Written Soundtracks: Melanie Tushmore Blogs!
I am thrilled to welcome my first ever guest poster, Melanie Tushmore, author of the critically acclaimed The Price of Falling, a gritty and interesting US-set novel, with young adult and gay themes. Over to Melanie!
Written Soundtracks
by Melanie Tushmore
What I loved reading from Poppy Z. Brite (apart from the very hot goth-boy on goth-boy action!) was how she infused into her writing interesting band names which could easily translate as poetry. Einstürzende Neubauten, Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, to name but a few.
To read about underground sub-culture in my favourite fiction was so thrilling, and the fact that I could track down these bands and listen to the music made it even better. As far as I’m concerned, mentioning music in a story is as important as describing what a character looks like. Isn’t music, after all, an extension of one’s personality?
Not that I would ever dream of comparing myself to the awesome Brite, but as music is such a huge part of my life I feel compelled to include mentions of music too and even incorporate it into my story lines.
In my first novel ‘The Price of Falling’ which is set in Texas, the main character, Mike, is rather ‘normal’ and has led a sheltered, privileged life. His love interest however, Jason, is very much the alternative, ‘generation X’ teen whose only cares revolve around money, pot and music. In his pursuit of Jason, Mike has to brave a different social crowd and put up with a lot of eclectic music. To further torment Mike I decided to address the issue of what Mike thought of this music, such as in this scene where Jason insists on borrowing Mike’s car.
***
Extract from ‘The Price of Falling’ © 2010
“Where do you want to go?”
“Austin.”
“Austin?” I echoed. “That’s miles away! What the hell for?”
“To see a band.”
“Oh,” I said. “Which one?”
Jason rolled his eyes. “You won’t like it.”
“I might…”
Although I doubted I would.
“You so don’t like it. When I played them before you were screwing your nose up.”
That was more than likely; Jason played music whenever I came over, and some of it was… Well it was weird.
But I argued for the sake of it. “I probably need to remind myself. It can’t be that bad.”
“It’s not bad,” Jason complained. “You’re just boring.”
He stomped over to his tape player and put a new tape in. When he pressed play and turned back to look at me, with his arms folded, I stood there and listened to the strange ambient notes fill the room. When the drums and electronica suddenly crashed in I tried not to jump. As the ‘singer’ started up, I thought it sounded like someone having a gagging fit.
“See, you don’t like it,” Jason said.
***
When later Mike is dragged along to the concert in Austin, he finds out who the band is and the very name makes him uneasy:
“Who is it we’re seeing?” I asked.
“Revolting Cocks!” AJ cheered as I blanched at the name.
***
The joy I had from writing this is that the band I chose are real and the very mention of their name brings a smile to my face. (Fair warning, do not put ‘Revolting Cocks’ into a search engine as it churns up some horrors! Use the band’s nickname of ‘Rev Co’ instead! Check out my blog for Rev Co vids and more music from ‘The Price of Falling’.)
I love to write about music and bands as it can conjure up instantly recognisable imagery or equally it can sound like bizarre poetry. I have a new novella coming out early next year which has a lot of punk rock and surf rock mentioned, including local bands I have the pleasure of knowing.
Visit my blog for more on my musical soundtracks
Visit my website for links to all my shizz
To Kay – thanks sweetie! A woman after my own heart, and possibly even more obsessed with bands that I am! ;p
***
Thanks for dropping by, Melanie — haha, and yes, I have been thought a little obsessed, but by a rather different sort of band!
And I hope you don’t me hijacking the end of this post to yell that there’s a free copy of my m/m dark fantasy Bound for the Forest up for grabs at The Romance Studio today — go there and grab it now!
Magic and Bondage at The Rainbow Studio
I’m a featured author at the Rainbow Studio this month, talking about my debut novel, Bound for the Forest and why ancient folklore is pulsing with sex and magic, bondage and blood! Read my interview here.
Bound for the Forest, an m/m paranormal novel from Kay Berrisford, was released last week on Amazon and Amazon.co.uk and is available at a special price from Loose Id!
Bound for the Forest released on Amazon
Bound for the Forest, the debut novel from Kay Berrisford, is released this week on Amazon and Amazon.co.uk and is available at a special price from Loose Id!
Kay Berrisford’s Bound for the Forest. Artwork by Anne Cain.
ISBN: 978-1-61118-553-9
Genre: BDSM, LGBT Historical Fantasy Paranormal
Length: Novel
Interview by Jianne Carlo
Yesterday I had great fun answering some questions put to me by Jianne Carlo, who is not only a hit writer with Loose Id., but also writes a series about sexy Viking warriors which I, for one, cannot wait to get my teeth into!
Read my interview here — and pop by again tomorrow for an exclusive excerpt from Bound for the Forest.
READ AN EXTRACT FROM “BOUND FOR THE FOREST,” EXCLUSIVELY FROM LOOSE ID.
