music – SH Burgess

Influenced While Writing

I was finishing up a meeting today when a friend called to break the news about Linkin Park front man, Chester Bennington. I hadn’t received any notification via CNN or ABC News on my phone and when I went to their webpages all I saw was news concerning the upcoming release of OJ Simpson. I had to run to another meeting so I hung up the phone and continued my search for news about Chester. All it took was a quick visit to Twitter and there it was, a tweet from Mike Shinoda letting everyone it was real news.

I’m not a die hard fan of Linkin Park but I did see them during their Carnivores tour and I’ve bought almost every album. Honestly, I knew them as the band where the lead guy screamed the lyrics and I couldn’t fathom why anyone would want to be screamed at for a long period of time. After my own small identity crisis (that can be more for a later time) I started listening to Fort Minor which led me to Linkin Park (thanks Mike Shinoda), right in time for Minutes to Midnight. It’s not everyone’s favorite but it definitely sealed my love for LP.

I was excited with LP’s latest release, even if it has a strange, sad undertone. Heavy was released first and I wondered what would cause such dark struggle. My depressed characters gravitated towards it and also wanted to push it away, there was something which hit deep for them and their own internal mind games. And then, when their tour was announced I was thrilled to buy tickets and see them at Citi Field. And now, everything changes.

This song was my ringtone for a long time, it wasn’t that I was depressed or thinking about loss, I just thought it was beautiful. Now, it’s fitting.

“And the shadow of the day
Will embrace the world in gray
And the sun will set for you”

Thanks, Chester and Linkin Park, for the lyrics and for being an influence on my writing. Rest in Peace.

Shadow of the Day – Linkin Park

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Music Monday

Kodaline - Brother

Thanks, Kodaline, for giving me all the feels this morning as I commuted to work. I’ve been thinking about some of the characters I’ve had hanging around for forever, you know the ones you can never quit, and this song popped on. It was perfect. It matched the sad and regretful emotion I’ve had hanging on to them and neglecting their story but solidified my love for them. They’ll always be my first character loves and they’ll always have each other, no matter the circumstances. I listened to this song, on repeat, and felt it drum through my heart. Lots of creativity and less yelling at cars, lol. I imagined whole scenes and I can’t wait to pop open my laptop and capture them

Brother – Kodaline

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Just a Smidge About Me

It’s Writer Wednesday. Since everyone has been nice enough to read the first couple of posts where I have shared some embarrassing facts about myself, I thought I’d share a little more about me. So, who is SH Burgess? Well, read on.

Imagine your favorite coffee shop, breathe in the smells of the freshly brewed coffee and the music being piped over the speakers on some unique-to-the-coffee-shop station. There is the typical amount of chatter in the room as people take conference calls, squirm in the faux leather chair or squeak their metal chair across the floor to peer closer into their phone or laptop. You observe from your corner of the room an average-height female, yoga toned and blonde hair piled in a messy but perfectly coiffed bun. You strain to hear her order a cup of coffee and find she’s ordered a tea, her accent a surprising but pleasing Irish lilt. A foreigner in the States, maybe on “holiday” as she’s most likely to call it. You try and hide behind your cup of coffee so she doesn’t notice you continue to watch her as she collects her tea, adds loads of milk and sugar to it and then sits at the bar in the front window. She pulls a laptop from her bag and you notice she’s busy writing what appears to be a manuscript. An author, you think. She must write wonderfully magical tales about rolling green hillsides and music filled nights of sitting around a pub. Satisfied with the career choice you’ve given her, you sit back in your chair and continue to drink your coffee.

The Irish woman, that’s not me. I’m short and non-athletic and would most likely be the person screeching their chair across the floor and spilling my coffee while trying to observe everyone else in the room. So, why the quick visual? Well, because everything on inside of me screams, “aye, you’re Irish” while the genetic makeup on the outside would say “have you checked yourself in the mirror?” Friends who read this will laugh and most likely shake their head as I’ve told everyone for well over half my life now, I’m Irish. I’m sure a therapist would have a field day with this and I can tackle all the fun I’ve had with being Irish in a future post, but for now, we’ll just leave it at, it took a while for me to find an identity when I was young. The Irish, they danced and sang their way into my heart, not to mention their food is just incredible. Oh, and they have Guinness.

What is true? I’m a thirty-something writer who lives in the great state of Virginia. I’ve lived here almost my entire life and I love it. I’ve just completed my first novel, see my first post, and now I’m working on feeding the muses and picking out my next project. I’ve been a writer for the majority of my life. I’m always escaping somewhere, whether it’s through my own quick creation or through movies or books. I’m an avid reader and shameless book hoarder. I have worked a variety of jobs through the corporate world as well as had some of the best summer jobs possible. I love music and I constantly have it playing in my house. I have to write with music, right now I’m listening to Gregory Alan Isakov’s “The Stable Song”, love it. Once I find a song I love, it’s put in my collection and played to death. And that’s about it, just a normal, everyday person who loves to write and can’t wait to see her book sitting on a shelf somewhere. Yes, I know. I actually want a printed book, not an e-book. Maybe I am weird? I am definitely Irish.