The Melody of a Story!

May 17, 2016

The written word is like music to my soul. It can stir your emotions to great heights, inspire, and challenge you to think, put a smile on your face or perhaps leave you with a bit of melancholy. Just as a musician paints a story by the way he writes his music, the author writes the melody of his innermost being and leaves it on the written page for us to read. 

In Darcy’s Melody, Elizabeth Bennet and Georgiana Darcy meet through their mutual love of music. This is the story of how music and friendship bring two families together, challenging Fitzwilliam Darcy to embrace a new melody within his heart.

A preview from the first chapter of Darcy’s Melody is now appearing in the forum thread called A New Story Posting. Below you will find a visual preview of my tale. The stills are taken from the Pride and Prejudice 1995 Movie, while the Deryshire photos were shot by author, Florence Nicolaï. I shall be posting Darcy’s Melody in its entirety on this forum before publishing. If you are currently not a member, please feel free to register and login. See you in the threads!

Jen Red  ♫  Click HERE to see a preview of Darcy’s Melody on YouTube. 

Lizzy and Georgiana 1small

Author Trivia! ♫

Just for fun, I decided to interview some of our authors on DarcyandLizzy.com to find out what kind of music inspires their muse. Here is what I discovered.  ~ Jen ♫

Aleksandra – Ola Wegner: “I love all kinds of music from Classical to Film Soundtracks, then Country Music, Jazz, Broadway, Rock, and Opera. It’s kind of like reading. I love a little bit of everything, although oddly enough, I’m not much on Romance.”
Aureader – Rose Fairbanks:  “I like to write with the 2005 P&P Sound track playing in the background.  After that, it’s usually Disney Theme Songs.”
Brenda – Brenda Webb: “Country, country, & more country! Eddie Rabbit was my all-time favorite singer, Eddie Rabbit -I Can’t Help Myself  along with John Schneider (Bo Duke on Dukes of Hazzard) as a close second.”  John Schneider- A Memory Like You  
Kay Kay’s Quill – Kathy Langenstein Berlin:  “I’m a Hard Rock kind of girl, especially when I am driving my 2015 Mustang. What does that have to do with my muse, you ask? I work out dialogue and complex scenes while driving. Bizarre, I know, because my JAFF is Regency, not modern. When I move to my office and my computer for both my full-time job and my Darcy and Elizabeth story, I also move to Jazz, which is my version of white noise. Today, though, it will be all Prince, in the same way that several days were devoted to David Bowie not too long ago.”
Klnba – Zoe Burton:  “I can’t have any noise when I write, so I don’t play music at that time. I do love Country. George Strait is my favorite, though I have many songs and artists that I love.” 
Leenieb1- Lennie Brown:  “Oh this is a hard question! I LOVE music! Let’s see, when writing, I need music that is instrumental … no words allowed. I prefer that it be soothing and have the right feel or mood for what I might be working on, but that doesn’t always happen.”
Liedermadchen – Natalie Richards:  “As for inspirational music, I prefer tunes that are more on the mellow side while writing so that I won’t be distracted by the sudden urge to dance a reel. Christina Perri’s Arms comes to mind, Ella Fitzgerald & Loius Armstrong’s You Can’t Take That Away From Me and Dream a Little Dream of Me, Mumford & Sons, Of Monsters and Men, Nora Jones & the soundtracks for The Lord of the Rings and Pride and Prejudice are others.”
Lindablanche – Linda Tremblay Blanchette:  “I don’t use music to fuel my muse as I always write without anything on. But, to get rid of writer’s block, I usually play Classic Rock or Pop like Journey, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, Madonna, Prince etc.”
Lis – Lis Batten:  “I do like some modern composers and Mark Knopfler and his record Sailing to Philadelphia is one of my favorites. I’ve always liked Classical Music ever since my music teacher introduced our class to Tchaikovsky’s Overture of 1812 when I was 11 years old. Then many years ago, I watched the film Somewhere in Time and have never forgotten that music. I particularly like Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.
Mgtiffy – Maureen Grinter:  “I like everything from Classical, Rock n’ Roll, Pop, Scottish Pipe Bands, but I guess what fuels my muse when I’m sitting at the computer writing, is music from Westlike, My favorite singer is John Farnham. I used to play the drum in the Air League Drum Band, and to this day when I hear that music, it makes me want to join in.”
PlaineJane27 – Ivy May Stuart:  “I love Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Ella Fitzgerald and then throw in some early Blues, Stephane Grappelli (Jazz Violin), Maroon Five, Corrine Baily Rae, and the list goes on.”
Rainbowpromise – Annette Wristen:  “Music is important to me though I can’t say that any certain type inspires my muse. For example when writing Chocolate, Curls & Dragons, I listened to a variety of YouTube fan videos that included Darcy clips. It’s Raining Men comes to mind. When writing Short of the Truth the song of choice was from Jars of Clay – Show you the Love. Currently I’m working on a Victorian novel so I listen to Viennese Waltzes.”
Rhae52 – Rhonda Aldridge:  “I always have a song playing in my head when thinking of certain scenes. In the final scenes of Take Me Home the song that played through my head was God Bess the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts. Of course, the title for TMH  came directly from Johnny Cash’s song by the same name because it was my little man’s favorite. When I think of the relationship between Will and Connor, the song Dare You by Hardwell feat/Michael Koma comes to mind. Then between Will and Lizzy, You Sexy Thing by Hot Chocolate or Im Too Sexy by Right Said Fred. The list goes on. Needless to say, Music is a very powerful force in shaping my muse.”
I hope you enjoyed my first blog post. Please feel free to leave your comments and tell me what kind of music inspires you below.
Till next time, Jen Red ♫
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Marilyn Brant
7 years ago

Such a wonderful post, Jen!!
You already know I’m a music lover (all types and genres from Mozart to Matchbox Twenty), but it was especially fun reading the author snippets you quoted 😉 .
*waving to Brenda too!*

Jennifer Redlarczyk
Jennifer Redlarczyk
7 years ago
Reply to  Marilyn Brant

Thanks so much Marilyn for stopping by. Of course all of us Janeites really appreciate music. I just read somewhere that JA was still studying piano at age 21. My next blog is going to be the Music Lesson or something of the sort, so maybe I’ll include that bit of trivia. See you in the threads! Jen Red ♫

elaineowen1
7 years ago

I love just about every type of music, although when I’m writing I can’t have any of it playing. I use Pandora extensively and have about a dozen different channels plugged in, from Christian music to classical to 80’s rock.

For the past couple of months I’ve been totally hung up on the music from the Broadway show Hamilton. Anyone else here a fan?

Jennifer Redlarczyk
Jennifer Redlarczyk
7 years ago
Reply to  elaineowen1

Elaine, you are my kind of girl! Being a music teacher I get exposed to such a variety of music and I love it! I’ve listened to the soundtrack of Hamilton on YouTube and love the energy that show has. I’m wondering when it will come to Chicago. Thanks for stopping by and thanks again for posting your fantastic stories here on D&L. Jen Red

Zoe Burton
7 years ago

Great post, Jen! It’s interesting to see what everyone likes, and how few are like me and have to write in silence! 🙂

Carmalee
Carmalee
7 years ago

great post Jen… music comes from the soul.. it soothes, inspires, invigorates and motivates… I like all kinds of music except rap.. it depends on my mood but I mostly listen to classical.. must be from my orchestra days, I’ve been know to clean to Scottish bagpipes and dance to the big bands of the 40’s and Jazz. love it all. thanks for sharing.

brendabigbee
7 years ago

I loved your first post, Jen, and welcome your help with the blog! I needed reinforcements! Hugs,

Georgina Young-Ellis
7 years ago

Great post, Jen. When I’m writing, I like to listen to the music of the era I’m writing about, though that was tricky when writing about Elizabethan England, because I don’t really like renaissance music! Usually I listen to rock or alternative or pop or soul/r&b, which just inspires me to relax and have fun, but I’m truly moved my classical music. When I want to feel like I’m living in another era, I listen to swing music from the 40s and pretend I’ve been transported back to that time. I don’t know why I’m fascinated by it!

Sheila L. M.
Sheila L. M.
7 years ago

I enjoyed both the music and the first installment from your WIP. Thanks for sharing. I listen to classical while I read but enjoy many types of music.

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