Addison Brae

Author

songwriter

Dark Energy – song behind the scenes

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Curious how a song came out of two novels? Here’s how it happened.

Dark Energy album art

Becker Circle and its sequel, Dark Energy: Return to Becker Circle take place in the bar scene around live music. Jon, the adorable guy in one of the bands falls for Gillian, the heroine, who inspires him to write a song called Dark Energy during the Becker Circle story. As Jon told Gillian, “I wrote it about someone who had a streak of bad luck and how they changed it with good karma.” It hit me while writing the sequel. The song had to exist.

The lyrics. The song needed to reflect Jon’s deep-thinking character and his band’s rock sound. My music studies while growing up gave me a foundation, so I studied the structure of several favorite rock tunes to write the lyrics. I considered how many words are in a line, how many lines in a verse and the chorus, and decided to include a bridge. The chorus below represents the strength that helps people push past hardships that hit even the best people like Gillian.

Find someone else to conquer
What does it mean this dark energy
Dark energy won’t control my fate
Why do I deserve dark energy

Joanne Trattoria in Manhattan’s Upper West Side

The music. A Foo Fighters sound is what I heard in my head for this song. I’m lucky enough to know many talented Dallas musicians, including Brian Miller who agreed to write the music. After trying many times to get together in Dallas, we figured out we would be in New York City at the same time. Brian met my friend and me for dinner at the perfect Manhattan spot to inspire music, Joanne Trattoria, an Italian restaurant on the Upper West Side owned by Lady Gaga’s parents. We talked about how the song fit into the story, and I handed him a piece of paper with the lyrics. We walked back to our hotels on the cool, crisp, clear October 2019 evening, past the Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, Central Park, and Carnegie Hall before parting ways. By the end of the night, Brian had a tune in his head. Since he didn’t have a guitar with him, he hummed it into his phone.

Studio session

The recording. Then Covid hit. It felt like the song’s message came true. The vast, empty space in the cosmos called dark energy was trying to disrupt. We had to find our dark matter to draw everyone together and finish the song. When the Covid threat lessened, Brian connected with fellow musician, composer, and producer, Bobby Hoke, to record the music—guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums—in Bobby’s studio. It took a few sessions to get it right. After Bobby handled mixing and mastering, the song was ready to release. The photo is one of the last sessions.

The final song. Listen for the original Dark Energy version toward the end of the book trailer. Find Dark Energy by Brian Miller and Dark Energy .germans mix by Brian Miller and Bobby Hoke on your favorite music retail and streaming sites including Pandora, YouTube, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and these Spotify links:
Dark Energy
Dark Energy .germans mix

Deep thanks to Brian for writing the music and recording both songs, and to Bobby for his vision for the .germans mix and doing such an amazing job producing. Thank you, John Harrell, for the beautiful song art and Katlyn Steele for modeling. If you are a Foo Fighters fan, you will like Dark Energy.

Find your dark matter and create your dream.

Who shoots a book trailer in a bar during a pandemic?

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We do. Sometimes I wonder if it was dark energy that kept creeping in and disrupting our efforts.

The Dark Energy trailer script had been written for months. The talented actors who played Gillian and her boyfriend Jon in the Becker Circle trailer had already agreed to reprise their roles. A friend was the exact Pinkie I envisioned. With a little coaxing, he accepted the offer to play Pinkie. We were looking into bars to use as the location.

Then COVID.

Restaurants and bars closed. People quarantined. The book released in June, and we didn’t give up.

In July, bars had to close again. We took a chance and asked a bar owner we know if we could shoot in his bar while it was closed. He said yes. We jumped on a date when the location and small cast and crew were available. We found some great props and gathered a few extras. We took a late afternoon into the evening to shoot several scenes.  

Editing takes specialized equipment and skills to put the right footage together to tell the story, record voiceover, select music, and add cover art, publisher information, and a purchase link. Do you recognize the green computer code as the trailer begins? A brilliant addition!

This trailer is extra special because of the song Dark Energy you hear toward the end. The song plays a huge role in both novels since the main character inspired the song. Look for Dark Energy by Brian Miller (Amazon, Spotify) and Dark Energy .germans mix by Brian Miller and Bobby Hoke (Amazon, Spotify) on your favorite music retail and streaming sites.

There’s no better way to bring a story to life than with film. That’s why some authors create trailers to help market their books. The experience creating this trailer was completely different than the one for Becker Circle. Book trailers of this quality are possible for me since I’ve assisted with hundreds of videos in my day job, but especially because of my good friend who’s an experienced, talented videographer.

This trailer is surrounded by talent. Dustin Grant, Pink Mouse Blue Mouse Productions, produced, directed, and edited the video. John Harrell of Harrell Creative art directed it and designed the art cards and album art. Katlyn Steele plays Gillian, including voiceover, and Rafeal Villagas plays Jon. This is Vermaine Howard’s acting debut as Pinkie. Numerous amazing friends pitched in as crew and also extras that make the neighborhood really come alive. I’m grateful to everyone who helped make it happen!

The trailer for Dark Energy turned out better than I could have imagined. My favorite words during the process…

That’s a wrap! 

Fictional song now real

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Dark Energy .germans mix featuring Brian Miller & Bobby Hoke lyrics by Addison Brae from the Becker Circle novel series

Music has always been a part of my life. All the way through school I played instruments, took part in church choir. My favorite tunes were on while I did homework. The songs that inspired me most calmed my nerves before the most dreaded college finals. My first marketing job was radio and music video promotions for a major record company. But I never had enough talent and drive to be a professional musician.

Music also inspires me. It’s always playing in the background while I write. Dark Energy and Becker Circle take place in the bar scene around live music. Jon, the adorable guy in one of the bands falls for Gillian, the main character, who inspires him to write a song called Dark Energy in the Becker Circle story. As Jon told Gillian, “I wrote it about someone who had a streak of bad luck and how they changed it with good karma.” It hit me while writing Dark Energy: Return to Becker Circle. The song had to be written in reality.

The song symbolizes the dark energy and dark matter theory in the cosmos. Dark matter allows gravity to pull stars, suns, planets, and other matter together the way I see some people draw us together. Dark energy is the vast empty space that opposes dark matter. It slips into the voids of our lives trying to disrupt like it pushes matter apart attempting to destroy our universe.

I never dreamed I would become a songwriter. Thanks to Brian Miller and Bobby Hoke, Dark Energy has music and is recorded and released. Listen for this version toward the end of the book trailer. And now we have Dark Energy .germans mix by Brian Miller and Bobby Hoke, released on March 5.

The chorus below (and all of the lyrics) represents the strength people possess that can help them push past economic, emotional and other hardships that strike even the most careful and good people.

Chorus
Find someone else to conquer.
What does it mean this dark energy?
Dark energy won’t control my fate.
I don’t deserve this dark energy.

Deep thanks to Brian for writing the music and recording both songs, and to Bobby for his vision for the .germans mix and for doing such an amazing job producing. Thank you John Harrell for the beautiful song art and Katlyn Steele for modeling. If you are a Foo Fighters fan, you will like Dark Energy.

You can find Dark Energy by Brian Miller and Dark Energy .germans mix by Brian Miller and Bobby Hoke on your favorite music retail and streaming sites including Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, and Apple Music.

Find your dark matter and enjoy the songs.

Book trailer debut – Dark Energy comes alive

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Nothing brings a book to life better than a movie. In 81 seconds, this Dark Energy: Return to Becker Circle trailer paints a realistic picture of trust and deception that none of us ever wants to experience.

The trailer drops viewers into Gillian’s do-over with a new boyfriend and career managing Pinkie’s second bar fresh from escaping a vicious murder investigation. You’ll be with Gillian when a cryptojacking scheme lands her boss in jail leaving her to run both bars. Gillian will pull you along with her while she’s forced to trust known criminals. Also as she struggles with a broken heart as she puts her life in danger to find the real criminals and free Pinkie.

The book tells the rest of the story.

This book trailer is full of talent. Dustin Grant, Pink Mouse Blue Mouse Productions, produced, directed and edited the video. John Harrell of Harrell Creative art directed it and designed the album art. Katlyn Steele plays Gillian and Rafeal Villagas plays Jon. I’m grateful they reprise their roles from the Becker circle trailer. This is Vermaine Howard’s successful acting debut as Pinkie. Numerous amazing friends supported the trailer as crew and extras that make the neighborhood truly come alive. Shooting in a bar and recording music is a challenge during a pandemic. Sincere thanks to each person who helped make this real.

Listen toward the end of the trailer for the new song, Dark Energy. Look for Dark Energy by Brian Miller (Amazon, Spotify, Pandora) and Dark Energy .germans mix by Brian Miller and Bobby Hoke (Amazon, Spotify, Pandora) on your favorite music retail and streaming sites.

Let the video and songs spark your imagination before you read!

Cryptojacking in a bar scene romantic suspense?

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“Cybercrime creeps in right under my nose when a cryptojacking scheme lands my boss, Pinkie, in jail.”
Gillian, Dark Energy heroine.

Cryptocurrency is one of the hottest investments. It’s digital money people use to buy goods and services. Bitcoin, Facebook’s Diem (originally Libra), and as many as 5,000 others are cryptocurrency varieties. People invest in cryptocurrencies like stocks or commodities. They also steal it. Cryptojacking is what I call digital pickpocketing.

Like anything related to money, cryptocurrencies attract criminals, especially when values shoot up (like they did recently) and tank (like they did about a year ago). Traders move it through exchanges where transactions untraceable. Cryptocurrency can be routed through these exchanges or other online wallets to launder millions of dollars. This virtual world is where dark energy creeps in; the dark side where cryptocurrency fits into Dark Energy: Return to Becker Circle.

In Dark Energy, Pinkie owns two bars typically packed with people likely to have cryptocurrency. Knowing this, vicious criminals pull Pinkie and other honest business owners into their cryptojacking scheme to cover their digital trail. But these criminals don’t know they’ll have to answer to Gillian. The FBI arrests Pinkie leaving Gillian to run the bars and prove her boss had nothing to do with the scam. She and Jon, the most talented musician on the bar’s stage and the perfect boyfriend, will not let her mentor and friend go down for something he didn’t do.

Read a short excerpt from Dark Energy to learn about cryptojacking during this telephone conversation between Gillian and her favorite Harvard accounting professor. Watch the trailer and find the songs Dark Energy by Brian Miller and Dark Energy .germans mix by Brian Miller and Bobby Hoke (lyrics for both by Addison Brae) on your favorite music retailer or streaming sites.

Practice safe cryptocurrency spending. Double encrypt.

Chapter 16 excerpt
Paper rustles during a longer than normal pause. I also remember Dr. Daran being my only professor who still carried paper around. Everyone else kept lecture notes on a tablet, but not him.

“Dammit, if I could only break the habit of printing important things thinking they’ll be easier to find in this paper mound on my desk.” More papers crinkle. “Found it. A CIA buddy forwarded a cybercrime alert a few weeks ago. It’s making me think. This reeks of theft. What’s the most common theft in bars?”

“I don’t know—food, bartenders over pouring drinks, servers scamming tips, customers walking tabs? I get it. Pinkie doesn’t put up with crap from anyone. If we do, employees are fired—or customers are banned.”

“Good, Gillian. Think bigger. Not the random employee or customer wanting to get ahead. Think about real criminals who steal for a living.”

I pause and stare at the concrete wall in front of me while I think. “Occasionally, people have had their wallets or purses stolen, especially when we’re packed during live music weekends.”

“Bingo. Pickpockets. Are these bars located in the suburbs or in the heart of Dallas?”

“Definitely in the middle of everything. Both bars are surrounded by high-rises—office buildings, apartments, condos. The new location I manage has tech startups and banks in office towers above and all around us. Could those servers have been stealing information?”

“You did listen in my classes. There are lots of ways to commit theft using computers. I’d put my bet on cryptojacking.”

“You taught us all about digital money—cryptocurrency and bitcoin—but cryptojacking?”

“It’s like digital pickpocketing on a much larger scale.”