“If music be the food of love”… Tricia McGill

Find Amethyst and all my other books here on my BWL author page

“Then play on.” Please. William S certainly had a way with words. My English teacher at high school had a passion for Shakespeare and even kept a miniature statue of his bust on her desk. Unfortunately for silly young me, I didn’t appreciate his works way back then and was more into soppy romances as my mother called them. William sure had a good idea of what love was all about. “The course of true love never did run smooth” is another of his good lines. Visit this site and see many of his other famous quotes: https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/william_shakespeare

However, this blog is not about him or other playwrights or dramatists, but more about songwriters. I have always wanted to write lyrics, but never possessed a musical bone in my body. I was encouraged years ago by my family never to sing at family gatherings again as I am so out of tune it is not funny. But, I love listening to lyrics when they tell a good story. I am not a fan of modern music unless it be country. I’m a died in the wool country music fan. I love Country music so much, especially when the lyrics almost bring me to tears as they tell of a broken heart or reminisce about a perfect, but poor, childhood much like the one I had.

Elton John is not a Country music man, but his Lyricist Bernie Taupin is a master of telling a story in a song. Add Elton’s music and you have a perfect match. I have many favourite Country musicians but my number one is Alan Jackson. Strangely, I rarely listen to music while writing as I find it draws me out of my story while I am busily singing along. I never listen to the radio while driving (can’t take the ads) but always have my own music playing and probably know the words to just about every top hit that Alan Jackson has produced. I became familiar with his work in my line dancing days. That man has certainly mastered his craft. Anyway, I can sing off key to my heart’s content while alone in the car. When the dogs are with me they often bark and it just occurred to me that perhaps they are telling me to shut up!

Of course, I can’t list all my Alan J favourites but here is just a small selection, and I hope you can see where I am coming from.

Here in the Real World:

Cowboys don't cry, and heroes don't die
Good always wins, again and again
And love is a sweet dream, that always comes true
Oh, if life were like the movies, I'd never be blue
But here in the real world, it's not that easy at all
'Cause when hearts get broken, it's real tears that fall
And darlin' it's sad but true, but the one thing I've learned from you
Is how the boy don't always get the girl, here in the real world

(Sad but so true for lots of people)

House With no Curtains:

We still wear our rings
We still say I love you
We both play the part oh so well
But everyone knows
It's just a sad show
And we're only foolin' ourselves
It's like living in a house with no curtains
The whole world can see what's inside
You can turn out the lights in a house with no curtains
But heartache has nowhere to hide

And here is the chorus to one of my all-time favourites, Small Town Southern Man:

And he bowed his head to Jesus
And he stood for Uncle Sam
And he only loved one woman
(He) was always proud of what he had
He said his greatest contribution
Is the ones you leave behind
Raised on the ways and gentle kindness
Of a small town Southern man

Remember When.

Remember when
I was young and so were you
And time stood still and love was all we knew
You were the first, so was I
We made love and then you cried

Of course, it helps if you also hear the music that goes along with the words, but if you would like to see more of his lyrics then go here: https://www.azlyrics.com/j/jacksonal.html

Kenny Rogers is another whose music I can listen to all day and all night (and often do at night) No one sings a song about unrequited love quite like Kenny.

The words written by Bonnie Raitt to “I can’t make you love me” are probably just about the saddest song of unreturned love, ever, and it has been sung by a few but none make me want to weep for lost love as Kenny can.

'Cause I can't make you love me if you don't
You can't make your heart feel something it won't

Another tearjerker that Kenny sings plaintively is, “Share your Love With me” written by Bobby Blue Bland

It's an ill wind that blows no good
And it's a sad heart that won't love like it should
Oh, how lonesome you must be, and it's a shame
If you don't share your love with me.

While driving back from taking the doggies for a walk in the park this morning, this Kenny favourite played and I realised I just cannot leave it off my list.

Handprints on the Wall: Songwriters Nelson Blanchard and Scott Innes

Days go by so quickly
Summer turns to fall
Seems like only yesterday
That you began to crawl
So don't be afraid to take that step
I'll catch you when you fall
I don't mind if you leave behind
A few hand prints on the wall

If you don’t join me in thinking this is one of the best songs ever written about a father’s love for his child then take a look at this video with Kenny singing that a guy put up on YouTube after the birth of his twins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGyzIEPNnd4

I defy you not to be moved.

Okay, perhaps these songs are not always perfect grammatically, but add great music to the words and without doubt they touch the heart, and isn’t that what we all wish with our writing.

Let me finish with the words of Abba:

“So I say,
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing. Thanks for all the joy they're bringing.”

How barren the world would be without music—no matter what your preference.

My Web Page

Time and Writing

Visit my BWL author page to purchase

Visit my BWL author page to purchase

What is “time” in the modern author’s world? Several decades ago it meant how many minutes you sat with pen in hand or in front of a typewriter. Yesterday I sat back and spent some time mulling over how it relates to my writing. So, I will try and put down words that relay how the seconds, minutes, hours, and days affect my writing.

I think the overall effect of the lightning-fast communication world is a help. Years ago I would have to pull research information on the living conditions of cowboys in the Wyoming mountains from my tired old Compton’s Encyclopedias or, more likely, go to the public library. In order to not disrupt the flow of my writing I would Put a large question mark in the spots that needed study and spend an afternoon at the library with a steno pad searching for details on a handful of topics.

Now I sit at a coffee shop…

...with priority given to places with reliable wifi. The instant information is a huge time saver. As well, I save some digital ink by eliminating the question mark in my work. When we travel I insist on strong WIFI in our accommodations.

So, it’s stetsons off to modern technology. Of course, I never get distracted by texts, emails, reading other blogs, or surfing the web. Really, I don’t. Well, actually I just did. Now, where was I?

The success of this streamlined research technique can be viewed in my novels Rangeland Ruckus and Raining trouble.

DK Davis about Secret: At HL Woods, YA Paranormal

Tell a little about the main character in Secret: At HL Woods.

DK – I’ll let Bri tell you – here’s Bri Lancaster, main story-star of Secret: At HL Woods 

Hello everyone! I’m Bri, seventeen-years-old, and just finished my junior year in a new high school. I should be used to a new school because my family moves around a lot, but this move took me away from my best friend, Luke. Plus, we moved in March, so I didn’t really have much time to make friends before summer break…if I had wanted to.

Anyhoo, my dad got mom and me all settled into an amazing house on a lake – great neighborhood as far as that goes (even though I’m not really the type that really cares who our neighbors are). Then, dad left us…so, Mom, had Gramps move in.

The ongoing arguments and Mom’s emotional roller coaster ride died down somewhat – but I still didn’t like spending time with her.

Gramps was another matter, worth coming home and learning about Gram and her ability to see ghosts. No one, other than an aunt and Gramps, knew about my communications with the spirit world. I’d learned at a young age to keep it to myself or I would be medicated like a crazy (thank goodness Mom wasn’t an advocate of medications).

It’s tough not talking to a spirit when they know I can see them – let’s just say moving around so much saved me from most of the embarrassing situations that branded me as a “crazy” or “weirdo.”

I’ve managed to keep mostly to myself, until Luke, my best friend, who also had his own branding situation going on within his family.

Hope you decide to read my story and learn how the 1960’s murdered couple, Martin and Gloria, find their justice…and how I discover there’s more to living…much more. Nice to meet you all; )

Do you believe in the paranormal and if so, do you have an experience you can share?

DK – I love this question and have actually shared it previously. When I was young, I had a few times when I woke out of a dead sleep to see an old woman standing beside my bed. Each time she’s reaching for me. I was so terrified, I closed my eyes and screamed my head off. If I would have been a little more evolved, I could have spoken to her.  Like I mentioned, she came back to me a number of times…and I’m sure it was to give me some sort of message (at least that’s what I choose to think😉.

I believe she might have been my grandmother who passed away when I was only a toddler. She has never come back to me since my youthful interventions with her. I do sense energy (positive or negative), and I also feel empathy, deeply, for those around me, which tend to create issues for me at times.

So, in answer, do I believe in the paranormal – I give a resonating YES!!

What titles are you working on now?

DK – I have a few books I’m working on to submit this year for release.

Jake & Sam ~ Twisted Tales of Freakish Fun – an anthology for mid-grade that I’m co-writing with S. Willett (author of the Country and the Rock mid-grade trilogy). Release scheduled for late spring / early summer 2018. The book is about two friends, Jake and Sam, and the crazy, fun adventures they each have and share. Once in a while, their adventures come together. And they wreak of paranormal, supernatural, sci-fi, and maybe even fantasy – but always freakish fun.

Secret: of Amber Eyes – Another book in the Secret Series to release sometime in December 2018. Morgan Redding graduates high school then gets sent to her aunt’s wildlife refuge in northern Michigan (her mother considers Morgan a trouble-maker and wants time without her to be alone with the new husband). Morgan discovers a species of beings beyond comprehension until she becomes one…

Malevolent, A Kendra Spark Novel – the second book in the Kendra Spark series, written as S. Peters-Davis and due to release in August of 2018. Another supernatural, paranormal suspense-thriller romance – Kendra, Jenna, and Derek have their work cut out in finding the head of a human trafficking ring kidnapping teenage girls, plus the kindling heat between Derek and Kendra shifts from playful to passionate.

Excerpt from Secret: At HL Woods (First meeting between Bri and ghosts)

Without a word, I ran toward the mound of wild rose vines and thistles, where Kyle and Max had stood a moment ago.

A black man and white woman shimmered into view beside it, arms around each other, both staring at me.

I stopped so abruptly I almost lost it again. Apparitions.

“Martin, look at her. She’s seein’ us.” The woman’s distinct southern accent caught me, but what set off my cursed paranormal spidey-sensors was their clothing…straight from the 60’s, according to some of the old romance books I’d read from Mom’s stash. 

“By damn, she does see us.” He stepped closer to me with the woman at his side. “You can see us.”

“I can, yes.” Holy crap, I just said that out loud. My whole body tensed. I glanced over my shoulder to see if Kyle and Max still roamed face-plant alley. A shiver shook through me. They’d left.

“We need your help, Missy.” Martin’s brows arched, his head tilted. “Please tell us you can help us.”

The woman turned to him and patted his cheek. “It’s gonna be all right, sweetie. We ain’t botherin’ this fine woman with our problems.” She turned to me. “It’s okay, darlin’, you never mind us.”

“Why are you both here?” Wherever I saw spirits of the dead, it usually meant they were connected to something in the area. I considered the mound, seeing something metal and rusty underneath all the greenery. “You should have crossed over, into the vortex of light…unless you’re meant to go to the dark plane.”

The woman gasped and clung to Martin.

Maybe I’d said too much. I yanked some of the vines away, getting scratched and poked from the effort.

A car, green, ancient. No wonder it was tough to see.

“We want justice, but we aren’t able to leave this spot. Something’s holding us here, like some kind of barrier.” Martin’s lips pinched together, his head nodding. He looked at the woman as if to confirm. She nodded also.

I scanned the area thoroughly to make sure Kyle and Max weren’t lurking behind a tree to get a shot of me talking to air. I’d dealt with Max enough during school to last a lifetime; his nasty pranks didn’t need to scar my summer too.

Thankfully, they’d really left.

“You fancyin’ one of those boys?” The woman smiled.

“Gloria, now don’t you be puttin’ on with this little lady. She won’t want to share her life with the likes of us.” Martin embraced Gloria, kissing her forehead.

I chuckled at the idea of considering either Kyle or Max as anything more than what? Simply guys in my grade? No one knew me here and I liked it that way. Moving from Marshall before the end of my junior year was the worst thing to happen in my life, well besides Dad leaving once we settled into the house here. Plus, Luke lived in Marshall.

I shook my head. “No. Neither of those guys is into me, and I’m definitely not into them.”

Martin and Gloria’s eyes narrowed, a frown creased both of their foreheads.

“Whatcha mean? Into me…into them…like friends or somethin’ more?” Gloria asked, and I could tell Martin didn’t understand it either. I was sure the music back then used words like those in reference to relationships, although, maybe it’d been a while since they heard music.

“I don’t like them and they don’t like me.” I studied the couple. “How old are you guys? What’s your story?” Didn’t want to ask them what year they died…or how they died, in case they hadn’t acknowledged it to each other. Once in a while that happened, like the time I’d come across a spirit that didn’t realize he was dead. He went into hysteria, ranting, and raving, jumping from one extreme emotion to another that lasted for days as his apparition faded then came back, disappearing and reappearing all over the house and property.

“Eighteen, both of us, we just graduated high school.” Martin’s lips pressed together. 

“We were followed, by a truck; didn’t notice it at first.”

“We was drivin’ to Idlewild, a city in northern Michigan, for work and a place to live. Gettin’ married there,” Gloria added. She turned toward Martin and suddenly their apparitions washed-out like bad static on a television. An electric pop snapped through the air and they vanished.

DK Davis BWL Publishing Inc. Author Page: http://bookswelove.net/authors/davis-dk-ya-paranormal/

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