{"id":218,"date":"2014-12-02T14:20:00","date_gmt":"2014-12-02T14:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/?p=218"},"modified":"2015-09-24T17:44:46","modified_gmt":"2015-09-24T17:44:46","slug":"megan-harts-lovely-wild-year-of-womens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/?p=218","title":{"rendered":"Megan Hart’s Lovely Wild_ A Year of Women’s Voices"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I met Megan Hart at the CNRWA Spring Fling 2014 conference. She was charming and hella funny. One of the things we talked about besides RVs and family vacations, was music and writing. I appreciate Megan’s ability to write across many different genres. It is not often you find a writer that has a story for you, no matter what your mood.In Lovely Wild, Megan Hart’s most recent release,\u00a0Megan brilliantly tells the story of Mari, a woman with a past that does and does not define her. Over a summer spent in her childhood home, Mari discovers past and present betrayals, encounters her hidden history, and finds her strength in the love she has for her children and herself. Reminding us all that people can be so much more than they appear to be, Mari is a character that you will remember long after you close the book. Lovely Wild is a story of growth, redemption, and family secrets that will keep you turning pages with that wonderful edge of your seat feeling that comes with a well written suspense novel. Be advised, do not start this book at bedtime unless you want to stay up all night reading.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nMegan includes\u00a0playlists\u00a0in each of her books that enrich the reading experience in a visceral way. If you have read Megan’s other books, and let us be clear here, you should, listen to the playlists included, it is a way to enjoy the story all over again. \u00a0I had some questions about how Megan uses music when she writes and\u00a0Megan has answered them here:<\/div>\n
\u00a01.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Have
\nyou always written \/ worked to music?<\/div>\n
Megan Hart: Yes!
\nHonestly, the iPod was the best invention ever, because before that I had to
\nmake mix tapes and\/or CDs and use them for playlists. So yes, I have always
\nused music while writing.<\/b><\/i><\/div>\n
2.
\nDo
\nyou sing along with the lyrics when you are writing?\u00a0<\/b><\/div>\n
Megan Hart: Absolutely.
\nAnd sometimes I dance.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/div>\n
3.
\nDo
\nyou have playlists for certain types of writing?<\/div>\n
Megan Hart: Not
\nnecessarily for different types of writing, but definitely a different playlist
\nfor each book. The songs can be pertinent or somehow relating to the book or
\njust what I happen to be into listening to at the time, but what\u2019s so crazy is
\nthat when I look back at what songs are on old playlists, I can really sink
\nback into how it felt when I was writing that book.<\/b><\/i><\/div>\n
4.
\nHow
\ndoes music influence you? Is it a way to block distractions, or do you think
\nthat the mood created by lyrics \/ music enables you to get where you need to be
\nemotionally for what you are writing?<\/div>\n
Megan Hart: Both.
\nIf I\u2019m trying to write in a public space (which I had to do a LOT when my kids
\nwere smaller and I\u2019d write in a coffee shop or the playground or whatever) the
\nmusic definitely is used to block out the distractions. But also, when I put on
\nsomething sad or happy or ethereal it really gets me into the spirit of the
\nbook. I have a long playlist of songs that stab me in the heart, and I listen
\nto them to get where I need to be for the writing, because fortunately my
\ndefault emotional setting is not woebegone angstmonster. So I have to find a way
\nto dig into that, and music helps.<\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
5.
\nHave
\nyou ever written lyrics, or considered writing songs?<\/div>\n
Megan Hart: I have. I write lyrics a lot, but I can\u2019t
\nread or write music, so it\u2019s really not very productive! I wrote a song for a
\nstory that will be out some time in 2015 and someone did write music for it,
\nwhich was amazing.<\/i>\u00a0<\/b><\/div>\n
6.
\nDo
\nyou listen to different types of music when you are editing versus first draft?<\/div>\n
Megan Hart: Not
\nreally. Pretty much the same throughout.<\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
7.
\nDo
\nyou listen to the same playlist each time you work on a project?<\/div>\n
Megan Hart: Yes,
\nusually.<\/b><\/i><\/div>\n
\u00a08.
\nDoes
\nthe music suggest the story, or does the story come you and then the music?<\/div>\n
Megan Hart: Story
\ncomes first, then I find the music that fits. There have been a few times when
\na song inspired something, or lyrics have prompted a scene, but usually the
\nmusic is backdrop.<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
9.
\nWhat
\nof music do you detest?<\/div>\n
\u00a0Megan Hart: Jazz.
\nI hate jazz so much. Jazz makes me want to stab out my ears. Modern jazz, I
\nguess, all the boopdeleeboopedeedoo whatever. Once I went to a modern jazz band
\nwith my husband and I wanted to both die and kill everyone in the room at the
\nsame time, that\u2019s how much I hate it.<\/b><\/i><\/div>\n
10.\u00a0 What kind of music is
\nyour favorite?<\/div>\n
Megan Hart: That\u2019s
\na harder question to answer. I love such a wide range. I love classical, pop,
\nhip hop, rock, hard rock, heavy metal\u2026really, I love almost everything (except
\nmodern jazz.)<\/b><\/i>As a writer this is what I have learned reading Megan Hart:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
1.\u00a0Great stories do not have to be set in exotic
\nlocations.<\/div>\n
2.\u00a0 Internal dialogue is as important as external
\ndialogue.<\/div>\n
3.\u00a0\u00a0Pacing is essential to building suspense.<\/div>\n
4.\u00a0\u00a0Create characters that are capable of doing the
\nextraordinary when they reach the tipping point.<\/div>\n
5.\u00a0 Embrace the dark side of your characters, all of
\nthem, not just the villains.<\/div>\n
6.\u00a0\u00a0Emotions are never
\nsimple, don’t be afraid to show exactly how complicated they are.<\/div>\n
7.\u00a0\u00a0Do not back off from
\nsocial class conflict and social expectations, show just how deep and ugly they
\ncan be.<\/div>\n
\u00a0Mega Hart’s new novel Lovely
\nWild is out now:\u00a0You can purchase the book here or your favorite independent book store<\/a><\/p>\n
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For more information about Megan Hart and her books click here<\/b><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  I met Megan Hart at the CNRWA Spring Fling 2014 conference. She was charming and hella funny. One of the things we talked about besides RVs and family vacations, was music and writing. I appreciate Megan’s ability to write … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[242,4],"tags":[123,23,124,125,94,126,127],"class_list":["post-218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-author-interview","category-book-review","tag-lovely-wild","tag-megan-hart","tag-megan-hart-interview","tag-megan-hart-music-interview","tag-music-and-writing","tag-playlists-and-writing","tag-review-of-lovely-wild"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=218"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":657,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions\/657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}