{"id":2606,"date":"2021-12-04T18:57:58","date_gmt":"2021-12-05T00:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/?p=2606"},"modified":"2021-12-04T18:57:58","modified_gmt":"2021-12-05T00:57:58","slug":"lx-commentary-23-so-much-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/lx-commentary-23-so-much-better\/","title":{"rendered":"LX Commentary #23: So Much Better"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

After reading the slapsticky, Monkees \/ SNL sketch inspired first draft, my longtime first reader \/ editorial voice of reason Jon Mack commented on sections that were “witty banter for the sake of witty banter.” It was fair criticism that got me thinking if there was a way to have witty banter with a purpose.<\/p>\r\n

I landed on an idea of two characters defeating a villain by annoying him to death, with earlier scenes planted like Chekhov’s non-sequiturs. Interesting in concept, but not the most flattering way to pay tribute to your favorite musician as the star of an album oriented fan fiction project. That fact bothered me for a few drafts\u2014especially when a release date was set and the project got real.<\/p>\r\n

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Writer’s block? All you need is love in the key of animals and the music from big pink.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

One day I sat on my couch, taking a break from recording a rough audiobook version Benji would listen to before giving his final approval. The full Benji Hughes catalogue was playing on shuffle. My eyes landed on a framed print of Nancy Prator Hollinghurst’s<\/a> watercolor portrait of Benji used for the\u00a0Songs in the Key of Animals<\/em> album cover. Beside it hung a lyrical Beatles quote exclaiming “All You Need Is Love.” On the stereo Benji sang about love. I wondered how many times the word\u00a0love<\/em><\/span> appeared on\u00a0A Love Extreme<\/em>. The little Songstress in my brain reminded me that the greatest songs were written about love. It took a real long time for me to figure out, but in that moment I understood the way the greatest songwriter you’ve never heard of defeats a music hating tyrant known as King Evilon is to WRITE A BUNCH OF AWESOME SONGS. DUH!!!!<\/p>\r\n

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Draft version of the back cover, with one lyric per chapter and Benji’s hair from the cover of A Love Extreme visible on the poorly edited L.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Invigorated, I dug up the draft versions of the lyrical collage from the back cover artwork. I also spelunked my archives of interviews to find quotes on Benji’s songwriting process. It only amounted to 4ish new paragraphs, but it made the climactic scene\u2014say it with me\u2014so much better.<\/p>\r\n

Another referential goal of this chapter was to have it overlap with All You’ve Got To Do Is Fall In Love<\/a> as a tribute to the time I saw\u00a0Benji Hughes try to play both “So Much Better” and “All You’ve Got To Do Is Fall In Love” simultaneously during his month-long Largo residency back in 2010. (With Jackson Browne singing<\/a> the former!)

As long as we had a card game (“You could end up winning all my money playing cards…<\/em>“) and an overlap with a previous chapter, I figured I might as well get cheeky with an overlap to a previous book.

“Seeing the maid of honor reminded me of the Hearts tournament” is the opening line to Chapter 13 of Timely Persuasion<\/em><\/a>. 13 years later it’s the second line to Chapter 23 of\u00a0L Extreme<\/em><\/a>. Originally included to amuse beta readers (and see if they were paying attention…), I decided to keep it after a couple of readers unfamiliar with TP dug “Stop me if you’ve heard this one before” as a chapter opener.<\/p>\r\n

To pay tribute to the overlapping live songs, the gang literally goes back to the scene at the end of All You’ve Got to Do<\/a>. They arrive just as that chapter ends, paying off the closing line that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense initially.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

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\u201cShe dreamed of the arrival of her knight, but slept through the arrival of a king and his army of card playing companions.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

Speaking of not making a whole lot of sense, on the surface this little time travel interlude sending everyone (including C & Frank!) back into Jessica’s body as inhabited by Heartman & Songstress is a head scratcher. Story-wise, it shows another aspect of how powerful Evilon’s magic is while providing another hint at the ending of the book hidden in plain sight. Hopefully it’s so much better when you figure it out…<\/p>\r\n

Tidbits:<\/p>\r\n