Thursday, April 7, 2011

The Music of My Muse

The Music of the Muse

Sorry I haven’t been around lately but I’ve been a bit under the weather.  Trying to stay awake and get some writing done, despite cold meds.  To get in the mood, I have my personal writing station on Jango running in the background.  It plays a mix of songs from bands I’ve designated and those thrown in by Jango.  I knew that music had the power to change my mood, so it followed that my characters would have music that represented them, both in general and in certain scenes. Right now, I’m listening to Bruno Mars “Grenade”.  It somewhat reminds me of Ekaterina Vilkas, the shapeshifting assistant to my Russian vampire, Baron Ivan Vasilievich.  She is hopelessly and obsessively in love with him.  She will do anything for him and in a dangerous extension of this, she will do anything to make him hers.  So I might add it to Kat’s song list.  Songs are not a perfect reminder fit my characters but they help me focus on them or the emotion of a scene. 

Werewolves of London” belongs to Liam when he’s in one of his playful moods.  As his mood darkens and the moon grows full, he might switch to U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name”. When out driving, he listens to Bad Haggis. In his gloomier moments, The Doors and darker from there.

Micaela is a funny girl. She likes music but since there are so many things she doesn’t want to deal with she avoids associating things and herself with music.  As usual she’s holding out. As if on cue, Styx’s Crystal Ball started.  It now belongs to my MC Micaela.

Now I’m from New Jersey and here we have our own version of Coke vs. Pepsi and it’s Springsteen vs. Bon Jovi.  I like early Bruce, but I am a Bon Jovi girl.  Looking great from the front and rear doesn’t hurt, either.  So I find a lot of inspiration in his songs.  Welcome to Wherever You Are is a group song for my main characters who all seem to be on a journey to getting comfortable in their own skin (or skins, in some cases).

During fight scenes, it’s not about the lyrics; it’s the bass and the drum.

What do you listen to while you right? Is it about the character, the emotion, the location or the action?

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