April Lindner

Whatever else my new novel Love, Lucy is about--romance, Italy, finding your way in the world--it's also about music.  At the book's start, Lucy has given up her first love--musical theater--in exchange for parental approval and a backpacking trip through Europe.  Then when she meets Jesse Palladino, a New Jersey street musician busking his way through Italy, she starts to find her voice again. So of course there has to be a Love, Lucy playlist--the songs that might catch Lucy's ear in a Munich internet cafe or a boutique on the Via degli Strozzi.  Songs she listens to on her iPod on the overnight train from Munich to Florence.  Songs she revisits after returning home to Philadelphia, trying to recapture the thrill of her travels: Thanks to Ashley and Alexis of  With Her Nose Stuck In a Book  for inviting me to contribute Lucy's playlist, and this little riff on my song choices: *** When I graduated from college, my parents gave me...

Marc Scibilia at the Tin Angel in Philly Thanks to With Her Nose Stuck in a Book , one of my favorite blogs about Young Adult fiction.  Today they're featuring my guest blog post on writing about music--why I can't seem to stop doing it, and how my obsession shaped my second novel, Catherine . By the way, the guy at the top of this page is Marc Scibilia, a phenomenally talented singer songwriter who has opened for and recorded with another of my musical idols, Butch Walker .   One very cold night in February we went to see Marc play at the Tin Angel in Philly, and he was impressive from start to finish. Check out this video for a taste of his songwriting and performing skills:

Tuesday night, I saw Rocktober out with style.  My friend Diane and I went to TLA to see Butch Walker.  I was still giddy from Saturday night's Jesse Malin show, and it felt like a real indulgence--it probably was one--to see another show before the endorphins from the previous show had even ebbed. This was my second time seeing Butch.  He's a great musician and a versatile singer, and he's written some amazing songs, but I can't write honestly about him without starting from a single basic fact: his charisma.  No, that's not strong enough.  His magnetism.  I can't take my eyes off the guy.  He throws himself wholeheartedly into his shows--a trait that's a whole lot rarer than it should be--and hits all the emotional stops from sorrow to elation.   Diane and I got to the venue early so we could get in the front row, which turns out to be a fantastic place to see a Butch Walker show--I know, big surprise!--because he's so interactive ...