Every Thursday is Inspirational Art Thursday. I offer up four pictures to help stimulate the muse within. But that’s not the best part…
What I want, from you, is to write three or four sentences in the comments. Nothing big, and don’t worry about grammar. The idea isn’t perfection, its a start of a story. Each week that I get comments, I’ll pick one at random and share it with the following week’s post. See, easy right?
Today’s theme is… JEWELS!
There you go! Now, write me 3 or 4 sentences on one of those pictures. You can do it!
Before I get into the nitty gritty here, let me explain what Mondays mean at Nightmares and Chocolate. Besides being the start of most white collar work weeks, Mondays here are for music that inspire you to write. Some of the songs that will be featured may be sad, some happy, some odd. I enjoy a wide range of music, and my tastes will be reflected in these blog posts. I’m not a music expert, but I do love music, and abhor silence. Silence is deadly.
Three Days Grace has a permanent place in my playlists, as you may be able to tell by now. Animal I have Become is another of my personal anthems, but for slightly different reasons than the last song, Pain. I’ve read some opinions that the song is about addiction, but most opinions are centered around the beast we become when we allow anger and rage to take us over.
To me, its the rage. I become someone I’m not when I allow my rage to control my actions. Its almost as if I am sitting in the back seat, looking at everything going on around me through a red shade. It happens just like that, though not often.
But this song is also a shifter song. How often is the animalistic side of a person called a beast? Well, in many shifter stories, rage can bring on a quick shift. I write paranormal, so this song often ends up in my novel playlist. Its perfect also for any fight scene, or as a way to connect with an angry antagonist. Listen to the vid, then take a look at the lyrics below.
"Animal I Have Become"
I can't escape this hell
So many times I've tried
But I'm still caged inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself
So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal
(This animal, this animal)
I can't escape myself
(I can't escape myself)
So many times I've lied
(So many times I've lied)
But there's still rage inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself
So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal
Somebody help me through this nightmare
I can't control myself
Somebody wake me from this nightmare
I can't escape this hell
(This animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal)
Every Thursday I will feature four photos and allow you, my readers, to tell the story! Each set of pictures will have some sort of general theme, although that theme may or may not be completely apparent. In the comments below, give me a few sentences based off of at least one picture. (Be sure to mention which pic you are using.) I will pick one random entry to be featured the following week. I’m not looking for anything long, just a few sentences. (Unless, of course, you want to give us more!)
And without further ado, here is last week’s winner ___ No one! Sorry guys, I had no responses. Perhaps this week's pictures will inspire some creativity in you all!
Before I get into the nitty gritty here, let me explain what Mondays mean here at Nightmares and Chocolate. Besides being the start of most white collar work weeks, Mondays here are for music that inspire you to write. Some of the songs that will be featured may be sad, some happy, some odd. I enjoy a wide range of music, and my tastes will be reflected in these blog posts. I’m not a music expert, but I do love music, and abhor silence. Silence is deadly here.
I blame Sherrilyn Kenyon for my love of this song. Introduced as a theme song for one of her characters, it quickly became my own personal anthem. “Pain, without love.” Story of my life, to be honest.
My characters all have a slice of me, at least the characters I care for, so naturally I use my personal anthem in my playlists. No, I don’t write BDSM because, to be completely honest, I have never had a true BDSM experience. I can’t write it when I don’t know how it is supposed to be done, right? Regardless, this song still sits in my playlist.
The song has a great beat to it, and it energizes and focuses me quite well. I also love the lyrics, as well as the emotion portrayed in the vocals. Over all, this is one of my favorite songs to write to. Watch the vid, then read the lyrics below.
Every Thursday I will feature four photos and allow you, my readers, to tell the story! Each set of pictures will have some sort of general theme, although that theme may or may not be completely apparent. In the comments below, give me a few sentences based off of at least one picture. (Be sure to mention which pic you are using.) I will pick one random entry to be featured the following week. I’m not looking for anything long, just a few sentences. (Unless, of course, you want to give us more!)
Last week we had no one enter, so there is no winner to show this week.
This week we focus on castles. I hope you'll enjoy these pics and find as much inspiration from them as I do!
Before I get into the nitty gritty here, let me explain what Mondays mean here at Nightmares and Chocolate. Besides being the start of most white collar work weeks, Mondays here are for music that inspire you to write. Some of the songs that will be featured may be sad, some happy, some odd. I enjoy a wide range of music, and my tastes will be reflected in these blog posts. I’m not a music expert, but I do love music, and abhor silence. Silence is deadly here.
Besides being a great group to look at, Fall Out Boy has a the honor of owning a few spots on my personal playlist. I have friends to thank for that, there are two who are responsible for me liking the band. But the reason this songs makes my list is for the lyrics.
What are writers? You could easily twist the words in the lyrics to explain all writers. While the song has deeper meaning, I’m looking at the simplistic lyrical wording here. Writers, authors, are arms dealers. We deal in words though, rather than weapons.
Yes, the song is more about tabloids ad the way they love to twist words, but I still love the song. How many authors find a sick and twisted joy in destroying the hopes of fans? “Don’t kill XXX character, please?” Three books later, XXX is killed in a tragic bathroom scene and fans across the world are screaming in agony. This is power here, and something I so desperately hope to wield.
Listen to the video, then check the lyrics below.
"This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race"
I am an arms dealer
Fitting you with weapons in the form of words
And don't really care which side wins
As long as the room keeps singing
That's just the business I'm in, yeah
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race
I'm not a shoulder to cry on
But I digress
I'm a leading man
And the lies I weave are oh so intricate,
Oh so intricate
I'm a leading man
And the lies I weave are oh so intricate,
Oh so intricate
I wrote the gospel on giving up
(You look pretty sinking)
But the real bombshells have already sunk
(Prima donnas of the gutter)
At night we're painting your trash gold while you sleep
Crashing not like hips or hearts,
No, more like p-p-p-parties
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race
This ain't a scene, it's a goddamned arms race
This bandwagon's full
Please, catch another
I'm a leading man
And the lies I weave are oh so intricate,
Oh so intricate
I'm a leading man
And the lies I weave are oh so intricate,
Oh so intricate
Yeah...
Whoa-oh
All the boys who the dance floor didn't love
And all the girls whose lips couldn't move fast enough
Saturdays are Q&A day around here, and something I always look forward too! This Saturday is no different. Let me get straight to it.
Sheri asks: “What inspires you to write?”
Wow, that’s not an easy question to answer, because my inspiration truly comes from many places.
When I was younger (high school), my inspiration came from life experiences. I wrote poetry and used my memories and love life as the source. If you knew me then, you’d know that my love life was way more mature than the average teens. I feel sorry for my father. I was rarely without a boyfriend, though I had few friends. It was this chaos that fueled my creativity.
Unfortunately, I got married right out of high school, and the man I married wouldn’t allow me any privacy to write. He didn’t like my writing, it was the one thing he couldn’t control. So he kept me from the quiet time I needed.
That changed in 2006 when he and I divorced. I finally had free time, and a HUGE source of pain. He eventually ended up with custody of my son (I’ll spare you the details) and I started roleplaying. My first character, in fact, was based off of myself, though I fudged a few details. I mean, I can’t really make things levitate, can I?
Roleplaying reminded me of a story idea. The reminder was enough to help me remember more things; bad, bad memories of the past. More pain to fuel the nightmares that followed. It seemed that one character was always the same: an adult male. This adult male became a combination of many different memories and grew to become a character: Raven. Raven is the head Demon of Nightmares. He strives to take over Earth realm, and this is so very little we can do to save ourselves.
What drives me to write is even more simple: My children. I want to do something, BE something, they can be proud of. I also want to be the proof that you can dream for the stars, and even play tag with them.
Wow, that was a bigger answer than I ever thought it would be! Do you have a question? Ask it in the comments below and maybe I’ll feature YOUR question next week!
Every Thursday I will feature four photos and allow you, my readers, to tell the story! Each set of pictures will have some sort of general theme, although that theme may or may not be completely apparent. In the comments below, give me a few sentences based off of at least one picture. (Be sure to mention which pic you are using.) I will pick one random entry to be featured the following week. I’m not looking for anything long, just a few sentences. (Unless, of course, you want to give us more!)
Since this is the first week of this feature, I have nothing to share with all of you! So, without further ado, here are this week’s pics!
Welcome to my newest addition to my wonderful blog here, Inspirational Music Monday. Before I get into the nitty gritty here, let me explain what Mondays mean here at Nightmares and Chocolate. Besides being the start of most white collar work weeks, Mondays here are for music that inspire you to write. Some of the songs that will be featured may be sad, some happy, some odd. I enjoy a wide range of music, and my tastes will be reflected in these blog posts. I’m not a music expert, but I do love music, and abhor silence. Silence is deadly here.
For my historic first Inspirational Music Monday post, I will feature Panic! At The Disco: I Write Sins Not Tragedies. I love this song not just for the video (which is pretty awesome), but also for the varied beats and the lyrics. We are thrust into a wedding where we find out that the bride has one too many secrets. This song alone could be the basis for several different genres of writing.
One could take a horror spin, and have the killer take revenge for the bride’s loose ways. A romance spin could have the bride being forced to the marriage, and pick up as she walks out on the wedding and her family, choosing love. A mystery could add in a blackmail level and open before the wedding, with the wedding itself serving as the climax of the story. I could go on for ages!
This song also sits on my playlist for the Raven’s War series. It reminds me to open those doors and allow those little secrets some freedom to fly. I also, again, love the pace of the song itself. Have a listen to the video, then read the lyrics below. Enjoy!
"I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
Oh,
Well imagine,
As I'm pacing the pews in a church corridor,
And I can't help but to hear,
No, I can't help but to hear an exchanging of words:
"What a beautiful wedding! What a beautiful wedding!" says a bridesmaid to a waiter,
"And, yes, but what a shame, what a shame the poor groom's bride is a whore."
I'd chime in with a
"Haven't you people ever heard of closing a goddamn door?!"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things
With a sense of poise and rationality.
I'd chime in,
"Haven't you people ever heard of closing a goddamn door?!"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things
With a sense of...
Well in fact,
Well I'll look at it this way,
I mean technically our marriage is saved
Well this calls for a toast
So, pour the champagne
Oh! Well in fact,
Well I'll look at it this way,
I mean technically our marriage is saved
Well this calls for a toast,
So, pour the champagne, pour the champagne
I'd chime in with a
"Haven't you people ever heard of closing a goddamn door?!"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things
With a sense of poise and rationality.
I'd chime in,
"Haven't you people ever heard of closing a goddamn door?!"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things
With a sense of poise and rationality again.
I'd chime in,
"Haven't you people ever heard of closing a goddamn door?!"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things
With a sense of poise and rationality.
I'd chime in,
"Haven't you people ever heard of closing a goddamn door?!"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things
