Annalisa Crawford's 5 Reasons to Write with Music

Please welcome Annalisa Crawford to:

5 Reasons to Write to Music

By Annalisa Crawford

I love music. If I could sing in tune, I’d definitely have been a singer. I did the next best thing and married one.

That’s pretty much all you need to know about my relationship with music.

1. Music sparks ideas. A line, a phrase, a feeling you get when you listen to a chorus—it might not be an immediate effect, you might not even notice at first. But one day, listening to the radio, it’ll hit you, and you’ll be inspired.
2. When Riverdance was popular (it was popular, wasn’t it?) I listened to the CD a lot, and found the beat made me type faster—I could easily keep up with Michael Flatley. Not only that, the ideas flowed faster. Any fast music will do: dance, heavy metal… Riverdance.
3. It can put you in the right zone. I tend to get obsessive when I’m writing, so instead of selecting a different CD (copious mentions of CDs = old school) I just repeat it. Each large project seems to have its own soundtrack, which immediately puts me right back into the story.
4. It’s a fantastic distraction for those days when it’s just not working. Put on your favourite tracks and dance around/do housework/curl up with a blanket and a good book.
5. Having music playing makes me feel like I’m living in a musical—quite a strange boring musical where the hero sits alone, in front of a keyboard, and ignoring everyone around them for an extended period of time.

Annalisa Crawford lives in Cornwall UK, with a good supply of moorland and beaches to keep her inspired. She lives with her husband, two sons, a dog and a cat. Annalisa writes dark contemporary, character-driven stories. She has been winning competitions and publishing short stories in small press journals for many years, and is the author of Cat & The Dreamer, Our Beautiful Child and You. I. Us.

www.annalisacrawford.com

Goodreads // Blog // Amazon Author Page

Note from Tyrean: I highly recommend Annalisa's books. She may not sing, but she has a musical ear for words that shows up on the page. Her writing is beautiful!

IWSG: Many Thanks and a Fear Spiral

Many thanks to the fearless Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh and his co-hosts for IWSG!!! And for those who run the website and the facebook page, many thanks to you as well!

And many, super, huge thanks to DL and the Blitz Team! You rocked my blog yesterday, and I don't think there are enough words to express how thankful I am!!!!

THANK YOU!!!!

 

However I still have a fear this month: I'm a terrible marketer. My friends and family must be tired of the tweets, facebook posts, blog posts, and even, yes, e-mails, about my second novel, Champion in Flight.

And yet, I received a message last week from a distant friend.

"I'm so excited for you getting your first book published!"

Um, wait. She didn't know I published my first book last year? Even after I tweeted, posted, blogged, e-mailed, felt like an uber-obnoxious-salesperson?

So, I'm not a good book marketer. Some people have heard it to their eyeballs, and some haven't heard any of it.

And three days into my newest book release, the crickets are chirping.

 Seriously, crickets and frogs have a concert outside my house every night . . . and in addition to that, the books aren't selling. By not selling, I mean hold up both your hands, and then hide one behind your back. You are holding up more fingers than books that have sold.

And that's where the fear starts spiraling into a horrible attitude like this:

Maybe it's just the wrong book. Maybe even the reviews for the first one were just "nice" and not real. Maybe no one likes openly Christian fantasy. Maybe I should have written about vampires at war with zombies with a star-crossed undead lovers twist? Maybe I'm just a terrible writer. I don't know.

Ugh. Shudder. Shake it off. Focus.

I am still going to keep writing, keep marketing (obnoxious or not), and keep celebrating the awesome encouragement I have received.

And yes, I'm going to plug my book for just a moment, along with a few others that I know about:

Reborn (The Fate Challenges #1)
by Cherie ReichTo save a kingdom, a prophetess must challenge Fate.

Seventeen-year-old Phoenix Prophetess Yssa is cursed instead of blessed, and her duties at the Temple of Apenth prove it. Yet her boring temple life screeches to a halt when visions of her parents’ murders consume her. Yssa races across an ocean to stop the future. If she can’t change Fate, she’ll refuse to be the Phoenix Prophetess any longer. Fate, however, has other plans for her and the kingdom. Yssa must either accept her destiny or fight against Fate.

Now Available in Print and Ebook!
Print: Amazon /Barnes and Noble / Book Depository / Createspace

Broken Branch Falls
Gabe is an average fifteen-year-old goblin. He’s in the marching band, breezes through calculus, and gets picked on daily by the other kids at school, especially the ogres. Gabe’s closest friends are goblins like him, but Gabe is tired of being a goblin – he’d like to try other things. And he has his eye on the new ogress at school. It’s against all beastly rules, but there’s just something about her.

Coming on June 24th by Tara Tyler!

As part of a global, cross-industry promotional project for audiomachine’s upcoming public release, PHENOMENA—by celebrated composer, Paul Dinletir—we’re introducing a groundbreaking campaign to encourage the next generation of authors, artists & musicians! With each download of the upcoming FREE PHENOMENA companion ebook, audiomachine will make a donation to the LA Youth Orchestra.

Available today or tomorrow!

Put together by Samantha Redstreak Geary and featuring many bloggers we know!

Rachel Schiefelbien's Don't Fall

In this contemporary retelling of Rapunzel, seventeen-year-old Anya leads a secluded life in a house on the edge of town with her adopted mother. She doesn't go to public school, doesn't even have a best friend. But Anya doesn't seem to mind. She has her books, her photography, and her daydreams and would do anything to please her mom.

Annalisa Crawford's Our Beautiful Child

People end up in this town almost by accident. Ella is running away from her nightmares, Sally is running away from the memories of previous boyfriends and Rona is running away from university. Each of them seek sanctuary in the 18th century pub, The Boathouse; but in fact, that’s where their troubles begin.

Jack Lewis Baillot's cover reveal for A Test of Loyalty!

Upon learning he is one of the sons of the now dead king, Prince Lachlan is forced to leave the only home he has ever known. Fleeing for his life, his step-brothers a step behind, Lachlan finds safety and friendship with a young seamstress named Magda, a hermit, an Elf, and two Dwarf brothers. Determined to keep the young prince alive, Magda and the others seek out help in the surrounding Nations.




In Short Stories:
Milo James Fowler has several awesome stories out, but the latest two that I know about and have read and loved are: "Drawn from a World of Hurt" at Fiction Vortex and "Captain Quasar and the Fastest Thumbs on Zeta Colony Four" at Comets and Criminals.

And, Christine Rains has an excellent story out at Luna Station Quarterly. Check out "Ladgarda" - it's a great read.

Champion in Flight

A year after she won the battle for Septily, Clara feels trapped in Skycliff by the Allied Council. As the last pieces of information about the Healing Caves fall into place, Clara is attacked by an assassin. Covert Drinaii mercenaries and the Council aren’t going to stop Clara from her quest to heal her broken blade. As Champion of Aramatir, she must act.

 

Meanwhile, in the joint kingdoms of Rrysorria and Wylandria, the youngest and still cursed swan prince despairs of ever being whole again. In a moment of anger and desperation, Liam discovers a blood link between him and a dark sorceress.

 

Clara won the battle for Septily, but her battle isn’t over.

Smashwords
Amazon
Goodreads


What do you think is the best way to market your writing? Have you ever been blitzed? Isn't it awesome?
And . . . if you could choose a favorite way to fly, what would be your choice and why? Griffin? Dragon? Millennium Falcon? Enterprise? Cessna?

And do you have news to share? I'm planning on starting a monthly (I can't keep up otherwise) feature on my blog for blog/author news so I can showcase everyone's accomplishments. If you have news to share, please e-mail me at tyreantigger@gmail.com

And if you are a blitzer - THANK YOU!!!