2024 COVERS

2024 covers

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We are writers mainly from Australia and New Zealand who write speculative fiction with romantic elements. Be it fantasy, paranormal, dark urban fantasy, futuristic and everything in between.

Thursday 20 June 2013

Magic Thursday-The Outcast Prince

Music and the muse

I don’t listen to music when I write, however I make a playlist for all my novels. When I’m running or at work I’ll listen to those songs to keep me in the story while I’m writing the first draft. Later that playlist helps me get back into the story for edits. The music is my short cut to getting in the mood.

I remember plotting this story and being at an Eskimo Joe concert (they were launching the Ghosts of the Past album) and I heard Echo for the first time. Right then I knew that would be perfect for the hero Caspian who is psychometric. Crossfire by Brandon Flower was already on the list—because getting caught in fairy drama is never a good thing. 

Sometimes the playlist develops organically as I plot, other times I go looking for songs as I need that anchor into the world I’ve created. While for a novel or a series I might end up with 20-30 songs, for a novella it might only be 2 or 3 songs. Some songs hold greater meaning than others and become attached to a particular point in the story. 

Devil’s Party by INXS will always be the Court of Annwyn. Lush and with seemingly no morals they gamble and make deals, use sex to secure favors and either have no understanding or no use for love. 

There is a downside to the playlist. After listening to the same songs for weeks on end while writing the first draft it’s always wonderful to switch it off and listen to something else :).

To go in the draw to win a copy of The Outcast Prince tell me what your favourite song is. Winner will be drawn 7pm WST Sunday 23 June.
~~~
Outcast Prince had me spellbound from the first page! Shona Husk's engaging voice and vivid, creative world-building make every one of her books a must-read!" - Larissa Ione, New York Times bestselling author
"Brilliantly unique, beautifully sensual, The

Caspian Mort can feel the history in anything he touches, a gift he inherited from his father, the Crown Prince of Annwyn. Devastated over his ex-wife's infidelity, Caspian has withdrawn from human contact except when working as an antiques dealer.

While assessing the contents of the historic Callaway House he encounters the beautiful Lydia Callaway and senses that her home is haunted by a banished fairy. But what does the dangerous exile want?

Unbeknownst to Lydia, she's the owner of the last remaining portal to Annwyn--a mirror hidden somewhere in the house. To keep Lydia safe, Caspian will have to divulge the secrets of his heritage, and risk losing his heart again.

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4 comments:

  1. My favorite song changes along with my mood, but at the moment it's Murder in the Red Barn by Tom Waits.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My fav song is My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Firework by Katy Perry

    bn100candg at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sometimes I write to music and sometimes I don't. Editing to my yet unpublished novel was done to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack.

    One favourite song? Good lordy. I suppose the song I never tire of is Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. You get a wide mixture in that song.

    Congrats on your latest release, Shona.

    ReplyDelete

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