Country Music, Writing & Me with Guest Blogger: Tarah Scott

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She's here to discuss mixing music & writing and here's what she had to say...


Music and Writing: Do I mix them or use them for inspiration?

Yes, yes, and yes! I was, in fact, a musician in my previous life. Before I began writing novels, I wrote and performed music. Musical abilities run in my family. (Though I am nowhere close to being as talented as my ancestors.) The Civil War song Tramp, Tramp, Tramp was written by George F. Root, an ancestor on my mother’s side. The Roots were very involved in music schools, and performing and writing music.

I do sometimes listen to music while writing. Having grown up in Texas, I learned to love Country music early on, and that genre of music remains my favorite, from Patsy Cline to Bocephus (that’s Hank Williams Jr. to you younger folks, one of the Outlaw Cowboys), to the young sensation Taylor Swift. Nothing will get me thinking quicker than a country song, which invariably sends me running to the keyboard or scrambling for paper and pen.

I remember Stephen King saying that in his earlier days he wrote to AC/DC. ROFL. That might explain his intense work. I’m a fan of Stephen King, so there’s no knocking his method. Writing to music is one of the best ways to get and stay inspired.

Folks often ask where I get my inspiration. The big answer is, of course, everywhere, but music is a huge contributor. Songs have inspired stories and themes for me. I even wrote a song to include in some of my novels. My editor asked where the song was from and if we needed to acknowledge the copyright on the verses. Talk about being flattered. Be still my heart!

Recently, a reviewer told me that the voodoo witch in Labyrinth reminded her of the song Greensleeves. Greensleeves is an old favorite of mine, and one of the first songs I learned to plan on the guitar. It really doesn’t get any better than that.

It is impossible not to use music in writing or to be somehow inspired by music. Songs tell stories—and with few words. We storytellers could learn a thing or two from our musical kissing cousins.


A Note from the Book Boost: I love country songs and the stories they tell. Nothing beats a heart wrenching break-up laden country song. Great blog, thanks for joining us and please tell us more about your book!


Blurb:

It’s a Mississippi Deputy Sheriff’s duty to bring a serial killer to justice…even when he’s a three hundred year old Scottish lord.

It’s an SAS agent’s duty to save her.


Excerpt:


Murderers weren’t born. They were made. At least, that’s what Margot had told herself these last four years. She opened the door to Castle Morrison and stepped inside the small entryway.

Her hand tightened on the strap of the duffel she carried. She’d left Mississippi behind fifteen hours ago and was now on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, about as far north as a person could get in the Scottish Highlands. The countryside was just as remote as Wilkinson County, and probably just as wild.

Gooseflesh crept across her arms with an unexpected desire to turn and head back home—back to her father, the job she’d left behind and the front porch swing that squeaked too loudly on sultry summer nights. Exhaustion, she told herself. That and the fact she was about to face a murderer.

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