NobbinBlog: https://nobbinblog.wordpress.com/

https://nobbinblog.wordpress.com/2023/07/12/friday-fictioneers-the-backroom/

This was written for Friday Fictioneers, hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields (https://rochellewisoff.com/) on WordPress. 

The image was contributed by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields.

Soundclips:

~Cinematic trailer music, fairytale style melody leads into orchestral strings with a grand feel (https://www.zapsplat.com/music/cinematic-trailer-music-fairytale-style-melody-leads-into-orchestral-strings-with-a-grand-feel/) by Gregor Quendel (https://www.zapsplat.com/author/gregor-quendel/) courtesy of https://www.zapsplat.com/

~Cinematic trailer music, a tribal sounding piece with a dark vibe, chanting, percussion and strings (https://www.zapsplat.com/music/cinematic-trailer-music-a-tribal-sounding-piece-with-a-dark-vibe-chanting-percussion-and-strings/)  by Gregor Quendel (https://www.zapsplat.com/author/gregor-quendel/) courtesy of https://www.zapsplat.com/

The Backroom

When Lilly’s grandfather dies, her Aunty Reggie comes to town and whisks her away on whimsical “shoeless” adventures with her new “imaginary” friend; who may or may not be a superhero; lots of dogs, hungry squirrels, and hungry people, who may or may not be zombies.

Feral: A Silly Lilly T̶a̶i̶l̶ Tale is an in-between book for kids who are ready for something more than the 30-page picture books but need or want a stepping stone before graduating to chapter books.

If you're interested in a print edition, the hardcover is vastly superior to the paperback. Of course, I would recommend the most expensive option. I get around 40¢ more royalties for a hardcover sale than the paperback. I get about $1.05 for an eBook, $1.30 for a paperback, $1.38 for the audiobook, and $1.70 for a hardcover sale. The audiobook is the best bargain since it comes with a free PDF, so I can read it to your kids, helping them learn as we embark on this journey together. 

~Audiobook ($3.46 (Free with Audible membership)): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DGV448PL

~eBook $2.99 to buy or Free with Kindle Unlimited:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DFKDG6JN

~Paperback $12.27: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DFMX1VNM/

~Hardcover $27.85: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DFMYNXPR

Feral: A Silly Lilly Tale

Feral: A Silly Lilly Tale (Part One)

This song, much like Here I Stand (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOcGh9vcQYA), just popped out of my brain. It took less than half an hour to write each. They both evolved during the recording process, but the foundation was laid. I found the beat, which was produced by Cold Melody, and I knew how it went. I recorded it and put it together quickly, for me. As I say in every one of these, I am not a professional, and I do everything, except make the beat, by myself. I drew some inspiration from a certain grunge band from the '90s. Actually, a lot more than is obvious.

The instrumental: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuP5P7motI4&ab_channel=COLDMELODY

Cold Melody's page: https://www.youtube.com/@COLDMELODY

Never Again

Never Again (Produced by Cold Melody)

This started about a year and a half ago with a story I wrote for which I made a video, called Fairy Tales Sock! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A2s5Oj-GCA&ab_channel=Nobbinmaug). While I was recording it, I kept singing "This here ain't no fairy tale (fairy tale)." I don't usually use such vulgarity, but that's how it came out. It stuck in my head, and I planned to make an actual song out of it someday. 

I wrote a little here and there but was never sure what I wanted the song to be. When I found the instrumental by Dior (https://www.youtube.com/@DiorxMusic), I finally had a blueprint for how to lay out my lyrics. Oddly, the beat changes from soft and melodic, with no bass, kick, or snare, to boom-bap, with bass, kick, and snare, and rhythmic at various lengths, which was a challenge for me, a writer/lyricist who wants everything to balance and a novice at putting songs together. 

Without going into too much detail, I decided to use the soft parts as breakdowns. The first boom-bap section is 32 bars. I decided to half-time the first verse, one line per two bars, followed by the hook before dropping into an 8-bar breakdown. The boom-bap comes back for 24 bars, which isn't enough for a verse and hook, the final boom-bap section is 16 bars, which is perfect for the hook or a verse. I had an incomplete third verse, so I cut that, but I still had an 8-bar boom-bap section. My impulse was to do a half-hook before the 16-bar breakdown. Instead, I freestyled some shit about Tinkerbell, Jiminy Cricket, and the Seven Dwarves. I liked it, so I used that and called it verse 2.5. I finished with a hook, a breakdown, and an outro because I like intros and outros. Is that too much detail?


The beat (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LORuB9GLOAI&ab_channel=Prod.Dior) was made by  Prod. Dior (https://www.youtube.com/@DiorxMusic)

Images were made by Microsoft's Copilot. I used Fotor to expand a few that Copilot wasn't feeling up to resizing.



Fairy Tale (Produced by Dior)

"You have me feelin' shitty / Like I lost my Shyne like Diddy"

How's that for a triple entendre?

(Lyrics, info, and other versions: https://nobbinblog.wordpress.com/2025/02/28/gaslight-lie-2-me-produced-by-apc-beats/)

Gaslight (Lie 2 Me)

Lyrics & Info: https://nobbinblog.wordpress.com/2025/04/22/helpless/

Helpless

During the writing and recording process for Helpless (https://youtu.be/D_PtvqF2zLI), I had two lines from other songs in my head, "I'm filled with so much anger and pain that if I drop, I'll explode like a fuckin' grenade" by Krayzie Bone from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's "Body Rott," and Stevie Wonder's line "any kind of abuse, God knows is a crime" from Babyface's "How Come, How Long."  I added both to the instrumental at the end. I have the a cappella of "Body Rott," so I used a vocal sample. I don't have the a cappella for "How Come, How Long," so I sang it. I mixed it and decided the end was too busy, so I cut both of those out for the official version but kept this as the "Original Mix" in case I ever wanted to post it like now when I haven't posted anything in a while. 

Helpless (Original Mix)

"Time is the killer of all things, so let's enjoy what the moment brings."

Lyrics: https://nobbinblog.wordpress.com/

Forever In The Moment (Produced by Sam Calisto)

"Forever's nothing but a myth. Happy endings are bullshit. So, let's grab ahold of it and spend forever in the moment."

While working on "Forever In The Moment," I had way too many lyrics for the original instrumental. I almost used this beat instead. I went back and forth a lot. I eventually used both. Even after deciding to use both, I almost made this the original. I decided the one with more lyrics and a faster tempo was better as a remix.  

Lyrics: https://nobbinblog.wordpress.com/

The beat:
[No Copyright Sound] R&B&Soul [Instrumental Rap Beat] [ FREE USE MUSIC ] - XIAO-NIAO - Forgotten (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2NnS-_-Q54&ab_channel=Monetization-Instrumentals%2CBeats) produced by XIAO-NIAO (https://www.youtube.com/@WorldwideBeats).  

Quality Control: Sam Tze Lin (https://www.instagram.com/samtzelin/ & https://medium.com/@samtzelin)

Microsoft Designer made the image, and I edited it on Fotor.

Nobbinmaug

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