If you’ve been here for a while, you might know by now that I take most of my writing inspiration from songs. I’ve talked about how all my story ideas come from songs, and I even have the #FlashFriday thing, which is solely based on music. What you might not know is that I rely on songs to solve plot problems, as well. Let me walk you through some practical examples. Notice: JavaScript is required for this content.
Last week, I filled out an interview with Harry and Alana from Welcome to New York to be featured in a blog promo. I had so much fun doing it that I ended up interviewing Pete and Becky from Once in a Lifetime, too. And, then, I thought it would be fun to answer the same questions myself! Find the results below. Notice: JavaScript is required for this content.
“An emancipatory Black fantastic requires interrupting the dark fantastic cycle in order to create new paradigms. It requires mentoring diverse talent, actively acquiring new stories, and then moving toward culturally sustaining visions of editorship, marketing, reviewing, librarianship, book retailing, and literacy education. It requires publishing, Hollywood, education, libraries, and merchandising to acknowledge the ways that they have been complicit in reproducing the known world for every generation in the stories that we tell our children, teens, and young adults.But, ultimately, emancipating the dark fantastic requires decolonizing our fantasies and our dreams.” I think this quote perfectly summarizes what the problem is—and how to solve it. Or, at least, how to start trying to solve it. Notice: JavaScript is required for this content.
From cutesy bubble pop to manicured dirty indie: The Hacks discuss what pushed them to make the shift and how they navigated their way out of the big machine by Riley Reynolds It’s an early afternoon on a sunny Saturday. Summer in LA is hitting hard, relieved only by the Santa Monica sea breeze that occasionally hits the outdoor table where I’m sat waiting for the last of the Hackley siblings — Tyler is thirty minutes late. I can tell this is standard behavior by how the oldest brother and band’s guitarist Todd jokes about the lead singer operating by his own timezone. I can also tell Tristan, the youngest drummer to play in a commercial record ever, doesn’t find it funny at all as he fumbles with a thousand and one wristbands that almost completely cover his right forearm. His shaggy hair and beachy outfit are a stark contrast to his brother’s formal button-down shirt and dress pants. At first glance, you wouldn’t say they’re in a band together. But when the missing brother finally arrives — in a black leather jacket and long hair tied in a low ponytail — they strangely make sense as a unit. “Traffic at 405 is always a nightmare. I hate this city,” Tyler declares as he sits down in-between his brothers, still clutching a cup of coffee. Todd laughs while Tristan rolls his eyes at me — and here you have the entire band’s dynamic in a nutshell. Notice: JavaScript is required for this content.