Inspy Romance

Inspy Romance—Fall in Love With a Good Book

Deck the Shelves Playlist + #Giveaway

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Tis the season to listen to holiday music…or is it?

Whenever I start writing a new story, I always build a playlist first. I love music and how it fuels my creativity. Plus, I like to imagine my books becoming movies one day and they’ll totally need a score and soundtrack, right? (Can you tell I’m a dreamer?)

So with that in mind, I put together a playlist for Deck the Shelves. My heroine Kendall owns a bookstore aptly named The Cozy Shelf. She’s a big fan of the classics, and since The Cozy Shelf is a renovated Victorian, it only seemed fitting to add some music befitting classic books to my playlist. But what songs, you ask?

Well I pulled some songs from the 2005 Pride & Prejudice soundtrack. I mean, a hero needs some fog to walk through. 😉 I also added the theme song from Anne of Green Gables, “My Edward and I” from Jane Eyre soundtrack, and “First Impressions” from Becoming Jane and my literary heart was almost ready to write. I even through-in “Devonshire” from Sense and Sensibility.

Since Deck the Shelves is set during Christmastime, I had to throw in holiday music despite the fact that it was hot outside when I wrote it (thank you Virginia summer). I added “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee and “Christmas Lights” by Coldplay. I couldn’t forget one of my favorite Christmas albums, so I threw in “Let it Snow” and “Silent Night” by Boyz II Men.

By now you might be thinking that that’s plenty enough to get me started but not quite. You see I also like to have some songs thrown in there that speaks to the hero and heroine’s internal angst. So I added “Safe & Sound” by Taylor Swift and “Two is Better Than One” by Boys Like Girls & Taylor Swift.

And because none of my writing journey would be possible without the One who gifted me, I ended the playlist with Kari Jobe’s “Revelation Song.”

These songs fueled my fingers, helped me pick quotes to use at the beginning of each chapter and set the stage for Kendall and Quinton to Deck the Shelves in The Cozy Shelf in my fictional town of Heartfalls, New York.

If you’ve read the book, what songs would you add to the playlist? If you haven’t, what songs would be a must on a Christmas playlist? Leave a blog comment with your answer and a lucky winner will be entered into a giveaway for an eBook copy of Deck the Shelves. Please comment by 12/20/19 at 1pm EST. I’ll draw a random name and contact the winner by Saturday.

Toni Shiloh (60 Posts)

Toni Shiloh is a wife, mom, and Christian fiction writer. Once she understood the powerful saving grace thanks to the love of Christ, she was moved to honor her Savior. She writes to bring Him glory and to learn more about His goodness. She spends her days hanging out with her husband and their two boys. She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). Find out more on her website at http://tonishiloh.com.


Comments

  2. Hi Toni,

    My favorite Christmas songs are Holy Night, Silent Night and What Child is This? Thanks for your blog.

  5. I would include Take A Walk Through Bethlehem, I Heard The Bells, and A New Kid In Town. Thank you for sharing. Merry Christmas.🎁🎄

  7. My current playlist (for a not-so-Christmas story) is For King and Country’s Christmas concert. It’s on near constant repeat in my writing hole! Now no other version of Little Drummer Boy even exists.

  8. I love your idea of a playlist for each book! I love music, too, but I usually have to write to instrumental music, so I don’t think to do this. But I used to have and love the Anne of Green Gables soundtrack on cassette!! I’ll have to see if I can find it on YouTube.

    I agree with Valerie Comer about the Christmas concert by For King and Country. I found it a few weeks ago and added it to my Christmas playlist, though they also play a few of their non-Christmas hits. I have a whole list of favorite Christmas songs that are hard to choose from. In fact, I started making a list for a future blog post. ;) Here’s a sneak peek and the link to my YouTube playlist:
    O Holy Night
    Sleigh Ride
    Jingle Bell Rock
    Mary, Did You Know by Mark Lowry
    Gloria by Michael W. Smith
    All is Well by Point of Grace
    Let There Be Light by Point of Grace (featuring John David Webster)
    The Music of Christmas by SCC
    This Baby by SCC
    White Christmas by Bing Crosby – the grand movie version
    Ring the Bells by Michael W. Smith
    Christmas Angels by Michael W. Smith
    Noel by Lauren Daigle
    Feliz Navidad (I dance every time I hear it)
    link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtXg9K3TLX1ktjGniqsHYXTPc0ctGbZWi

  10. so i love me some r&b christmas such as this christmas/ last christmas santa baby and many more

  11. I always like I’ll Be Home For Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

  12. I haven’t read the book, but for me, I’d have to have The Little Drummer Boy, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy (the original by Buck Owens), Santa’s Flying a 747 Tonight, and Come See What’s Happenin’ In the Barn. Actually, the whole CD that has Come See on it by the Gaither’s. I know I’d find more, but this is a good start!

  13. I like to listen to music when I sew, now it’s Christmas carol type music. Other times it’s Sandi Patti or Bill Gaither vocal band.

  21. How fun to think of your chapters while listening to music. I can’t concentrate to write with noise.
    Right now I’ve been singing a lot of Jingle Bells with my son, so it would probably be on my playlist.

  25. My favorite Christmas music is a mix of the old favorite carols like O Holy Night, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, and newer likeMary Did You Know. I also am fond of I’ll Be Home For Christmas.
    Merry Christmas blessings everyone!

  27. Love your post! Love your book cover! But I’ve never been able to write or read with music playing! It distracts me because I start listening to the words, singing along and forget what I’m doing!

    Merry Christmas.

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