ONE awesome thing that’s happening RIGHT NOW is that THRONE OF GLASS is on sale for $2.99 as Amazon's Kindle Daily Deal today! Click here to check it out! Yay!
Other than that, I’m finallllly catching up on months and months of emails. I should be all caught up by Friday, so if you’ve emailed me and don’t hear back by the end of the week, PLEASE re-send! Also, I just want to say a HUGE thank-you to all of you who have taken the time to write to me—I really am the luckiest author in the world to have SUCH amazing readers. <3
Also, this Chaol-Celaena fan-art by compoundbreadd KILLED me. Just KILLED ME. I honestly got butterflies in my stomach when I first saw it. And then grinned for hours afterward. Eeeeee! *dies again*
To switch gears (and stop sighing over that artwork)… I’ve been feeling really bad about not blogging that much over the past few months. It’s one of my 2013 resolutions to get back into blogging more frequently, BUT since I’ll be drafting Book 3 (*sigh* ...No title for THAT book yet!), and juggling a few other projects, I don’t want to declare that I’m Officially Back, and then vanish.
HOWEVER, a bunch of you have expressed interest in hearing more about the music that goes into writing my books, so I figured I’ll just start casually posting a few songs here once a week, and invite you guys to share whatever music you’re currently listening to as well. (Of course, I’ll still make more official/thorough blog posts every now and then, but I figured this would be a fun way to stay connected!)
So, to kick off this Music…Wednesday (Um, now I feel like I need a proper name for this weekly music-fest. Muses & Music? Weekly Music-fest? Any ideas?) … AHEM. Anyway, I figured I’d share the first four tracks on my CROWN OF MIDNIGHT playlist!
(For those of you who don’t know, I obsessively and extensively outline my stories using playlists, since every scene/moment/character is inspired by some piece of music or another. Since I HATE properly outlining, using playlists has become a good way for me to keep track of wtf happens in my stories, and get into the mood when I need to jump into a particular scene).
So, the first chapter of CROWN OF MIDNIGHT was basically inspired by this piece from the WATCHMEN soundtrack. I honestly can’t remember if I first had the idea by listening to the track, or if I had the idea and then immediately thought the track would be perfect. Either way, I can’t read the first chapter and not hear this music:
It’s hard for me to talk about the next three tracks without giving stuff away, so I’ll just let the music speak for itself (and leave you guessing what kind of scenes it inspired in Chapter Two).
(Okay, so the third track is Joe Hisaishi's 'The Boy Who Drank Stars' from the HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE soundtrack, but it is literally IMPOSSIBLE to find on Youtube. If you ever DO find it, I don't think this spoils anything to say that this piece has ALWAYS reminded me of Dorian. And Celaena. Not together, but…different pieces of it remind me of them as individuals.)
(The entire BATMAN BEGINS soundtrack played a BIG role in inspiring CROWN OF MIDNIGHT).
Annnnd that’s it for this week! What music are you guys listening to right now? (Any/all music is welcome!)
- Current Music:LV-426 : James Horner : Aliens (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Hi! I'm Sarah J. Maas, a YA fantasy author. My debut novel, THRONE OF GLASS, was published by Bloomsbury in August 2012. Book 2 - CROWN OF MIDNIGHT - will be released in August 2013!
In addition to THRONE OF GLASS, Bloomsbury published four e-novellas, all set before the events of the novel. The novellas, THE ASSASSIN AND THE PIRATE LORD, THE ASSASSIN AND THE DESERT, THE ASSASSIN AND THE UNDERWORLD, and THE ASSASSIN AND THE EMPIRE are available wherever Bloomsbury e-books are sold!
I'm represented by the awesome and lovely Tamar Rydzinski of The Laura Dail Literary Agency. I love meeting new people, so feel free to friend me!
For more information about me and my books, please visit my website: http://sarahjmaas.com/
Follow @SJMaas
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Comments
Glad to see you back on the blog-o-sphere! I'm busier than ever, and super MIA, but know that I'm cheering you on every step of the way! Congrats, congrats, congrats on all of your successes so far! You deserve every last bit!!!
Cheers,
Jane
I loveloveLOVE that Chaol-Celaena fanart! I hope they're kissing in Crown of Midnight. A LOT. Hehehe.
Does it surprise you that more people are on Team Chaol than Team Dorian? Or was it something you expected? :)
As for whether or not I'm surprised by Team Chaol... Actually, I'm really pleased that so many people love him! (Poor Dorian!) Again, it's hard to talk about it without giving stuff away. :P
for inspiration music, i've been listening to mirah pretty much on repeat. i find that it puts me in the perfect unsettled, darkly fantastical mind-space.
Mirah... I don't think I've ever listened to that! Can you link me to your favorite piece?? Sounds like it's right up my alley!
or maybe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVjl9RgP
I hope you know that the idea of you posting music makes me ridiculously happy. I'm going to listen to these songs again and again trying to figure out what might happen in those first few scenes!!! I feel like I'm starting something similar on my blog. I suck at updating so I'm sticking to something I do all the time. I'm posting pictures of things that make my day brighter. Like this blog post. Which may or may not be linked on my blog today along with that picture. Because seeing an update from you always make me do a happy dance!!!
Mer
<3
P.S. Maybe Musical Musings?
I honestly don't know WHAT info I can reveal about what "super awesome stuff" Bloomsbury and I are working on, but let's just say that your Other Boyfriend makes a few appearances in these various projects... ;)
And awww! You are TOO SWEET! I'm honored that this post brightened your day! (And I LOVE your idea of posting images on your blog!)
Annnnd I just sent you a super-secret email. ;)
http://throne-of-glass.deviantart.com/g
P.S. I just scared the CRAP out of my grandparents 'cause I got that e-mail while I was at their house. :P
Anyways, BEST OF LUCK TO YOU!!!!!!! DRAFTING BOOK THREEE, EEE!!!
I'm so thrilled for you. :) and will forever be a loyal supporter, haha
Give Into Me
Words I Couldn't Say
Home (while I was reading Jellicoe Road, this was the song playing in my head nonstop)
Country Strong
OH! Aqualung. I love him. And I usually don't like music with words while I'm writing (because I just want to sing) but he's quiet enough that I've found that it's not distracting.
Cinderella (reminds me so much of novella 4)
Garden of Love
Strange and beautiful
Cold
I'm trying to think of some scores that you haven't already mentioned. LOTR/Hobbit is always inspiring. Deathly Hallows part 2 gets listened to alllll the time. The Peter Pan score by James Newton Howard is love.
Have you heard the Don Quixote ballet music? I love it :)
That Celaena/Chaol piece always gives me happy shivers. ^^ Speaking of fanart, I've been thinking about doing a movie poster. Just need to collect some good pics, but I think I have a design idea!
-Alex
And Deathly Hallows Part 2 (and Part 1) KILLS me. I wrote so much of Novella 4 to that soundtrack. <3 (AND I LOVE THE PETER PAN score! Such magic!)
Looove the Don Quixote ballet--so fun and charming. <3
And OOOH! Movie poster! That sounds AWESOME!!!
The fan-art is amazing by the way. I love seeing it pop-up on my pinterest every now and then. I also texted my best friend to go and buy Throne of Glass today on Amazon. She's going to get it and all the novellas. I'm super excited because it means I have someone to talk to about the book now.
I think "Cave of Mind" and "The Boy Who Drank Stars" have similar themes, but they're different pieces (I prefer "Boy", personally). :)
And THANK YOU for spreading the word about the TOG sale today! You rock, Callie!!!
Somebody linked me to this song yesterday, and I've been playing it off and on all day. It's a violin dubstep instrumental piece--not a combination I thought would work together but really really does!
I've been feeling nostalgic for pop music from a few years ago, so DJ Earworm's 2009 mash up has been topping my list lately too.
Good luck working on Book 3! :)
And omg--that violin dubstep piece is effing AWESOME. Love ittttttt!!!! Thanks for linking to it!! <3
The score of The Dark Knight trilogy is actually the greatest thing. Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard, I bow down to you.
In terms of other scores I like:
- LOTR+The Hobbit scores, for the really big, epic adventure-y feels they give me
- Pirates of the Caribbean, again for the fun adventure-y feels
- I can't remember if you watch Game of Thrones, but from season one: Main Title, Goodbye Brother, The Kingsroad, and Finale; from season two: Mother of Dragons
And YES! Hans Zimmer and JNH are just...geniuses.
I LOVE the scores you listed! I DO watch GoT, but I haven't ever listened to the soundtracks...totally going to check these out whenever I get a minute!! Thanks for linking to them!! :D
I met one of your other fans-since-fp in September (Did I mention that?) and it was really awesome actually. We double teamed to get a mutual friend to read ToG.
As far as music I've been obsessed with the work of Ami Andersen since I first heard her perform in April. She takes hymns and re-sets them, not exactly novel inspiring music but very personally inspiring (for me).
I also get a song each day from MPR The Current's podcast which is how I convince the Hipsters I have good taste in music. (That and stalking the NPR music's year end lists.)
Just listening to that track off of Watchman makes me feel like I need to do something epic. It also makes me feel like Chapter 1 is going to be SO EPIC. And the rest of the tracks included? Geez, something big is DEFINITELY going to go down.
I can't wait to read Crown of Midnight! I'm sure it's going to be fantastic, and I'm so excited!
I couldn't find The Boy Who Drank Stars on YouTube but I did manage to find an audio post on tumblr. I don't know if you'll be able to link to that, but here it is:
http://inthepeppermintwind.tumblr.com/po