Hello friends! My name is C.S. Poe, and I will be your train conductor today.

That’s not true.

I’ve never been a train conductor. Although I have ridden many trains.

I was happy to write a guest post for Trish’s blog, then realized afterward I had no idea what to talk about. So let’s look at topic options.

I have a new short story being released February 24th with Dreamspinner Press, as part of their anthology, Simmer. Its theme is men and food and happily ever afters. My piece is “Kneading You,” and features a super cute librarian, an equally sexy, tattooed repairman, and lots of bread baking. (Not a euphemism.) So I could talk about cooking, but really, I don’t like cooking. I do it only under duress. For someone who talks about food so much in her writing, you’d think it was my favorite hobby. I love eating. The work prior to— not so much.

So instead I’m going to talk about music and movies in books.

Didn’t expect that, did you?

I really enjoy adding these little tidbits to my writing. The mention of a television show or a particular song can, when used correctly, set a tone to the story without the author detailing it through additional or unnecessary words. There are pieces of art that are widely known, that move us as an audience, where just the mention of it subconsciously changes the reader’s mood.

An example of this is from one of my all-time favorite series, The Adrien English Mysteries by Josh Lanyon. Now and then there are mentions of songs by Rufus Wainwright, (particularly in one of the codas), which for those familiar with his music, you know what I mean. How his voice and melodies set the somber tone that matches Adrien’s mindset. I get shivers thinking about it! Heidi Cullinan is another excellent example of an author who knows how to use media in writing. Carry The Ocean focuses heavily on the film, The Blues Brothers, and that sense of hope and humor from the movie is deeply engrained in the novel.

In “Kneading You,” I mention a film and make reference to a particular scene, but it’s such a widely known moment in cinema that many readers will undoubtedly understand both the sexy suggestion, as well as how it can be found funny. Ghost, I admit, is one of my favorite movies. The love story is very powerful and beautiful, but it isn’t without its moments of hilarity. It was the perfect film to reference in “Kneading You,” because like I said, while there isn’t any pottery being done, there is quite a bit of dough kneading. If you can’t wait until release on the 24^th, I will be sharing an exclusive excerpt to my newsletter followers! You can sign up for that here: https://tinyletter.com/cspoe

So what about you? Are there any books that mention songs or movies that changed the mood for you? Please share them with me!

Thank you for stopping by! Please feel free to friend me on social media. I love talking about cats, coffee, books, and meeting new people. I hope you’ll stick around as my releases roll out this year. May you always find love in the end!

C.S. Poe

Bio:

C.S. Poe is an author of gay mystery and romance. She lives in New York City, but has called a host of different locations home in the past, most recently being Ibaraki, Japan. She has an affinity for all things cute and colorful. C.S. is an avid fan of coffee, reading, and cats, in no particular order. C.S. Poe can be followed on her website, www.cspoe.com, for more information.

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Dreamspinner Press: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/AuthorArcade/cs-poe

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/C.S.-Poe/e/B00YNHOV4W/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1452981229&sr=1-1