Five Songs I Write By

There are some writers who need playlists. There are some writers who don't.

I fall in the first category.

So in honour of the rough draft of Moon Dance being completed, I am going to share five of the songs that had a huge impact on my book. Heck, I'll even tell you why. :)

#5: "She's Everything" by Brad Paisley




This is the song I played most often when Kesyl was thinking about Sara. The reason that I like it -- and the reason I am linking the version from Hits Alive rather then the studio version, is because of the way he sayings the line "She looks good in anything." That nailed the vulnerability that I strove for when contrasting how Kess felt about Sara against how certain he was the rest of the time.

#4: "Fuck You" by Cee Lo Green




For some reason I played this song a lot whenever Sara was hanging out with Cait and Isabelle or having any type of a diva moment. Were they at a mall? Pigging out on junk? Worrying about clothes? This was probably coming through the headphones. Thanks go to Shawn for this one. Not my usual genre but it really fit here.

#3: "Mai" by Josh Groban




Kess' theme. I first "saw" him in my head the way he is in the book listening to this song. Aside from the moments when he is thinking about Sara (see "She's Everything") this is his general state of being. He's a Sealer; a God of Judgement. What? Did you expect him to be sunshine and butterlies? :D

#2: "The Sweet Escape" by Gwen Stefani




Sara's "solo" theme. She's not as badass as people think she is. She knows she screws up and she doesn't always want to. Especially when she screws things up with Kess. Thanks go to Sally for playing this -- I probably wouldn't have heard it otherwise. (Not a normal genre of music for me. I'm more into country.)

#1: "The Other Side" by Bruno Mars (feat. Cee Lo Green and B.o.B.)




Hello, book theme. How nice of you to drop in. :D It must seem kind of funny that I would pick this since my Kindred and immortals aren't technically vampires or werewolves. But I loved the song from the first time that I heard it. Every time this book seemed too big or too daunting or made me feel stuck this got played.

So, do you use playlists for your books? What songs inspire you to write? Feel free to share and thinks for reading / listening.