Happy Kiss a Ginger Day and a Redhead Playlist

Happy Kiss a Ginger Day! Here’s my list of songs about redheads. I was surprised at how many there are:

  • Garth Brooks “Ain’t Goin’ Down”

  • Dolly Parton “Jolene”

  • Willie Nelson “Redheaded Stranger”

  • John Palmer “The Band Played On”

  • REM “Redhead Walking”

  • Amy Winehouse “Valerie”

  • Bruce Springsteen “Redheaded Woman”

  • Ed Sheeran “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You”

  • Miranda Lambert “White Liar”

  • Bob Dylan “Tangled in Blue”

  • Flock of Seagulls “I Ran”

  • Counting Crows “Good Time”

  • Gaelic Storm “Green Eyes, Red Hair”

  • Natalie Merchant “San Andreas Fault”

  • Bob Segar “Sightseeing”

  • Brooks and Dunn “Boot-scootin’ Boogie”

  • Neil Young “Cinnamon Girl”

  • Travis Tritt “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde”

  • Billy Joel “Keeping the Faith”

  • Taylor Swift “Fifteen”

  • Jake Owen “Barefoot Blue Jean Night”

  • Billy Idol “Dead on Arrival”

  • Shania Twain “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under”

  • Little River Band “Redheaded Wildflower”

  • Lonestar “Front Porch Lookin’ In”

  • Sammy Hagar “Red”

What would you add to my list?

Playlists for Your Books

Music is such an integral part of my writing process and my life. I listen to jazz or classical music when I’m writing or revising, and I like songs that remind me of the characters, the era, or the setting while I’m plotting. I always have background music on.

If you haven’t already, you should consider making playlists for your books. My sister mentioned that her book group always asks visiting authors if they have a playlist to share. What a great idea.

I used YouTube links for my early playlists. (Search for the song and copy the link. Then link the song title in your blog post to the music video.) I recently started listening to Spotify, and it has a lot of my audio books and podcasts available, so it was a perfect platform for me to create song lists. I named each one for a series and added all the songs that reminded me of those books. Now I can share the link with book groups and readers.

Check them out:

A Playlist for National Redhead Day - November 5

Tomorrow is National Red Head Day! Here’s a playlist of ginger references. I was surprised at how many there are out there…

  • Garth Brooks “Ain’t Goin’ Down”

  • Dolly Parton “Jolene”

  • Willie Nelson “Redheaded Stranger”

  • John Palmer “The Band Played On”

  • REM “Redhead Walking”

  • Amy Winehouse “Valerie”

  • Bruce Springsteen “Redheaded Woman”

  • Ed Sheeran “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You”

  • Miranda Lambert “White Liar”

  • Bob Dylan “Tangled in Blue”

  • Flock of Seagulls “I Ran”

  • Counting Crows “Good Time”

  • Gaelic Storm “Green Eyes, Red Hair”

  • Natalie Merchant “San Andreas Fault”

  • Bob Segar “Sightseeing”

  • Brooks and Dunn “Boot-scootin’ Boogie”

  • Neil Young “Cinnamon Girl”

  • Travis Tritt “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde”

  • Billy Joel “Keeping the Faith”

  • Taylor Swift “Fifteen”

  • Jake Owen “Barefoot Blue Jean Night”

  • Billy Idol “Dead on Arrival”

  • Shania Twain “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under”

  • Little River Band “Redheaded Wildflower”

  • Lonestar “Front Porch Lookin’ In”

  • Sammy Hagar “Red”


My Playlist for VINTAGE TRAILERS AND BLACKMAILERS

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Music is a huge part of my life and my writing life. I have lots of playlists for my research, writing, and editing time. Music is always on in some form or fashion at our house.

In VINTAGE TRAILERS AND BLACKMAILERS, Jules Keene runs a glamping (glamorous camping) resort nestled in the beautiful, Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. Fern Valley is a few miles west of Charlottesville. Her parents bought the traditional campground back in the 1970s before she was born, and after her divorce from the Idiot, she returned home and helped her dad update the campground and restore vintage trailers. Jules saved a bunch of classics from the scrapheap and preserved their history and created some upscale places for her guests to visit. She used her background in interior design to theme and decorate each one.

Here’s the playlist I created for the first book in the Jules Keene Glamping Mystery series. The songs reflect Jules’s character and life in the mountains of Virginia.

Adam Ant’s “Goody Two Shoes”

Alabama’s “Mountain Music”

Alabama’s “Pass it on Down”

Alan Jackson’s “Drive”

Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me”

Bruce Hornsby’s “Mandolin Rain”

Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark”

Bruce Springsteen’s “My Hometown”

Charley Pride’s “Mountain of Love”

Darius Rucker’s “Homegrown Honey”

Darius Rucker’s “Southern State of Mind”

Eric Church’s “Springsteen”

Gloria Gaylor’s “I Will Survive”

Ike and Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High”

Jake Owen’s “Barefoot Blue Jean Night”

Jason Aldean’s “Tattoos on This Town”

Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ‘n Roll”

John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads”

Keith Urban’s “Jeans on”

Mark Wills’ “Nineteen Something”

Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”

Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song”

Rascal Flatt’s “Fast Cars and Freedom”

Robbin Thompson’s “Candy Apple Red”

TLC’s “Waterfalls”

Toby Keith’s “Whisky Girl”

Tom Cochrane’s “Life is a Highway”

Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally”

Playlist for THE TULIP SHIRT MURDERS

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I love music. It has always been a huge part of my life, and I have playlists for reading, writing, editing, and revising. Music is always on at home or work. I love all kinds of genres, but I seem to gravitate back to songs from the Big ‘80s. Songs from my high school and college days will always be my favorites. And that era plays a huge role in the first novel in my series, Secret Lives and Private Eyes.

Private investigator Delanie Fitzgerald, and her computer hacker partner, Duncan Reynolds, are back for more sleuthing in The Tulip Shirt Murders. When a local music producer hires the duo to find out who is bootlegging his artists’ CDs, Delanie uncovers more than just copyright thieves. And if chasing bootleggers isn’t bad enough, local strip club owner and resident sleaze, Chaz Smith, pops back into Delanie’s life with more requests. The police have their man in a gruesome murder, but the loud-mouthed strip club owner thinks there is more to the open and shut case. Delanie and Duncan link a series of killings with no common threads. And they must put the rest of the missing pieces together before someone else is murdered.

So here's my playlist for The Tulip Shirt Murders. These songs make me think of Delanie, her sassy spirit, her nose for trouble, and of course, her beloved Mustang.

1.       Adam Ant's “Goody Two Shoes”

2.       Robbin Thompson’s “Candy Apple Red”

3.       Kelly Pickler’s “Red High Heels”

4.       Robbin Thompson's “Sweet Virginia Breeze”

5.       Bon Jovi's “Wanted Dead or Alive”

6.       Rachel Platten's “Fight Song”

7.       Cyndi Bruce Springsteen's “Dancing in the Dark”

8.       Jake Owen’s “Barefoot Blue Jean Night”

9.       Keith Urban’s “Jeans on”

10.   Cyndi Lauper's “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”

11.   The Beach Boys' “Fun, Fun, Fun”

12.   Wilson Pickett's “Mustang Sally”

13.   Chuck Berry’s “My Mustang Ford”

14.   Jason Aldean’s “Tattoos on This Town”

15.   Toby Keith’s “Whiskey Girl”

16.   Rascal Flatts’ “Fast Cars and Freedom”

17.   Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise”

18.   Rascal Flatts’ “Life is a Highway”

19.  Jim Croce’s “Roller Derby Queen”

20.  George Jones’ “White Lightnin’”

21.  Brad Paisley’s “Moonshine in the Trunk”

22.   Mark Wills' “Nineteen Something”

23.   Bowling for Soup’s “1985”

24.   And Hall and Oates' “Private Eyes”

Music is such a big part of our lives. We remember lyrics from songs that were popular ages ago, and it invokes a variety of emotions. This list makes me think of my sassy character and the adventures she has as she tries to track down bootleggers and a serial killer.

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Playlist: Songs about Writing

Music is a big part of my writing journey (and life). I always have some sort of music playing while I write, edit, or work. And the organizer in me always wants to make lists, so here's my big playlist of songs about books, writers, and writing.

  1. "Dancing in the Dark" Bruce Springsteen
  2. "Everyday I Write the Book" Elvis Costello
  3. "Eyes Without a Face" Billy Idol
  4. "I Am A Rock" Simon and Garfunkel
  5. "I Be Bound to Write You" Muddy Waters
  6. "I Write the Songs" Barry Manilow
  7. "Lady Writer" Dire Straits
  8. "Losing It" Rush
  9. "Mr. Writer" Stereophonics
  10. "Open Book" Cake
  11. "Oxford Comma" Vampire Weekend
  12. "Paperback Writer" The Beatles
  13. "Piano Man" Billy Joel
  14. "Rewrite" Paul Simon
  15. "The Book I Read" Talking Heads
  16. "The Book I'm Not Reading" Patty Larkin
  17. "The Book of Love" The Monotones
  18. "The Book of My Life" Sting
  19. "The Empty Page" Sonic Youth
  20. "Unwritten" Natasha Bedingfield
  21. "When I Write the Book" Nick Lowe
  22. "Write Your Own Songs" Willie Nelson
  23. "Writer's Block" Just Jack

Here are some about specific books and authors.

  1. "1984" David Bowie
  2. "Feed my Frankenstein" Alice Cooper
  3. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" Elton John
  4. "Hemingway's Whiskey" Kenny Chesney
  5. "Hey, Jack Kerouac" 10,000 Maniacs
  6. "Romeo and Juliet" Dire Straits
  7. "Sylvia Plath" Ryan Adams
  8. "The House on Pooh Corner" Kenny Loggins
  9. "Walt Whitman's Niece" Billy Bragg and Wilco
  10. "Tom Sawyer" Rush
  11. "Virginia Woolf" Indigo Girls
  12. "White Rabbit" Jefferson Airplane
  13. "Wuthering Heights" Kate Bush

And don't forget about the band, American Authors.

My Mustang Playlist...

I am a beach girl at heart, and Memorial Day weekend is the official kickoff to summer. My sleuth, Delanie Fitzgerald also drives a Ford Mustang. So put the top down, grab your flip flops, and turn up the tunes. Here's my Mustang playlist.

  1. Bad English – “Rocking Horse”
  2. Blues Traveler – “Last Night I Dreamed”
  3. Chuck Berry – “My Ford Mustang”
  4. David Bowie – “Young Americans”
  5. Dick Dale and the Del-Tones – “Wild, Wild Mustang”
  6. Eminem – “Echo”
  7. Five for Fighting – “’65 Mustang”
  8. Jack Ingram – “Mustang Burn”
  9. Jan and Dean – “Move out Little Mustang”
  10. Jason Aldean – “Tattoos on This Town”
  11. Keith Urban – “Sweet Thing”
  12. Leah Turner – “Take the Keys”
  13. Martha and the Vandellas  - “Nowhere to Run”
  14. Megan Nichole – “Summer Forever”
  15. Power Supply – “My 5.0”
  16. Rip Chords – “Hey, Little Cobra”
  17. The Chesterfield Kings – “Shelby GT 356”
  18. The Zip Codes – “Run, Little Mustang”
  19. Toby Keith – "Whisky Girl"
  20. Vanilla Ice – “Rollin’ in my 5.0”
  21. White Zombie – “Black Sunshine”
  22. Wilson Pickett – “Mustang Sally”