Sound Effects
by L.J. Greene
Releasing October 10th 2016
Self-Published
Self-Published
From The Book Junkie Reads . . . Sound
Effects . . .
How do you open your heart, put your
life’s ambition on the line, and just jump and take a gamble that may or may
not pay off for you some time in the future? Yes, you have to ask yourself.
What is my passion? Sometimes that passion can be all encompassing or it can
expand.
Mel has a chance meeting with one sexy,
sinfully good musician, Jamie. He gives her more to think about that just the
direction of her career. He pushes her to test her dreams and ideals about her
future and where it could go as opposed to where it was going. Mel and Jamie has some rather instant chemistry.
That never allows for everyone to be happy someone somewhere has to be unhappy
because you are happy.
The angst around this budding love
was rather low on the scale. The ability to weave a story around the two main
characters was high on the scale. The secondary characters and the interplay between
them and the main characters were high also. The value of the music and the part
it played may for interesting stepping stones. The life endured by Jamie was
the emotional factor that drew you deeper in. The crown was seeing things from
both Jamie and Mel’s POV. It allowed for a deeper concept of where each was
coming from and how they perceived the goings-on.
Blurb
What is YOUR passion?
What is YOUR passion?
When an
uncharacteristically rash decision lands law school graduate Melody Grayson in
San Francisco’s dicey Tenderloin District, she comes face to face with a
dangerously tempting man who embodies every mistake she swore she would never
repeat. Passionate, sexy, and far more insightful than she’d care to admit, he
causes her to question everything she thought she knew about her future. Now
she’ll have to decide where the bigger risk lies: in the prudent path she has
been working tirelessly to pursue, or in the intriguing but uncertain one he’s
offering.
Up-and-coming,
Irish-born musician Jamie Callahan is no stranger to chaos; he’s lived a
lifetime of it. But in the fall of 2004, when the music industry is on the
verge of massive upheaval, the life he aspires to could come at a heavier price
than he’s prepared to pay. And while Melody may be the ideal person to help him
navigate the gambles he must take, a relationship with her might be his biggest
gamble yet.
SOUND EFFECTS is a standalone dual POV adult contemporary
romance that captures the gloriously unpredictable nature of life, in which the
path from who you are, to who you’re meant to become may not be a straight one.
It may also have a few bumps. Sexy, humor-filled, and relatable, Sound Effects
is a story about living passionately, staying true to yourself, and finding
that one magic person who makes the journey of self-discovery an adventure
worth taking.
Goodreads
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I
didn’t want her to leave–though she did, anyway–and would have done anything to
erase the hurt in her eyes that I knew I had put there.
She
was the loveliest woman I had ever seen in my life–tonight all the more so in a
beautiful crimson dress. I loved that she wore that dress; it was feminine,
like her, but it said unmistakably that she would not live quietly. Nor should
she. She was passionate and intelligent, and she should never, ever blend in
with a crowd.
But,
like the piano beneath my hands, valuable so far beyond my reach, she seemed
not meant for me. She belonged in this room, with these people who were more
her equals in stature. After all, outside the front window was chained a
bicycle that represented a substantial portion of my personal net worth. I
couldn’t so much as give her a ride home, let alone provide her the life she
deserved. And it didn’t seem fair to hold her to me just because I wanted her
so very much.
Author Info
L.J.
Greene is a self-professed obsessive multi-tasker who
writes really boring stuff by day and lets her inner romantic fly by night.
This California native is married to the most amazing man and has two beautiful
children, not old enough to read her books. (They probably wouldn’t want to
anyway on account of the “Ew, gross” factor.) She’s an avid reader of all
genres, with an embarrassingly large eBook collection and a weird penchant for
reading the acknowledgements pages of the books she buys. She's also a music
lover with no apparent musical talent, a travel enthusiast, and a cheese
connoisseur.
Author Links:
MY INTERVIEW WITH L.J. GREENE
How would you describe your style of writing
to someone that has never read your work?
I don’t know that I
have a specific style. But I will say this: while many of my favorite romance
novels feature that dark and brooding hero – and I’m all for that! – I love the
challenge of writing characters that fly in the face of common romance tropes,
and creating extraordinary situations from ordinary occurrences. We don’t often
see the strong male lead who is unapologetically emotional and demonstrative,
not just with his lady-love, but with his friends, as well. And that’s what
made Jamie so much fun for me. He’s an open book. He says big things easily,
without any hesitation or self-consciousness. He’ll cop to his own flaws, and
when necessary, he’ll call you on yours. In one of my favorite scenes in the
book, Jamie hands one particular record exec his head on a platter. But when it
comes to Mel, who better to speak those beautiful words of love?
What mindset or routine do you feel the need
to set when preparing to write (in general whether you are working on a project
or just free writing)?
It’s so
great that you ask this question because creativity and the creative process
are central themes in Sound Effects! Jamie is a musician and songwriter, and
through him I had the great fun of exploring the creative mind of an artist,
and comparing (or revealing!) my own process through the writing of this book.
So to
answer your question, for me, it’s more of a mindset than a routine. In fact,
at one point, Jamie says that very thing! Inspiration can come at any time. It often
comes in chunks, particularly when I’m in the shower or lying in bed at night
or driving in traffic. I try to jot things down on my phone, a sticky pad –
whatever I have handy – so that I can come back to these bits and pieces when I
am ready to put the scene together.
I
typically write scene by scene, in a very serial way. And I don’t move on until
I am satisfied with the scene I’m crafting. I imagine my process is much like
that of a painter; I write in layers,
building up a scene over and over and over again until it has just the right
tone. A lot of times, I’ll absolutely despise the scene I’m writing – feel
completely frustrated and dissatisfied with it. And then I’ll add something
small, usually some sort of emotional connection that was missing, and – bam! –
it just suddenly works! It’s like a magic trick! So for me, the key is to never
give in to the temptation of ‘good enough.’
That
was a very long-winded answer! Are you sad you asked???
Do you take your character prep to heart? Do
you nurture the growth of each character all the way through to the page? Do
you people watch to help with development? Or do you build upon your character
during story creation?
Some of
my best characters are the ones who’ve gone totally rogue! They start out as
one thing, and end up as something totally different. And I think that’s
because you have a sense of your characters when you start a project, but, just
like real people, the process of discovering their complexities is very much an
ongoing thing. They don’t reveal
themselves all at once. Nor should they. In Sound
Effects, Greg Van de Meer was that character for me. In fact, I’ll tell only you that I recently republished
Ripple Effects because the ‘Greg’ in that book didn’t match the ‘Greg’ he
turned out to be in Sound Effects! He
went rogue! What can I say?!
My job
as a writer is to discover the humanity in every character, no matter how
distasteful (or perfect, for that matter!) they may seem, initially. Characters
who are all of one thing and nothing of another are not interesting.
So,
yes, to your question, people watching can be helpful. But more often than not,
I find that character development comes from my being honest with myself about
my own complexities, and being willing to examine those in an honest way through
my characters.
Have you found yourself bonding with any
particular character? If so which one(s)?
Well, the
truth of the matter is that every character is me. So I bond deeply with all of
them. Mel from Sound Effects is
probably closest to me in demeanor. I likely channel her on a daily basis. But,
having said that, I have a very strong affinity for Jamie. We share the
crossover point of a struggling artist, and his frustrations are mine. Jamie
was a character who demanded to be written, despite the fact that I had no clue
how to write a first-person POV from the perspective of an Irish-born musician
entering the American music industry in 2004. But he would not accept my
excuses. He was really annoyingly pushy about it.
Do you have a character that you have been
working on that you can't wait to put to paper?
Ahhh…***sighs***…yes,
Keir. I’m working on my next book (yet to be named). And I love this character
so much because he was inspired by my husband of twenty years – a man so
beautiful and real that I really can’t do him justice. But I’m going to try! If
all goes well, Keir and Selene’s story will be out next year. You can meet
Selene in Ripple Effects. She’s
awesome, too! A very spirited and strong heroine! (My favorite kind – I don’t
write anything but!)
Have you ever felt that there was something
inside of you that you couldn't control? If so what? If no what spurs you to
reach for the unexperienced?
John
Lennon said that artistry is like being possessed. I’m sure he was right – in
fact I think all forms of art involve some sort of madness. Once you really
open yourself up to creativity, you have no control over it.
My
dance with madness began with a musing that was triggered by a song I heard on
the radio as I was driving to work one day in 2010. That musing lasted for the rest of my drive,
and if I’m being honest, the better part of the next three years.
That’s
how I first ‘met’ Danny and Sarah from Ripple
Effects. They seemed to take on a
life of their own in such a natural and organic way that, although they are
completely fictional, they and their circle have always felt very
three-dimensional to me.
For
a long time, I resisted writing them down because they were mine and I felt
protective over them. In my head, I
loved to create and re-create their story in fine detail, and with impunity for
any inaccuracies. But, as I often hear authors say, eventually, these characters
demanded to be written down – to be let out.
Writing them, to me, meant letting them go – giving them away to you,
the reader. It meant letting you fill in
their gaps, extend their experiences, imagine new scenarios and
conversations.
And
from that point forward, I couldn’t help but write. I honestly don’t know how
to be me and not spend every free moment of thought on the creation of my next tale.
I got this one from a friend. If you could
have dinner with 7 fictional character, who would they be?
Oh! Fun
question! Thank you, friend!
Here
are mine:
Morgaine from The Mists of Avalon. This was the
first book that truly wrecked me. Morgaine is one bad-ass chick! I dig her in a
big way!
Merlin – because, duh, he’s Merlin!
Violet Crawley and Isobel Crawley from Downton Abbey – I propose tea. I don’t think I’d get
a word in edgewise but who wouldn’t love
the conversation?
Lord John Grey from Diana Gabaldon’s
Lord John Series - talk about a
complex character with a great sense of irony and humor. I love that man!
Will, Max, and Bennett from the Beautiful
Series– Zip
it, Christina and Lauren! This is my
imaginary dinner and I want all three. I do love men with a good sense of
humor…
Tristan Vega – I’m still recovering
from RK Lilly’s Bad Things series. I’m just saying…not that’s it’s been two years, or anything!
Can you share you next creative project? If
yes, can you give a few details?
My next
project may be my most personal yet. It’s another connected novel in the Ripple Effects series - Keir and
Selene’s story, due out next year. I don’t want to say too much about it at
this point, but readers can expect lots of humor and lots of heart.
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