Writing Music No One Will Hear
plus August Lane news and an exclusive playlist
August Lane News
There’s another Goodreads Giveaway for an early copy of August Lane that ends on June 18th.
On Wednesday, June 18th at 6 p.m. CT/7 p.m. ET, I’ll be joining
and Adrienne Gunn for a conversation about all things pop culture and romance. You can register to attend the conversation here. You’ll also be eligible to win a book bundle of all the books we’re releasing this summer.
August Lane was one of People Magazine’s Most Anticipated Summer Books! Myah Ariel also said the book “comes at a perfect time in the cultural zeitgeist,” in this roundup of anticipated romance novels, and Tara DeWitt gave me a compliment I plan to print and frame on my wall in her collection of 8 Sizzling Summer Romance Novels to Keep You Sweating All Season Long.
It was also named one of the 26 Best Summer Reads by Oprah Daily, a Best Summer Book by The Boston Globe, and included in this roundup of 8 "Spicy" Romance Books For The Steamiest Summer Reading In 2025 in Brit + Co
I was honored to be included in this lineup of powerhouse Black romance authors (Kennedy Ryan, Tia Williams, and Danielle Allen) in this excellent Refinery29 article: These Black Women Authors Are Reclaiming Romance—One Page At A Time.
August Lane is the Diverse Spine Summer Reading Series pick for August. If you order a copy from Loyalty Books, use code DSPINES15 to get 15% off their featured summer picks.
August Lane is also the September Friends and Fiction Book Club pick! I’ll be discussing the novel with them on Facebook Live on September 15th at 7 pm Eastern time.
Writing Book Music
June is Black Music History Month, and this year feels particularly significant. Beyoncé made history by winning Album of the Year and Best Country Album Grammys for Cowboy Carter (prompting them to split the country award into contemporary and traditional, because sometimes they don’t even want our rhythm). Kendrick Lamar just set a record for the highest-grossing rap concert ever. At a time when acknowledging our musical heritage has become a radical act, these stories matter more than ever.
In less than two months, I’ll release a book about two Black country singers finding their way back to each other via music writing sessions. I’m not a musician. I don’t play an instrument. And yet, I decided to write about it anyway, a decision I repeatedly kicked myself for making while drafting the novel.
My first few attempts to write lyrics were terrible. They were so bad that I told my editor to ignore them during her edits and treat them as placeholders. I watched YouTube videos about music theory, read memoirs from songwriters, and took a MasterClass from Alicia Keys. Nothing helped. Then I realized something that changed everything: I wasn't writing music. I was writing book songs.
Book songs aren’t meant to be heard; they’re meant to be read. If you’ve ever read the lyrics to your favorite song, you might be surprised by how simple they are. That’s because it’s meant to be heard alongside a very deliberate musical arrangement. My mistake when trying to write songs for my book was forgetting one of my fundamental rules about writing fiction. Write fiction. Not real life. Write a lie that feels like the truth in a way that’s meaningful and compelling. Write a song that is interesting to read.
Now you’re probably thinking, isn’t that a poem? Maybe. Sure. But I’m not a poet either. When you’re intimidated by a task, it often helps to frame it in a way you understand. So when you read the songs in August Lane, you’re still reading my prose. The sentences are in a different form. They rhyme at the end. But the way I approached writing each line was no different from how I developed narrative or dialogue.
Here’s an example. One of my favorite songs in the book is “Another Love Song,” the one Luke stole from August. Different lines from the song appear in the story, but the refrain “I just want to write a love song” appears the most often because a) that’s how refrains function in songs, b) I wanted evoke the ear worm feeling of a radio hit you encounter everywhere and c) it encapsulates the ultimate desire of both characters. These are two people who want to sing what they love and love who they love without pain, fear, or judgment. The entire song is quoted at the end of the book to demonstrate how the meaning changes over time: from a teenager’s initial attempts to talk about love, to Luke’s pining anthem, to something altogether different and hopeful by the end. This is an example of a song doing story work. And (hopefully) pulling that off is one of the things I’m most proud of about this book.
Making it Work
If you’re planning to write a music book and, like me, the thought of writing songs makes you break out in a cold sweat, here are a few tips that might help:
Song Maps by Simon Hawkins is a fantastic resource. If you're adding songs to your novel, this book will save you months of frustration. Jeff Tweedy's How to Write One Song helped me think about imagery and metaphor in ways that applied to all my writing, not just lyrics.
Focus on the rhythm rather than trying to come up with a melody. I always focus on sentence rhythm while I write, but this time I tapped them out on my desk to give them a bit more attention.
Study songs in the genre to understand common themes and structure. Country music often focuses on the past, second chances, regrets, and the desire to go home. I wrote with those themes in mind, but filtered it all through the voice of my characters.
To ensure the song is doing that story work I mentioned, I asked myself key questions as I was writing them: Who is the point of view character in this song? Where are they emotionally when they write it? What does it say about the story’s overall themes of love, redemption, and forgiveness?
I also recommend using placeholders during the first draft. Revision is where the magic happens. When I understand my characters and themes better, I can develop fictional art that fully serves the story.
The Music of August Lane
This summer brings a wave of music-focused romance novels, from Alicia Thompson's Never Been Shipped, Kristina Forest's The Love Lyric, and Myah Ariel's No Ordinary Love. I’ve read and loved all of these, so if you’d like to read more musical romances, I highly recommend all of them.
I created a playlist of songs that shaped August and Luke’s story while I was writing, and a few recent discoveries that capture their vibe perfectly. I’m so excited to share it exclusively with my newsletter readers. Even if you're not a huge country music fan, I hope something in this resonates with you.
Preorder Bonus: If you preorder August Lane in any format (hardback, ebook, or audiobook) you'll receive a free songbook with all four complete songs I wrote for the novel, plus behind-the-scenes bonuses about the writing process. Purchase your copy and upload proof of purchase at hachettebookgroup.com/preorder-august-lane. You can also order a signed copy at WordsWorth Books which will come with an exclusive art print.
What creative field have you struggled to capture in writing? Any recommendations for music books that manage to make you feel like you are sitting at a concert?
Catching up on this, but LOVE it. Centering rhythm, character, and theme when writing these lyrics seems so smart! I am so endlessly impressed by your craft diligence at whatever you do!
“Write fiction. Not real life.” a WERD... I want that embroidered on a pillow, tattooed on my wrist, and whispered into my ear by Maya Angelou every time I open a Word doc.
And bless you for admitting the lyrics were tragic at first, cuz you are very much an I-can't-believe-I got-this-Grammy-on-my first-try Girlie And it pisses the rest of us off 👏🏾