C'mon, you knew it was only a matter of time.

And I'm toying with a new title for the story:

Now or Never

Miss Invisible- Maríe Digby
Now or Never- Josh Groban (w/Imogen Heap)
Only Fooling Myself (Brian Malouf Mix)- Kate Voegele
Mercy- Duffy
Angel- Natasha Bedingfield
All I Got- Newton Faulkner
Lola- Chayanne
No Re Pido Flores- Fanny Lu
Eres- Alejandro Fernández
Glittering Clouds (Locusts)- Imogen Heap
Freckles- Natasha Bedingfield
Butterfly (From the Casa Nova Sessions)- Jason Mraz
Uncomfortably Slow- Newton Faulkner
Kissing a Fool- George Michael
Spell- Maríe Digby
Awake (Live Edit)- Josh Groban

What's kind of fun about this list is that with the exception of Kissing a Fool, this list is all fairly recent music. I don't think anything else predates late 2006. I wonder what the Girls in the Basement are trying to tell me with this? I can tell you that the lizard brain has begun "seeing" the music in terms of skating routines again. I think that's part of the appeal of all of these songs. I can see them as routines as well as seeing them lyrically or musically being relevant to the story.

This is going to be interesting. Especially to see how the list evolves as I get deeper into the story.

Sidenote- the Duffy track, Mercy is the one that actually got me thinking in terms of a skating routine. I can just see this being a song that a team with massively fabulous footwork could just absolutely work to death but it's the kind of song that would send conservative judges into a complete tizzy. *snicker* Or would have, once upon a time. I need to go bone up on the current ice dance rules beyond "Thou shalt complete many unattractive lifts whereupon the female holds her blade to the back of her head."

(If you watch the vid, you might want to let it load completely first. It's a little pokey loading otherwise.)

I got it into my head to check out how many tracks were on my iTunes that I'd purchased as singles. That I'd been so impatient to add to the collection, I didn't even want to wait for the full release. (Which, in some cases, took MONTHS.) Or I just wanted the one song and nothing else.

Anyhow, I made up a playlist—it's not quite everything, but it's enough of a sampling to make up an interesting playlist.

Barb's Singles

La Tortura- Shakira & Alejandro Sanz
Mercy- Duffy
Waiting on the World to Change- John Mayer
Makes Me Wonder- Maroon 5
In Love With a Girl- Gavin DeGraw
Say It Again- Marié Digby
Give a Little Bit- The Goo Goo Dolls
Extraordinary- Mandy Moore
Lonely No More- Rob Thomas
The Right Time- Joss Stone
The First Cut is the Deepest- Sheryl Crow
Savin' Me- Nickelback
Tu Corazon- Lena & Alejandro Sanz
Dejate Amar- Jon Secada
Dream Catch Me- Newton Faulkner
Say- John Mayer
What I've Done- Marié Digby
You Are Loved- Josh Groban
Run Away- Live & Shelby Lynne
Always On Your Side- Sheryl Crow & Sting
Missing You- Alison Krauss & John Waite
Shine- Anna Nalick
Te Voy a Perder- Alejandro Fernández
Remember- Josh Groban
I'll Be Waiting- Lenny Kravitz

My tree is still naked.

This is probably good since Jasmine thinks it's a marvelous chew toy. At least the bottom of the tree is rather neatly trimmed.

Nearing end of revisions. Still have to go back to reread what I revised at the beginning and hope it doesn't suck and stink and horrify to the heavens.

Not only do I still have to buy a few gifts, but now I have to buy gifts for my in-laws from my mother! It's easier for me to get to some stores. Okay, TRUE, but this is why God invented catalogs, MA!

And Publix won't order a larger pernil (picnic ham) for me. I have to take my chances on SATURDAY and see if they get any larger ones in. In the meantime, I snagged a 9 pounder. I wanted 12-14. Wish me luck.

And... And... revisions!

So of course, I created a new playlist.

It's my "Love Triangle" playlist for the Carmen story. (We're tossing around the title Carmen Rhapsody what do you think of that?

Anyhow—playlist:

Into the Night- Santana & Chad Kroeger
Have You Got it In You?- Imogen Heap
Girls in Their Summer Clothes- Bruce Springsteen
Funnyman- KT Tunstall
No Me Tortures- Daniel Rene
Calling You- Blue October
Apologize- One Republic
Beautiful Disaster- Jon McLaughlin
Almost Lover- A Fine Frenzy
Inconsolable- Backstreet Boys
Estabas Ahi- Alejandro Fernández
Hide and Seek- Imogen Heap
Dreaming With a Broken Heart- John Mayer
Somos Lo Que Fue- Jesse & Joy
City- Sara Bareilles
Everyone Will Have Their Day- Clarksville
I'll Be Waiting- Lenny Kravitz

I've been working on the outline for a story set in the early sixties-- actually, the latter half of '64 and early part of '65. The damn story has been teasing at me for months now but has refused to coalesce easily. I have entire scenes rattling around in my brain and very specific character traits that are proving to be important points towards driving the story forward and providing substance, however, this freakin' synopsis is proving to be rather on the elusive side.

The reason I'm trying so hard to work on the synopsis for this one is that I have two big story ideas that I'm trying to decide between, with respect to the next project I'm going to be working on. The best way for me to decide is to write the story outlines/synopses for both and then see which one calls to me. The sixties one is a challenge, because I've never written anything with such an obvious historical bent, which is part of what makes it exciting. The other one is attractive because it's the adult sequel to Adiós. Given that I've been in a majorly deep funk about my women's fiction/romance, both of these have been somewhat difficult to get into, which is why I haven't been trying to force things. However, I know I'm going to have revisions on the Carmen story coming in soon and I'd like to have the sixties synopsis done before then.

So, with all that rattling around, I thought perhaps the best way to try to direct my focus would be to create a playlist for the sixties story. This was a challenge in and of itself, since for the first time, instead of just choosing whatever music appealed to me, I made a deliberate effort to choose period music-- which is to say, nothing post-1965. Not even post mid-'65, since I expect the story to end sometime in the spring of that year. I made a couple of exceptions, two songs that just kept insisting they fit the story and since they called so strongly to me, seems to suggest that there will be an epilogue set a bit later. I also (because I'm me) had a caveat-- while the songs had to be written/originally recorded before '65, if I had a modern recording I liked better or that I felt fit the mood of the story better, I used that one.

I'm sure this will change as I go along, but right now, I think it's one of the more interesting playlists I've come up with.

Oh, and if anyone has any suggestions for songs that seem to fit this playlist, feel free to suggest.

The story has the working title of Between Here and Gone

Playlist

Cast Your Fate to the Wind- Vince Guaraldi Trio
The End of the World- Nina Gordon
You Don't Know Me- Peter Cincotti
Downtown- Petula Clark
All My Loving- The Beatles
It's Now or Never- Elvis Presley
This Magic Moment- Ben E. King & The Drifters
You Don't Own Me- Dusty Springfield
Bye Bye Baby (Baby Goodbye)- Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
It's Not Unusual- Tom Jones
Feeling Good- Nina Simone
Some Kind of Wonderful- Peter Cincotti
Save the Last Dance For Me- Ben E. King
People Get Ready- Alicia Keys & Lyfe Jennings
God Bless the Child- Gladys Knight
Uptight (Everything's Alright)- Stevie Wonder
I Feel Fine- The Beatles
Will You Love Me Tomorrow- Dusty Springfield
A Touch of Your Hand- The Nylons
She's Got You- Patsy Cline
Anyone Who Had a Heart- Wynonna
At Last- Etta James
Come Rain or Come Shine- Bobby Darin
Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye- Natalie Cole
Can't Help Falling in Love- Elvis Presley
A Place in the Sun- Stevie Wonder
In My Life- José Feliciano

So, new proposal in the works means... new playlist! This one's a lulu. Those of you who've read the proposal will probably get an special kick out of it. For those of you who haven't had that opportunity yet-- the story is a YA set within the fashion industry, so I'm going for a little bit of a runway show feel for some of the music--went a little old school. Locale-wise, I go coast-to-coast, from LA to Miami, so of course, the Latin influence.

To say it's... eclectic, I think would be apropos. There's stuff on here I can't even believe I've put on here. I mean, the Pussycat Dolls? But it works. For my fellow Cherries, this is my form of collage at its best.

Say It's All Right Playlist

No Hay Igual- Nelly Furtado feat. Residente Calle 13
Tainted Love- The Pussycat Dolls
Tip of My Tongue- The Tubes
U + Ur Hand- Pink
A Donde Sea- Julieta Venegas
Lagartija Azul- Fonseca
Star- Earth, Wind, & Fire
All On Me- Sean Paul feat. Tami Chynn
Brick House 2003- Lionel Richie, Rob Zombie, & Trina
El Tren de los Momentos- Alejandro Sanz
Here to Stay- Christina Aguilera
Canned Heat- Jamiroquai
Say It Right- Nelly Furtado
Neverending (John Beltran Remix)- Martin East Project
Te Mando Flores- Fonseca
Salsera- Barrio Jazz Gang
Feels Just Like it Should- Jamiroquai
Obsession/No Es Amor (Luny Tunes Reggaetón Remix)- Frankie J & Mr. Phillips
Hurt- Christina Aguilera
Te Busque- Nelly Furtado & Juanes
Mi Sueño- Luis Fonsi