Said Ernest Hemingway.

I don’t drink. I listen to music instead. It gives me just the right amount of high I need to get under the skin of my character and wear it, be it, write it!

As the mood of the story changes, so does my playlist. I could be listening to Asturias one day and I Just Wanna Make You Sweat the next – or within the hour – who knows? Only the characters and story determine that. 

And not just any Just Wanna Make You Sweat – something like this is very helpful ;) thank you Shami for this and all others like it!!

If it’s a war scene then I need to run and bury my ears in Prince of Persia style beats.

If it’s a dance sequence then no one makes me write it better than the charming, CHARMING Buble.

"Sway with me."

If you've read the book then you know now what I was listening to back then :)

I’ve doted on Constant Craving by k. d. lang for months. Was hung up on Adele for weeks on end. Heard adorable goofy songs like Kya Surat Hai by Bombay Vikings and succumbed to Junoon and A R Rehman too. It didn’t really matter what I was listening to and in which language as long as it was helping me do my job right.

Then of course the story needed to have a theme song. The one that I could listen to over and over and over and over again. The one that’d help me propel the story forward, give me a better insight into the theme itself and the characters. The characters usually have an anthem of their own but one needs to rule them all so one song needs to take the lead and rise above all else. 

My theme song for Aoife & Demon: Cursed be the Syhlain was this:

However, songs in the adult zone aren’t the only tunes that inspire me out of a locked out brain or even a stuck scene. There’s this XM kids’ station called the Kids Place Live. My kids love to tune into it whenever they’re in the car and that happens to be every day, twice a day while going to school and at pick-up time.

I have to say and you have to take my word for it till you tune in and listen for yourself, that station has some awesome, super inspirational beats! And for every occasion in life that you can think of too. Their treasure trove ranges from humorous to fairytale romantic to scary Halloween numbers; kids rock and rap and women’s lib to funky, weird and pure good melodies praising parents and everything nice in the universe including diapered superheroes and shampoo.

Check this out and tell me you’re not impressed (and I shall boo you for being unimaginative)!

For one of the few songs I couln’t find a video of sorts for, here are the lyrics. I mean – okay I don’t know how I would or if I ever would have discussed with my kids the importance of undies specifically as a separate topic but if I did – this’ll be the way I would say it! And I’m so glad they heard it on the radio first :D

Underwear
by Barry Louis Polisar

Underwear is everywhere but mostly underneath.
Usually you can't see what goes on beneath
Ragged clothes, evening gowns or the finest three-piece suit.
Underwear is everywhere; there is no substitute.

Everyone is equal when it comes to underwear,
Because beneath your underwear it's just yourself that's there.
Everyone wears underwear -- or at least they should.
Underwear is lots of things, but mostly it is good.

(for complete lyrics visit http://www.barrylou.com/lyricsUnderwear.html)

Music never interfered with my hell-bent-on-work mind. In fact, it always facilitated and still does whatever I’m doing. Like Amy Adams' Happy Working Song from Enchanted -I believe that. 

I wasn’t allowed to listen to music while doing homework during my school years but as I neared graduation, Mom eased up, lifted all the bans and curfews and bought me a Sony Walkman. Yeah…remember those? I used that thing to the hilt, wore it down into the ground and that’s when I discovered that music helped me prep for my exams better than anything especially with subjects pertaining to numbers. I had Accounts in college and Financial Planning in business school. I would study for it all to the enchanting beats of Enigma.

You would agree, dark topics as these require mysterious melodies to open up to.

In the ad agency, under my amazing Creative Head, my love for music was fully entertained. I had a free hand to listen to anything full blast while brainstorming or thinking alone over a brief. After all, a creative mind needs to be pampered in all the right ways to prosper.

My tactics haven’t changed even now. Even now when I’m in the writing zone, my cd player goes BOOM! Music – orchestral, lyrical – it doesn’t matter. It just helps me focus on what I’m thinking, what I should be thinking, how I should write what I’m thinking and helps me write what I wanted to write. It’s like my magic wand. I wave it. And I am able to dish out sentences I don’t cringe to read later. That’s an awesome feeling!

Right now I’m listening for the perfect theme for book 2 in the Aoife & Demon series. We don’t have a name for the book yet. And we don’t want to give away too much but I will
leave you with this one beat that works really well for what’s about to come. Enjoy :)

Couple of days ago I read a review on Goodreads.com about the infamous (interchange with famous as you please) Fifty Shades Trilogy. I haven’t read the books myself so am in no condition to say if that reviewer’s comments did justice to the book…especially when she practically set fire to the text (and this one of a non-sexual yet violent nature) with her assessment of it. 

In plain English, she butchered the novels. And it was one of the best reviews I’d read in
days!

It was the mere bluntness of her tone and the creative way in which she wrote the whole thing, inserting hilarious GIFs throughout to make her point. 

But as I laughed and snickered and got the reviewer’s message about how much she hated the trilogy, I couldn’t help thinking how would I feel if someone gave my book a review like that? Not that her reviews would matter to E. L. James as she’s already enjoying her millions and fame - unlike me. However, there was a tiny voice in my head that kept saying maybe I should ask her to review my book. She may like it. Her opinion
would matter. Look at how many people read her blah blah blah!

I killed that tiny voice. Only to have Shami echo it two seconds later. (I hate it when she does that!)

Oh why oh WHY are we so kooky?!!

So I did message the lady to review our newborn Aoife & Demon: Cursed be the Syhlain. FYI - she hasn’t replied yet. According to a good friend: Humi, your guts probably impressed the heck out of her! You did your suicide thing and good! Yep, suicidal is the word I’d used for myself after my move to contact the reviewer from hell.

I should say I’ve probably begun to think no publicity is bad publicity in today’s media ridden world. In fact, bad publicity often earns more profits it seems. Just think how skyrocketing our sales would be if I could have like one book burning at the hands of fantasy haters! I just might compare myself to J. K. Rowling! And a heap of bad reviews cannot be bad either I mean- it never stopped people from reading the Fifty Shades Trilogy. Almost everyone- no not almost - everyone I know who has read those books said the same thing: awfully written! And yet every week I hear more people buying and reading it just out of curiosity. They all say the same thing too: I wanted to see for myself. How bad could it be?

Well I can’t answer that question but I can see a lot of chi-ching in the writer’s account just for writing bad - apparently. Is it disappointing? Yes. It is also what my editor calls the brass ring effect. Remember those brass rings that earned you a free ride at the carousel? Pure luck! And I do wish luck to all writers, don’t get me wrong but  today…I was just wondering if there really are any rules left to make a mark in the literary world. 

I’m guessing not. Perhaps it was always like this and I was just ignorant. Or perhaps the rules have changed.  

I won’t resort to writing trash, not compromise the integrity of good writing rules for money simply because I wouldn’t be able to even if I tried. I’ve invested too much to learn to write well in terms of money and time; all those years of reading classics and doting on authors who earned their fame and respect of readers and who still are the  ones we newbies look up to (thankfully). And also because I don’t want my family doubting my literally skills more than they have to ;) But they know more than anyone else I’m somewhat of a nut job. 

So here’s to thinking outside the box and breaking the rules, to book burnings and brass ring luck and a GIF studded review. There’s no road spiraling downward in this craft. Unless you’re burnt out, you can only get better at it!

Yes, it’s true. Even I can be that generous and understanding. 
 
You would get to know me better if you read my work but then again that’s your choice. My point is that there is no need to feel intimidated. 

So you know someone with whom you hold a nice enjoyable interaction on or off the internet who also wrote a book, so what? Doesn’t mean you have to buy it especially if it’s that certain kinda genre you don’t read. Books are all about interest. Fiction or non-fiction, if it holds your interest only then should you obtain a copy. 

I firmly believe that.

Unless you’re someone who I can force at gunpoint to buy my pieces without the slightest worry of what this may do to my reputation and/or relationship with you, you’re safe. And the only three people on earth who enjoy this status in my life are my two brothers and my cutie pie hubbykins. Mom and Dad and a few close friends - I don’t put a gun to their heads. I just hand them a copy whenever I can.

My book Aoife & Demon: Cursed be the Syhlain belongs to the fantasy genre. It is not a mainstream genre as in not everyone reads it. I understand and respect that. What I don’t understand are certain behaviors that appear annoying initially and odd when I look back at them. Makes me wonder why would anyone do or say that?

For instance, I don’t understand why people won’t congratulate a writer for her/his achievement especially when they’ve known the author personally? I mean she took out a book. That’s HUGE! They don’t have to buy it as I think we’ve already established that. The least one can do is utter this magical single word. 

CONGRATULATIONS! One simple word. Well…it does have like three - uhm - ok yeah, FIVE syllables. Longish sort of phrase-like piece of vocabulary…may get stuck half way up the throat. And in case you're in cyberspace, there are the nightmares of obstinate keypads and incorrect spellings. How about CONGRATS then? Two syllables only and it ends with a rats if that’s how you really feel when someone you know has achieved something you didn’t. No? A smiley face then? Sigh…FYI this is one of those words that if you’ve said it once, you’ve said it a million times! The receiver is forever grateful :)

Then there’s the kind who will neither read the book nor refrain from commenting on what other actual readers think about it. My humble request to them: Please, detach yourself in peace. You don’t have to read it if you don’t want to and you don’t have to pass a negative comment on something you haven’t read. It’s rude.

We writers are a proud breed. We don’t force our creativity on people who aren’t inclined to appreciate it. Oh no. We have publicists and marketers for that. And in case you ever do come across a creative genius who coaxes, mauls, threatens and begs you to swap their work with your money against your will, you may make them read my blog ;)

And now let me take a moment to thank you all who have been with me either all the way, half the way, for a moment in time or prayer - I am forever grateful to you all!

Thank you for your Congratulations :)