Music Behind The Story: Pride Edition
Welcome back to the Rock 'n' Romance Blog! It's been a while, but I wanted to celebrate the release of Love Is All Volume 4 with you all and share a bit about the music behind my story for this year's anthology. We're raising money for The National Center for Transgender Equality with this year's collection, so I hope you'll join us!
In last year's anthology, I introduced readers to the crew from Bolder Breed Studios, a fictional recording studio complex outside of Portland, Oregon. My muse for the place was the Edgefield Hotel, a McMenamin's property, and if you've never been to a McMenamin's, I highly recommend you try them out.
I was inspired to write the character of Lydia Pride after reading about producer Linda Perry's post-4 Non Blondes experiences with some of pop music's biggest stars. Then I watched her short-lived but fascinating show, The Linda Perry Project, and I just love her style of working with folks. I had the privilege of hearing her perform live at a charity show sponsored by Sammy Hagar and James Hetfield and I was blown away by her voice and presence. Check her out and perhaps you'll see where Lydia's attitude comes from.
Pop star Unice Love is a combination of all the strong young women making music today and living their lives the best they can under the constant scrutiny of the public eye.
And of course... there's the music. I had fun with the title. The old King song "Love and Pride" is where the title of the story came from, but all of these tunes gave me the magic I needed to weave this tale.
I also want to thank Sara Lunsford. She was planning to do a lesbian holiday anthology last year but then COVID wiped out the momentum. This story was originally meant for that, but with a little spice added here and there, it was perfect for Love Is All, especially as we get to see what Morrison Jones was up to just before the events of I Want, More from last year's anthology. It's been re-released solo so pick it up for 99 pennies if you dig the vibe.
I hope you'll check out Love and Pride in this year's Love Is All Volume 4 anthology, out TODAY! Release week price is 99 cents, and you'll also get stories from Jeff Adams, Meg Bonney, Xio Axelrod, Rachel Lacey, Chantal Mer, Connor Peterson, Susan Scott Shelley, and Sophia Soames!
I'd love for you to join us tonight as we chat about our stories and the Love Is All project! Here's the link for the Facebook Live Event. We'll also be featured on this week's Big Gay Fiction Podcast.
Amazon (US): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0958R8CXP
Amazon(UK): amazon.co.uk/dp/B0958R8CXP
Apple Books: (coming soon)
Unfortunately, there was a little boo boo with the upload to Amazon (they used the Volume 1 file?), but it's being corrected today, so if you've already pre-ordered, you will receive the updated version. Thank you all for your patience and your support of this important project. I hope we're able to give a large donation to The Center for Transgender Equality.
Stay Tuned for more Rock 'n' Romance...
