Not dedication. I’ve got that too. But for the moment I’m thinking about dedications, the things you put inside the cover of a book. I’m a big dedications junkie. I love them whether they’re in a book, an album or a movie, I’m looking for the dedications. They give me a better sense of who the creator(s) is/are than all the interviews, blogs and about pages out together. So naturally when it comes time to dedicate my own books, there’s a certain amount of pressure. Fortunately, for The Rock Star’s Respite, it was a no brainer in three parts.
To my husband. The story is set in West Virginia, a place I would have known little or nothing about except that it’s between me and Disney World if not for my husband. My husband is into hillbilly music and a lot of that wound up in Rock Star right up to the name of Cass’ campground, In The Pines.
To my brother. My big brother started quizzing me on music when I was 6. I was the only kid in first grade who knew about Blue Oyster Cult. For my seventh birthday he bought me my very first record, Hotel California by the Eagles. He encouraged my interest in music so much that when other girls were going gaga over actors, I could pick out a bass player from twenty feet.
To Def Leppard for the Slang album. I love Slang. It may be Def Leppard’s least popular release, but it’s been my favorite since the moment I heard it. While I was writing Rock Star, I played it over and over again. Something about the tonal quality really lent itself to letting me work on that book. I would put it on repeat and let it go for hours. I also played it when I edited the book. Then I started playing it when I worked on the next book in that series. I’d gotten to the point where I could sing along and compose sentences in my head.
That’s when things got really weird. I started hallucinating the music. One day I searched my house trying to find the source of the music I could hear until I realized I was hearing the intro to “Truth?” Like Pavlov’s dog, now when I hear any of those songs I feel like I should be writing.
So if you want an authentic experience with The Rock Star’s Retreat, pop in Def Leppard’s Slang album and put it on repeat.
And then you will know what a lot more about me.
