The Final Party

Today's Topic Suggestions:

• Design a party (e.g. food, music, games/activities, decorations etc) based around a book or piece of music of your choice
• If you could be invited to any party featured in a piece of music or book what would it be and why?
• If you could invite any authors or musicians to your party who would you invite and why?
• Tell us about the music at a party you've attended
• Let us know how you would celebrate if you won the 'music through the pages' giveaway
• Create a party to celebrate the end of 'music through the pages' or summer in general

The Dragonsong Party

About dragonsong (the blurb):

Every two hundred years or so, shimmering threads fall, raining black ruin on Pern. The great dragons of Pern hurl themselves through the beleaguered skies, flaming tongues of fire to destroy deadly Thread and save the planet. It was not Threadfall that made Menolly unhappy. It was her father who betrayed her ambition to be a Harper, who thwarted her love of music. Menolly had no choice but to run away. She came upon a group of fire lizards, wild relatives of the fire-breathing dragons. Her music swirled about them; she taught nine to sing, suddenly Menolly was no longer alone.
 

The Decorations
The party would take place in a cave or, failing that, a cellar in order to mimic the holds where dragon and dragonrider live together. There would be long triangular banners on the walls, decorated with pictures of different colour dragons. In between would be long wooden tables where the food would be served on silver platters. I think that this fantasy medieval style would be in keeping with the imagery in Dragonsong.

The costumes
Everyone should come in medieval style costumes similar to this:

 



The music
There would be traditional ballads playing and words would be distributed so that everyone could join in. The music would be played by musicians on pan-pipes (like Menolly uses), guitar and drums.

The food

There would be several courses as follows:

1. Fresh blackcurrant juice- unsweetened (to emulate ferris juice)
2. Bread with sliced meats accompanied by wine
3. Fish stew
4. Ostrich (wherry not being available) served with mixed root vegetables
5. Seaweed sweets
6. Willow-bark tea (bitter like klabark tea)

Entertainment

Before the meal: a bird display in honor of the dragons of 'Dragonsong'.
Music (as already stated) throughout the meal, accompanied by birds trained to sing.
After the meal: Model boat races in honor of the sea hold. A fireworks display to remind everyone of the flaming ability of the dragons.

Characterising An Attitude To Music

Today's Theme Suggestions:

• Tell us about a chosen character's musical tastes
• Share a quote about a character's attitudes to music or a type of music
• Choose a piece or style of music and write a passage about a character who has strong feelings about it

Analgypta Huggs from 'Hogfather' by Terry Pratchett

The singers were halfway down Park Lane now, and halfway through 'The Red Rosy Hen greats the Dawn of the Day' in marvellous harmony. Their collecting tins were already full of donations for the poor of the city, or at least those sections of the poor who in Mrs Huggs' opinion were suitably picturesque and not too smelly and could be relied on to say thank you...
In fact the hen is not the bird traditionally associated with heralding a new sunrise, but Mrs Huggs, while collecting many old folk songs for posterity, had taken care to rewrite them where necessary to avoid, as she put it, 'offending those of a refined disposition with unwarranted coarseness'. Much to her surprise, people often couldn't spot the unwarranted coarseness until it had been pointed out to them.

GUEST POST: A Day in My Writing Life by Christine Amsden

Author Bio

Christine Amsden has been writing science fiction and fantasy for as long as she can remember. She loves to write and it is her dream that others will be inspired by this love and by her stories. Speculative fiction is fun, magical, and imaginative but great speculative fiction is about real people defining themselves through extraordinary situations. Christine writes primarily about people and it is in this way that she strives to make science fiction and fantasy meaningful for everyone.

At the age of 16, Christine was diagnosed with Stargardt’s Disease, a condition that effects the retina and causes a loss of central vision. She is now legally blind, but has not let this slow her down or get in the way of her dreams.

When she's not writing, Christine teaches workshops on writing, usually at Savvy Authors. She also offers professional editing services. She maintains a book review blog on her website with occasional writing tips thrown in for the fun of it.

Christine lives in the Kansas City area with her husband and two children. 

Contact

http://christineamsden.com/wordpress/

https://twitter.com/ChristineAmsden

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christine-Amsden-Author-Page/127673027288664

 

 

 

A Day In My Writing Life

I'm always surprised by  interest in my daily writing routine. The truth is, writing is a solitary and outwardly uninteresting task. Inside my head, it's a whirlwind of activity, but to the passive observer, there's just not a lot to see. This is me, sitting at my desk. Typing. I do that a lot.

As far as what I'm actually doing while typing, every day is just a little bit different. Today, I'm fixing a plot problem that involves switching the order of two scenes, and then smoothing them out so it looks like they were always written in that order. Tomorrow, I will continue writing new material. In a few weeks, this rough draft will be finished and I will move on to other projects while I await feedback. Then revisions begin. Then edits. Then the process begins again with the next novel.

I don't have a routine. Because I have young kids whose schedule constantly seems to change, I haven't managed to establish a schedule for myself. Sometimes I write in the mornings. Sometimes, in the afternoons. Sometimes, in the evenings. I do try to help ground myself by lighting a candle and doing some meditation when it's time to write. This helps me shift my mind from whatever else I was doing, and lets me focus.

But mostly, it's all in my head. I have entire worlds and multiple casts of characters in there, trying to come out through my fingertips. Drafting is my favorite part of writing, because that is when those worlds and characters fight for attention. During revisions, it's more about fine tuning. If the life isn't already there, you can't breathe it in during a revision. 

In my head, I wake up thinking about my story. It's in the back of my mind all day long. And I fall asleep planning new details. Like I said, a whirlwind of activity, but it doesn't look like much to the outside observer. 

Buy Links (for Immortality Virus):

B&N (paperback and nook) http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-immortality-virus-christine-amsden/1103019090?ean=9781606190036

Amazon paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Immortality-Virus-Christine-Amsden/dp/1606190032/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1308104440&sr=8-2

Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/The-Immortality-Virus-ebook/dp/B004WOY0W4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324259273&sr=8-1

Marking the Ocassion

Today's Theme Suggestions:

• What music do you think a chosen character would have for their wedding/funeral etc?
• Share a book passage about music at a special ocassion
• Write a short piece of writing about a special ocassion which features music

Preparations for a Birthday service from 'What a Performance'

No one quite knew how it happened, but by the time they left the meeting- very late - the matins congregation had raised the roof belting out uncontrollably 'Happy birthday to you' two dozen times, and had gone on to wreak the same havoc on the specially chosen hymns for the birthday service.

TOUR STOP: The Immortality Virus by Christine Amsden (Review)

 
 

Blurb
 

In the mid-21st century, the human race stopped aging. Those who know why aren't talking, and the few who are brave enough to ask questions tend to disappear. To an elite few, The Change means long life and health, but to the ever-increasing masses, it means starvation, desperation, and violence.

Four centuries after The Change, Grace Harper, a blacklisted P.I., sets off on a mission to find the man responsible for it all and solicit his help to undo The Change -- if he's still alive. To complicate matters, Grace's employer is suspected of murdering his father, and when the police learn of their connection, they give her a choice -- help them find the evidence they need to convict Matthew Stanton, or die. But if they discover Grace's true mission, they won't hesitate to kill her in order to preserve their shot at immortality.

Winner of the Epic Award for Science Fiction, the Global eBook Award for Science Fiction, and a finalist in The Next Gernation Indie Book Awareds. 

Will Raphael tame the willful woman or love the untamed fire that burns within her?

Review

Fast-paced speculative fiction with a hint of detective sprinkled in. The Immortality Virus is full of well-rounded, intense characters who almost jump off the page. Its hard not to get hooked by the drama and intrigue, as you hurtle your way through this familiar and yet shakingly different future world.

I'm looking forward to reading more by this author!

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I am a member of Reading Addiction Blog Tours and a copy of this book was provided to me by the author. Although payment may have been received by Reading Addiction Blog Tours, no payment was received by me in exchange for this review. There was no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own and may not necessarily agree with those of the author, publisher, publicist, or readers of this review. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides Concerning Use of Endorcements and Testimonials in Advertising*

Action Reader's Action: Use what you have (food, time, money) to help improve someone else's quality of life.

Discussion point: What price would you be willing to pay to be immortal? Do you think quality or quantity of life is more important?

 

Author Bio

Christine Amsden has been writing science fiction and fantasy for as long as she can remember. She loves to write and it is her dream that others will be inspired by this love and by her stories. Speculative fiction is fun, magical, and imaginative but great speculative fiction is about real people defining themselves through extraordinary situations. Christine writes primarily about people and it is in this way that she strives to make science fiction and fantasy meaningful for everyone.

At the age of 16, Christine was diagnosed with Stargardt’s Disease, a condition that effects the retina and causes a loss of central vision. She is now legally blind, but has not let this slow her down or get in the way of her dreams.

When she's not writing, Christine teaches workshops on writing, usually at Savvy Authors. She also offers professional editing services. She maintains a book review blog on her website with occasional writing tips thrown in for the fun of it.

Christine lives in the Kansas City area with her husband and two children. 

Contact

http://christineamsden.com/wordpress/

https://twitter.com/ChristineAmsden

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christine-Amsden-Author-Page/127673027288664

 Buy Links:

B&N (paperback and nook) http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-immortality-virus-christine-amsden/1103019090?ean=9781606190036

Amazon paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Immortality-Virus-Christine-Amsden/dp/1606190032/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1308104440&sr=8-2

Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/The-Immortality-Virus-ebook/dp/B004WOY0W4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324259273&sr=8-1

Writing in Music

Today's Topic Suggestions:

• Share a piece of music that mentions books (lyrics or video)
• Writing a piece of music about reading 
• Tell us about a piece of music you've written that features books

Reading Rainbow

Matching Music to Reading

Today's Topic Suggestions:

• Do you think there's any link between the music and the sort of book that people like?
• What music matches your current read?
• Tell us about any links between the music and the books that you like.

Linking my musical and reading worlds

I use both music and reading to escape from everyday life, and I think my tastes in both reflect this.

I find that classic rock often allows my mind to wander, changes my mood, or reminds me of happy times.

When I read science fiction then it has a very similar effect. It tells me about places different from our own, lets my imagination take control of my feelings, and takes me to situations that can change my mood.

My musical and reading tastes vary a lot because for me its the feelings that they evoke and the worlds that they convey that are the most important thing. These aspects of writing can occur in any genre or any musical style. 

Setting the Scene

Today's Suggested Topics:

• Share with us music from a film/TV series that is also a book
• If your favourite book was turned into a film, what do you think the soundtrack would be?

Feel free to link up your blog/twitter post etc. in the comments, or post directly in the comments if you wish. Don't forget that each day you can enter one suggeted topic post you make for an extra entry in our giveaway.



Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
Recently I've been reading quite a lot of discworld books, so I thought it would be appropriate to share some music from one of those that has been adapted for the small screen.

Character Interview: The Music Edition

Today's Topic Suggestion:

• Imagine you are interviewing a character from a book that you've read on the topic of their musical tastes. What would you ask them and what would their answers be?
• Imagine you are being interviewed by a character from a book that you've read about your own musical tastes. Type up your answers to their questions.
• If you could interview any character who would you interview and what would you ask them about music?

Interview with Mrs Huggs from 'Hogfather' by Terry Pratchett

Mrs Huggs, can you explain to our readers what your latest choir project aims to achieve?
You see, come the Christmas season many people like to sing old-fashioned songs. To my dismay I discovered, upon venturing to collect songs suitable for this time of year together into one volume, that some of these are rather coarse in nature. I have therefore endeavoured to clean up some of the less discernable songs to make them suitable for those with a more refined disposition.

Some people say that you are over-sensitive. Others that they never understood what was rude about the original words in the first-place. How do you respond to these claims?
Some less refined people than those in our carefully selected choir may not be able to comprehend our endeavours. However, such unwarranted coarseness certainly won't be appreciated by the benefactors of our charitable institution.

What is the latest song to undergo your own particular treatment?The latest addition to our repertoire is 'The Red Rosy Hen greets the Dawn of the Day', a piece which our singers perform in marvellous harmony.

Isn't the, ahem, male bird better associated with greeting the dawn?
One sometimes has to employ artistic license to these old folk songs. After all sometimes a chicken is nothing but a bird.

Thankyou for your time Mrs Huggs. We wish you all the best for the future of your stirling work.

'Music Through The Pages' giveaway

Apologies for the late posting of this, it was due to do up near the beginning of the month but (for some reason) blogger didn't post it.

Feel free to comment or post about any 'music through the pages' topic at any time and then enter your link below (in the relevant box) for an extra entry.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Writing in Music

Today's Theme Suggestions:

• Share a song that features a bookish theme
• Write and share your own song about books, reading, writing etc
• Discuss the importance of literature to music

Paperback Writer

Book Soundtrack

Today's Topic Suggestions:

• If your current (or recent read) was turned into a movie what songs/music would feature in the soundtrack?
• Share the soundtrack of (or one song from) a book that has already been turned into a movie
• If you're writing a book (or a story) what songs would you pick for its soundtrack?
• Pick a song and tell me which book's soundtrack it would feature in

What a Performance by Reginald Frary (the movie soundtrack)

In some respects this is a quite easy one to do since the whole book is about choirs, but then again it might make it harder to select a few (and I think most movies also need some more popular songs to make them interesting). Also I've only read the first few chapters, so I don't know what will happen later on yet.

1. Organ medley
2. All Things Bright and Beautiful
3. The Battle Hymn of the Republic (slow melodic version)
4. The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music
5. Kyrie in G Minor by Vivaldi
6. Shout to the Lord by Hillsong
7. Concerto No5 in E Flat by Vivaldi
8. Beautiful World by Take That
9. Imagine by John Lennon
10. Beautiful Saviour by Stuart Townsend
11. Holy By Matt Redman
12. Hark the Herald Angels Sing
13. The Prophet's Song by Queen
14. The Battle Hymn of the Republic

Writing in Music

Today's Suggested Topics:

• Post a video or lyrics of a song which mentions writing
• Write your own song with writing (or reading) as the theme
• What songs do you know that mention writing (or books)?
• Give us a top 10 of songs featuring bookish lyrics, or music videos showing people reading

Neverending Story

When I was young I used to love this series of movies, all based on a world within a magical book (and still do to some extent). The theme tune to the movies really captures what an adventure reading can be. I hope you enjoy it:

Listening to music whilst reading

Today's topics:

• Do you need silence when you read?
• Tell us about what music you listen to when reading
• Does the sort of book you're readig influence what music you listen to?

Think of a world without any music....

.....and you'll discover my reading time. Its the one time when all music stops for me, whether it be played from a CD player or that within my head.

What's the reason for this?
I guess it could be that all  my creativity is taken up with imagining the strange new world described in my book. Instead of music going round inside my head, there are pictures of new places and I wonder what each character would do in a different situation.

I know when a book truly doesn't inspire me because its then that I start humming to myself. My mind is no longer focussed on the words infront of me, but instead wandering through the tunes that I know.

If I'm truly engrossed in a book then I need silence. What's the point of music when you can't hear it? What's the point in noise which simply distracts from the moment of bliss? I want the world that my brain sees to be that which my eyes are reading, pure and simple. Only then can I really do justice to the author's intentions.

Music Out of the Pages: Leonardo's Chair

Leonardo's Chair by John DeSimone

"Dressed in black slacks and a white silk blouse, she steamed out of her bedroom with an old Beatles song, "Hey Jude," running through her mind."

Can there be anyone in this world who hasn't heard of The Beatles? I just love the song 'Hey Jude', its so slow and thoughtful, with a lovely melody line. For all you others who also enjoy it, here it is:

Welcome to 'Music Through The Pages'

Thanks for joining us for our 'Music Through the Pages' event, which will be running all throughout August.

Here's where we get to meet each other.
Simply answer 5 of the following questions (or invent your own unique way to say hello) and post a link/your answers in the comments.

1. Introduce yourself in 10 (or less) words
2. How did you find out about 'Music Through The Pages'?
3. Tell us about your favourite book
4. What sort of music do you like?
5. If you were a song what would you be?
6. If you could invite any authors or musicians round for a dinner party who would you invite and what would you talk about?
7. Share your favourite book or music related saying
8. Describe your favourite place to read or listen to music
9. Do you have a blog? If so, tell us about it
10. Do you play any instruments?

Here are my answers:

1. Hello from host blogger, reviewer and reader. Thanks for coming.

3. I don't have a favourite book as such, but I have several favourite authors. My 4 I read most are Terry Pratchett, Ursula Le Guin, Christian Jacq, and Jasper Fforde. My favourite of them all is Jasper Fforde.

6. I would love to have a dinner party with Brian May, Terry Pratchett and Jasper Fforde. I would love to talk about the possibility of other worlds, and I think they would be really funny together.

8. I love to read tucked up in bed (although its a little too hot to do that here at the moment)

10. I play the Eb tenor horn, as well as knowing very basic guitar.

Well, that's all from me for now- I look forward to hearing from you soon.