By: Sara Dailey
Soundtrack of my High
School Days
“Girls Just Want to have Fun” by the one and only Cyndi Lauper
“Built this Way” by Samantha Ronson
“What’s Up” by 4 Non Blondes
“The Dance” by Garth Brooks
“The One that Got Way” by Katy Perry
“Unanswered Prayers” by Garth Brooks
“Photograph” by Nickleback
Looking back, I realize what an uber-witch I was, and often find myself thinking “What’s Up” with that. But, there is one good thing that came out of it; it’s easy for me to tap into that mean girl persona when writing YA, and the same goes for the female protagonist, as well, because beneath my mean girl exterior, there was a good person hiding in the shadows. If I could go back and change things, I don’t think I would. A wise country singer once sang, “Our lives are better left to chance. I could have missed the pain, but I'd of had to miss the dance.” “The Dance” made me who I am today. I’ve loved and lost, had my heart smashed into a million pieces, not only by a very close friend, but by “The One That Got Away” too. However, I ‘m thankful for those “Unanswered Prayers” because they led me straight into the arms of my husband, who I’m so lucky to have met. I haven’t kept in contact with many of my high school friends, so I’d say the song that resonates most with me when I think back to those days is “Photograph” by Nickleback:
Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye.
Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye.
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye.
Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye.
By:
Staci Weber
I had a somewhat unique high school
experience. I went to an all-girl’s
private school, but before you freak out, let me just say it wasn’t as bad as
it sounds, and boys were never too far away.
I absolutely loved my time in high school. I had a great group of friends, who all loved
to have fun. One of my fondest memories
is of a bunch of us girls cruising up and down Westheimer in Houston blaring
Dr. Dre’s “Nothin’ but a ‘G’ Thang.”
When I look back at pictures from my teen
years, I hardly recognize myself. I’m
definitely not the same person, but that is what high school is all about. It’s about changing, finding out who we
really are, and what we are all about.
We have to make mistakes, get into a little trouble, and date the wrong
guys. That’s just part of growing
up. All of those mistakes made me who I
am today. Today, I am married to the man
of my dreams, the mom of two gorgeous girls, a teacher, and a writer. At 17, I would have died if you told me that
one day I would be a SUV-driving soccer mom, but today, I love it. I do have one thing is common with my high
school self. I still love to jam out to
a little Dr. Dre when I’m driving. I
just have to ignore the dirty looks from my kids in the back seat.
Questions
for readers - What is the first
song you think of when you think back to your high school days? For those of you who may still be in high
school, what song do you think will remind you of your high school days 10
years from now?
Pack of Lies by Sara
Dailey and Staci Weber –
Contact – To learn more about Sara Dailey, Staci Weber, and their YA
paranormal novels, Pack of Lies and Sinful, visit their website and blog at
–
You can also on “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter
at -
6 comments:
When I think of High School - the theme from the Breakfast Club starts rolling in my head. Don't you...forget about me.
Thanks again for a great post Sara and Staci. Pack of Lies sounds great!
Hi Staci and Sara!
Your book sounds amazing! I can't wait to read it.
We should chat...since Ms. Carey Corp is my writing partner and I can tell you two are as different as we are. ;o) Carey and I have a way of balancing each other out - Is that how the two of you are?
Thanks stopping by and sharing your soundtracks with us!
What an interesting and entertaining post! It takes a lot of personal growth and maturity to admit that you were the Original Mean Girl, Sara. :-) It must really help your writing to be able to see things from both points of view! I also find it interesting that you wouldn't change a thing. I don't even like country music, but those two Garth Brooks songs rank among my favorites.
Staci, you are too right. All of our experiences (the good and the bad) make us into the people we are. Most of us have dated the wrong guys. And LOL at the SUV-driving soccer mom! I take it another step further. I drive a mini-van. :-)
Your book sounds great! I know Carey and Lorie work together on their book Doon, but how do you two collaborate on your books? Do each of you take different chapters or different character POVs?
I can't wait to read them!
Thanks for coming by!
Thanks again Carey for having us on y'alls blog. This was a fun post to write. Yes, being a recovering mean girl does give me a different perspective when writing YA. And I wouldn't go back and change who I was in my HS days because it really did make me who I am today. I learned a lot; mainly that some of my "friends" weren't true friends. There were far too many secrets and lies, like finding out that my boyfriend of 3 years was cheating on me with my BFF. Lovely, right! Getting away from that crowd allowed me to find the "real" me, and I like her much better.
Lorie, I think Staci and I balance each other out too. Working together has been kind of a trial and error type thing. Now, we plot out the story together, and once we get a few chapters in, we write our own chapters and then get together to make sure everything is flowing. Luckily, this series is written in different POVs so it lends itself to having different voices. Staci typically writes the male POVs, and I write the female POVs. We do try to meet once a week to write together so that we make time to write. Life kind of gets in the way sometimes, so it's nice to have a partner to hold you accountable.
~Sara
Welcome, Sara and Staci! Great post!
I'd always assumed I was a nice girl in high school, but I recently read some comments I'd made in a friend's yearbook that have me reconsidering who I was back then. Maybe I was more of an ass than I thought.
Hey Melissa, me too! It took a bit of hindsight to realize what an ass I was. And an old friend from elementary school (that I blew off in HS) telling me not too long ago how horrible I was back then :)
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