Music Behind The Story: Sage Spelling

Thank Goodness It's Friday! Am I right? My world is currently filled with students turning in ALL THE LAST MINUTE WORK and it's not cute. Not at all. But I love them, so I willingly chain myself to the computer on the last two days for them to turn in work and harass me. Sigh. You'd think after 26 years I'd be tougher on them. But no...How can I fault them? Grown-ups are just as last minute as the kids. Tell me, what was the last thing you procrastinated?

Today I have another fellow Bus Babe with me, the lovely Sage Spelling. We were meant to take a party bus tour of Nashville at Booklover's Con. Alas, now I'll have to wait until next year to hopefully see her in person. I invited her to hang out on the Rock 'n' Romance Blog today to talk about the music behind her latest story! Check it out:

Hey there! I’m so happy to pop in and chat with you all! Thank you so much Ro, for inviting me to talk about how music inspired my writing and helped create my story, Exposed Cards. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate my Quarantine Birthday than with some Rock ‘N’ Romance!

Music is a large part of my writing process. It inspires characters, places, themes, and moments for all my stories. Each story I’ve published has its very own playlist of songs that encouraged character traits and personalities, backstories, special moments, and the overall tone of the story. While the music plays, scenes take root in my mind and character dispositions take shape within the story arc. When I’m stuck on a scene or have “writer’s block,” I close my eyes, play music on shuffle, and almost always, a song will come on and encourage a new scene for me to write.

When writing Exposed Cards, the hero, Chase appeared shirtless and holding a guitar even though he was a basketball player in the previous book. So it was important for me to use music to help tell his story. Now, I knew his story was going to be hard to write because Chase was already painted a villain, but I let music lyrics show insight into his character and mood. Some of the songs that inspired scenes were Ed Sheeran’s, Shape of You, Take a Bow by Leona Lewis and You Think You Know Somebody by Hunter Hayes.

I was so inspired by music when writing Chase’s story, I even wrote a few lyrics of my own for Chase to sing.

Save Me by Chase Manchester:

Save me from the voices in my head

Save me from the monsters under my bed.

The voices creep into my dreams, leaving shadows of dread.

The nights are long,

The fears are strong,

Choking me up and kicking me down.

I’m holding back screams,

I’m blinking away the tears,

Trying too damn hard to breathe.

Save me from the things you say.

Save me from the things I can’t say.

Save me from the things I can’t be.

Then I remember, it’s my burden to carry.

My burden to bury.

Save me from this moment.

Save me from the days to come.

Save me from me.

Chase is my tortured hero. He was abused, mistreated, and completely misunderstood by everyone around him and I used music to help him express his pain. Chase’s song was inspired by Blue October’s, Hate Me and it was a blast to come up with my own lyrics to a song. I had no idea what I was doing, but I had a lot of fun doing it. If you want to know more about me, check out my Website: sagespelling.com

Exposed Cards by Sage Spelling

Exposed Cards When Emma Hart escaped from the abuse of her home life with a full ride to Haywick University, she wasn’t prepared to face someone else’s monster. Yet witnessing Chase Manchester’s father use his face as a punching bag created a bond between them and despite the veil of anger Chase hides behind, she sees the kindness he reserves for her alone.

Chase wears his arrogance like a suit of armor to keep everyone from getting too close, even if it does make him seem like a dick. It’s the only way he can protect his secret until Emma sees through his persona. Even after pushing her away, his body still craves her, and soon the need to have her becomes stronger than his drive to preserve his pride. But the comfort they find in each other’s arm is short-lived when Chase’s father learns of Emma’s pregnancy. Can Chase protect Emma from his father’s wrath while battling his fear of becoming just like the man he despises?

Thank you, Sage! I hope you're enjoying Music Behind The Story. If there are authors you'd like to see on the Rock 'n' Romance Blog, hit me up! Let me know who you want to hear from.

I'd love for you to join us tomorrow at 2PM PDT on Facebook for a Dark Divinations Party. Come meet the other authors in the anthology with me and watch some readings, play some games, have a jolly good time.

And Stay Tuned for more Rock 'n' Romance...