Music and The Writer

I was a young child setting up dance routines to the soundtrack of The Labyrinth with my cousins, or singing made up songs on the trampoline. My poor parents had to deal with this tone-deaf child that couldn’t keep a beat. No matter how bad it was, I loved doing it.
I lost interest in music when I got older. I liked it as background music, but I would never turn it on to clean or just sing-a-long. I hit a strange phase as a teenager.

Fast forward to 2017. I still can’t keep a beat. I can never remember the words, but I sing-a-long anyway. And…cleaning without music! Hello! I’m sure that’s a sin!
For my first novel, Wicked Soul Ascension, I only listened to music to distract me from the other noises in the coffeeshops where I wrote. I lived with roommates at the time, and most of the time they were great. I had my writing times, but my desk was in the living room for a while. I kept pushing writing for another time. The room was always too busy.
It was during this time that I refound my love for music. Listening to songs with lyrics was hard. I ended up writing in some of the words into the manuscript my accident. I had a hard time editing that out. So, I listened to classical music. Violin, cello, and acoustic guitar became my favourites. I branched into other types of music from there.
After I published Wicked Soul Ascension I had dug my claws into 50’s, punk, classic rock, and pop. I had grown up with classic rock from my dad and pop from my mom. I found my love of strange music all on my own.
I now have Spotify. I didn’t think my music collection could get more strange. I have a playlist I listen to as my characters are getting through their day by day, one for when they’re in battle, and another to add that eerie effect.

I’m glad that music found me again. It was meant to be. I find that music makes me a better writer. The music seems to pull my imagination out of its dark corner so I can see it in full view. There are still thousands of songs that I haven’t heard that I was meant to hear. Just as there are thousands of stories within me ready to be told.

Here are some of the songs I listen to almost daily. It’s always changing and growing. That’s the joy of discovery.

Old Favourites:
Misunderstood by P!nk
Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked by Cage The Elephant
Joker And The Thief by Wolfmother

Random favourites:
Chasing Ghosts by Against The Current
Human by Rag’n’Bone Man
The Devil’s Bleeding Crown By Volbeat
Places We Were Made By Maisie Perers

My music doesn’t really have walls. I don’t listen to one thing. I pick out the books I read the same way. It’s like my brain has no borders when it comes to liking something. I rather like whatever (music, books, coffee) for how it makes me feel instead it’s label/brand.

What is your favourite song? Do you find music motivating?

Cheers,
C.B. Dixon

(I will keep howling out my favourite songs when I think no one is listening. My poor dear husband.)

Check out my novel: Wicked Soul Ascension 

Advertisements

Writer by Night

Jumping back into the swing of things has never felt so good. Like a drink of fresh cool water, this week has started off leaving me feeling awesome. Last night’s writing session didn’t really go as planned. I only typed out a few words. I’ve come to realize that I can’t win every time I sit down to type.

I have found a rhythm that has worked for my writing and other daily activities. I love to swim laps at the pool and go out on hikes. Writing at night has become a great way to unwind from the day. I am able to work on Mortal Soul Ascension after dinner until it’s bedtime. While I sleep I dream up new events and my characters get more defined in their personalities. This system has been working. I hope that I will be able to stick with it and get this first draft over and done with.

Self-edits and revisions have become my favourite parts of writing. I hated it the first time I did it. And now, I enjoy sitting down with my manuscript to change it from a jumble of ideas into a readable story for all to enjoy. I can’t wait until Mortal Soul Ascension is at this point. Novemeber is ever creeping closer.

Wicked Soul Ascension will always have a place in my heart. My first book that got me to where I am today. Since I wrote it I have become a stronger writer that is letting everyday strengthen my craft. I am taking what I learnt from that experence and applying it to where I am going from here.

Happy reading!
C.B. Dixon

 

If you’d like to get a free preview of Wicked Soul Ascension click the link below.

The Writer and Her Subconscious​

This morning I woke up writing. I was half asleep with the idea that I was at my desk typing out The Dreamer. I was halfway through writing it out when I realized I was sitting on the edge of my bed attempting to find my glasses.
Once I got myself together; dressed, glasses on, and alarm shut off. I wobbled to my computer to actually write it. I don’t recall what I was dreaming about, but I knew that I had to write a letter to my dreams. I hit snooze for my first alarm. And that’s when my subconscious started writing. It was around my third time pressing snooze that I sat up. Around fourth or fifth alarm when it clicked that I wasn’t at my computer.

My sister, who was a delight and made me breakfast, watched as I sleepily poured myself a coffee with far to much honey and plopped myself in front of my computer to type out this letter.

There’s something about writing what the subconscious wants you to. I know I am missing fragments that would have made it better. There was this thing about the clouds and how the dreams would type the story onto the computer or save as a video for me to rewrite later. I can’t remember. It’s lost in that realm of sleep that stores all the hopes and wonder that is buried within my brain. I hope that the longer I write, the more I write, I might be able to unlock that hidden world.

If I only had the key.

Cheers,
C.B. Dixon

Wicked Soul Ascension Book One

The Dreamer

Dear Dreams,

Thank you for all the great adventures we’ve been having lately. I especially loved the one where we fought zombies while riding on dragons back. And then that time we got lost in a haunted labyrinth was pretty epic.

I have one thing to ask of you. Please, write your stories down. I will even leave my laptop open on the bedside table so you don’t have to reach far. I can leave the word program open. It would be nice.
I only ask this because you seem to remove most of the memory of the journey we endure together. I can’t remember how they start or end. The feeling of, what a trip! Vibrates under my skin all morning.

Your Dearest Friend,
The Dreamer
C.B. Dixon

Ps. The world would love to go on the same adventures you put me on. All you have to do is write them out.

Addicted to the Sound of Typing

There are moments when writing comes to me and I can’t stop my fingers from clicking against the keys. Last night was one of those nights. I had a great time writing until one o’clock AM. It feels great when my work in progress flows out of me. There’s this soothing freshness that calms me. Work on my writing has always cleared my mind like a hot bath or that euphoric sense of accomplishment.

I am happy to say that the first draft of Mortal Soul Ascension has taken my breath away. There are some new characters that have taken some time for me to get to know. There’s one in particular that I would love to meet in person. I will talk more about this person when I publish the book.

My aim is to have the first draft done before the end of the month. This is going to call for some really late nights and dedication. It will be worth it though. I find when I don’t write I get all jumbled up. There is a piece of me that goes missing while I don’t write. It has become a part of me that is needed, like breathing. People can’t live without the constant breaths of air, and I can’t live without clicking words into a page.

To write with a pen is satisfying, but I have come to the conclusion that I am addicted to the sound of the sound of the keyboard. It’s music to my ears.

Cheers,
C. B. Dixon

Adoption on the Brain. YouTube: Fumble

I made a Youtube video yesterday and realised that I wasn’t in the right head space to make one. Lately, I haven’t been able to talk with all these things going on.
(Link to the video: Adoption Education Program.)

Writing a book, working full time, getting debt free, getting fit, adopting from foster care, and vlogging about the adoption. It has taken up more time then I imagined. I haven’t been able to time manage all these things. I’ve realized after I posted my video about the AEP, adoption education program, that I mumbled about the weather more times then I would have liked. I rushed through the editing so I could make dinner.

I need to rethink about how I would like to manage my time. I did this for my writing last year and I was able to publish a book. A schedule is needed when you have so much on the go. I love writing. It is my main passion when it comes to life. I would love for it to be my full-time job so I can have flexible hours when Mark and I are placed with our child.

Above all…
Adoption has been weighing heavily on my mind.

Adoption has taken up most of my energy as I have been trying to contact social workers, educating myself about adoption, and talking to friends and family about the adoption. With my YouTube channel, Our Journey to Family, I have tried to answer as many questions about our process. There are weeks where we haven’t moved forward and I am online looking at profiles of the Children in Waiting. Every time I read those little profiles my heart hurts for them. I know we can’t adopt all of them…
With the vlog, I hope to educate people about adoption. If I could get one more family to think about adoption then I will be satisfied. It was an easy choice for us, but that’s not the case with everyone else.

Adoption can be scary. You don’t know the trauma that your child will come with. It’s a hard transition for the children that come into your home. For one, they were chosen to be part of a family. And on the other hand, they were given up/taken by their biological family. Mark and I both had blessed childhoods so it’s hard for us to truly relate what the child will be going through. We both know we have the patients and the support from our family to help our child however they need.

Vlogging about adoption has me facing my biggest fear. People hearing my voice. I am trying to get better with how I present myself on camera. There are moments though, where videos like yesterdays happen. Where I mumble about everything under the sun, and the sun. I should rename the video Rambles by Chianne due to me bouncing all over the place. But the vlog is a life vlog as well. The adoption in at the point of a standstill so there isn’t much to discuss.
I want to do a video covering the emotions that go with being able to see the children’s profiles (no pictures) and wondering about our lives together. It has given me much to think about. There are many more videos that I would like to do covering trauma, FASD, and what we learn through our AEP and home study.

Now it’s time to hit the time management board.
If there is anything that you would like to learn about adoption or have an adoption story please let me know in the comments below.

Thank you for reading,
C. B. Dixon

 

 

Click to see YouTube Channel

 

 

Mindful Life: Waste and Money Go Hand-In-Hand?

Step back for a moment. Wonder that for a moment. You might be thinking that I’m a crazy writer that wants to blast the world with my conspiracies about great living. I’m not. Really and truly I am seriously letting you know I have saved money by managing my garbage. Yes, my garbage has helped me save money and I’m about to tell you how.

I live in a small tiny town where it takes a boat to get to me. Please keep in mind that my prices for things might be more than yours due to the fact that I do pay more than you for my products. Local is cheaper here.

Let me begin the tale of the Benckhuysen garbage plan. Here we have to pay $2 per 50lb. garbage bag. It adds up over time. Think $4 a week for a month, then a year. There are approximately 53 weeks in a year, so that’s $212 a year to get my garbage picked up and gone.

Hmm… that’s ridiculous, right?

That price is if we never recycled anything, it might even be more. Taking out our bottles, and recyclables our cost is half that. Bottle recycling we get money back, and plastic, paper, and glass are free curb pick up. This is a great incentive to recycle if saving the planet wasn’t good enough as an excuse.

There was one thing missing. Something we didn’t know we could do in town here because there is no facility this far up the coast. We had no idea we could compost our table scraps, yard waste, and A&W food wrappers. Yes, we now compost those. Ever see that label on the side that says compostable? It’s not lying to you.

On Monday, August 21st we started our composting journey. I had a lovely conversation with a woman that worked at the library coffee shop about how Mark and I started to compost our table scraps in Victoria. She went on to say that she composted everything in her cafe. She only had a small round garbage bin beside this five-gallon bucket. I thought the smaller one was her compost bucket…but I was wrong. The barista went on to say how she wants to have zero garbage come out of her cafe.

Pointed in the right direction I found the small composting bin beside the recycling place in town. The person that runs the operation came out as he saw me studying the signs. I tried to memorize all that information…he gave me a list of things that could go into the bin and things that can’t. He told me how to contact the facility if I ever had questions. I told him about how my husband and I were trying to be as waste free as possible. The reactions from people are amazing. He seemed thrilled with the idea. He took me aside and told me that there will be a curb side test. 500 people will be selected from town to see who will actually use the program. If there are enough participants that keep up with the program a compost facility will be built closer to town. Right now all the bins that collect the compost go down the coast to a place near Vancouver. After the conversation, he gave me an empty cat litter bin and sent me on my way.

Week One.
Goal: Go from two regular white garbage bags to one.

At the end of the week, Mark and I filled the compost bucket with our scraps, coffee grounds, A&W compostable wrappers, and tea bags. Our garbage…well, I think we need a smaller bin. I thought we’d at least have half a bag filled. We just covered the bottom. There’s not even enough in there to put on the curb sided. Our goal was easily met. We no longer have to pay as much for garbage bags. We might be able to make one box last us a year. Imagine only having to buy one box of bags a year.

To save money and waste we also carry around our own water bottle and travel mug. Mark loves his tea, and I can’t function without coffee. It may only be a 10 cent discount or one free refill. If you’re like me and drink more than one coffee a day you will save yourself dollars by bringing these things with you. That goes for bottled water. Have you seen the price tags on those things?! Water’s free here in Canada. Where ever you go, whether it is a gas station or cafe, water is free unless you pay for a bottle. Save yourself the dollars and save the planet from one more plastic bottle. Use a reusable mug/bottle. It’s worth the change. For your wallet, the planet, and your health.