Music Behind the Story with Kilby Blades and NEWS!
Greetings and salutations...and long time no see. I decided to dust off the old Rock 'n' Romance Blog today and bring back my gal pal Kilby Blades to talk about her latest release, Spooning Leads to Forking. It's been a while since I've had a Friendy Friday post as I've been pondering the future of the blog. I miss having friends over so I will be reaching out to folks and seeing what I can cook up for y'all. I'm also working on some ideas for my reader group so check it out and join us! Anything you'd like to see? Let me know. Comment below, or send me an email at rlmerrillauthor@gmail.com
My NEWS today??? The print version of Dark Divinations is LIVE! I'm going to be sharing the goods on my very first published horror story over the coming weeks so be sure you're subscribed to my mailing list! Dark Divinations is a collection of Victorian horror that will send all the chills your way. You can pick up a gift bundle at http://www.emzbox.com/horroraddicts/darkdiv
I hope enjoy Breaking Bread and all of the other stories in the collection. The Ebook will be out May 13th and you can preorder yours here.
Kilby wants to share with you a little about music in her latest release, so without further ado...
Spooning Leads to Forking: 5 Questions about the Music with Kilby Blades
Q: First things first: tell us about Spooning Leads to Forking and how music plays into it.
A: Well, it’s a small-town culinary romance. I know that sounds very Hallmark, but it’s actually quite gritty (there’s a mystery!) and the Colorado town is kind of a crunchy, eccentric place. The mayor conducts business out of her yurt; there’s a guy who only wears 80s track suits and walks down the main street with his macaw on his shoulder. The heroine, Shea, drives a black cherry Mustang and her glasses always match her nails.
Music plays into the story via the hero, Dev. He is an extreme health nut and music is the only sensual pleasure he allows himself. This is a big contrast to Shea, who is a former culinary world icon who gets all her sensual pleasures from food. Dev is obsessed with Stevie Wonder and he owns the health food store in town. Every time Shea comes into the store, Stevie is playing on the sound system.
Q: Why Stevie Wonder? Couldn’t Dev be obsessed with someone less awesome?
A: Um…no. There’s a very specific reason why Dev loves Stevie so much. His late mother listened to music a lot, but the other artists she listened to performed music that Dev couldn’t listen to without getting sad. Dev got in the habit of listening to Stevie because it made him feel closer to his mother, but it was also uplifting at the same time. I think that music is therapy for a lot of people and I wanted the story to convey that this music wasn’t just background music—it was meaningful.
Q: But this isn’t the first time you’ve put music in your stories, is it?
A: Not at all. I wrote a Young Adult romance, called Friended, about two teenagers from different crowds who bond over music and who ultimately get together because of their shared love for music. As the story unfolds, you find out that music helped both of them through very difficult times in their young lives. What I love about Friended as well as Spooning Leads to Forking is that music is a family affair. So many of us have musical tastes that were heavily influenced by family members and I like to bring that influence into my books. I was so influenced by my brother and sister, who are nearly ten years older than me, I don’t listen to a lot of music from my own time.
I’ve also used songs in books that don’t talk about music as directly. For example, my novel, Chrysalis, has chapters named after songs that correspond with the mood of the chapter, because that hero loves music, too.
Q: What are the best, and worst, things about putting music in your stories?
A: The best thing is getting fan mail from people who say they loved reminiscing with old favorites on my book soundtracks or who say they discovered new songs they loved from reading my book. It’s also pretty fun, just putting the soundtrack together and listening to it myself. I usually create soundtracks for all of my books and I’ll do a Stevie Wonder soundtrack soon. Other books without direct music scenes have soundtracks as well.
The only tough thing about writing music into a story as an author is using artists who are universal. I’m famous for loving obscure bands or for loving the most obscure songs performed by mainstream bands. If you’re going to drop the name of an artist or a song in a book, you don’t want readers to feel alienated by not knowing who or what they are. In that sense, Stevie Wonder was a straightforward choice.
Q: Final question: what is your favorite Stevie Wonder song?
A: Sorry. You’re no way you’re getting me to pick just one, though the most underrated Stevie Wonder song is definitely “As.” As for the others…you can’t not groove to “I Wish” or “Living for the City.” You can’t listen to “Isn’t She Lovely” or “I Just Called to Say (I Love You)” without getting all the feels. And then people forget how many Stevie Wonder songs were the tracks for future hits ::cough::“Pastime Paradise”::cough:: The one song I listen to most is “Overjoyed.” It’s got deliciously complex composition and key changes that really build to a climax, and that’s just the music. The lyrics are also really poetic. I’ve tried to learn it on piano many, many times. Tried—not mastered.
Kilby's latest book looks phenomenal. Here's the blurb for your reading pleasure. I. hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into the music behind the story!
Leaving her name—and her job as a top food critic—behind in New York, Shea Summers seeks respite in Sapling. Her borrowed mountain getaway seems perfect for writing her opus. It’s also perfect for riding out a messy divorce and hiding the roomful of cash she kind-of-sort-of stole from her ex.
Too bad Sapling is a remote, three-restaurant logging town with food that leaves much to be desired. Sexy grocer, Dev Kingston, may be Shea’s saving grace. The way he looks at her with his aspen-green eyes shows her everything her marriage was missing; and he can special-order every culinary delicacy she craves.
But Shea’s not the only one who isn’t what she seems. Dev moonlights as a sheriff’s deputy, a fact she finds out too late; a spate of suspicious crimes finds the town crawling with investigators; and her ex is going to extremes to find out where she is. Taking the money might have been on the right side of wrong, but trifling with Dev is a dangerous game. She's still running and he's still the law.
Thanks for being on the Rock 'n' Romance Blog, Kilby. If you want to know more about this awesome lady, check her out at these places!
Hope to be back with more authory pals soon as well as news on two more upcoming releases!
Stay Tuned for more Rock 'n' Romance...
