Welcome to CentreStage!

CentreStage features fantastic authors from around the world. These authors might talk about their books, their writing, their lives or any other experience that takes their fancy. Every feature is unique in format and style, and today is no exception!

It is my enormous pleasure to welcome the amazing Jennifer M. Eaton today. Jennifer and I ‘met’ in the blogosphere and I love following her blog. She is so full of energy that it leaves me breathless, and her sense of humour is wicked. Today, she’s here to celebrate the launch of the For the Love of Christmas Anthology featuring her Christmas romance, Connect the Dots!

HUGE congratulations and… Take it away, Jennifer!

The Inspiration of Music ~ Where Does it Come From?

When do you listen to music?

My house is almost always filled with music.  My husband loves it, and grew up with a love of classical as well as contemporary styles.

Growing up, my house had very little music in it.  Music just wasn’t important in my parents’ lives.  Even radio was always “talk radio” when we were in the car.  It wasn’t until my friends started playing their radios that I started forming my own opinions on music. (Which ended up being main stream-pop.—what everyone else in my school was listening to.)

Now, while I still can’t get in to opera and some of the other stuff he listens to, I have “grown” in my musical tastes thanks to my husband.  I even find inspiration in the “mood” that music fuses into your psyche.

But “mood” can be a distraction as well as an asset.  For instance, while I write, I cannot listen to anything with WORDS in it.  Hearing someone else’s words distracts from the words flowing on my own page.

However, when I’m driving, I PREFER music with words.  Since I am normally alone when I drive, the words keep me company (and I don’t have to be embarrassed when I song along).

I know writers who ALWAYS listen to music when they write, which I find interesting, because I only turn on music when I need to drown out the noise (or talking) around me.  Otherwise, I prefer silence when I write my stories.  I’ve always wondered if I’d been bought up with music in my life, as my husband was, would I feel differently about that.

When do you listen to music?  Does music “contribute” to your life?

Wow, what a great post, Jen ~ thank you! Well, I’ll go first then in answering your question! 🙂 You already know how much music matters to me. I never listen to music while I write, whether it’s with or without words; I find that the mood I need when I write changes so quickly that music can’t keep up with it. However, when I do listen to music, lyrics matter; I find I can’t connect with the music if the lyrics don’t speak to me!

About Jennifer M Eaton and Her Work

Jennifer Eaton lives on the East Coast USA with her husband, three boys, and a pepped up poodle.  She hosts an interactive website  aimed at making all writers the best they can be. You can also find Jennifer on Twitter.

Her Dystopian novelette “Last Winter Red” is available as part of the “Make Believe” Anthology from J.Taylor Publishing.  Her Christmas Romance “Connect the Dots” is available as part of Still Moments Publishing’s “For the Love of Christmas” Anthology.  Both are available in ebook format from Amazon.com, Barnesandnooble.com and Smashwords.

You can find Make Believe on Amazon and Barnes & Noble right now!

And you can find Connect the Dots in the following places as of now:
SMP Library; SMP eBook Store; Smashwords

In search of a husband, Emily leaves the safety of the city and risks her life stepping into the outside world.  What she finds there will question the foundations of everything she believes in.

Connect the Dots

Jill has no idea what she wants for Christmas, but when it looks like her best friend Jack is going to get exactly what he asks for, Jill makes a Christmas wish that will change both of their lives forever.

Wow, awesome covers and I am thoroughly intrigued! Will be checking these anthologies out post-haste *scurries to grab Kindle*

Congratulations again, Jennifer, and over to you, folks: Tell us about your musical writing habits…