"Let the words fall out"

Blazing Reader,

Jason Christoff sent me an email with a link to a song I've never heard before — but have since listened to three dozen times.

The song's called "Brave."

It opens with:

You can be the outcast
Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love
Or you can start speaking up
Nothing’s gonna hurt you the way that words do
When they settle ‘neath your skin
Kept on the inside and no sunlight
Sometimes a shadow wins
But I wonder what would happen if you...

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly, I wanna see you be brave

She's so right. Nothing hurts like words that "settle 'neath the skin" and are "kept on the inside."

That's why I write novels. Otherwise, I'd probably be covered in skin rashes.

You can listen to Sara Bareilles sing "Brave" in this (highly addictive) music video with some great dance moves:

Keep letting those words fall out.

I also wanna see you be brave.

—John C.A. Manley

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, the forthcoming All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of speculative fiction. Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber at: https://blazingpinecone.com/subscribe/