In less than sixteen hours I’m going to have that most fabled of things, CFT (Child Free Time) to crack on with the second book in the Little Somerby Series, Sweeter than Cider. I’m beyond excited, even though Bertie the Weimaraner will need to be walked off his paws first, so he’s amenable to being left while I relocate to the nearest coffee shop (probably this one) to think writerly thoughts. I’ll only get about three hours, but in the world of ‘Mother with two children aged five and under’ this is a positive holiday! I did actually do something sans sprogs on Saturday, as my last post detailed, but this dose of CFT sees me with no other responsibilities other than to GET THE BLOODY STRUCTURING SORTED (ahem!) for book #2, so I’m really looking forward to it!

In the meantime, to get myself in the mood for writing, I thought I’d do a post on songs I strongly associate with characters/settings from the Little Somerby Series. So, let’s see…who to start with? I guess it had better be the one and only Matthew Carter 😉

I’ve said, often, in person and on this blog, that Stevie Nicks’ Blue Denim IS Matthew’s theme song, despite his eye colour being wrong. But what are the other songs I associate with him? The first that springs to mind is Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ Stick With Me Baby. It’s not necessarily the veracity of the lyrics, but just the feel of it that screams to me that it’s his favourite song. I imagine him getting home after a long day at the site, settling down after a bad dinner from a takeaway with a glass of scotch and sticking this one onto the stereo (he’d still use his stacking hi-fi system, despite Meredith telling him he’s ‘so twentieth century, Dad!’), sinking into one of his wing backed armchairs and letting the music wash over him. ‘Raising Sand’ would totally be his favourite album, being a Led Zeppelin fan as a teenager :).

As far as songs that make me think of Matthew when I hear them, they range from Climie Fisher’s Love Changes Everything to Lawson’s Standing in the Dark. I can’t say too much about any others for fear of giving spoilers for Far From the Tree, but I do have a very strong mental image of Matthew striding across his orchards in time to this song…;)

Cliche? Yes. A powerful mental image? Definitely…

Time is against me so I’ll leave it there for tonight. Not a bad song to end on, I think!