Today’s guest is Michael Morris, author of this month’s book club pick, MAN IN THE BLUE MOON | @MichaelMorrisBK

When my first novel, A Place Called Wiregrass, came out one of the first questions I was asked on a radio interview was if I had to pick a theme song for my book what would it be? I was dumbfounded. I had never thought of that before and I think I babbled on about a Loretta Lynn song. But since then, I’ve thought about that question a great deal and still consider it one of the most creative questions I’ve ever gotten about my work. Because of that question, I now always think about a theme song for my novels.

Since “The Orange Blossom Special” is a song I always tie to Florida because the state is mentioned in the lyrics, I think it would be the perfect theme song for Man in the Blue Moon. There is hurriedness to the tempo that makes me think of Ella fighting against time to pay off the bank note and save the land that has been in her family for generations.

About Ariel Lawhon

Ariel Lawhon is the co-founder of She Reads, novelist, blogger, storyteller, and life-long reader. She lives in Texas with her husband and four young sons (aka The Wild Rumpus). Ariel believes that Story is the shortest distance to the human heart.

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Ever wonder what authors listen to while they write? Now’s your chance to find out! This month’s featured author, Mia March, shares her much-loved playlist:

Mia March

I could not write a word of THE MERYL STREEP MOVIE CLUB unless either one of two particular albums were playing. So I put them on repeat, and these beautiful songs, these beautiful, unique voices, would bring me right back into the story, into the characters’ worlds and issues:

21 by Adele: If you’re not familiar with Adele, you’ve definitely heard Rolling in the Deep, which I’ll never get tired of, and Someone Like You. Rumor Has It and maybe Set Fire To The Rain. Adele’s gorgeous, powerful, soulful, real voice, singing these terrific songs about love, heartbreak, and personal power. Right now my favorite songs are Turning Tables and One and Only, but every song, EVERY song, is amazing. A little tidbit that makes me laugh every time I think about: at my son’s day camp this summer, there was a little boy named Rueben, and every time the counselors blasted the song Rumor Has It, little Rueben, all of five, would sing the chorus as: “Ooh, Rueben has it . . . Ooh, Rueben has it” and everyone joined in.

White Ladder by David Gray: When I was in grad school in New York City in 2000/2001, I went to the same coffee shop every day, where the staff was in love with this album and played it over and over. I always sat at the huge 8 person table near the electrical outlets where the laptoppers—writers, students, photographers, freelancers—worked with their coffees and treats. Very often a guy would sit down at the table with his laptop and we got to talking, then dating, then marrying . . . then divorcing. Such is the greatness, the spirit, the emotional power, of this album that I still can listen to it, be moved by it, write to it. Love, loss, hope. Each song is more beautiful than the next. You’ve likely heard Babylon, which used to be on the radio all the time: If you want it, come and get it, for crying out loud. The song Silver Lining gives me goosebumps:

Take the silver lining
Keep it in your own sweet hand
Then shine it when the light is burning red
Shine it in the twilight
Shine it on the cold cold ground
Shine it till these walls come tumbling down 

Also, there’s one song that I listened to over and over during the timeframe I wrote The Meryl Streep Movie Club, except I listened to it while NOT writing—meaning, I’d play it in my car or during my three mile thinking walk or while doing the dishes, those times when a writer is doing her “magic writing” in her head: Coming Around Again by Carly Simon, from the movie Heartburn, one of my favorites. This is the book’s theme song. I know nothing stays the same, but if you’re willing to play the game, it’s coming around again . . .

About Ariel Lawhon

Ariel Lawhon is the co-founder of She Reads, novelist, blogger, storyteller, and life-long reader. She lives in Texas with her husband and four young sons (aka The Wild Rumpus). Ariel believes that Story is the shortest distance to the human heart.

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Today’s post by this month’s featured author, Kimberly Brock | @KimberlyDBrock

Kimberly Brock

Music has always been an art that reaches my emotions before anything else, and on a deeper level than most forms of expression. I love instruments, I love choirs, I love blues, I love soul, I love old time Appalachian bands and gospel. I love orchestral pieces and accordions and harmonicas and French horns and tympani drums. I love jigs and reels and fugues and hymns and carols and Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash and Broadway tunes and soundtracks and Carol King.

And I love lyrics. I love a songwriter who can string together inspired poetry that I can sing to the tops of my lungs. There is no purer manifestation of the yearnings of the human heart. At least, not mine.

When I write, I always find inspiration in music and my playlist becomes a kind of personal soundtrack that follows me around through my days. Ironically, I can’t actually write while I listen. But almost any other time, my ipod is working hard to help my brain form the story it wants to tell. In particular, with The River Witch I relied on music to transport me to the setting. I did listen to some Sacred Harp music occasionally, but found it difficult to appreciate for its own sake. I think the experience of actually participating in a singing is what most interested me.

What I did do was start to search for songs that were sacred to me, as the alligators’ songs were sacred to those on Manny’s Island. I went looking for music that moved me or challenged me, like Granny Byrne’s choir. Lyrics that spoke truth or drew a strong reaction, like the Trezevants. Driving rhythm that helped me imagine the Seminoles or the Saltwater Geechee people, like Nonnie. Lullabies that the mothers in this book and the world over, may have murmured to their children. Hymns that brought lonely individuals to a bountiful table of acceptance, the true power of the Sacred Harp. And soon, I had a list of songs that began to tell a story much like the one in the novel.

Of course, there were many more than the ones listed here. Songs of all kinds, because just as I believe our stories are all about our search for the divine in a temporal world, our music is an expression of the longings of the soul.

I wonder what songs are sacred to you?  I hope you’ll enjoy the music on my playlist and maybe share some of your own.

The River Witch Playlist

Oh Cumberland Matracea Berg and Emmylou Harris (The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)

Salty South Indigo Girls (Acoustic Version)

Somewhere to Lay My Head Florida Folk Life Collection

Flood Waters Anna Kline and the Grits and Soul Band

She’s Not Innocent Antigone Rising

All Roads to the River Kathy Mattea

Wayfaring Stranger Emmylou Harris

I Find Jesus The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Fleet of Hope Indigo Girls (Acoustic Version)

Amazing Grace Florida Alabama Progressive Seven Shape Note Singers

Forever Young Bob Dylan (Biograph version)

I’ll Fly Away Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch

Here I Am Mary Chapin Carpenter

Wellington’s Reel Florida Folk Life Collection

Just Breathe Pearl Jam

Jubilee Mary Chapin Carpenter

Wagon Wheel – Old Crow Medicine Show

Down in the Valley - The Head & the Heart

Question for you: what’s on your favorite playlist? When do you listen to it?

About Ariel Lawhon

Ariel Lawhon is the co-founder of She Reads, novelist, blogger, storyteller, and life-long reader. She lives in Texas with her husband and four young sons (aka The Wild Rumpus). Ariel believes that Story is the shortest distance to the human heart.

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