Writing theme songs

All of my projects have at least one theme song attached to them, be it the whole book or an aspect of it.  I thought it might be interesting to list what they are and why.

Pirouette – all drafts (3rd draft in progress now):
 “Space Dye Vest” by Dream Theater.  I used this as Alisia and Lucien’s main “fighting” song.  It’s sad and torturous, and it brings up all kinds of heart-wrenching images in my head.  It just seemed perfect.

“Walk in the Shadows” by Queensryche – Raelan and Alisia’s theme.  In the last third of the book, [something spoilery happens] and for a time, Alisia and Raelan (who’s the villain) are….aligned.  This song, which talks about walking on the dark side of life, giving ino the darkness, fits the feeling of those scenes perfectly.

“The Killing Words” by Queensryche – Alisia and Lucien’s theme.  Just screams tragic, love, betrayal, heartbreaking stuff.  Sniff.

Flamebound (currently in revision):
“Take Hold of the Flame” by Queensryche.  The entire story is based on the song — or rather, my interpretation of it.  So many things tie to the world and story.

Survivor (recently finished first draft):
Operation: Mindcrime by Queensryche.  Yes, the entire album.  The book pretty much wrote itself to this awesome, magnificent album.  Since alot of the themes ran parallel to my story, it was almost eerie how the entire thing seemed like a metaphor for Survivor.  Some of it, like the brainwashing and mind control, were literal.

“Eyes of a Stranger” by Queensryche (on Operation:Mindcrime) – Amber’s theme.  Amber is the main character, and as she goes through some painful, traumatic stuff, she’s kind of transformed….and thus truly has the “eyes of a stranger.”

Requiem in Blue (2007 project)
“The Hands” by Queensryche – Meredith’s theme.  Meredith, the main character, is saved by someone.  “The Hands” makes me think of that, and salvation in general.

“Suite Sister Mary” by Queensryche – Some of the story was inspired by this song.  Especially one part about two people joining together to “make it through the night.”

Broken (currently in progress):
“Broken” by Lifehouse.  Also the why of the title, at least for now.  The song talks about being broken, and Amara, the main character, and the antagonist are both broken in a sense.

“Unbreakable” by Fireflight.  New band that I just discovered.  Totally Amara’s theme.  I realize that the songs seem contradictory, but it works, I swear!

Eowyn (perc’ing project for future):
“Ordinary World” by Duran Duran.  Theme of the book.  Because we’re dealing with quantum mechanics and alternate universes, and a “home” universe, it seems appropriate.

MindBound (future project):
“Lightning Field” by the Sneaker Pimps.  I saw a video of it and HAD to have the song, even though I’m not into that type of music.  Went on a wild goose chase and finally just today got ahold of it.  It’s THAT close to what this story is to me.  It (the story) has to do with an empath and pain and brainwashing, and the song is so perfect.  First words are “Strike me down…”  Can we say perfect?  Literal or figurative, it works. 

Soulfire (The Nano That Never Was):
“Lady Strange by Def Leppard.  Liana’s theme.  She’s the main character, and she isn’t exactly human and has non-human goals and wishes and such.  She’s a bit offbeat in her own way.

“Baba O’Riley” by The Who.  Book’s theme.  Completely encapsulates the dystopic future-Earth setting and the insidious reach of the New Regime.

Hereafter (Nano ’08):
“Women” by Def Leppard.  For no other reason than it gave me some compelling images inside my head, and somehow spawned plotty things.  This one I don’t really understand, but don’t question it, either.

At the moment, that’s all I can think of.  Will add more if I remember anything.

Made my goal and then doubled it

My original April Fools goal was 5k.  Well, as of today, with one week to go in the month, I have hit 10k.  I’ve had a few really good days with Pirouette the Third.  I’m at a critical plot point, and it’s becoming a bit longer than I planned, but I’m sure I can condense it later.  Forward motion.  That’s the name of the game.

I realized today that I left something important out of the past oh, 10k or so (!!!!??).  Oddly enough, I had the same problem in draft 2, same place, too.  What is my problem?  Well, I’ve been focusing on it scene-by-scene, building as I go and focusing on just that instead of looking at the big picture.  Looking at the bigger picture is overwhelming as hell because there’s still so much to fix.  So yeah, I dropped the ball.  But fear not!  I’ll get it going right.  I may need more passes before the actual revision, but that’s okay.  I’m still on track to finish this draft by the end of June.

Hopefully sooner.

I also seem to have lost the edge of Alisia’s voice.  This is a bit distressing, but I think it has more to do with that whole scene-by-scene thing.  Still it’s something that can be fixed.

Okaaaay.  Other projects are coming along. Lesson 7 on HTRYN is almost done, thank God!  It’s a complex lesson, but helpful.  Broken is hanging there, but I haven’t stopped thinking about it.  And pieces of Eowyn are falling into place.

I also have more ideas for MindBound, book 2 in the Night Guard world.  Still looking to submit it somewhere sometime this year.  I would like to have some ideas in case they want a sequel.  They being the publisher.  I would hope so.

Yeah, so it’s all coming along.  I feel alot better, more productive, and the ISD is *gasp* pretty satisifed with my progress this week alone.  So that’s good.  It’s always good when she’s happy.

A girl named Eowyn…..

is poking me to tell her story.  I know, I know.  I’ve got 3 projects in various stages of completion, and I don’t need another one.  But the siren call of a conspiracy involving quantum mechanics and a girl who has rare magic just won’t leave me alone.  I know very little right now — just her name (and I know the Lord of the Rings connection, although I didn’t when the name just popped into my head).  I know that she’s going to be a regular person, or so she thinks, in the beginning, but then stumble onto the conspiracy and such like.  I’ll admit it: this is partially Lost’s fault.  Obviously, I won’t be copying any of the ideas in it, but it has inspired me to do something with the idea of alternate universes and maybe even time travel.  One of those, ‘here’s what could happen in one universe, and see how it affects the others’  kind of thing.  It’s still really nebulous. And it is making me crazy.

Pirouette the Third is coming along.  I’ve had to rewrite a few scenes due to getting better ideas after the fact.  The Muse seems to be a bit slow on the uptake.  I have one more scene to fix, then I’m back in business.  My goal is to finish this draft by the end of June.

Flamebound‘s revision is also coming along, a bit slow as well, but that’s okay.  Going to try to finish lesson 7 this weekend if I can so I can move on.

And finally, I have the shimmers of a possible next scene for Broken.  One thing I’ve decided: I can break a bit and work on something else a bit if it doesn’t interfere with the others.  Just to help me feel like I’m making progress and while I’ve got these ideas, it’s best to use them, right?  Right. 

So all in all, for a very lean month for new words, I think I’m doing okay. 4,561 words on April Fools as of today.  Less than 500 to my goal of 5k.