Book Releases

Holding On (Colorado High Country #6) —
The Colorado High Country series returns with Conrad and Kenzie's story.

A hero barely holding on…

Harrison Conrad returned to Scarlet Springs from Nepal, the sole survivor of a freak accident on Mt. Everest. Shattered and grieving for his friends, he vows never to climb again and retreats into a bottle of whiskey—until Kenzie Morgan shows up at his door with a tiny puppy asking for his help. He’s the last person in the world she should ask to foster this little furball. He’s barely capable of managing his own life right now, let alone caring for a helpless, adorable, fluffy puppy. But Conrad has always had a thing for Kenzie with her bright smile and sweet curves. One look into her pleading blue eyes, and he can’t say no.

The woman who won’t let him fall…

Kenzie Morgan’s life went to the dogs years ago. A successful search dog trainer and kennel owner, she gets her fill of adventure volunteering for the Rocky Mountain Search & Rescue Team. The only thing missing from her busy life is love. It’s not easy finding Mr. Right in a small mountain town, especially when she’s unwilling to date climbers. She long ago swore never again to fall for a guy who might one day leave her for a rock. When Conrad returns from a climbing trip haunted by the catastrophe that killed his best friend, Kenzie can see he’s hurting and wants to help. She just might have the perfect way to bring him back to the world of the living. But friendship quickly turns into something more—and now she’s risking her heart to heal his.

In ebook and soon in print!


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I grew up in Colorado at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, then lived in Denmark and traveled throughout Europe before coming back to Colorado. I have two adult sons, whom I cherish. I started my writing career as a columnist and investigative reporter and eventually became the first woman editor of two different papers. Along the way, my team and I won numerous state and several national awards, including the National Journalism Award for Public Service. In 2011, I was awarded the Keeper of the Flame Lifetime Achievement Award for Journalism. Now I write historical romance and contemporary romantic suspense.

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Tuesday, January 04, 2011

BREAKING POINT Playlist




Warm up your MP3 players and drag out those iTunes gift cards. Here’s the playlist for Breaking Point.

As I’ve said many times, I love music more than almost anything else. Music keeps me sane, but it’s also they key to my being able to focus and write. If the tone, lyrics or “feel” of a song puts me into the minds of my characters and the emotion of the story, then it becomes a valuable tool for me.

At one point, there were several other songs on it, so I’m limiting my post here to the songs that were special to this book. The fact that I turned to Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” to keep myself awake at 2 a.m. is really of no importance.

I have to say that Pandora helped a lot this time around. Having gotten so much writing mileage out of Nickelback (Hard Evidence) 3 Doors Down (Unlawful Contact) and Staind (Naked Edge), I created a playlist using the songs liked most as seeds, and ended up discovering some new artists and new music.

None of it is actually new but given how isolated I live most of the time, it was new to me.

Shinedown was a new-to-me band, and they had a few tunes that felt very Zach to me, especially “Breaking Inside” and the first few lines of “Call Me.” As the story developed “Easier to Run” by Linkin Park became my favorite. I fell in love with it.



For Natalie, “Bring Me to Life” was perfect. It almost seemed to have been written for her. That’s very kind of Evanescence, don’t you think?

There are a lot of tortured lyrics in these songs, and, listening to the playlist a few days ago, Benjy told me it was a bit on the “emo” side.

So here are the mainstays of my Breaking Point playlist, coded blue for Zach and pink for Natalie (how very original of me!). Perhaps they're all familiar to you. Perhaps there’s something new here that you will enjoy. If you want to try reading the book while having these tunes around, I’d love to know how it impacts your understanding of the story.

Now, pop in those earbuds and enjoy!


Breaking Inside (iTunes Session) — Shinedown, iTunes Session
Call Me (iTunes Session) — Shinedown, iTunes Session
If You Only Knew — Shinedown,
The Sound of Madness (Bonus Track Version) Pain (Main Version) — Three Days Grace, Pain (+ Acoustic)
Beautiful Day — Saving Abel,
Saving Abel
Drowning (Face Down) — Saving Abel,
Saving Abel
Learn My Lesson — Daughtry,
Leave This Town
Easier to Run — Linkin Park,
Meteora (Bonus Track Version)
I Will Not Bow — Breaking Benjamin,
Dear Agony
Bring Me to Life — Evanescence, Fallen
Broken (feat. Amy Lee)— Seether,
The Punisher (Original Soundtrack)

7 comments:

Aly said...

Love it! Most if these are already on my iPod thanks to my husband! I am primarily a country listener but he has broadened my horizons :) Love, love, love Shinedown!

Great list!!

Kara C said...

Thanks! LOVE a book's soundtrack. Some of these I put on my iPod last time you posted them, others are new. (blue and pink, huh? LOL)
BTW, my teen found the pics I sent you to cheer you up (J Hill and A O'Loughlin). He didn't want to hear me when I said they were NOT naked. He said he deleted them 'for my own good'. As if I can't find an endless supply here at MTM. Silly boy...

Definitely a kick-a$$ playlist. Anytime you have Shinedown, Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, Evanescence & Seether all in one place - you have my vote!

Debbie H said...

Excellent choices in music! Love them all!

I will start the man hunt for Connor. *BEG*

Hi, Aly — It's good to have someone who brings new kinds of music and other experiences in our lives, isn't it? Shinedown is a new-ish musical discovery for me, and I'm really loving them.

Hi, Kara — I didn't realize I'd posted these before, but then I have a very low-RAM brain. As for your son deleting those photos... Funny how boys want to protect their mothers, even if that means protecting them from themselves. Silly boys!

Hi, Alyssa — I'm so glad you enjoy the playlist. :-)

I like sharing them because I think it ads a dimension to the reading experience. Also, it gives us all a chance to share music. I really love every song/band on this list.

Hi, Debbie — How's the manhunt going? So glad you like the playlist! Thanks! :-)

Ronlyn said...

Hmmm...I thought I'd commented...how odd.
I LOVE Shinedown. They are awesome. I turn them on while I'm cooking. LOL.

Kristin said...

Love the selection! I think that's an intense list to go with what you've hinted will be a very intense book.

I just got a brand new laptop that I desperately needed today, and one of its big selling points was its JBL speakers and audio for premium sound. Looks like I'll be cranking a few of these songs on it tonight!

Getting so excited for Breaking Point!!!

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"I am an artist. I am here to live out loud."
—Emile Zola

"I am tomorrow, or some future day, what I establish today. I am today what I established yesterday or some previous day."
—James Joyce

"Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery."
—Jane Austen

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—Ernest Hemingway

"When I write, I feel like an armless, legless man with a crayon in his mouth."
—Kurt Vonnegut

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—Toni Morrison

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—Robert Frost.

"I'm a writer. I give the truth scope."
—the character of Chaucer in
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