After a hectic spring, I decided I didn’t feel like taking on a summer writing challenge, like Camp NaNoWriMo or Actually Finishing Something [in] July, as much fun as they would have been in other circumstances. I’m just not up to pressure, especially self-pressure (which is one of my weaknesses anyway). Anyway, I spent a little while waffling between three different projects, and I’ve finally decided to re-edit Corral Nocturne, my last year’s project from Actually Finishing Something. I’d had vague ideas about editing it for a while. But reading Five Glass Slippers (which was excellent, by the way; my review here) gave me some much clearer ideas about what it was lacking and how I might improve it.There’s definitely a distinct musical mood to this story, so once again I have a small playlist that I listen to when I need to get in the mood for working on it. I thought it’d be fun to share it the way I did for The Summer Country. You’ll notice there’s much more of a thematic connection between music and story this time. One piece, obviously, provided both mood and a title. The first and last tunes are featured in the story itself; “Cathy’s Theme” is the only one that really has no connection beyond being gorgeously romantic:
- “After the Ball” by the Romantic Strings Orchestra
- “Corral Nocturne” from Rodeo by Aaron Copland
- “Cathy’s Theme” from Wuthering Heights by Alfred Newman (I have the City of Prague Philharmonic recording, but this one’s gorgeous too).
- “It’s a Grand Night For Singing” from State Fair, by Richard Hayman and His Orchestra
- “At the Old Barn Dance” by the Sons of the Pioneers
- “Saturday Night Waltz” from Rodeo by Aaron Copland
- “Sunset” from the Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofé
- “Night Falls on the Prairie” by the Sons of the Pioneers
- “The Buggy Ride” from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1986) by William Perry
- “Night Shadows” by Roy Webb, from a Wagon Train episode
- “Golden Slippers” – this recording by Cliffie Stone and His Square Dance Band