Monday, March 21, 2011

The Sweater Curse Playlist

In The Sweater Curse, a chance meeting between lead character Gwen Bjarnson and minor character Pathan weaves their lives together. For reasons beyond Gwen’s understanding, she feels compelled to help Pathan establish her career as a vocalist.

In this quote, Gwen describes Pathan’s first stage performance:

‘It was Friday night, The Starving Artist was packed-typical for open mic night. …
I think I was more nervous than she was. Be good, be good, I silently repeated.
The café was filled with polite applause.
“I’d like to dedicate my first song to my friend, Gwen.” She sang, “Stand By Me”, and you could have heard needles click. Each performer was to do two songs each, but the audience wouldn’t let Pathan leave until she offered them three.”

Stand By Me




            Here Gwen describes Pathan’s singing at a funeral:

            ‘Pathan begins to sing “Into The Mystic”. Tears threaten her voice. … She struggles for control and wins. Her song fills the room, wraps around the mourners, comforting them…
            Pathan…begins to sing “I Will Remember You”. She begins quietly, but with each verse, the volume increases. Other voices marry with hers.’

Into the Mystic



I Will Remember You




Writing songs into my story was fun, and I won’t hesitate to do it again. 

Leanne Dyck

5 comments:

Maureen said...

Yeah, I agree. When you find a song that works just perfectly...it's real magic.

I did that with the twelfth book in my neverending Caribbean series...one perfect song for a funeral of a beloved friend.

Sigh.

Good stuff...

That Sarah song always slays me...

P. Kirby said...

Stopped by earlier, but got interrupted when my boss walked in the room. Gainful employment. Yuck.

I love it when authors incorporate music into the story.

And Sarah takes up a lot of space on my iPod.

kathleen said...

Great job, Leanne! I like the way you introduced the songs with quotes.

Deena said...

Leanne, I LOVE I will Remember You! ANd John Lennon will always have a special place in my heart. :D

Author Leanne Dyck said...

I forgot all about this post. I'm so glad others didn't. Thank you Maureen, Pat, Kathleen, and Deena for your comments.