December 11, 2011

Soundtrack to A Kiss of a Different Color

As I write, I often envision my books as movies unfolding, and while I don't have the skills to compose a score (often the same refrain arranged differently to fit the mood of the particular scene), I do imagine existing music playing in the background. I'd like to share with you some of the music I heard as I wrote certain key scenes from my latest novel, A Kiss of a Different Color:  I hope you enjoy them!

In the scene where Jon shows Miranda his family's dance studio and puts on a song they waltz to, this is the song (Cassandra Wilson's cover of the classic standard Polka Dots and Moonbeams):




In the romantic scene where Jon and Miranda kiss in front of the fireplace in the shadow of his mother's Christmas tree, this dreamy original Christmas composition by jazz artist Michael Franks, My Present:



And finally, the movie performance Jon and Miranda adapt for their own performance in the dance school competition, from the movie The Band Wagon, Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse Dancing in the Dark.