The Dark Divine soundtrack: song #3

Today's song is brought to you by the band Spoon. I love Spoon--especially when I'm running on the elliptical or exercising on my recumbent bike. There's nothing like a good Spoon song to get my heart-rate up. And since I do some of my best plotting while working out, it was only inevitable that a couple of Spoon songs would make it into my play-list.

(Side note: you know how at the end of a yoga class, you're supposed to just lay there on your mat and empty your mind of all thought? Yeah, that SO doesn't work for me. This is usually when I end up writing dialogue for romantic scenes in my head. Yes, I know, I'm weird.)

Anyway, the song for today is Spoon's The Way We Get By. Probably not everyone is going to love this song as much as I do, but I really feel like it reflects Daniel's life--or at least how Grace thinks Daniel feels about his life (at first). Kind of a flippant, "Yeah, my life is messed up. But this is how I get by."

Enjoy (or not) and try running on the elliptical to it

Note: Inserting the music player has been doing funky things with my text (single spacing or that giant quotation mark in yesterday's post) so from now on I'll put the song after its description.

The Dark Divine soundtrack: song #2

Song #2 for The Dark Divine play-list/soundtrack just happens to be another by The Notwist. Don't worry. Don't worry. I promise there is more variety in the soundtrack than just sixteen songs by the same band--but let's face it, soundtracks often have multiple songs from the same band throughout. However, this is the last song by The Notwist (I'm just warning you for when we get to the Ben Gibbard portions of the play-list--that man is a genius).

NOTE: If you are scratching your head, thinking, "What the heck is The Dark Divine play-list/soundtrack?"--then you need to go back and read this post.

So anyway, today's song is One with the Freaks by The Notwist. Take a listen and tell me what you think.

In my opinion, not only is this a beautiful song, it just works with my book in so many ways. First, there's the question: "Have you ever been all messed up?" Because, frankly, Daniel is messed up. I also love the line: "Things look much bigger on your knees." I have no idea if I'm interpreting the line right at all, but to me it symbolizes when you sink so low, that getting on your knees is the only way you can even try to figure things out--and from there things look so big, you can't possibly do it on your own. This is Daniel. He needs help--and Grace is the only one who can help him.

But I mostly see this song as a warning to Grace. She is drawn to Daniel, but Jude (knowing a pretty dark secret about their former friend) tries to make Grace stay away from Daniel. But she doesn't--she can't. Grace sees herself as Daniel's "life-line" (or lifeguard as the song says), and her decision to help Daniel behind Jude's back is what propels the action of the story. But can Grace help Daniel find his way, without losing her own?

I love the lines in this song that go:

"Miss the signal
Miss the signpost
Miss the exits to it all
And all of a sudden
you were one with the freaks"

Okay, so future song descriptions probably won't be as detailed as this one. So far
I haven't given more away than you'd learn in the first chapter (or by reading the
back of the book while standing in B&N) but I don't want to spoil anything for
those who haven't read the book yet. . . So for now, enjoy the song and tell me
what you think. The next one will be posted tomorrow.

XOXO,

Bree

My Gift To You

Now that Christmas is over, and the kiddies are content to play with their new toys for a few days (and pretty much ignore me) it is time to turn my mind to other important things . . .my birthday! And this year isn't just any old birthday, it's one of those big-significant-scary-your-life-will-never-quite-be-the-same-milestone birthdays (let's just say there's a big fat number 3 in it). In an effort to count down to this significant day (and to ease the stress of leaving my twenties) I've decided to celebrate by presenting you all with a gift.

16 of them, actually. That's right, for the next 16 days leading up to B-Day, I will leave you a little gift on my blog for your enjoyment. And what is this amazing gift that I've been working on for many days to make for y'all?

Well, I'm glad you asked.

It's the THE DARK DIVINE PLAY-LIST/SOUNDTRACK!!!!

Okay, so many of you are probably thinking, what the heck is The Dark Divine--and how can it have a soundtrack? And why is Bree so darn excited about it?

First off: The Dark Divine is the title of MY BOOK. Second: Yes, books CAN have soundtracks.

I know a lot of authors are posting play-lists of songs that inspired the writing of their novels--yeah, I'm not all that original or anything--but I am proud to say that my song-list is way super awesomer (I know, I know awesomer is not a real word) because not only is it a list of songs that inspired my writing, but I've also arranged them in a way to reflect the mood/characters' thoughts/progression of the novel. In other words: it's a book soundtrack!

How awesomer is that?! And it totally wasn't easy, either. I mean, some real painstaking work went into selecting these songs and arranging and rearranging them just right. Good thing I've got all this time and anxiety to kill . . . too bad for hubby I didn't channel any of it into doing the dishes . . .

Anyway, I was going to just post the whole thing at once, but then I realized that most people (other than myself) don't have the time to sit and listen to 16 songs in a row. So I decided that since there are 16 days until my birthday, I'll present one song a day for your listening pleasure. I'll also include a little description of the song and why it is part of the play-list. And then on the 17th day (January 13th--my B-Day) I'll post the entire play-list as a permanent resident on my blog so you can listen to any of the songs, anytime you want. (Because I'm hoping you'll all like the songs as much as I do--and it will put you in the mood to read my novel. :-))


To kick off our 16 Days of The Dark Divine Music Extravaganza, I present to you:

Pick up the Phone by The Notwist

I chose this song not only because it is a freaking great song and totally reflects the mood of my book, but also because of the line "Today, I will step out of your past"--which is exactly what happens in the first few pages of my novel when Daniel Kalbi (Grace's first love and Jude's former best friend) shows up out of the blue after a 3 year disappearance . . .

Oh, and don't forget to keep this image in your head while you listen to any of the songs:


Daniel Kalbi (aka Taylor Kitsch)

Because even though Grace is the main character, I found that most of the songs are from Daniel's point of view. Go figure . . .

My husband is a freakin' genius . . .

Christmas brings out a lot of different emotions in many of us: joy, gratitude, charity, stress, depression, revelry, and reflection. And as most parents can attest to, the holiday season also brings out a lot in our children. They can be down right adorable while hanging ornaments on the tree, or hand-crafting Christmas presents for their grandparents out of Mommy's card-stock collection. They can seem angelic while acting out the nativity scene, and there's nothing more delightful than watching their eyes light up when they get the perfect gift from Santa . . .

But it is more than inevitable that the "dark side" of your child's personality will rear its ugly head during the holiday season, and your adorable, angelic, delightful child will transform into a spoiled, rotten, brat. After a good week of buildup, KidZ officially reached this point at 12:05 pm, yesterday. I was fit to be tied, but my genius husband set to work in order to remedy the problem. After a co-worker suggested that he send a "notice letter" to KidZ, informing him that he had been put on Santa's naughty list, my husband employed the creative services department at his work to help him create this:

Here's the text in case you don't have Clark Kent's eyesight.:

Dear KidZ,

My Christmas helpers just told me that you were recently put on the naughty list. I am very sad about this, because you are a special boy, who is very smart and very kind.

My elves and I have been working hard to make you the presents you wanted this year. It would be really sad if I had to throw those toys away.

But there is hope! You can still make the nice list in time for Christmas since you’ve been a good boy most of the year. This is what I need you to do so I can still give you the presents we made for you:

1. Be Grateful. Tell your mom and dad thank you when they do nice things for you. Tell them thank you for giving you a place to sleep that is warm. Tell them thank you for making sure you have food to eat. Tell them thank you for all the nice toys you have already.

2. Be Happy. Make the choice to be happy. Don’t get mad or upset when something doesn’t go your way, but choose to be happy that you have a family that loves you and wants to help you.

3. Be Kind. I know it’s hard to be nice all the time. Sometimes other people aren’t nice to you and it hurts your feelings. But if you are always nice back, you will feel happy and help others learn that being nice is much better than being mean or selfish.

4. Be Smart. Sometimes it’s hard to make good choices. When you get really sad or upset, it’s hard to think about what you should do. But, you are a smart boy and I know you are really good at making good choices when you try. Don’t scream and yell when you don’t get what you want, but think about it and try to find a good way to fix it. Ask your mom and dad if you need help. I know they will want to help you if you ask nicely.

Remember KidZ, you are very blessed and you have a family that loves you very much. If you can remember to be grateful, happy, kind, and smart, you’ll make it back on my nice list before Christmas.

Good luck!

Love,

Santa Claus

Zealand received this letter in the "mail" last night, and I dare say that he has never been so well-behaved in his life. . .Sigh, I just wish it would last all year round. I've got Santa envy.

P.S. Feel free to copy the letter for use with one of your own children. It works wonders!

A Good Day

Today is a good day for many, many reasons. But most of all it is a good day to be alive. December 18th, 2002 (6 years ago TODAY) was the day I almost died in a terrible car accident. In honor of this, I would just like to take a moment to sigh and think, "Today I am alive. Today I have my family. Today I can walk. Today I can write. Today is the day when nothing else matters."

This post will also tell you why today is so important to me--and why I feel like my life is coming full circle.

Merry December 18th everybody! Hug someone you love. Say a prayer of thanks for the simple gift of being alive. And think about this, "If you died today, what would you regret the most not having done?"

Now go do it!

I love you all,

Bree