Hello friends,
It’s such a
pleasure to be back here on Team Nerd Reviews! I love music and I use it every
day in my work. So when Annabell asked me to come up with a Top Ten list, I
knew just what to do:
Top Ten Songs To
Listen To While Writing
Like Real People Do
– Hozier: I use this song as
a song cue – I’ll listen to it before I start writing, letting it create a mood
in me that I wish to convey in the scene. And ahh, what a mood. I love this
poetic and romantic song. I played it for Leigh Bardugo when we were out on
tour with Fierce Reads back in June, because it seems like a song that Mal
might sing to Alina. She liked it. Maybe even as much as I do.
North – Phoenix: God, I love this
song. It sets a bleak, tense mood; a lonely, travelling mood – one I relied on
in writing Monument 14: Savage Drift. Can you hear the train engine sound in
the drums? And then the wolves come in. Literally, WOLVES come in. Fantastic.
Modul 42 – Nik
Bartsch’s Ronin: This song is so
suspenseful and creepy. This is the song you write to when you have a character
being stalked down a dark alley (or superstore aisle, in my case!).
Lose Yourself to
Dance – Daft Punk & Pharrel: I love this gentle,
rhythmic song to inspire me when writing romantic scenes. I relied on this song
when writing love scenes between Tom and Laurel in my next book, Sweet (coming
to you from Macmillan in June, 2015). There’s tenderness and a little
smuttiness in there – just how I like my romance.
(Nice Dream)
– Christopher O’Riley: Christopher
O’Riley’s haunting piano interpretations of Radiohead were my constant
companions when writing the Monument 14 series. They are intense and brooding,
without being too distracting. Check out his work – and his many albums, to
find excellent writing music.
Divinere – Ludovico
Enaldi: Hey, I’m going to
mention Leigh Bardugo again, because she recommended Enaldi to me and I love
him. This is fantastic music to inspire fantasy writing. Makes me want to write
a fantasy series next. Oh, Macmillan…
Giving ‘Em What
They Love – Janelle Monae and Prince: When I need a
character, particularly a female character, to kick ass, I turn to Janelle
Monae to set the tone. This track, in particular, has a disjointed, sucker
punching bass line that inspires me to write fearlessly.
Sarabande – John
Cage and others: This song is
terrifying. I keep it in my back pocket for when I need to write a character
who is criminally insane. Not. Kidding.
We Move Lightly –
Dustin O’Halloran: I love Dustin
O’Halloran’s sparse, poetic arrangements. They are so hypnotic and melodic.
Listen to this song when you need to entrance yourself.
I’m Getting Ready –
Michael Kiwanuka: This isn’t a song to write to, but one to pray to when you need
encouragement. When I am feeling lost or discouraged, I listen to this
uplifting song and I am renewed. I sure hope you enjoy it. It’s a gift from me
(and Michael Kiwanuka) to you!
Thanks so much for having me here at Team Nerd Reviews for I HEART YA month! It’s always such fun to hang out with Annabell and her peeps!
Thanks so much for having me here at Team Nerd Reviews for I HEART YA month! It’s always such fun to hang out with Annabell and her peeps!
About the Author
Emmy Laybourne is a novelist, writing teacher and former character actress. Emmy has recently finished the final installment to the MONUMENT 14 trilogy: SAVAGE DRIFT, which will be released in May 2014. She is now working on a new YA thriller, SWEET. Emmy lives outside New York City with her husband, two kids and a flock of 5 nifty chickens.
Emmy began her writing career as a playwright. The first play she wrote and performed was called, The Miss Alphabet City Beauty Pageant and Spelling Bee. The New York Post said it, “restores faith in our country’s comedic future.” The Daily News called it, “hilariously clever.”
Her next play, Smorgas-Bourne, landed Emmy a starring role in the Paramount feature film, Superstar, opposite Molly Shannon.
As an actress, Emmy went on to have featured roles in the films “Nancy Drew,” “The In-Laws,” and “Lucky Numbers.” She was a season regular on the NBC sitcom “DAG,” and performed original comedy on Comedy Central, MTV, and VH1. She has improvised with the Upright Citizens Brigade, Chicago City Limits and the Heartless Floozies. Emmy has performed original comedy material throughout LA and New York, including the song she sang with her brother, Sam, “We Can’t Make Love Because We’re Related.”
Emmy graduated from UCLA with an MFA in screenwriting in June of 2006. While at UCLA, Emmy won the Eleanor Perry Award for Excellence in Screenwriting from Women in Film for her screenplay, “Tulum.”
Emmy began her writing career as a playwright. The first play she wrote and performed was called, The Miss Alphabet City Beauty Pageant and Spelling Bee. The New York Post said it, “restores faith in our country’s comedic future.” The Daily News called it, “hilariously clever.”
Her next play, Smorgas-Bourne, landed Emmy a starring role in the Paramount feature film, Superstar, opposite Molly Shannon.
As an actress, Emmy went on to have featured roles in the films “Nancy Drew,” “The In-Laws,” and “Lucky Numbers.” She was a season regular on the NBC sitcom “DAG,” and performed original comedy on Comedy Central, MTV, and VH1. She has improvised with the Upright Citizens Brigade, Chicago City Limits and the Heartless Floozies. Emmy has performed original comedy material throughout LA and New York, including the song she sang with her brother, Sam, “We Can’t Make Love Because We’re Related.”
Emmy graduated from UCLA with an MFA in screenwriting in June of 2006. While at UCLA, Emmy won the Eleanor Perry Award for Excellence in Screenwriting from Women in Film for her screenplay, “Tulum.”
Where to Stalk Emmy!
Check out the Monument 14 Trilogy by Emmy Laybourne!
Your mother hollers that you’re going to miss the bus. She can see it coming down the street. You don’t stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don’t thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not—you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner.Only, if it’s the last time you’ll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you’d stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus.But the bus was barreling down our street, so I ran.Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong.
In Emmy Laybourne’s action-packed debut novel, six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside. While outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapons spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.
In Emmy Laybourne’s action-packed debut novel, six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside. While outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapons spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.
You can win a copy of MONUMENT 14 (Monument 14 Trilogy, #1) over on the I HEART YA 2014 Giveaways page! Go enter now!
Awesome list!! =D
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