Saturday, April 21, 2012

Christine Hughes and her Muse


My Muse
Every once in a while I hear a song that throws a scene into my head. It could be a song I've heard a million times before, it could be a song I'm hearing for the first time. Sometimes, I'll be in my car, sometimes I'm browsing through the iTunes store and sometimes I'm curled up on the couch watching something I've dvr'd. It doesn't matter where I am or what I'm doing or if I've heard the song a million times before, when that scene pops into my head, I need a pencil and paper immediately.
There was one song in particular that carved out a path for TORN. I don't remember the date I first heard the song but I do remember exactly what I was doing - watching Vampire Diaries. It was the Founder's Day episode. (If you watch, then you remember. If you don't, you should.)  In this particular episode, Stefan went a little nutso and Damon had to step in and dance with Elena. The song they danced to was "All I Need" by Within Temptation. I'm not sure what it was about the song, maybe I was influenced my the scene in the show, but I knew my main character, Samantha, needed to feel the emotion I pictured when I heard that song.
At the time, I had only a few pages completed. I looked up the song, found the video on YouTube and downloaded it from iTunes. Then I searched for a few more songs and eventually had a playlist of a hundred or so that I would shuffle when I wrote. Sometimes, I would add a few more songs, delete one or two that didn't match the vibe I was going for.
But every time my fingers hit the keys on my mac, I needed to hear that playlist.
Mind you, I am in no way musically inclined. I can't hold a note and can't play any more than chopsticks on a piano. But I can, like many others, feel the emotion in a song. Not every song and not every time, but music has become such a huge part of my writing, I can't imagine writing without it.
If you have any favorite songs that inspire you, feel free to comment below. I love to hear about new music. Maybe I'll add it to my next playlist.
~Christine

 



 
TORN BLURB

When Samantha's father dies and she he was an angel because of what he was protecting,  she must join the fight between two groups of fallen angels, the Faithful and the Exiled, in a race to save humanity. In spite of the unforgivable betrayal of her best friend, the newly acknowledged love for her guardian angel, the face to face confrontation of the dark angel who killed her father and the growing need to allow darkness to take over her being, Samantha has been charged making the choice between fighting alongside the Faithful or succumbing to the darkness of the Exiled.





 A former Army brat, Christine Hughes moved quite often. She spent much of her time losing herself in books and creating stories about many of the people she'd met. Falling in love with literature was easy for her and she majored in English while attending college in New Jersey.


Not sure where her love of reading and writing fit, she became a middle school English teacher. After nine years of teaching others to appreciate literature, she decided to take the plunge and write her first novel. Now at home focusing on making writing her new career, she spends her time creating characters and plot points instead of grading papers.



Music has become an integral part of her writing process and without the proper play list, Hughes finds the words don't flow. At least a few times a week she can be found at the local Barnes & Noble with her Mac and headphones working on her next novel. Her YA novel Torn will be released by Black Opal Books in June 2012.


3 Interesting Facts:

1. I attended 13 different schools, including college, due to my family’s military relocations.
2.     I met my husband when I was 14.
 3.     My favorite book of all time is Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 


Wow Christine you are certainly a woman worth knowing! And that cover is fabulous! Can't wait to check out more. Thanks for being on the blog. 





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