The Songs Find Me

I got sucked into Youtube the last few nights. I half grinned at Katie the first night and called it research. She drolly said, "Uh, huh." Hence, I'm tired from absorbing a sound, sight and scene for the current novel I'm writing.
I think of the novels I have written or am writing right now. I am getting close to publishing Main Street. Martha is a woman in isolation, who longs to be social. Her husband's hatred keeps her prisoner. I wrote this story in isolation. I feared discovery that I was writing and people would laugh that I think I could write. This fear drove the tense of the story.
Maria in  Summer Triangle possesses stronger beliefs. She is abandoned by her husband, yet she carries on. I had started my blog and proclaimed myself a writer. Maria reflects that in my life.
In Country, a second Gables and Gingerbread Story, I'm in a small hiatus, Christina is full of love and her mother, Irene, exhibits peace in stressful times. I grew into love of writing with peace in the timing of the progress.
Morgan in Last Free Exit, comes of age. She's young, her convictions aren't as strong as Amber's, Maria's daughter. A struggle to remain true to her beliefs is part of the story. She has to leave the security of her twin brother and Christian friends' support, standing on her own, yet they are there to pray for her. My writing needs the support of my friends, even though, my schedule takes me physically away from my writer's support group.
Because Last Free Exit and Summer Triangle are related, I skimmed through Summer Triangle the other day for some facts. I traveled back to some of the feelings I had over a year ago. I am not there now. I rejoiced.
My modern books find a popular song to be the background for the story. I haven't learned too much about copyright and using them in the books. A Beach Boys' song played heavy in ST. Hint, it is the first secular, popular song to use 'God' in its title, and there is something about the 'stars above you.' I heard a song on the radio last week that fits Last Free Exit. A Bruce Springsteen song from his third album, but his making it big one, fit the themes. I watched the documentary about the making of this album the other night, fueling my creativity for the story. Also, I remember getting this album as a fourteen or fifteen year old, for that teen mindset. The idea sparked in the fall when I had a dream about one of the characters, a Jersey boy. The whole album had the feel of that long summer night, where adolescence grows into adulthood. So now I'm watching, listening to all the videos I can about those early years on the Jersey shore for the music- yeah, looking for Southside Johnny, too. The mood and brooding of Iggy playing in my mind. I fight stereotypes, but I can see him in the early years of Bruce, Steve Van Zandt, Southside Johnny, those Jersey shore boys. Not sure how I will capture it all, since so far it is set in 2013, and those boys have long since seen their teens.
I met with a writer friend today for lunch. The winter has been rough, but the warm spring rain revives us. The grass tints a tiny bit brighter green today. Soon life will abound. Good bye pauper spirit. Live the abundant life. And if you write, Happy Writing!