Tunesday: Volume 3 Answers Revealed — and Meet the Winner, Writer Jessica Hoefer

Today, Friday, I’ve posting a double shot of fun musical blog posts. First, in this column find the answers to the third volume of Tunesday (the first piano edition). But before that, you will meet the winner of the third contest, Jessica Hoefer, a writer like you. Secondly, make sure to check out the 4th volume of Tunesday, which went live today (Sept. 6, 2013) and lasts for 2 weeks. There are awesome writing prizes, and it’s free to enter. It’s essentially just “Name That Tune,” so if you like music and like writing prizes, check it out.

Today, Friday, I've posting a double shot of fun musical blog posts. First, in this column find the answers to the third volume of Tunesday (the first piano edition). But before that, you will meet the winner of the third contest, Jessica Hoefer, a writer like you.

Secondly, make sure to check out the 4th volume of Tunesday, which went live today (Sept. 6, 2013) and lasts for 2 weeks. There are awesome writing prizes, and it's free to enter. It's essentially just "Name That Tune," so if you like music and like writing prizes, check it out.

MEET CONTEST WINNER JESSICA HOEFER

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing.

The first leg of my career I told stories through the eye of a news camera, blending my writing with snappy sound bites. From television, I transitioned to print news and began freelancing for Northwest magazines. I continue to freelance, but my true love has been and always will be writing fiction.

What are you working on right now? Are you writing something or promoting something that’s available?

I love writing light sci-fi for young adults, and I pitched one of my novels at the PNWA Conference (Seattle) in July 2013. I’m wrapping up another manuscript in the same genre, and while it still needs to be scrubbed and polished, I can’t wait to dive into my next project—something a bit darker and with an older protagonist.

Favorite book(s)?

There are so many to choose from! I grew up with a healthy dose of Christopher Pike and recently finished Falling. Some of my other favorites include Unwind by Neal Shusterman, Quarantine by Lex Thomas, Candor by Pam Bachorz, Spin and Arranged by Catherine McKenzie, Wild by Cheryl Strayed, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini—I could go on forever!

You won the third Tunesday contest. You’re obviously a musical whiz. What’s your musical background?

I’d love to tell you I can play an instrument or carry a tune, but my background is limited to a few years of piano lessons and bad karaoke (which doesn’t stop me from grabbing the microphone). A lot of my friends and family have more music notes flowing through their veins than blood cells, and I begged them to help me figure out some of the toughest songs.

Favorite band?

We play Queen quite often at our house. I’m also a fan of Hoobastank, Green Day, Lenny Kravitz, Cake, Adele, No Doubt and Smashing Pumpkins—just to name a few. My tastes are wide and diverse.

Websites where people can learn more about you and connect?

Connect with me on Twitter @JessHoefer.

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 VOLUME 3 ANSWERS REVEALED

First of all, feel free to revisit the 3rd contest here. If you did not listen to the music when the contest was live, you can hear it here.

The answers: (click on any song to hear it on YouTube)

3. Theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind (by John Williams)

14. "Something I Can Never Have" by Nine Inch Nails (link may be NSFW - it's from Natural Born Killers, and has some bad language)

17. "God Moving Over the Face of the Waters" by Moby (closing music from the movie Heat)

PAST EDITIONS OF TUNESDAY

  1. See Volume 1 of Tunesday here (guitar).
  2. See the answers revealed for Volume 1.
  3. See Volume 2 of Tunesday here (guitar again).
  4. See the answers revealed for Volume 2.

You can see all posts related to past editions of Tunesday (including the interviews with past winners) on my Music category page of the blog here.

Chuck Sambuchino is a former editor with the Writer's Digest writing community and author of several books, including How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack and Create Your Writer Platform.