"Walk on the Wild Side" Go with God, Lou Reed. :(

Theme Song du Jour: Caroline Savoie covers "Ain't No Sunshine"

This week on Undercover Soundtrack, Roz Morris airs the playlist that inspired my novel Kill Smartie Breedlove.

One of my favorite elements in the process: I formed a collection of covers of Bill Withers' classic "Ain't No Sunshine" as a way of processing and anchoring a major thread for the two main characters, both of whom are widowed. Caroline Savoie's austere acoustic rendition never fails to generate a lump in my throat.

#themesongdujour Grateful Dead "Touch of Grey": I will get by! (Thanks, Book Gorilla.)

Today's theme music, Grateful Dead's "Touch of Grey" was inspired by a great blurb about my new memoirella, Love & Other Natural Disasters, a starred title today on BookGorilla.com:

"Think "Molly Ivins meets Anna Quindlen to the tune of 'Touch of Grey'...Not your Mama's Erma Bombeck, but the best of “Earth to Joni”, the syndicated newspaper column chronicling family life, politics and culture, and welcoming readers into the Rodgers household, where life is for living, love conquers all, and pancakes are what’s for dinner."

PS ~ Love & Other Natural Disasters free on Kindle this week!

"There's Always Tomorrow": A final thought on #BloodCancerAwarenessMonth

Wrapping up Blood Cancer Awareness Month with a huge thank you to Ashley Rodgers for her expert answers to reader/survivor FAQs about cancer's emotional roller coaster. (To see the whole Q&A series, click the #BloodCancerAwarenessMonth hash tag below.)

On a personal note: My daughter Jerusha, five years old in the photo here, went with me to many of my chemo treatments, including one on her sixth birthday. Today she is a fabulous 24-year-old freelance editor, and this summer, she donated bone marrow to a six-year-old child with leukemia through a national anonymous bone marrow registry. I can't begin to express how proud of her I am.

(For more information on how you can help someone with a life-threatening blood cancer, visit Be The Match.)

Of all the songs that spoke to me during the journey of my own cancer experience (and the continuing journey of survivorship) is this anthem from Gloria Estefan. The first time I heard it, I was weeping in the ladies room at my oncologist's office, and perhaps it sounds melodramatic, but by the end of the song, I had changed. I had let go of an old life that was not working for me and embraced a new life that has been ridiculously blessed. To this day, I can't hear it without crying.

For me, "Always Tomorrow" captures all the longing and regret I felt with my diagnosis, thinking how differently I would have lived had I known my life might end so soon. It also speaks to the hope and determination to go forward and the acceptance that remission doesn't mean everything is okay, and it definitely doesn't mean "back to normal."

Things will never be the same, the only one sure thing is change. Remission means you have this moment to start over again and steer that change with love.

Peace, love and joy to all my fellow survivors, along with the energy to embrace a beautiful tomorrow.

Sunday Groove: Mike Tompkins' awesome a capella "Rolling in the Deep"

In case you were wondering how it feels to transition from traditional publishing to the plate-spinning, chainsaw-juggling, little red hen "I'll do it all myself" indie life... yeah. It's like this.

Sunday Groove: Nancy Sinatra nutshells the publishing industry with "This Town"

Nancy Sinatra nutshells the publishing industry: "This town is a love you town and a shove you down and push you 'round town... This town is a use you town, and abuse you town until you're found town."

#BloodCancer Awareness Month + Gloria Gaynor's birthday = Theme Song du Jour "I Will Survive"

September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month, and today is Gloria Gaynor's birthday. That can mean only one thing...

Theme Song du Jour: Bjork "All is Full of Love"

Haunting "Chasing Ice" song we should have heard instead of "Boobs" on last night's Oscars

Deep Cotton: "We're Far Enough From Heaven Now We Can Freak Out"

No "Stairway to Heaven"! Unless you're Heart. Then it's okay.

George Harrison "Give Me Love"

Now That We Found Love

Nina Simone "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"

Boxer Rebellion"No Harm"

"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" Al Green

Any Major Dude Will Tell You

"Any major dude with half a heart will tell you, my friend,
Any minor world that breaks apart falls together again.
When the demon is at your door
In the morning it won't be there no more.
Any major dude will tell you..."

 

Gruhak "So Much to Say"

James Brown "Get Up Offa That Thing"

This is the real Django, baby.

Seriously. Django Rheinhardt. Google it.

(I should have mentioned this one when The Hurricane Lover was featured on Undercover Soundrack on Roz Morris' blog.)