Hello, I’m Connor Wright and I like to write mushy little stories with ridiculously happy endings. My usual genres are magical realism and alternate-universe historical – basically the world as we know it with a twist. One of my favorite stories that I’ve written (so far) is First Flight: a story about a boy, a bird, and the everyday magic of love.
The Official Blurb actually says this:
Jesse Swanson’s life is pretty normal: He has a job he doesn’t mind, his parents are pretty decent, and he’s got a boyfriend. So what if he still lives at home? So what if he thinks he argues a little too often with his guy?
Everything changes when he stops to pick up a bird and ends up picking up a new guy instead. Chris, formerly known as Sings-like-water, is fascinated by Jesse’s music and by Jesse himself, but figuring out how to be human isn’t easy—especially when Jesse’s now ex-boyfriend decides he’ll do anything to get Jesse back. Can Jesse and Chris overcome the odds, or will their fledgling romance falter before it can fly?
Since music is one of the things that drew Chris to Jesse in the first place, I thought I’d ask them about that. Here they are, figuring out Chris And Jesse’s Significant Playlist (a.k.a. Ten Songs About Us)
Jesse: I think one of the first songs that should be on the list is Hang ‘Em High, by My Chemical Romance. It was the song I was listening to when I actually met you for the first time.
Chris: You weren’t listening to anything in the car, though.
Jesse: Well, okay, when I picked you up the first time… Or if you want to be really specific, just before I pulled over to pick you up.
Chris: I’m glad you did.
Jesse: Me too.
My Chemical Romance: Hang ‘Em High [Live]
Chris: Another song that we need to put on the list is When Worlds Collide. It’s loud but I like it.
Jesse: I kinda miss Powerman 5000, to be honest. When Worlds Collide is a good one, but— Oh. I get it.
Chris: Yes! It makes me think of when I was first living with you and Leanna and Desmond. There were things that were the same but done differently, and things that were not the same at all. Like showers. I’d never gotten clean in the rain before, and I’d always gotten clean without soap before. So showers are kind of backwards to me.
Jesse: I can see that.
Powerman 5000: When Worlds Collide
Jesse: Speaking of things that happened when you first started living with me, I think the first song we ever danced to belongs on a list of significant music.
Chris: I think so too. It’s the one that always gets stuck in my head, though… I like it, it’s just…sticky!
Jesse: Yeah, I know. It gets stuck in my head, too, if it makes you feel better. The video is kind of weird, but it’s the song that’s important.
Chris: It’s also important that this song is true, now. The first time, it was just a song to dance to.
Jesse: That’s a good point. Aw.
Chris: Why are you looking at me like that?
Jesse: ‘Cause I can. ‘Cause if I kiss you, we’re going to get distracted.
No Doubt: Hella Good
Chris: Stereo Hearts is another true song for us, isn’t it?
Jesse: I think so. We’re always singing along with one another, right?
Chris: Yes. Even if neither of us have been left scratched by girls. Oh, no, Plays-with-stones scratched me a few times when we were still nestlings, but that’s not what he means, is it.
Jesse: Not exactly, no. How is your sister, anyway?
Chris: She’s fine. She and Finds-mice-well have four eggs!
Jesse: Congratulations to them, wow.
Gym Class Heroes: Stereo Hearts
Chris: Thinking about Plays-with-stones makes me think of trees, and trees make me think of you and me and kissing.
Jesse: Oh.
Chris: And for some reason it makes me think of the song about drawing a new face and nibbling your ear.
Jesse: Uh… That’s… I think it’s called I’m Yours. It goes like this? Hm-hm-hmhm-hm-hm…
Chris: That’s it!
Jesse: I’m not sure how it makes you think of kissing, but if you think it should be on the list then it’s on the list. Besides, I am yours.
Chris: Always.
Jason Mraz: I’m Yours
Jesse: So now that we’ve been talking about kissing, that makes me think about the blackbird song—
Chris: The one about hiding from the world with a broken wing?
Jesse: Yeah, but not that part, the part about it’s been a while since I’ve seen you smile and felt your kiss. Reminds me of when, uh, you had to move back in with your parents for a while.
Chris: Oh. I kind of like that song and I kind of don’t, because it makes me think about that time, too.
Jesse: Sorry, funny bird.
Keith Urban: You Gonna Fly
[WARNING: flashing/strobe effects in the first 5-10 seconds of the video]
Jesse: If it makes you feel better, when I hear It’s Not You I end up thinking about how I didn’t figure out the obvious until it was really obvious, after I broke up with that guy we don’t really talk about.
Chris: Is that the one with the girls on rollerskates?
Jesse: Yeah, the roller derby video. I don’t get it, but like Hella Good, it’s not the important part.
Chris: The important part is that you did figure out that I was your right one.
Jesse: And I thank my lucky stars every day.
Halestorm: It’s Not You
Chris: I wasn’t afraid when I fell in love with you. Mostly because I didn’t know what falling in love and being in love was for people. I just knew my little voice said that you were the right one and that there were things I needed to do to prove that to you.
Jesse: Yeah?
Chris: Yes. But if I had been afraid, I think that the song about not being afraid because it’s only love would have made me feel better. This one.
Lifehouse: Falling In
Jesse: Hey, Chris, wanna know a secret?
Chris: Your secrets are never secrets, but yes.
Jesse: There’s a song that’s pretty much exactly how I feel about the fact that we’re together, now. It’s not our song, but it’s definitely a good fit for us.
Easton Corbin: Loving You Is Fun
Chris: That one always makes me happy. What is our song, if it’s not that one?
Jesse: It’s the one that I put on the collection of road trip songs that you kept playing twice when it came on.
Chris: Oh, that one! It is a very important question, though.
Jesse: It is. And the answer as always is of course.
Josh Turner: Would You Go With Me?
Chris: That’s ten.
Jesse: Already? Wow.
Chris: Yes. Would you go with me, Jesse?
Jesse: Almost anywhere – not really a fan of the landfill.
Chris: Not the landfill, the tree! It’s a nice day and we should go out and be in the sun.
Jesse: That sounds like a great way to spend an afternoon. Grab your jacket and let’s get out of here.
– – – – – – –
First Flight is available from Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other fine retailers.
My head is full of other people’s lives, all of which are more interesting than my own. I live in the greater Pacific northwest with two helpful cats, neither of whom can type; when I’m not writing, I can be found riding my bike or walking other people’s dogs. Find out more about my stories and keep tabs on me at http://www.connorwrites.com.
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For the Grand Prize Giveaway, I (Nix) will be giving away ten of my top LGBT books. These books will be gifted via All Romance as the books are available to readers on all the types of eReaders (you just need to sign up for a free account to access the books and you can send them directly). If you have any of the books and you win the prize, speak to me and I’ll see what else I can do.
The books are (and there are substitutions available for people who have copies)…
- With a Kiss by Kim Dare (MM)
- Hot Head by Damien Suede (MM)
- By the Book by Scarlett Parrish (MM)
- The Dom With a Safeword by Cari Silverwood (FFM)
- Starfish and Coffee by Kele Moon (MM)
- How Sweet it is – Melissa Brayden (FF)
- Fatal Shadows – Josh Lanyon (MM)
- Faith and Fidelity – Tere Michaels (MM)
- How to Love – Kelly Jamieson (FMM)
- Cut and Run – Abigail Roux (MM)
Recently added
- Paperback Tread Marks & Trademarks by SA McAuley
I’m so OLD!!! I don’t think I know any of those songs. Now I have to go back and play them all just to be sure. Maybe when I hear them they’ll be familiar? 🙂
Yea! I found 3 of them that I’m familiar with-now I fell a little better. 🙂
I like Chris and Jesse already!
[…] I wrote up Chris and Jesse talking about the ten most important songs in their lives circa the events in First Flight. You can click here or click the image above to read it. […]
I know most of the songs posted and I love HEA’s.
Jason Mraz is one of my all time favorites!
I love some of these songs. The book sounds great too.