Ben is the bomb!

One of the biggest influences when I write is music!  If you have read Finding My Way or watched my Crossroads trailer or played the playlists, you will probably already know how much I love this guy.

I stumbled across Ben Howard on Facebook back in 2012 when a page I was following randomly posted this clip one day.  I instantly enjoyed his vocal style and the 'tongue in cheek' way he performed.

Then I searched YouTube to see what else he had done.  I found this clip and I fell in love with one of the most talented performers I have ever seen:

What do you do on a cold night in Holland?  You play on your balcony, a crowd follows the sound and you spread the love, that's what.  Gives me shivers every time ...

And this one is in the playlist for my upcoming novel, New Beginnings ...

Get the music!

How to Liv Playlist

I'm very excited! It won't be long until How to Liv is published! I am in the final stages of editing and hope to have a cover to reveal to you all very soon. In the meantime, I want to share the playlist with you.

If you have read any of my books you will know that I always include music. Music is really important to me. It's a constant inspiration. You can tell a lot about a person by the type of music they listen to. Why should book characters be any different?

How to Liv is Joel and Olivia's story.  The music I've included was influenced by who they are and what they like. Some songs are included in the book and others just embody the spirit of them and their family and friends. Enjoy!

1.       Lanterns - Birds of Tokyo

2.       Miracle Cure - Something for Kate

3.        1979 - Smashing Pumpkins

4.       Charlie Brown - Coldplay

5.       Zombie - The Cranberries

6.        Penguins & Polarbears - Millencolin

7.       November Rain - Guns N Roses

8.        Take a Picture - Filter

9.        Brother - Matt Corby

10.     Ghosts of the Past - Eskimo Joe

11.     Heartbeats - José González

12.     Friday I’m in Love - The Cure

13.     Lightning Crashes - Live

14.     Semi-Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind

15.     Landslide - Smashing Pumpkins

16.      Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay

17.     Hurts Like Heaven - Coldplay

18.     Motorcycle Drive By - Third Eye Blind

19.      Stay Young - INXS

20.     Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Meat Loaf

21.     Hot Chilli Woman - Noiseworks

22.     Starlight - Muse

23.     My Obsession - Icehouse

24.     If I Could - 1927

25.     Linger - The Cranberries

26.      Draw Your Swords - Angus & Julia Stone

27.     Between the Raindrops - Lifehouse

28.     Wherever You Will Go - Charlene Soraia

29.      I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers

How to Liv
coming soon

Soundtracks for my books

I love music! It can set your mood, bring back memories, get you moving, help you relax... I am really passionate about it and I like a variety of styles.

When writing I find a lot of inspiration from music. There are quite a few songs featured in Finding My Way and I think that it adds to the book.

Quite often when reading I find that if the author mentions a song I am compelled to play that song while reading that scene. To me, music and stories go hand in hand. Just like when watching a movie, the soundtrack can really help to set the tone, invoke emotions and just make the story better.

So I have playlists of songs for each of my books. They are constantly updated as I write. They consist of songs that are either mentioned in the book, imagined by me as playing in the background in a particular scene or else they just provided me with inspiration when writing.

What do you think?