Tag Archives: Ann Videan

What’s your faerie name?

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Yeah, this happened within a few months of posting the blog entry below. Thank you, Joanne. @2013 ANVidean

Yeah, this happened within a few months of posting the blog entry below. Thank you, Joanne!  ©2013 ANVidean

The certificate says:

“It has been proclaimed by the fairy power vested in Twig the Fairy
by the state of discombobulation and fitting out, that your official fairy name
is hereby declared
Rula Ghillie Gardenia Mossyroot.”

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Today, I was thinking about character naming. Honestly, I’m not that good at names. So, in dealing with this challenge of mine, I discovered a fascinating and fun site. It’s a name-generating Web page substituting your name for a fairy’s.

Here’s mine … “Gossamer Moonglow. She is a messenger of the moon goddess. She lives in spiderwebbed wonderlands and insect grottoes. She is only seen in the light of a full moon. She wears dresses made of cobwebs and gossamer and has bright blue butterfly wings.”

Ah-h-h, I like that.

Most people envision fairies like this: tiny, cute and winged. [As expertly illustrated by Mark Pate. (www.markpate.com)]

That name did serve as a source of inspiration, but doesn’t necessarily fit the mood for my books. You see, the fae in my Delfaerune Rhapsody young-adult-fiction, trilogy in-progress do not fit the mold of your typical fairy. Mine, in the Celtic fae tradition, look more like elves: they grow extremely tall; embrace glamour (magic), not wings, to fly; and,  therefore, require unusual names.

So, in the first book of my series, “The Song of the Ocarina,” I’ve given my Dark Fae monikers which emulate bad-boy rockers like Mikk, Axyl and Janys. My Noble Fae have natural names like Fern, Glenn and Whillo. Key characters also use Maori surnames, as my setting is Queenstown, New Zealand.

I’m looking for more inspiration. So, might you visit the fairy name site and come back here to share your name and description? Pretty please?

Breaking Benjamin, Linkin Park, Ten Years and Brahms inspire novel-in-progress

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Music and word lovers, join me in the journey where music enhances fiction! If you have a favorite artist/song and would like to see it potentially worked into my novel-in-progress, comment here with the artist name, song title and a bit about its style/genre/lyrics.

I’m mentioning inspiring artist’s songs in The Song of the Ocarina. It’s one of the elements readers liked most about my first novel Rhythms & Muse. (“Look Inside”–even just its first and second pages–on Amazon and you’ll see how songs play into and enhance the plot.)

Allow me to share a few songs mentioned in Ocarina, the first book in my Delfaerune Rhapsody young-adult series. (It’s a trilogy about 7′-tall, wingless, Celtic Fae saving the world in New Zealand.)

• Linkin Park’s “Papercut” relates to a moment when Lark, the heroine, feels a loss of identity.

• Lark, also the faerie realm’s musical prodigy, plays Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” on the piano in her bedroom after returning to the faerie realm from the human world.

• When Noel, the hero, sides with his estranged Dark Fae family, Breaking Benjamin’s “Crawl” will inspire the mood.

• Uncle D’s “True Kiwi Way”is a little New Zealand ditty mentioned when Lark meets her kiwi “familiar.”

• Lark’s Noble Fae sister sings 10 Years’s “Through The Iris”  with her Dark Fae boyfriend.

• Brahms’s “Lullaby” is the first song Lark plays on the ancient magical zither when she holds it again for the first time in three years.

Walk Off The Earth, Gotye cover: Today’s Pick

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I blame these guys (my musical kids) for keeping me up on the latest hot music.

For creative writing inspiration, my nearly adult children introduced me to Belgian-Australian multi-instrumental musician and singer-songwriter Gotye (go-tee-yay) a couple of weeks ago. His video “Somebody That I Used To Know” is a new favorite of mine.

Now, I’m even more inspired by a cover of the song by Walk Off The Earth (WOTE) performed by all five band members on one guitar. This Ontario, Canada-based indie band formed in 2006 has built a huge fan base by making creative low-budget music videos of covers and originals, without record labels, booking agents or management. The band did recently earn a recording contract with Columbia Records.

Also, you’ll be intrigued by the intricate, eye-popping cardboard set featured in WOTE’s cover of “Little Boxes.” This 1963 Pete Seeger hit was written by folk singer-songwriter and political activist Malvina Reynolds.

Whose music inspires you, for writing or otherwise?

Share your best writing tip and get featured: ALWAYS

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• Need contacts to help your writing?  • Want advice about your writing business?  • Like to hang with other cool writers?
If so, my tribe – the Alliance for Literary Writers, Authors & Yabbering Scribes (ALWAYS) – is the place for you. We’re an informal group of established writers looking for camaraderie, ideas, enlightenment and connection with writers, especially in the Phoenix metro area, to talk about our craft and businesses.
Any established writer can connect with us online through our ALWAYS Facebook page, get listed in our directory of writers on our ALWAYS LinkedIn page, or you can meet with us in person at a lunch meeting.
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ALWAYS gathering
May 8, 2012

Topic:
Share your best writing tip and be featured in my Words•Music•Village blog

Expect an informal, let’s-help-one-another lunch gathering. Come ask questions, gain resources and meet other freelance writers. We’ll share our own best writing tips and hear what works for others. I’ll gather the tips and write up each one,  along with background on you and your writing, as an entry in my new series of writing-tip blogs.

Also, if you have something noncommercial you’d like to showcase — a tool, a resource, a tip — please contact me and I’ll slot you in for 15 minutes of our undivided attention at the meeting.

Next gathering:
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.
(Freelancers typically meet for lunch on the second Tuesday, and authors on the fourth Tuesday of each month.)

Where:
T.C. Eggington’s
1660 S. Alma School Rd., #129
Mesa, AZ 85210
(Just one block south of I-60 on the west side of Alma School Road, toward the south end of the strip mall)
480.345.9288

Cost:
A writing tip, and your own lunch.

RSVP:
PLEASE show the consideration of reserving your spot at the table by:
• RSVPing through the “Attending” link on our Facebook Event page
• Emailing Ann Videan with “ALWAYS May 8” in the Subject line

If you’ve RSVP’d and run into a conflict later, please let me know before the event so I can make the necessary adjustments for the group. Cheers!
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We’d love to have any experienced writer join us at our next meeting … anyone who spends a significant part of his/her week writing, and wants to rub elbows with other writers.

Please do add a your best writing tip in the comments below, but I will feature only those who attend the meeting in my blog. I’m encouraging face time here, wordsmiths!

One of America’s most beautiful downtown beaches

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My family just returned from a too-short visit to the beautiful northwest. We hung out in Spokane, WA, and Coeur d’Alene, ID, for a week… seeing friends, tracking down old haunts, and visiting places and activities mentioned in my Rhythms & Muse novel.

Lake Coeur d’Alene    ©2011 ANVidean

One lazy afternoon, we strolled the Centennial Trail through the City Park, soaking in sights like this one. But what’s so uber cool about this…? Downtown Coeur d’Alene is just about two blocks to the east of this scene.

Can you see why lovely Lake Cd’A certainly served as high inspiration for a major portion of my novel? Who wouldn’t want to spend time near this blue water?

Do you have a Cd’A story or photo to share? Comment below, or send your .jpg image to me at avidean@videanunlimited.com and I’ll post it in a future blog.

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Rhythms & Muse novel and music CD:

Media signing, Feb. 4, Chandler Coffee Bean

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Ann Narcisian Videan announces a
media signing for her debut novel and music CD.

Friday, Feb. 4, 2011
2 p.m.– 7 p.m.

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Chandler
2560 West Chandler Boulevard
(just east of I-101)

Novel ($16.50) , CD ($6.50), or both ($23) available for sale on-site
with cash or check.

Win a free signed and numbered CD.

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Praise for Rhythms & Muse

“One of the best ‘chick flicks’ I have ever read. Rhythms & Muse, Ann Videan’s freshman release, engages your heart and spirit with the same lilting energy as a romantic soft rock ballad. If ever a dream was meant to be realized, this book is that dream, and you will gladly enfold yourself in its verbal magic.”
– JM de Biasi, literary critic, bibliophile

“Definitely a page-turner! I loved the great dialogue, flashbacks and dreams, and the juxtaposition between the ’70s and current day. Plus, a lovely ending.”
– Laurie Fagen, writer, publisher SanTan Sun News

“Love your writing! What a pro, the way you wove the past and the present together seamlessly.”
— Andrea Beaulieu, author Finding Your Authentic Voice and Ah Ha!: 100 Flashes of Insight and Inspiration From Your Authentic Voice (www.yourauthenticvoice.com)

“Wonderful. I love the way you took us from the present back to the past to weave the storyline for each of the main characters. I am recommending the book to my daughters and granddaughters who are searching for their life rhythms.”
—Margaret Jacoby, SPHR, the Goddess of Compliance with MJ Management Solutions (www.mjms.net)

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About The Novel

Witnessing a horrific car accident seen many times before in her dreams spurs award-winning singer Alexandra Lauren to reevaluate her glamorous Hollywood lifestyle. With her lofty musical goal now tarnished by reality, and her unfulfilled memories from her senior year in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, haunting her, Alex takes a bold step to change the rhythms of her life. Leveraging her newly acknowledged intuitions, she makes a plan to reconnect not only with her musical touchstone and high-school sweetheart Matthew Roberts, but with her desire to impact lives for the good through the innocence and beauty of music.

***

Even though Matt holds Alex in his heart as his only muse, he resolves to ignore her existence. He cannot stay in control with her powerful presence in his life. Besides, how can he ever forgive her? In alliance with their charismatic friend Daniel, her betrayal demolished Matt’s joy in creating their hit single, not to mention their future lives, together.

***

Can anything in this world shift Matt’s resolve to distance himself from Alex? And, with Daniel still pursuing Alex even as his wife Kathy looks on, can Alex actually find fulfillment? Will music draw the estranged soul mates together again and guide them to realize their dreams?

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About the Music CD

A solid 1970s folk and rock-ballad influence on five original tunes inspired by songs “written” by characters in the Rhythms & Muse novel. The author composed and sang all the vocals, played piano and guitar on select compositions, and mixed the tracks in GarageBand software.

Where To Buy

Book: createspace.com/3485275 [CreateSpace E-Store]

Book and music MP3 files: www.tinyurl.com/ANVamazon [Amazon]

Limited Edition Music CD: I’m offering 50 numbered and signed hand-pressed music CDs upon personal request at avidean@videanunlimited.com, until my CDs are available online (within a couple of weeks).