Writers will sometimes use music to help set the mood of the scene they’re working on. I grew up enjoying a variety of music styles, but didn't come to appreciate country until a few years ago. This
Fortifying Friday, author Julie L.
Cannon shares how her own love of country music influenced her writing and
journey to publication. Enjoy!
~ Dawn
Jesus
and Mama Always Loved Me
by
Julie L. Cannon
Even
when the devil took control – Confederate Railroad. I love stories and
I love country music because it tells stories, and if I had to pick a theme
song for my stories, it would be that one. When I was in Nashville doing
research for my novel, Twang, I read
a quote by Conway Twitty that said, “A good country song takes a page out of
someone’s life, and puts it to music.” I believe the same is true for a good
novel.
Don’t ask me why I put “Jesus and Mama Always Loved Me” on
my I-pod, because neighbors probably think I’ve got a screw loose as they watch
me walking along Dogwood Hill, literally sloshing through puddles of my own
tears. I’ve listened to this song (story) a zillion times and it never fails to
come alive for me in vivid Technicolor every single time I hear it. As the song
begins, the protagonist may be a male teenager, but I am him. I feel his yearnings, his lust, his pain and his subsequent
remorse, then his wonder that someone could still love him despite everything.
My heart knows the veracity lacing those lyrics, especially the chorus. He and
I both strayed, and yet, when more than the usual feeble human love was needed,
there came a surge of supranormal love—the kind you get only from Jesus and
Mama.
I burst out into this world in 1962, and I grew up down
South, a land of red clay where it’s not uncommon to see roadside signs reading
‘Jesus and Tomatoes Coming Soon.’ My folks carried me to church every time the
doors were open, but I’m afraid the gospel did not take a hold. I did not
follow the narrow path. I went from fun to fun, not caring about a thing in
this world but Julie. I didn’t steal a car like the fellow in the song did, but
boy did I walk the wide road, and it took great tragedy, several in fact, for
me to hit that proverbial rock bottom (you can read about this in more detail
on my website under Blogs). When I did, it was a transcendent love that lifted
me. A love I endeavor to write about in each of my novels.
I think the key to making a story come alive is being
willing to rip a page from your own life. Donald Maass, writing guru, puts it
like this; “These novels change us because their authors are willing to draw
upon their deepest selves without flinching. They hold nothing back.”
When I began writing Twang,
I wanted to show how a wounded country music diva can use her pain to create
powerful songs that touch others’ lives. Not only do they change Jenny Cloud’s
audience, but they change her as well. I wanted to show how God can redeem the
seemingly unredeemable—the way He did in my life. If you like spiritually
daring stories, I hope you’ll check out Twang.
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| Click to reach Amazon. |
Julie L. Cannon
is the author of the award-winning Homegrown series, published by Simon &
Schuster and described as ‘Southern-fried soul food.’ Her novel I’ll Be Home for Christmas, Summerside Press, Sept. ‘10, made the CBA Bestseller
List as well as Nielsen’s Top 50 Inspirational Titles. Abingdon Press will
release Twang
in August 2012, and Scarlett Says in
October 2013. When she isn’t busy tending her tomato patch, Julie can be found
listening to country music or teaching memoir-writing workshops. She lives in
Watkinsville, Georgia. Visit her website at www.julielcannon.com and connect with
her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/julieLcannon
and on Twitter at JulieLCannon.
