My Top Ten Obsession Songs

We’ve always been obsessed with best of type list, think Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. However, the advent of the internet, YouTube, Facebook, etc. It has been taken to incredible new heights (lows?). I know this because I’ve been court up in the obsession myself. Far too many hours watching top 10s on YouTube. In particular, top 10 song lists. As I watched all these lists (when I should have been writing) I thought of some that haven’t been covered, as far as I know.

So, here is my Top 10 Obsession Songs, specifically songs that reflect one person with an obsession over another person.

10 Something https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo1tCCKOiX4 I’ll most like have a Beatle’s song in all my top 10 song list, if I do any more, simply because I love the Beatles. However, Something fits well here. Its expresses the obsession of new love, how when you first fall for someone they take over your life, it’s all you can think about. True, but often short lived, obsession.

9 Jessie’s girl http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2T7wKdQsTo This song is grass is greener obsession. Showing an all-consuming desire for someone you cannot have. Rick Springfield looked like a typical pop singer, but he wasn’t. There was a real dark side to his music and Jessie’s Girl is a prime example. It almost tips over into stalker territory, but that goes to the next song.

8 Happy together https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZEURntrQOg This is a genuine stalker song. I have visions of a wall covered with a girls face and lit candles everywhere when listening to this song by the Turtles.

7 All I want is you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et6epq5fslg The message of this U@ song is simple. You want all this other stuff, all I want is you. Pure obsession.

6 Don’t stand so close to me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zp3LPRzuXo The Police are obsession song specialist with any number of songs reflecting theme. There were two other of their songs I seriously considered for this list, but this one is really the only choice in the end. It embodies one of the most dark and tragic types for obsession. Forbidden fruit, earnestly desiring what you truly cannot/should not have.

  

5 Ain’t no sunshine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIdIqbv7SPo Bill Withers really misses this she. When she’s not there it’s all he can think about in this song, genuine obsession.

4 Nothing compares to you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUiTQvT0W_0 This one perfectly shows the obsessive power of love lost. Sinead O’Conner expresses it perfectly.

3 Unchained melody http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrK5u5W8afc Every single word in this song by Righteous Brothers oozes obsession. This is unconditional love taken to the extreme.  And it is beautiful.

2 Total control http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yirPs_X8uRM The main line of this Motels song says it all, ‘I’ll sell my sole for total control over you.’ It would be the ultimate obsession song but for the next one.

1 Pissing in the river http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhDJZm_HyXY Patty Smith writes poetry to music. A really special kind of poetry, poetry I actually like! The way she combines words and music is just incredible in its raw intensity. In Pissing in the River she gives the ultimate voice to obsession. While Martha is will to sell her soul for the object of her desires, Patty lets it everything has pure out leaving herself completely empty. I’d quote some lyrics, but what you need to do is follow the link and read them as you listen to the song.

There were a lot of songs that could have gone on this list, I just kept thinking of more all the time. So below is a list of some that I considered, but didn’t make the top 10.

Please let me know if there is any songs that you think I should have included.

She’s not there http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpS7mpskf18

Angie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAWRKjEZ-j4

Alison http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26oiwG8WJ6A

Forever autumn http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ7yfHuMFEc

I got you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv6oOxn1axw  

I see red http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKj4upY1VYI

Roxanne http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2Qad-gaHMg 

Every little thing she does is magic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aENX1Sf3fgQ

Sweet child of mine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-AYAv0IoWI

The first time ever I saw your face http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id_UYLPSn6U

Candy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bLOjmY--TA

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Monday Writing Journal: Rebooting the Reboot

Hi,

My reboot hasn't really worked, so I'm starting again. I just didn't keep it up, I've only got myself to blame.

Anyway, I've got some goals. Here they are.

1. Complete a major edit on my short story, 'Bounty', by next Monday, 16th of June.

2. Finish writing my short story, 'Ved' by the 23rd of June.

3. Finish writing my short story, 'Jacq' by the end of July.

4. Finish a complete second draft of my novel, 'Lonely Susan' by the end of September.

I'm going to keep doing these Monday Journals and do a tweet whenever I've done something. Let's see how I go!

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A Blank Page

When I started going through the first draft of my novel, ‘Lonely Susan’ I got stuck my protagonist’s first appearance. The first time your main character appears is fairly important (just to understate things) and I knew that Susan’s first showing just wasn’t good enough. However, I just couldn’t come up with anything better.

I sat at the computer for, what seemed like, hours with the section of the story before me, I would go to write something, then just stop not happy with what I was about to write. I tried leaving it for a week or so, but the result was just the same. I didn’t matter how hard I tried, I just could not edit what was there in front of me.

It’s just one paragraph, a few sentences, but I could not get anywhere with trying to change what I wrote. Then thought came to me, don’t try and change anything, just wright it all over again. So that is what I decided to do.

Starting with a blank page, I just wrote the little scene again from scratch.

Here is the original:

He gazed down at the most beautiful face he had ever seen. Instead of rotting bones, a young lady lay in the box as though dreaming. She had shoulder length red hair and wore a snuggly fitting jumpsuit. Rod could have stared forever at the vision that lay before him, had it not been for his father.

 Here is the new version:

Rod hesitated as he looked down, expecting a rotted corpse. Instead he gazed upon a smooth face of almost pure white skin belonging to a young woman what seemed to be peacefully asleep. Her closed eyes had long lashes, and thick red browse start against the light skin that surrounded them. Her nose was long and straight with a sprinkling of freckles, her mouth wide with pastel lips. She had thick red hair that was pulled back into a pony tail that was swathed over her right shoulder. Rod felt he could just stare at her face forever.

I think it worked!

Let me know what you think.

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Monday Writing Journal: disapointment

The reboot of my writing has been a disappointment so far. However, I only have myself to blame for it.

So, what did I actually do?

Wrote a couple of hundred words for my major procrastination short story 'Ved'. The whole story is in there (in my head), but it just doesn't want to come out. It's shy for some reason.

Started and wrote a couple of hundred words for a story titled 'Jacq'. This is the origin story the Demon Slayer, 'Jacq' who appeared in my story in 'In Fabula-divino' titled 'Crossroads'. I've had the story in my mind for a while, and have now been inspired to write it for the 'Hear Me Roar' Anthology over at Ticonderoga.

I've also submitted 'Radar Love' again.

Disappointing, this week I must do better.

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Monday Writing journal: Reboot.

Hi,
At the start of this year I determined to finish the first draft of my first novel. To do this I created a set of goals and a progress report system. Since successfully finishing that first draft I've done mostly nothing.

So, it's time for a reboot.

I'm going to take what I did with the novel and apply it to my writing in general. What this means is that I'm planning to do a weekly writing journal blog each Monday, and a daily tweet up date. I hope this works.

The main idea is to make me accountable to me through this process of reports. I'll make myself do something reportable to meet the obligation to making the reports. If others (anyone reading this) want to follow along, it's a bonus.

I was going to finish with some comment about if I fail, but I'm not going to because I'm not going to fail.

In the coming weeks my tweet reports will be outlining what writing I am planning to do. It will be #rickswriting.

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Book Review: Aurora: Pegasus

This is the second book in Amanda Bridgeman’s Aurora Series and picks up the story where book one, Aurora: Darwin, left off. Where Aurora: Darwin was good, Aurora: Pegasus is better, mostly.

Amanda has developed as a writer from book one to book two. From the beginning the story telling feels tighter and cleaner. She builds more depth into her established characters and introduces the new ones seamlessly. She builds great tension, writes good action scenes and has well written plot twists. The old antagonist returns with a new depth and greater agenda. The story’s main conflict is played out and resolved in such a way that leaves the reader both satisfied and wanting more.

Sadly, the book does not concluded well, unlike book one. In book one the aftermath of the main conflict between the crew of the Aurora and their enemies on the Darwin was well handled and the book maintained a good pace and tone right to the end. However, I found the last section of Pegasus a bit of a plod. It felt to me like it was just marking time or just padding out the book so it was a certain length. I kept wondering if something else was going to happen, but it didn’t.

Aurora: Pegasus is still a great book. I spent most of the book thinking this is better than the first, which I loved.

This is a series worth getting into. Book three, Aurora: Meriden, is due out on the 11 of September. I recommend that you buy and read books one and two to be ready for book three. I’m certain this series is only going to get better.

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Positive Rejections

I've just received another short story submission rejection. So it's now two rejections and one acceptance out of the four submissions I've recently made. One out for three is not to bad and if it becomes two out of four (50% success) I'll be very happy.

Although I am getting a fairly large number of rejections, there is a positive spin to them. Most of my rejections this year have come with a please submit again comment of some kind.

Here are some examples of what I mean:

• I appreciate your interest in our Magazine* and hope that you'll keep us in mind in the future.
• We hope you continue to submit to our Magazine* in future and I wish you all the best with your publishing endeavours.
• We encourage you to submit to our Magazine* again.
• Thanks again for submitting to us, and we hope to hear from you in the future.
• In any case I hope you'll consider subbing again because your story was head and shoulders above a lot of other submissions.
• Please feel free to submit other work in the future.

I've been told, and believe, that editors/publishers usually mean it when they say please try again. So, the fact that I'm getting a lot of these must mean that I'm on the right track. All I've got to do now is right the stories so I can submit them.

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*I've taken out the name of the magazine.