{"id":2237,"date":"2021-07-12T23:39:02","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T04:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/?p=2237"},"modified":"2021-11-22T22:07:01","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T04:07:01","slug":"lx-commentary-9-do-you-think-they-would-tell-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/lx-commentary-9-do-you-think-they-would-tell-you\/","title":{"rendered":"LX Commentary #9: Do You Think They Would Tell You?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

This wasn’t supposed to happen, but ultimately it became the embodiment of the epigraph at the front of L Extreme<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\r\n

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“Oh definitely. There is a theme there. I don’t want to say anything about it. Maybe it’s love. There is something that the whole thing’s all about.”
\u2014Benji Hughes, Artist Direct Interview<\/a>, October 2008<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

Little did I know it would also evolve into the linchpin of the whole story.<\/p>\r\n

“Do You Think They Would Tell You?” is my favorite song on A Love Extreme<\/em>. I procrastinated writing the L Extreme chapter because I wanted to do it justice and wasn’t sure on the right approach.<\/p>\r\n

Half of my 2014 NaNoWriMo sprint was spent on a European vacation to see the last ever Carter USM concert<\/a>. On the Chunnel train from Paris to London I opened my laptop and decided to give this a go. I had this inkling of an idea about a doctor with a microscope diagnosing the Jessica character with cancer, but it was a total bummer and not my style. On a whim, I scrapped that and wrote the most literal play by play of the song I possibly could.<\/p>\r\n

\"HintsA little woman lives in your brain. She wants to meet the man in your heart. She’s over all the ones in your feet. Scientists believe this is how love works…<\/em>

A few paragraphs in I remember thinking “Wow, here we go. I don’t know where this is going, but I really want to find out.” I finished the song and moved on to the next one. And the next one. I glanced at the track list, and knew this stylistic interlude had to carry through the rest of Side B, culminating with a massively epic “Girl in the Tower” to close it out. An embedded novella that’s such a 180 it causes the reader flip back a few pages to make sure it wasn’t a weird printing mix-up. (Note the hints on the paperback<\/a> spine…)

And that’s how “The Ballad of Heartman & Songstress” was born.<\/p>\r\n

Other tidbits:<\/p>\r\n