so get ready to cower beneath your blankies because it's gettin' scary up in here!

Scary Music Box (Slender Man)
Yeah, it's those slender, faceless strangers that'll get you every time! Muah-ha-ha!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8fUFmjqXZo

Horror Piano Theme
Don't get too scared when your piano starts to play this song all by itself, it just wants a little attention is all. You should go check on it. Really. Heh, heh, heh...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFZ9g9vEdbE

The following are two of the most easily recognizable musical masterpieces by Mussorgsky that embody both the eerie and the haunting. Oh, and it's okay to be scared, but just don't let your chattering teeth drown out all of the incredible music.

In the Hall of the Mountain King
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJbruRZDNpQ

Night on Bald Mountain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyR-poMsSWI

A very dark and moody piece by Schubert set to Heinrich Heine's words and majestically performed by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau with Gerald Moore (I believe) on piano. Ah, yes. Did you catch a glimpse of him, your double, just now out of the corner of your eye? Tch! Oh, I'm so sorry. It's been nice knowing you. HEE, hee, hee, hee!

Der Doppelgänger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKVnL9JvuO8

Did that dark and moody piece scare you? Well, you ain't heard nothin' yet! Wait until you get an earload of Rachmaninoff' Prelude in C-sharp minor and G-sharp minor. Tch! Tch! Tch! And you thought you were going to sleep well tonight, didn't you? Heh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGqylB0GUQk

Another Mussorgsky Masterpiece
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySRReEgMDbE

What I like most about that piece is, yeah, what it did to you just then when you clicked on the link and it started playing. Gets 'em every time!

Silent Hill - Music Box [Extended Version]
What did you expect me to end it on, a tromBONE? Get it? TromBONE. Oh, never mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPUd29K0-Cg

A hauntingly good evening to you, and you, und Du...

B. Author and the Power of Parentheses

Hi! B. Author, here. Okay. It's Lee Lane, but Lee, Author, doesn't have quite the same impact that B. Author has, in my opinion. Of course, you would have to have been around in the 70s to understand the joke. If you weren't, you can probably Google it.

Anyway, so I'm sitting here this afternoon just thinking about this story of mine. (It was raining earlier, thus the rain and writing message.) I wrote some of this stuff a long time ago, bits and pieces. I was going to have them as memories at one time set somewhere within the novel series. I thought of using them as part of a prologue, but found the prologue was getting rather, well, lengthy. So I tossed them over into the "I don't know what I'm going to do with this stuff..." pile.

Yeah, writers have piles like that. They have "This is wack!" piles too.

Then one day I was sitting here at my desk thinking about how, in some ways, I wish I could begin all over again with my series of novels already in progress. That's when I decided to just start writing the series as something new and fresh and, well, Cherish was born, and I found a place for that stuff I didn't know what I was going to do with.

I have to say that I certainly didn't expect this story to become what it has become. There are twists and turns in it that I didn't even anticipate taking -- and I'm the writer! But I've found that writing is like that sometimes, a lot of the time -- it surprises you.

I hope when it's published that it will surprise you too. (In a good way.)

(Parentheses. They're a good thing.)

(If you're a Neil Gaiman fan, then you'll understand why I just said that -- and why I'm using them, except for me it was Tolkien. But C.S. and J.R.R. were buds, mostly, so it's cool.)

Have a beautiful Sunday!

Music Monday - The Good Water

A band I just heard about, The Good Water, I think has a really great rockin' sound. I just had to share them. I definitely think a lot of the characters in my novel would enjoy this band's sound.

Warning: Listening to this song could cause instantaneous eruptions of increased energy and a need to get up and move.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irf3TCfyrmU

Hey, don't say I didn't warn ya! ;-)

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Well, one of the most delightful days of the year has almost drawn to its close in these waters and I would be remiss if I didn't honor it right and proper by posting a link to my favorite pirate of all time and the very site that celebrates this day.

So, without any further arrrrrdieu, I give you my most favorite pirate of them all, Westley, otherwise known as, The Dread Pirate Roberts!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzO-sv0mtZ4

And... The International Talk Like a Pirate website:

http://www.talklikeapirate.com/

And what do Pirates have to do with my novel, Cherish? I'm glad you asked!

Pirates are a big part of Florida myth and lore and the history of the surrounding islands and Caribbean, and Cherish is rooted in all things Florida! So when you read the book you'll get a chance to read about a Pirate and a Mermaid via the storytelling of the main character's grandfather, a regular old Pirate at heart himself.

Arrrr! Ye Scallywags! May yer sails alway billow with a fair wind, aye!

Story Research Question

I have a question.

In my book there is a Swim Meet scene. If you were to read a book with light emphasis on a character's involvement in the swim team, how important would technical information about swim meets be to you? Would you want to know what type of meet it is? Would you want to know what swim strokes were being performed?

Okay. That's three questions, but you get where I'm coming from. I don't want to bog down readers with too much information but I don't want to leave out anything that might be pertinent either.

Thanks in advance!

Music Monday - Guitar Greats

 There are so many guitar greats to choose from -- John Sykes, Michael Shenker, Dave Meniketti. However, I only have room for a few. So sit back and enjoy the blazing fingers of the guitar heroes I've chosen to showcase tonight.

Neal Schon - The Calling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVvWxiP4_xs

Dave Mustaine - Peace Sells
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdEupVsL07E

Ted Nugent - Stranglehold
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHDA5nHlDrQ

Rick Renstrom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqgTdVuGrAQ

Yngwie Malmsteen - Red House
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4l1Jk3ZCb4

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Crossfire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQX8PzWi3TQ

Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) - La Grange
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h2hox--bR8

Joe Satriani - Flying In A Blue Dream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOsgv_X_cV8

Rik Emmett - Midsummer's Daydream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W47PvPaz7-U

Jimi Hendrix - Little Wing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrR60SKUCS0

Prince on Guitar with Cee lo Green - Crazy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgRLrOyxUBo

Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) - Mayonnaise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cECTX3mPu1o

Lindsey Buckingham - I'm So Afraid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1fieY0p130

Lita Ford - Falling In and Out of Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3Lj491cSFM

Joan Jett - You Drive Me Wild/The French Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0yW-ZMwPdw

Ritchie Blackmore - Black Masquerade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82K4uNUkfeQ

Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) - The Pretender
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBjQ9tuuTJQ

Matthew Bellamy (Muse) - Resistance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPE9uSFFxrI

Have a meditative evening.

Cherish the Benefits of Swimming

Janis Rozentāls [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Some of the characters in my novel, Cherish, are swimmers. The following are some of the benefits that swimmers enjoy:

• Can improve, even eliminate Asthma
• Improves flexibility
• Release of endorphins
• Lowers stress
• Good for the heart
• A good way to increase muscle tone and strength without straining joints
• Lowers risk of Diabetes

So the next time you find yourself near a pool or some other body of water, jump in and enjoy the many benefits of swimming.

9/11 One Man's Story

This is the link to the post on my No Stranger Here blog about Victor Guzman and how he learned to cope with the tragedy of 9/11.

http://nostrangerhere.blogspot.com/2013/09/one-mans-story-of-911-and-after.html

May God be with all those affected by the events of 9/11.

Great Tips for Kindle Self-Publishers

For anyone interested in Kindle self-publishing, the following articles really break everything down very nicely. I'll definitely be using their Kindle publishing tips when the time comes.

Hint: I used to build web pages in HTML, so this might prove to be fun.

Self-Publish Your Books to Kindle in 7 Steps

My Kindle Experiment: How Easy Is Amazon's Self-Publishing Platform?

Let's do this thing! ;-)

Music Monday - The Piano Guys

From such humble beginnings as a piano shop in St. George, Utah, The Piano Guys share their love of music with a world audience thanks to several very professional-looking videos on YouTube.

Sit back and feast your ears!

The Piano Guys Playlist

Be sure to check out their tour schedule at the following link. Some places are already sold out!

http://thepianoguys.com/events/

Have a meditative evening.

Cherish Poetry - The Sailor's Statue

Just another snippet from the main character's book of poetry. For those who may find it difficult to read, the poem goes as follows:

The Sailor's Statue

I know you were here, coz I felt you.
I know you stopped by the Sailor's Statue, coz I felt you.
I went there the other day and the feelings were so strong --
How your voice followed me along.
But we did not meet and that's how it goes
when matters of the heart draw to an
untimely close.



Drop by later when I share music from The Piano Guys for Music Monday.
See ya then!

Cherish Update - Sailing Right Along

So I'm looking through my posts here on my Cherish Blog and what do I see? I've only been doing Music Monday posts for the last several postings. How boring is that? Don't answer that. Well, you can if ya want to.

I hope the music has been interesting to all of you, at least.

This made me realize that I best get on the ball here and do something about it. I promised updates on my novel's progress and so forth when I first started this blog and I want to keep my promise.

Progress has been good. I'm very pleased with the results thus far. I have the course laid and the ship that is my novel, Cherish, is sailing right along.

I wanted to publish within this year, but I don't think that's possible at this point. I could have it done by February or March in 2014, mostly due to copyrighting it. That takes six months, and that wasn't something that I figured into my original resolution to publish within 2013. That's something I only found out a couple of months ago.

I would lament that but for the fact that certain aspects of the storyline have been "delivered" to me when they could not have come at any other time. In other words, this book has been revealing itself to me at its own pace. I would be researching something completely unrelated to my novel when all of a sudden there would be a piece of the Cherish puzzle I didn't even realize existed right there before my eyes.

I want to do a launch for the novel in June 2014. There's a reason for that, but you'll have to read the story to find out what it is. ;-)

Well, until next time, which I promise won't be so long in coming --

Music Monday - Uptempo

Matt Nathanson - Faster
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyjQFdeFox8

Christina Perri - Arms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeW0Sl0tNS8

Lady Antebellum - Just A Kiss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_yTphvyiPU

Hot Chelle Rae - Tonight Tonight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzlNFcT2aOE

Nickelback - When We Stand Together
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76RbWuFll0Y

The Fray - Heartbeat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp0_2fjPlbM

My Chemical Romance - Sing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTgnDLWeeaM

Coby Caillat - I Do
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTgnDLWeeaM

Coldplay - Clocks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d020hcWA_Wg

Foo Fighters - My Hero
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqWRaAF6_WY

Mumford and Sons - Roll Away Your Stone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eEobPFhpws

Happy Labor Day!

Have a meditative evening.