This is a continuation of the songs I wrote for FAWM as part of the “Night Moon” novel/novella in progress. I actually started rewriting the original manuscript and now the setting is a train.

Mixed in headphones / recommending for best listening experience.

Questions: What is 5/9?

5/9 replaces 50/90 where you write only five songs in nine days instead of 50 songs in 90 days.

What is 9/5?

The first 5/9 this year was in July. This is the second 5/9 songwriting sprint and it begins on September 5 so it’s 9/5. And, yes, people are jumping on the Dolly Parton wagon and connecting it to her song, “9 to 5.”

This year was the first 5/9 experiment, replacing the 50/90 summer songwriting challenge. It was so much fun, there will be another one in September. As much as I’d mourned the loss of 50/90, I see the value of a 5/9 in July and September since those were probably the most popular participation periods of the old 50/90.

As busy as I am the first half of July, I did manage to write 5 songs in 9 days.

The back story for song #5, “Chaos,” is this:

Playing around with the new Logic Pro “Shoulda Never” demo project, I ended up with pure chaos. So I ditched that project but liked the idea of “chaos” and that reminded me of my favorite chick lit novel called “Bet Me” where 3 guys meet 3 gals in a roulette-themed bar and one of the guys swears by “chaos theory” when it comes to love. So this song came about.

And I do enjoy a good friends to lovers romance trope.

Mixed in headphones. Recommended for listening.

I did a couple of doo-wop song shorts to warm up my vocals before this challenge and so I wanted to write a song in a similar style.

Song #3 for the Summer Songwriting Sprint (5/9) of 2026 is “No Mercy.”

Noticed the new vocal pack from EKO Soul on Logic Pro and so I wrote a song around it. Couldn’t understand every word… but it became the chorus.

Mixed in headphones. Recommended for listening.

Sadly, there is no more 50/90, the summer songwriting challenge where the FAWM community was invited to write 50 songs in 90 days. I actually preferred this over the February songwriting challenge because over the summer, the pace was slower and I got to know people better than the harried month of February. Anyway, this year is the first year they tried a songwriting challenge called 5/9 where you write 5 songs in 9 days.

Here’s my first song, “Never Loved Before.” I’d love to hear which one is your favorite.