Before He Was A Secret by Becky Wicks
(Starstruck #3 - can be read as a stand-alone)
Publication date: Feb 24 2015
Genres: New Adult, Romance
Publication date: Feb 24 2015
Genres: New Adult, Romance
Synopsis:
Another standalone Starstruck romance from the HarperCollins author who brought you Amazon #1 bestseller Before He Was Famous and Before He Was Gone
“What if we can’t choose
Every battle we win and lose
What if we decided years before, to live this life, to fight these wars
And all the dreams we ever thought were ours
Were written in the stars”
Waiting tables isn’t exactly what singer/songwriter Stephanie has in mind for her move to Nashville, but memories of the past and a case of writer’s block mean inspiration isn’t coming easy. When brooding pianist Conor Judge opens his mouth in a smoky bar he proves music can heal, and even help you re-write your story, but a history of his own means the one thing he starts to want most is always just out of reach. Stephanie.
Enter Travis Flynn – an upcoming star who won’t take no for an answer, and a record label intent on helping Stephanie shine, without Conor. As fame comes knocking as hard as the ghosts of their pasts, it soon becomes clear that no matter how hard you might fall in love, having the perfect songs doesn’t always mean perfect harmony.
“What if we can’t choose
Every battle we win and lose
What if we decided years before, to live this life, to fight these wars
And all the dreams we ever thought were ours
Were written in the stars”
Waiting tables isn’t exactly what singer/songwriter Stephanie has in mind for her move to Nashville, but memories of the past and a case of writer’s block mean inspiration isn’t coming easy. When brooding pianist Conor Judge opens his mouth in a smoky bar he proves music can heal, and even help you re-write your story, but a history of his own means the one thing he starts to want most is always just out of reach. Stephanie.
Enter Travis Flynn – an upcoming star who won’t take no for an answer, and a record label intent on helping Stephanie shine, without Conor. As fame comes knocking as hard as the ghosts of their pasts, it soon becomes clear that no matter how hard you might fall in love, having the perfect songs doesn’t always mean perfect harmony.
Purchase book 1: http://www.amazon.com/
Purchase book 2: http://www.amazon.com/
What music inspired you to write this book
Hey Cover Contessa, thanks so much for having me on the blog! Wow, music. Yes, there's a lot in this book as my characters Stephanie and Conor are both singer/songwriters on the up in Nashville. I had to write a lot of lyrics for this one, which was a challenge, but having a guitar at my side really helped. I actually finished a couple of the songs myself - maybe when I get a bit braver I'll put them on YouTube, lol!
I guess I've always listened to a lot of country music as my dad was in a country rock band when I was growing up! Dad gave me a guitar for my fifteenth birthday so with all those American country-riffs rolling through my teenage dreams I was Taylor Swift in a shell-suit. At least, I would've tried to be if YouTube had existed then. I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief that it didn't, quite frankly. Anyway, for Before He Was A Secret I listened to a lot of Brad Paisley. I love his song 'Perfect Storm' - he's basically saying this girl is a hurricane, whirling into his life and making it all crazy, but he loves that. To him she's the perfect storm.
Brett Eldredge inspired me a lot too. His voice makes me get that buzzy feeling in my tummy, like he's singing just to me. I pictured him as Conor, singing his song 'Mean to Me' to Stephanie on the guitar!
I also listened to the tunes from the show 'Nashville' while I writing this one, just to get me in the mood. Nashville started intriguing me so much as I wrote this that I literally moved here to be a part of the boom. I'm loving it so far, but it's not as glamorous as the TV show makes it out to be actually, and I haven't seen Avery and Juliet yet. Apparently The Bluebird is tough to get into these days, too, thanks to the show. I did see Deacon's house though, the other day!
Moving away from country, other music that inspired me while I wrote this was an artist called Lauren Aquilina - in particular a song called 'Sinners'. I thought it was really appropriate for Conor and Stephanie and the issues they face in making their relationship work. His father is so strict and regimental, and this is a great song about breaking free and not giving a crap about what people think of you. I listened to a lot of Joshua Radin and Matt Nathanson too. I absolutely love their voices. In fact, I made a playlist to go with the book featuring all these artists, which you can listen to here on my blog:
http://beckywicks.com/before-he-was-a-secret-starstruck-3-playlist/
I hope it inspires you as much as it did me. xx
Becky Wicks lives in Bali and scribbles books, and she’s mostly powered by coffee. Her first book in the Starstruck Series, Before He Was Famous recently reached #1 in Amazon’s Coming of Age and New Adult & College categories, and her three travel books, published by HarperCollins are online to make feet nice and itchy. Mostly though, she loves to write love stories. She blogs most days at beckywicks.com and always welcomes distractions on Twitter @bex_wicks. Especially if you have photos of cats.
Author links:
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Omg so cool I looove Nashville and I'm a huge country music fan so that show just has it all! I so want to visit Nashville someday and see some familiar sights!
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