A couple of days ago, my good friend Daisy Brambleburr posted this on her new DAISY’S DIARY page. As people aren’t used to checking that yet, and as I thought she had some really good advice, I am reposting it here for everyone to see:
10/27/11 – I’ve been chatting with my friend Rie about writing a drinking song. What things you want to include, how to make it catchy, things like that. We’ve come to agreement on a few points we would like to share, because “Everybody Needs a Drinking Song” (available on Don’t Go Drinking with Hobbits) all their own.
When asked what goes into writing a successful song, Steven Brust cited this list of criteria from Adam Stemple, and it seems like a good list to hold in mind: Humour, suspense, originality, or internal rhymes — a song needs at least one of these to be successful. (Well, someone will probably find an exception to that rule — but you know what they say about exceptions…)
Taking those requirements as a given, what else do you need to make a good drinking song specifically?
The first thing that you must have is a talented partner like Marc Gunn if you are musically inept and can only write lyrics. This is something that Rie made me promise to stress.
Secondly, you need a strong chorus, especially if you want the audience to be able to sing along. It is easier to teach a crowd the few lines of a chorus rather than the whole song at once. They will be happy to participate if you make it catchy and memorable. For example, check out the chorus in “We’ll Have a Pint of Stout”.
You’ll notice that this song also has internal rhyme and a bit of humor — so it fits Stemple’s list as well!
Finally, to be a great drinking song, some mention of liquor seems appropriate. You can’t have a good love song without mentioning love, can you? It’s the same with drinking songs — the best have a pint or two. Look at these examples: “Do You Fancy a Drink?”;“Everybody Needs a Drinking Song”; “Let’s Get Drunk Tonite”
Give it a try! Writing about drinking is fun — even if you don’t drink yourself. And be sure to let me know what you come up with!
and his wonderful Adult Tres Navarre books, starting with 
.
because I like to start at the beginning of a series, and by the time I was four or five chapters in, I had the rest of the series downloaded into my Kindle. These are a great introduction to Mythology in my opinion. Mr. Riordan flirts with us, teasing with bits of myth that sound hauntingly familiar, and yet show us a fresh perspective on old friends. And, honestly, despite a lifelong love of mythology and folklore, some of the creatures he mentioned made me make a mental note to look them up later because I was unfamiliar with them. The ability to arouse a desire to research in a reader is a rare gift. His premise of the Greek Gods moving shop to America as the seat of Western Civilization drifted across the Atlantic was intriguing and innovative. In short, I loved the series and bought all his remaining juveniles as a result. They are waiting in my Kindle, but I took a break to make sure I had read at least one of the adult mysteries before the meeting.
. This isn’t the first in the series…it is actually number 6 of 7…but one of the beauties of the writing is that you can read them out of order, and when you read the next it fills in gaps. Perhaps because it was the first I read, this one is my favorite. The weaving of flashback and present action; the doling out of information that only later takes on full significance; the character sketches that can bring a person to life in a paragraph or two — all of these skills are what makes Rick Riordan such a fabulous writer.
, and dreading the end of it because it is the last of the Tres Navarre series. Last time my mother met Mr. Riordan at a Mystery Writer’s event, she scolded him soundly because he had abandoned Tres. I hope it isn’t for long. For now, I’ll have to settle for more mythology. Luckily I have the Roman and Egyptian series to go.
. What do you have in mind?
. There will be other prizes offered as well.
. Still crossing my fingers people will like 
, but no reviews yet. Want to be the first? 
is an interesting cautionary tale about social networking. It is currently offered for free on the Kindle page, and I am a sucker for the free books, so I downloaded it.
