Authors Interviewing Characters: Lee Adams

LOVE ON TOUR

For fans of Jennifer Weiner and Helen Fielding, a debut contemporary women’s fiction novel about a woman in the country music industry navigating the ins and outs of friendship, love, jealousy, and life on tour.

Who knew a broken heel and bad fall would result in falling in love?

Though she has her dream job—finding new songs for singers in the booming country music industry—music executive Christine Matthews lives an unexciting life. That is, until a broken shoe sends her sprawling on the street right in front of Nashville singing sensation Austin Garrett’s tour bus, and Austin himself comes to her aid.

When Austin recognizes Christine as the woman who pitched him his recent number one hit, he invites her to be his date at the CMT Awards that night. Just like that, Christine is catapulted from a life of solitude to the spotlight, with Austin’s fans assuming she’s his new romantic interest. Suddenly, Christine’s the subject of much speculation—and criticism. Some jealous fans think she’s not pretty or thin enough, and they begin to cyber-bully and body shame her.

But that’s not the only reason Christine thinks accepting Austin’s invitation to join him on tour and help him find another big hit might be a bad idea. She’s also developing feelings for his tour manager, Matt. And one of her online bullies has turned threatening, bringing up trauma from Christine’s past. Is the turmoil worth it? Or is her only real solution to walk away from all of it—even the man who might just be the love of her life?

AUTHORS INTERVIEWING CHARACTERS: LEE INTERVIEWS CHRISTINE

Lee: Hi, Christine. Thanks for finding the time to sit down with me today to talk about the book Love On Tour. Your life’s been crazy this last year. How are you?

Christine: Thank you for asking me. And yes, it has been. I don’t even know where to start but I’m doing well. I have a great job and a special guy, and I can’t complain.

Lee: Let’s talk about your job, which is what Love On Tour is based on. You’re a song plugger. A job that most people don’t even know exists. What is a song plugger?

Christine: Worst job title ever, right? I work for a publisher. In Nashville, we have publishing companies who hire song writers to write songs. Those songs then need to be taken to record label executives, artists, producers, or anyone who might hear the song and try to get a singer to put it on an album. I’m the person who tries to discern what the best song is for an artist and then pitch that song to either the artist, or someone involved with the artist.

Lee: Don’t singers write their own songs?

Christine: Many do. Some don’t. Almost all of them co-write. Very few write all their own songs by themselves. If one of my writers co-writes a song with a singer, I can still pitch the song if the singer chooses not to record it themselves. People wonder why they’d do that but you can only release so much music and if another artist can make one of those songs big, you make money off of it whether you sang it or not.

Lee: That makes sense. You’ve had a lot of success recently. Tell me about that.

Christine: I have thanks to Austin Garrett recording some of my songs. That led me to other singers and some #1 songs. I’d honestly been struggling to find that hit artist who believed in me as a song plugger. I took a chance in a meeting with Austin with a song that was not his norm. He loved it, recorded it, released it, and it became a #1 hit. That led to him wanting me to bring him more songs.

Lee: So, speaking of that special guy you mentioned earlier.

Christine: Uh oh.

Lee: You’ve spent the last two years with two guys vying for your attention. What has that been like?

Christine: Shocking. I was never the woman in the room that anyone vied for the attention of. I’ve always been the one people casually moved out of the way on their way to the woman who had their attention. And being a bit of an introvert, I was fine with that. It was kind of lonely, and I often times thought it would be fun to be that other woman, but I was used to it.

Lee: Has it been fun now that it’s happening or difficult?

Christine: I’d have to say it’s been both. They are fun, sweet, talented men and I have so much fun with both of them. But it’s been difficult. As you know, with Austin being a famous singer, not everyone understands our relationship or feels I’m deserving of him. They assume we’re dating and abuse me as a result.

Lee: Let’s talk about that second special guy, Matt. He’s Austin’s tour manager and you became his pseudo assistant on the road.

Christine: I did. The music business is a weird life. Artists feel songwriters, and people involved in the creative side of their music, get a better feel for what they’re all about if they tour with them and see the whole picture and the fan reaction. When Austin asked me to go on tour with him, I thought he was crazy. I didn’t know him that well. But we’d met during a song pitch meeting, and he felt like I understood what music he was interested in. When you’re on a bus with people day in and day out, you get close fast. It’s like a college dorm. Suddenly, you’re living with people. A close relationship that might have taken months or even years in high school or the workplace, moves faster in a college dorm. It’s the same with a tour bus. Matt is a one-man show on the road since Austin is still a newer act. I watched how hard he worked and how much he was juggling. I didn’t know anything about touring life and decided it would be fun to help him and learn more about that side of the business.

Lee: And you developed feelings for him?

Christine: Crush at first sight. There was something steady about him. A slow burn if you will. Austin is gregarious and flirty, and Matt has a sensuality that simmers. From the moment I met him, it was like coming home at night and putting on comfy slippers, curling up in front of a fireplace. Austin is more like fireworks. It’s always exciting around him.

Lee: And which one won out in the end.

Christine: Spoiler alert? You’ll have to read to the end to find out. 

Lee: And I will! Let’s talk about the cyber bullying that has become quite threatening. How do you deal with it?

Christine: It depends on the day. Some days I’m scared out of my mind and other days I’m so angry I throw caution to the wind and say something back. So much of it is just mean. People comment on my weight, my size, how big my thighs are, the unruliness of my curly hair. It’s based on them thinking I’m not pretty enough for Austin. It hurts. I’m not a cruel person so I don’t understand those who are. And who are they to judge what someone finds beautiful and attractive in another person? What if Austin does find me attractive. So what? I deserve that. And what really hurts is it’s from other women. Women should lift each other up. Luckily, I have some very good people in my life who do that for me.

Lee: You have a wonderful friend, Julianna, and even Phoebe is there when you need her.

Christine: Julianna is the absolute best. A woman’s woman. Always lifting you up to be your best self. Phoebe, well, let me just say if I was out alone at night in a dark alley with just one female person, I’d want it to be Phoebe. I feel sorry for the person who thinks they’ll win against her.

Lee: Everyone needs that friend, too. There was trauma in your life when you were a teen. You had a group of guys assault you. How did that affect your future relationships with men?

Christine: It took Julianna to convince me it was an assault. I guess I always felt if I wasn’t raped or viciously attacked, I shouldn’t think of it that way. So many women have been through so much worse. But I was assaulted, grabbed in my private parts, and threatened with rape. And it has affected me. I can’t deny that. I will say that when I feel safe with a man, and I feel respected, I have a positive reaction to physical contact. Austin has always made me feel safe and precious. From day one I felt comfortable with him. Matt is a rock and so dependable. If anyone overstepped their bounds, it was me with him. Not the other way around. He put the brakes on. I’ve learned to trust my instincts. If something feels off, I stay clear. If something feels right, I’m open to a hug or a kiss or a sign of affection.

Lee: That’s fair. I’m glad Austin and Matt make you feel safe. What advice would you have for a woman getting into the music industry?

Christine: Follow your passion. My passion was songwriting. I can’t do it, but I admire those who can, and I wanted to work with them. I love the story telling and the creation of the song even more than the performance. My job is to take an amazing song and put it into the hands of the perfect singer. And when it comes together, it’s magic. Some people are more passionate about being on stage as a musician or working with the singer. There are so many options from publishing to record labels to management to PR. The options are endless. There are positions in digital marketing and social media. And there are opportunities in radio and streaming services like Pandora and Spotify. It’s truly an endless list, but you must know what will make you wake up every morning and want to be the hardest working, most passionate person in the room. If you just say, “I want to work in the music industry,” your resume will not make it to the top of the pack. If you say, “I love social media and understand the metrics and algorithms and how to maximize a post so it gets the most engagement and I want to do that for your artist,” your resume will go to the top.

Lee: Great advice. Christine, I can’t wait to read Love On Tour. Your story of navigating the ins and outs of the country music industry, love, friendship, cyber bullying and so much more sounds intriguing. Anything else you’d like to tell people.

Christine: I always like to put in a plug for Donate Life. I donated my kidney to a family member years ago and while living organ donation isn’t for everyone, once you no longer need your organs, they can save so many people. Learn about it. Read up on it. And if it’s right for you, make sure your family knows your wishes.

Lee: That’s a beautiful way to end the interview. Love On Tour is available June 17th and can be found on Amazon, online at Barnes & Noble, or pretty much anywhere books are sold online. Get your copy today. Thank you, Christine. 

Christine: Thank you. I appreciate this opportunity to share my story.

BUY  LOVE ON TOUR HERE

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Lee Adams was born and raised on the outskirts of Baltimore, MD. She has been active in the country music industry since the 1980s, working at a radio station before joining Decca/MCA Records and then Broken Bow Records, where she has been VP of Promotion since 2007. She has worked more than fifty #1 songs and is a current member of the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association. Lee and her husband of thirty-five years, Randy, adopted a teenager from Haiti in 2017. They live on the Potomac River in Falling Waters, WV.

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing