Words & Music Monday with Jennifer Estep
27 Feb 2012 16 Comments
in Jennifer Estep, Words & Music Monday Tags: By A Thread, contest, Elemental Assassin, giveaway, Jennifer Estep, music, paranormal, urban fantasy, Words & Music Monday
One thing I’ve learned since starting this feature is that the number of people who read/write to music and those who do not, is about equal. I, personally, can’t listen to music with lyrics while reading/writing anything… but there are some who create awesome stories built around the feeling of the music and lyrics they choose. It’s so fascinating to me. Urban Fantasy author Jennifer Estep is one of those who, although she appreciates music, doesn’t use it for writing inspiration.
Greetings! First of all, I want to say thanks to Jennifer for hosting me on the blog today. Thanks so much, Jennifer!
So today, Jennifer wanted me to write something on music. I know a lot of authors listen to music as they write and create playlists for their books and characters – but not me.
Don’t get me wrong. I like music, but I just can’t listen to it while I write. I’m one of those folks who needs what I call dead freaking silence to write. That’s just how I work best. Even on the rare occasion when I do put a CD on when I’m writing, I’ll often just tune out the music entirely, and the CD will be over with without me having really listened to it.
I’ve done a couple of playlists for my books, but I always feel tragically unhip when it comes to music. Plus, songs and playlists are so subjective. What I think ties in with a scene or character may seem like it belongs with a completely different scene or character to someone else. If you want one [theme] song, I would say that “Human” by The Pretenders is a good fit for Gin Blanco in my Elemental Assassin series.
I like musicians like Jimmy Buffett, Kelly Clarkson, and The Killers (some of my favs would be Sam’s Town (Abbey Road version); Losing Touch; and Smile Like You Mean It) and whatever’s on the radio when I’m in the car. Beyond that, I couldn’t tell you much about music, and I never know who sings what song. In fact, when my significant other and I go out to eat and there’s music playing, he’ll often ask me who the band is. Even if I know the song, I usually have no idea who actually recorded it. Of course, he almost always knows who sings what.
Ask me about books, movies, and TV shows, and I’ll talk your ear off. Ask me about music, and I’ll probably run out of things to say pretty quickly. I just don’t feel like I know a lot about music.
I don’t listen to music while I write, but I will crank up the volume when I’m doing other stuff, like updating my blog or social media sites. Plus, rocking out helps when it comes to chores like cleaning out my office. That’s what I use music the most for – to entertain myself and make the time go by a little quicker when I’m doing things like housework.
What about you guys? Do you listen to music while you write? Who are some of your favorite bands and songs?
**There’s a copy of tomorrow’s new release, BY A THREAD up for grabs to one random commenter, so let’s hear it. I’d love to see what fans of the series think should be on a playlist. Post a band or song you think would fit this series or a specific character, and why. If you can’t think of a playlist song, you can still enter by posting a personal band/song favorite.** Contest ends at midnight tonight, pacific time. Winner will be chosen and notified at close of contest. Please include your first name and email address in your comment for notification. We would love to see playlist songs from all fans, but the contest is US entrants only, this time. Good Luck.
New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Estep writes the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series for Pocket Books. The books focus on Gin Blanco, an assassin codenamed the Spider who can control the elements of Ice and Stone. When she’s not busy killing people and righting wrongs, Gin runs a barbecue restaurant called the Pork Pit in the fictional Southern metropolis of Ashland. The city is also home to giants, dwarves, vampires, and elementals – Air, Fire, Ice, and Stone. By a Thread, the sixth book in the series, will be released on Feb. 28.
Jennifer writes the Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series for Kensington. She is also the author of the Bigtime superhero paranormal romance series. For more information, excerpts, and more, visit Jennifer’s website at www.jenniferestep.com.
