Are you into playlists for novels?
I’ll be honest. I’m not, as a general rule. I have never yet hunted down an author’s music choices to play on repeat while I read their novel. But, I think there are two kinds of playlists.
The first is the background music some authors curate to set the mood while they write. I don’t have the time or the inclination to do this. To me, it sounds like procrastination, but I know it isn’t for some authors. For some, it truly is helpful. Hats off to them!
The second is music that comes up while the author is writing. If you’ve been reading my books for a while, you’ll know that I often reference a certain song by a certain artist here and there in my stories. These usually pop in when my characters are trying to encourage each other in their spiritual walk or when a character is in church and is hit by the truth of a particular song.
Sometimes these songs are older hymns or Christmas carols that are in the public domain (their copyright has lapsed) and authors are free to directly quote the lyrics without permission. Songs that are currently copyrighted cannot be legally quoted… and permission can be extremely difficult/ expensive to obtain.
So, I’ll mention the title and the artist and maybe summarize some of the lyrics, being careful not to quote too closely. I figure that if readers know the song, they’ll likely find themselves humming it. If they don’t, maybe they’ll look it up. And maybe they won’t!
In A Great and Glorious Gift, Zadok is active on his church’s worship team and had planned to become a minister of music in a large urban church before circumstances derailed him. For him, music is extremely vital in his walk with God, and various songs kept meandering onto the page until there were nine! So, I went ahead and created a playlist on YouTube, which I offer here.
Since it’s still a few weeks until A Great and Glorious Gift releases, why not simply let these encouraging songs wash over your soul, from my heart (and Zadok’s) to yours?
Maybe they will also whet your appetite for the story, but that’s not today’s goal. Today I want to share the encouragement that Zadok and Juni shared with each other (or someone else shared with them) throughout the story. I know my own heart was lifted many times!
Songs on the playlist:
• Good and Perfect Gift (Vineyard)
• Every Good and Perfect Gift (David Glenn)
• Every Good and Perfect Gift (Justin Graves Band)
• Gifts from God (Chris Tomlin)
• Trust His Heart (Babbie Mason)
• His Name Shall Be (Matt Redman)
• To God Be the Glory (Stuart Townend)
• Good, Good Father (Chris Tomlin)
• As Long as You are Glorified (Coffey Ministries)
I hope you’ll be blessed as you listen to this uplifting playlist!
Because all of my books (or at least each series) have their own Pinterest boards, I often pin the songs there. Here is A Great and Glorious Gift (now in my editor’s hands, woot!!!).
Do you ever check out an author’s Pinterest to see their inspiration?
Valerie Comer is a USA Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner who writes where food meets faith and fiction. She injects experience laced with humor into her green clean romances. Her life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local foods movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.
I don’t go on Pinterest, don’t have an account on there. I need to avoid it, as FB takes enough of my time!! I don’t listen to playlists, either, though I do like to listen to music on YouTube. However, it’s usually songs I already know and love, though I have found a few on there that I’d never heard before and like. I usually only listen to new to me if someone (like you or another friend or family member) recommends it.
I’ve never been on an author’s Pinterest – I didn’t know they did that! I have used Pinterest a bit in the past, so will have to look and see. I also don’t really listen to playlists, again because I hadn’t really realised it was a thing but it sounds a lovely idea, listening to new worship music suggestions sounds great.
I hope you check out this 9-song playlist :)
I hope you check out the playlist from this book!
I’ve neither been on pinterest or listened to an author’s playlist. It simply never occurred to me. Interesting concept though. Thanks.
I hope you listen to this one :)
I have to admit, that I do not. I like to have my own thoughts about the characters and the book itself. Thank you for sharing. God bless you.
That’s fair!