As many of y'all know, we headed out to Nashville last week for a Bon Jovi concert. I haven't been to a concert since I was a teenager, and then only contemporary Christian music. Let me just say I wasn't prepared for this experience. It was AWESOME! I jammed out to both Daughtry and Bon Jovi, and discovered something terribly embarrassing about myself: with just the right look, Jon Bon Jovi can make me squeal like a teenage groupie. :)
I've talked before about how inspired I am by music. Each of my books has their own soundtracks. I don't listen to the music while I'm writing, only while I'm plotting. Well, I thought I'd pass along the bits of wisdom I picked up from a night of listening to Jon, Richie, and a host of other characters.
Your love is like bad medicine
Bad medicine is what I need
Shake it up, just like bad medicine
There ain't no doctor that can
Cure my disease
Bad Medicine
Is there anybody out there looking for a party? Yeah!!
Shake your money maker, Baby smoke it if you got it.
We just wanna have some fun, If you don't wanna, Kiss this
Everybody raise your hands, Come on I need a witness.
We got it goin' on
We'll be banging and singing just like the Rolling Stones
We're gonna shake up your souls, We're gonna rattle your bones
'Cause we got it goin' on.
Ah ha ha. Ah ha ha. Yeah yeah. Ah ha.
(We Got It) Goin' On (with Big and Rich)
Watching these Hot Guys on stage is totally addictive!!! As I admitted earlier, I squealed like a little girl when Jon gave the camera a "Come Here Woman!" look. I might have even drooled when he shook that tight, um, booty. :) Oh, yeah, they've got it going on, alright. We partied all night.
I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride
I'm wanted dead or alive
Wanted dead or alive
Sometimes I sleep, sometimes its not for days
And the people I meet always go their separate ways
Sometimes you tell the day
By the bottle that you drink
And times when you're all alone all you do is think
Wanted
As a writer, I'm always thinking about the character behind the person in front of me. Watching these successful men on the stage, I had to think about where they came from and what it took to get there. The hardships they go through, and how wearing it must be that everyone wants a piece of you.
Let me be the first to shake a helping hand.
Anybody brave enough to take a stand,
I've knocked on every door, On every dead end street...
Ohhh, if there's one thing I hang onto,
That gets me through the night.
I ain't gonna do what I don't want to,
I'm gonna live my life...
When the world gets in my face,
I say, Have A Nice Day.
Have a Nice Day
Coming off a string of rejections for my own work, I have to admit I admired the perseverance and strength it took to come to this place and this stage. Their professional journey is a model of living for every artist. We have to find a way to live the life we want, the one that feeds our souls, even if the world tells us we can't.
I like the bed I'm sleeping in
Its just like me, its broken in
Its not old -- just older
Like a favorite pair of torn blue jeans
This skin I'm in its alright with me
It s not old -- just older
Just Older
I can only hope someday to be this comfortable with who and what I am.
She says we've got to hold on to what we've got
Cause it doesn't make a difference
If we make it or not
We've got each other and that's a lot
For love - well give it a shot
Whooah, we're half way there
Livin' on a prayer
Take my hand and well make it - I swear
Livin' on a prayer
Livin' On A Prayer
I went to this concert with some good friends, friends who drag me out of my hermit shell to experience lots of fun and fabulous times. Without them and my husband, I'd definitely be a dull and drab girl. All work and no play. I've danced more since I've known them than I have my entire life (in public, no less!). I've smiled and laughed my way through hard times. Whether we make it in the publishing business or not, I've gained sisters for life.
Its my life
And its now or never
Cause I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
(its my life)
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said
I did it my way
I just want to live while I'm alive
Its My Life
Being a writer, you have to learn to go against what people expect of you. I daydream and make up characters, talk to people in my head. Spend time writing books that may or may not ever sell. Go to meetings instead of spending time with my family. Would choose a conference over a child's event or family occasion.
Not a popular choice, but that's who I am and what I may have to do to make it as a writer. I'm trying to learn to live my life the way I need to in order to feel alive, while balancing that with my family's needs and wants. A tightrope if ever there was one.
So there are my musings from the weekend. Hope I haven't totally taken all enjoyment out of Bon Jovi's music for you. What music/artist is totally inspiring you at the moment?
Angel
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16 comments:
Three words. Bed of Roses. {{sigh}}
LJ
It's nice to know I can be a good influence sometimes--instead of just a bad example.
Jon is so pretty...sigh.
The four of you look so cute!
I'm glad you had a great time, ladies!! What would the world be without friends?
I'm listening to the Master And Commander soundtrack.
Oh! I'm also doing the 'my daughter graduated from FSU dance', with Osceola at my side.
I wrote a Bon Jovi book. :) What I mean is that I get one particular band in my head and have to listen to them over and over and over while writing. So, I wrote a Bon Jovi book. Right now, I'm writing a Daughtry book. :) It's weird, but I don't argue with it. And I know those songs backwards and forwards when I'm done. *g*
Sounds like y'all had a great time!
Well, then I've written an Evanescence book, a Lorenna McKennitt book and an Underworld soundtrack book. I'm currently working on a Gorillaz book which is wholly inappropriate, but for some reason, its just what I want to listen to.
Hmm, I need to write a Bon Jovi book. I wrote a Tim McGraw book which had next to nothing in common with the actual book. Shrugs. I don't question...I just follow the voices in my head.
I LOVE Bed of Roses. I think I'm going to have to pull out my CD to write to tonight when I get home.
I had such a good time at the concert :-)
Instigator
P.S. What is with the crunched up verification word? I can't even read the damn letters let alone retype them!
I can't write to music. It's distracting. There is an instrumental CD I use to block out the cacophony at Starbucks.
I am inspired by music. I still love Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying" and have ridden a few Fu Manchus the last few years.
Right now I'm "Living on a Prayer" and hoping I don't catch the cold the DH brought home from his conference.
PM
As far as I can tell, this show isn't coming close enough for me to see. Sounds like you had a blast and the way you feel about your blogmates is the same way I feel about mine. The connections we make are often more important.
People always figure I have a soundtrack for my books since I used to be a DJ. But I don't. Well, since the WIP is still *in progress*, I figure the sountrack is also still *in progress*. I do have a couple of songs that make me think of specific scenes so I guess by the time the book is done, the soundtrack will be too.
And I also can't write with music on. Too distracting. But I don't mind background noise provided it's at a calm level.
Love the picture!
THE BIG HEAT was my Bon Jovi book. Opening scene, Chapter 9, the hero is working out to a Bon Jovi soundtrack.
Sounds like y'all had a great time.
I don't listen to the music while I'm actually writing, but definitely while I'm plotting. One upcoming WIP uses Daughtry's Feels Like Tonight. I've also used Nick Lachey's What's Left of Me and some Evanescence, among many others. My heroes often come from music like Nickelback and those types of bands.
Angel
Oh, what a great picture! Music definitely influences my writing. Honestly, I have always been in awe of songwriters. They can use a few words to say what it takes me a whole book to get across. :-)
Hm... music that's inspiring? None, unfortunately. I got talked into going to a Colby Caillet concert tomorrow, which I think will be fun, but it's finals time. What I'm listening to on repeat are lectures on Trusts, and Con law.
Also... *hides* I tried skimming posts to find it - but without success. How does one sign up for the Playground contest?
No need to hide, Lime :-)
You can click on the picture on the sidebar if you'd like and it should hyperlink you to the page.
Or you can visit www.writingplayground.com. The info is on the home page at the very bottom. If you click on the picture it should take you to the info on how to enter.
Or you could just email contest@writingplayground.com with your snail mail address. (this is probably what I should have started with but...I didn't think about it until now :-)).
Whichever works best for you :-) We're easy.
Instigator
The concert was so awesome. Wish I had thought ahead to try and meet all of y'all before the show. I listen to music while I work all day, but really just for the background noise. I've never tried listening to music while writing.
:P totally missed the contest entry - but congratulations to the winner! And thanks for explaining it :)
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