country music | Mary J. McCoy-Dressel ~ Contemporary Romance

Tag: country music

Day 28 Bloganuary: Gravelly Voices

Posted at 6:33 pm by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on January 28, 2022

What is on your music playlist right now?

What is on all of my playlists? Country is my preferred genre. If I had music on now, it’d be Clay Walker since he heads my Pandora playlist. The reason I chose him is because I like to hear voices similar to his. I added an “s” to playlist because I have different playlists for different reasons and moods. Don’t a lot of us listen to a variety of music? For part of last month, I listened to Christmas music.

Gravelly, crackling voices like Chris Stapleton, Dierks Bentley, and Gary Allan send a shiver down my spine in a good way. Others on the list are George Strait, Brett Young, Luke Bryan, *Jimmy Wayne, and last but not least Alan Jackson, my all-time favorite male country singer.

You’ll find Carly Pearce, Miranda, Mickey Guyton, Maren Morris plus a lot of female country singers from my past, like Patty Loveless, Dolly Parton, and Reba McEntire, to name a few.

One of my favorites by Dierks Bentley called “Five.”

For quiet moods I like Pavarotti, Vittorio Grigolo, and Andrea Andrea Bocelli.

Bob Seger will always be a favorite, as will Adele, Jennifer Lopez, Diana Ross, Enya, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, and more. These days I listen to music more in my car than at home. It used to be I could listen while writing, but now I prefer no music unless it’s at a low volume in the background.

This prompt makes me want to turn on my music and relax. Maybe this weekend. How about you? Are you listening to music right now?

Have a nice weekend! Thanks for dropping in. ~MJ

*Remember Jimmy Wayne from Dancing with the Stars?

Featured Image courtesy of Pexels

Posted in #AmReading, #AmWriting, Bloganuary | 0 Comments | Tagged Bloganuary, BloganuaryDay28, country music, Country Music Playlists, daily-prompt, Mary J McCoy-Dressel
#AmWriting Swaying With The Tunes #MFRWauthor

Posted at 6:11 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on February 22, 2019

Week 8:

What music, if any, do you prefer to write by?

Here we are at Week Eight in our #MFRWauthor 52-Week Blog Challenge and a new topic.

It used to be, I could sit down and write to music without a problem. It’s different now. Music becomes a distraction in certain phases of writing a book—like the first draft or working on big edits where I might have to concentrate. However, I can have it on low in the background without being bothered a lot of the time.

Is it because I’m getting older, or is it because I have so much going on in my head at the same time?

I used to love listening to music while writing my drafts. I miss it. Maybe I should try again. I have the perfect opportunity since I’m writing a first draft now while another finished draft sits to gel before revisions.

I’m not a one-kind-of-music gal, but my priority and first choices are country, again.

The Bull Rider Series brought me back to country music after being away for years while I listened to easy or soft rock in the interim. I gave up country music for a time. I’ll never again give up my kind of music for someone else.

I’m fickle with what I listen to when writing. My mood, a character, or a scene determines what I listen to.

The gentle rhythmic sway of Enya’s music allows my muse to do her thing and words to flow in writing love scenes.

Sometimes soft rock still works for me.

I’ve said this in previous posts, but while writing my Italian heroine, I listened to opera and discovered Vittorio Grigolo. I fell in love with his voice. My heroine’s favorite Italian tenor became mine. This led me to going to operas and Phantom of the Opera. Yeeha!

While writing Christmas stories, I listen to Christmas music. Do you? In another Christmas novel, I added Oldies to my playlist because it was my heroine’s favorite. It helps set the scene.

While writing, Roxanne, my dancer, I listened to Latin music and found some sexy dance videos.

This proves how fickle I am with music while writing. Guess what? I have country music playing in the background right now on my Pandora playlist—Clay Walker.

For newcomers to my blog, this is a blog hop. Let’s see what the other authors have to say about music and writing by clicking HERE or the image below.

Enjoy your weekend. Didn’t I write that like yesterday instead of a week ago?

Posted in #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, 52-week blog challenge | 10 Comments | Tagged #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, #WritersLife, country music, Marketing for Romance Writers 52-Week Blog Challenge, mary j mccoy dressel, Swaying with the tunes

#MFRWauthor Guilty or Not Guilty (Pleasures)

Posted at 7:32 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on March 10, 2017

Mary J McCoy-Dressel, western romance, Pixabay, guilty pleasures blog post

Guilty Pleasures

Here we are at Week 10 in the 52-Week Blog Hop Challenge via Marketing For Romance Writers Blog. I wrote this last week so I didn’t miss 7 Guilty Pleasures. Oh, boy! Seven of them? Only seven? Haha. I’m not real good at this keeping-up-weekly thing, but I will get in what I can. I’m keeping this to a G Rating for public viewing, but that isn’t the rating for my private guilty pleasures.

Does it go without saying? Other than cowboys >>Chocolate would be #1. I’m fine if I stay away from it, but one bite ignites the craving. It’s true, I’ve already lost the battle with one bite. Add caramel to it and I’m your slave. > (Don’t get any ideas, I’m joking.)

Netflix. If you take it away, I’ll probably read more than I usually do.
Pringles Original!
Pedicure, though you wouldn’t know it right now. It’s time. TMI?

Country music. Kip Moore. Dierks Bentley’s scratchy voice tears me to pieces in such a good way. OMG >>> Undone by Joe Nichols makes me want to crawl into one of my books and jump a cowboy. Never mind which one. I have chills thinking about this song because it gets me “undone.” “I want you so bad, baby, you know how to make me come…undone.” Wrecking Ball by Eric Church >>>See “Undone.”<<< LOL ❤

This will be a good time to fit in Wrangler butts.
Bacon. What? Who me?
Guys driving a badass pickup truck.
My upcoming cover model’s deep voice and sexy accent when he does Facebook Live. I can even hear the sexy in his tone in a FB message. M’bad. I’ll be so embarrassed when the cover is revealed and everyone finds out who he is.

Okay, here are eight guilty pleasures instead of seven unless you count the country music section, where I really went overboard. Do I have to admit I have more? Okay, okay, late night snacking. Stouffer’s Mac and cheese. I’m done. (FYI: I do eat right most of the time.)

Thank you so much for visiting, but remember… This is a Blog Hop. Please visit the other blogs. I’ll be checking your blogs throughout the week.

1. My (Sort of) Guilty Pleasures – #MFRWauthor	2. Guilty Pleasure – Who Says?
3. My Not-so-Guilty Pleasures	4. Sara Watler Ellwood: My Gulty Pleasures
5. Can Pleasures Be Guiltless? Absolutely	6. My own 7 Heaven
7. It’s Good To Indulge	8. What are Your Guilty Pleasures?
9. A Few Guilty Pleasures	10. A writer’s to-don’t list
11. Seven Guilty Pleasures	12. Sexy Erotic Romances by Peyton Brittany Clarke
13. Seven Guilty Pleasures – A Writer’s To-Do List	14. 7 Guilty Pleasures
15. Inquiring MInds Want To Know. . . .	16. Guilty Pleasures-Food, Drink, and Luxury
17. Seven Not So Guilty Pleasures	18. 7 Guilty Pleasures or are they deadly sins?
19. Want To Make Something Of It?	20. Guilty or Not Guilty (Pleasures)
21. Shhh. . . Don’t Tell a Soul

Image credits: Pixabay

Posted in #AmWriting, #MFRWauthor, #WritersLife, 52-week blog challenge | 9 Comments | Tagged #MFRWauthor, 52-week blog hop challenge, chocolate, country music, cowboy, Guilty or Not Guilty Pleasures, guilty pleasures, Mary J McCoy-Dressel, Pedicure, series romance, That Is, western romance

Tuesday Inspiration for the Muse: Melodies #2

Posted at 9:07 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on January 5, 2016

Monday Inspiration for the Muse has been changed to Tuesday Inspiration for the Muse.

We all know I love writing western romance. Duh! I also love fictional and real, rowdy cowboys. Here’s a few other examples of what inspires my muse. Oh, and what inspires me, too! ❤

Long-haired bikers in leather make me wanna be bad.

I listen to country music and classic rock. While writing Whispers of Forever, I listened to Oldies because it was my heroine’s favorite music.

Well, this will be a shocker… I also love Vittorio Grigolo an Italian tenor. Did I mention that I love so many things Italian? Food. Music. Language. The people… Prosecco. Chianti. Vittorio’s voice is inspiring depending on what I’m writing. Since he’s my favorite tenor, I had to give him to my Italian heroine—Velia in the Bull Rider Series to be her favorite too. I recently came across this video on You Tube. It’s long and takes some time to listen to, but if you like this kind of music, it’s worth a listen. If you don’t get past the first song, it’s still worth it. You can see in his face how much he loves his music.

With all the rowdy cowboys & bikers I like to dream about, and the rock and roll & country music I listen to, sometimes I need “calm.” This is one of the “calms.”

Enjoy today’s melody: “…Recorded at Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli, Italy”

Posted in #AmWriting, Tuesday Inspiration for the Muse | 13 Comments | Tagged #westernRomance, Arizona, biker boys, country music, cowboy, Italian tenor, Mary J McCoy Dressel Books, rock and roll, romance series, romance writer, Tuesday Inspiration for the Muse: Melodies #2
Monday Tunes of Inspiration?

Posted at 11:53 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on October 5, 2015
I have my caffeine. How about you? Happy Monday!

I’m trying to blog more often, so I’m brainstorming some themes. This could be #1. Let’s see how that works out for me. 🙂

I love music and it has always been an inspiration to me. Some days I will post a song from a playlist–book related, personal, or music that has stuck with me for some reason or another. .

Concerning my playlists for my books: When I listen to one of the songs now, I’m taken back to the scenes where I played that tune. It makes me all warm inside, depending on the scene. I realize this is more important to me than you, but if you like music in general, come along for a listen.

A lot of you might not like Country Music…
- How many of you did I just lose over saying “country music”? Not too many years ago, I had turned away from listening to it, so I get it if it isn’t something you like. I rediscovered how much I loved it about four years ago.
I promise, all songs won’t be country. All of them won’t be book related or from my personal list. My heroine in the Bull Rider Series is Italian, so if I play a song from that series, it’s a good chance you’ll hear her favorite tenor. (And mine)

I’ve decided to call Monday: Monday_______? I haven’t decided yet.
- Playlist Monday
- Monday Tunes
- Get Your Foot-Tapping Monday
- Tune Time Monday
- ???
“Playlist” Monday won’t work because at times I will choose a video that isn’t from my playlist. I’m unsure of “Foot-Tapping Monday” too. Maybe a song won’t be one you will tap your foot to. Some songs on my playlists are slow and endearing. On the other hand, many are worthy of a good foot-tapping.

As I’m brainstorming out loud here with you, I realize I might not always post a song. Maybe it’ll be a picture that inspires me. It could inspire you too. Did I just come up with a theme? Inspiration Monday? Hmm… Time will tell. In truth, something that inspires me, might not inspire you. So, we’ll scratch that title. This is as hard as trying to find a book title.

UPDATE: This theme is now called Tuesday Inspiration for the Muse. Since I’m on a short blog break while I move and get a book ready to publish, you won’t find many updates. More will be coming soon.

Since today is my first _______ Monday, I’m choosing one of my current favorite videos. I also have this song on my own MP3 playlist, so I can listen anytime I choose. This isn’t country. I first came across this singer while watching The Voice where he was a guest, and I looked it up immediately, only to find this official video.

The choreography in this dance blows me away. It evokes a feeling of sensuality, seduction, and love. The male dancer is actually the singer of this song. He’s one of today’s popular singers. Here’s a link for a Behind the Scenes look at how this was done. Creative minds amaze me. He had a vision to be in his own video as a dancer, and he made it happen. The female dancer is extraordinary, in my opinion. Enlarging this video makes it even better.

If this video / ?? Monday concept is something of interest to you, follow my blog or stop by another week to see what I come up with for our listening/ watching pleasure. This might be a bi-weekly type of theme topic.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed the dance. Look around. Maybe you’ll find something else you like.

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Posted in #AmWriting | 9 Comments | Tagged blog, books, bull rider series, contemporary western romance, country music, cowboys, mary j mccoy dressel, Monday, Monday Blog, music, Playlists

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