The Tara Tracks

Great! Because I’m holding a contest starting…now.

The Deal:

In HARMONIC FEEDBACK, Drea meets Justin–her first crush–and experiences the following symptoms: fluttery stomach, hot flashes, forgetting how to speak English…or any other language, confusion, and denial. LOTS of denial.

And her first meeting with him doesn’t go too well. In fact, it goes a little like this:

His eyes were the same color as Mr. Fuzzy, this gray velvet blanket I used to take everywhere. “Do you like being a walking advertisement for Nike?”

“No?” He raised his eyebrows. “Neither did your comment.”

Despite a bumpy meeting, Drea finds herself intrigued by Justin. She even has a song for him–”Goodnight & Go” by Imogen Heap. After all, Justin is a total music geek like she is. Whenever she hears this song, she can’t help but grin and belt out the lyrics.

Now it’s your turn. Tell me about your first encounter with your first crush (or the first one you remember) and the song that reminds of you of that person or experience. You can leave a comment here or at my Live Journal blog

Sharing your story will earn you ONE entry. But I will give TWO entries to people who post about this contest on their twitter, blog, or other place and provide me with the link in their comment.

Got it? Awesome.

Now here is the fun part…the prizes!

1st prize: Signed ARC of HARMONIC FEEDBACK with bookmarks (signed also if you’d like) AND when I’m finished with the soundtrack, I’ll send you one of M3’s songs before I put them up on my website. M3 is Drea’s trip-hop band in the book.

2nd prize: Signed HARMONIC FEEDBACK bookmarks. And because I’m moving and have a TON of books, I’m happy to send a couple off to you. You get to pick THREE from this list (all books are hardcover):

LOCK AND KEY by Sarah Dessen
JUST LISTEN by Sarah Dessen
UNDONE by Brook Taylor
VIBES by Amy Kathleen Ryan
AUDREY, WAIT! by Robin Benway

3rd prize: Signed HARMONIC FEEDBACK bookmarks. And you get whatever 2 books the 2nd prize winner didn’t pick. I know, I know, but they’re free. You can’t say no to free books.

This contest ends Friday, October 23rd at 2pm Pacific Time. That gives you exactly a week to concoct a rad story..er, I mean, tell me your first crush story. I will be drawing three names out of a hat (literally) and posting the winners Friday night.

Good luck!

My writing process always begins with one thing–music. I’d be lost without it. The right songs help me get inside the heads of my characters…and for as long as my concentration lasts…see and feel the world through their eyes. I make a playlist for each character (or important character)–typically the MC, the love interest, and a couple important secondary characters. Sometimes it happens to be music I don’t care for…at all But I think of my characters as guests in my house. I have to be polite and make them comfortable or they may not want to stick around. This is definitely true for my WIP, Nyx & Thor. It has alternating POVs and the guy has this thing for Linkin Park and Chevelle, which kind of makes me want to hide under my desk. But at the same time, when I’m writing as him, the songs sound like home in a way. They have an odd comfort to them–don’t ask me why!

Anyway, I thought I’d share a couple character playlists from HARMONIC FEEDBACK, the book that will actually be hitting the shelves next year. It’s about a 16-year-old girl with Asperger’s Syndrome who starts a band, falls in lust and learns to question what ‘normal’ really means. I’m in the process of writing a soundtrack for the band in the book, but that isn’t done yet.

Until then, I’ll share some other artists. This is another thing I love doing–introducing people to new music! So if I help you discover some new bands with this…let me know who you liked and why

A little info on Drea, the MC: She’s a self-described music snob with a thing for smart electronica. The songs have to be mixed just right or she’ll have a hard time listening to them.

Drea’s Most Played Songs:

1. Goodnight and Go-Imogen Heap: Drea LOVES Imogen Heap. And this song makes her think of her crush, Justin. There’s one scene where she’s dancing around and singing it very loudly, much to the dismay of her friend, Naomi.
2. Bus Stop-The Hollies: This is one of Drea’s all-time favorite songs, but it’s also the theme song for the book.
3. Giving In-Saltillo: If Drea had a theme song, this would be it. It’s just very her.
4. This Twilight Garden-The Cure: A little known Cure track but *sigh* It’s so pretty. This played in almost every Justin and Drea scene.
5. Inhaler-Hooverphonic: Drea sees sounds as colors and this song is very fitting…she relates to it very well.
6. I See Red-Uh Huh Her: Another song that makes Drea think of Justin and another one that just fits their scenes together so well.
7. X Amount of Words-Blue October: Drea LOVES BO. BO gets her inner angst.
8. 95-Wideband Network: Drea finds this song calming. She often listens to it when lying in her room, going over her day.
9. Geek the Girl-Lisa Germano: A song for geek girls everywhere. And Drea is definitely a geek girl
10. Strangers-Portishead: Honestly, Drea likes anything Portishead and Playlist.com didn’t have much selection. This is a song off her favorite album.
11. I’m not Dreaming of You-De/Vision: Drea likes this song for some reason…but she won’t tell me why. (my characters don’t always tell all)
12. Once in a Lifetime-Wolfsheim: She’s got a thing for catchy synth-pop and this is one of her faves.

A little info on Justin, the love interest: Ah, Justin–the piano prodigy with a dark past. He loves aspects of electronica, but he’s a rock boy at heart. To him there is no replacing the raw beauty of a real instrument, so he makes sure there is at least one live instrument in every song they make.

Justin’s Most Played Songs:

1. Down in a Hole-Alice In Chains: Justin is a teen in the wrong decade. He has an obsession with grunge music, especially AIC. This is his favorite song by them.
2. Blackest Eyes-Porcupine Tree: Justin and Porcupine Tree are like PB & J. Dark, mysterious, complicated and brilliant.
3. Heaven’s a Lie-Lacuna Coil: He prefers Lacuna Coil before they got all ‘commercial’. He listened to this song a LOT after his mom died.
4. Perfect Drug-Nine Inch Nails: Still listens to this song frequently, even if it’s painful in some ways now.
5. Strange and Beautiful-Aqualung: This song reminds him of Drea..he can’t listen to it without thinking of her.
6. Red Eyes and Tears-B.R.M.C.: This is such a Justin song…he’s got a thing for sultry guitar and classic rock influences.
7. Army of Me-Bjork: He just loves his Ba-jork (those who read the book will get the Ba-jork reference)
8. I’m Alright (You Gotta Go There To Come Back)-Stereophonics: (See desc for #6)
9. Dogma-KMFDM: Heh. He just digs the lyrics to this.
10. Ten Million Years-Black Lab: Justin is very emphatic about Black Lab and calls Drea (the music snob) out for not hearing of them. Dark and romantic would describe the band well.
11. Tarnished-Dalek: Who wouldn’t want to check out a band that mixes shoegaze, hip-hop, and smart rap lyrics. Unique and brooding–Justin digs ‘em a lot.
12. Ordinary Story-In Flames: He used to be a total metalhead, and this song still holds a place in his heart…for whatever reason. Whatever floats your boat, man!