Music and Writing

I can't write in silence. I need music while writing, but the type of music always changes depending on where I am in the writing process.

I need noise when drafting, but lyrics distract me. So I like to listen to movie/television soundtracks.  My favorites are Game of Thrones by Ramin Djawadi, BBC Sherlock by David Arnold and Michael Price, Downton Abbey by The Chamber Orchestra of London, Harry Potter by John Williams and Alexandre Desplat, Doctor Who by Murray Gold and BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Les Revenants by Mogwai, The Lord of the Rings by Howard Shore, and Jurassic Park by John Williams.

But when I'm editing or revising, I can handle listening to lyrics. Lately, my favorite singers or bands to listen to are Florence + The Machine, Ellie Goulding, MS MR, Lana Del Rey, Lorde, and Marina and The Diamonds.

With every manuscript (or unfinished WIP), I have listened to soundtracks while drafting and select bands or singers during revising/editing. At least I did up until THE TREASURE HUNT. With THE TREASURE HUNT, I listened to metal bands throughout the entire writing process. I think for this ms it helped me connect with my characters since music and mixed tapes play a big part in the story. I mostly listened to Metallica (Ride the Lightning, …And Justice for All, Master of Puppets, and the black album). I also listened to Slayer, Pantera, Testament, Skid Row, Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, and Megadeth. Ben, the main character, likes grunge/alternative, so sometimes I listened to a select few songs by The Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Mother Love Bone, and Nirvana.

With THICK AS THIEVES, my Camp Nano WIP, I've tried to stick with sci-fi soundtracks. So far, I've enjoyed listening to Star Trek by Michael Giancchino (thanks to Stephanie Garber for the suggestion!), Fringe: Season 1 by Chad Seiter, Chris Tilton, and Michael Giancchino, Thor by Patrick Doyle, and Doctor Who by Murray Gold and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

What do you listen to while drafting, revising, and editing?

Writing Inspiration

Where do you get your story ideas?

My ideas usually pop out of nowhere. I'll be driving, cleaning, at the gym, or making dinner when I'll get an idea or a feeling for a story. It's totally random. Sometimes I'll get several shiny-new-ideas in a week, and other times I'll go months with no new ideas.

And sometimes I'll get new ideas inspired by something else. The inspiration for THE TREASURE HUNT was a random idea inspired by DOCTOR WHO. This sounds completely strange--my LGBT historical romance being inspired by a British sci-fi show--but it's true. The idea of River Song leaving messages for the Doctor across time and space sparked something for me. (I mean, how cool is that?) Initially, I thought THE TREASURE HUNT was going to involve love letters with some sort of time travel element, but the sci-fi elements eventually fell away, leaving me with a treasure hunt with metal heads set in 1992.

But the inspiration for STRANGE ATTRACTORS came about in a different way. Instead of it popping out of nowhere, I was looking for a new idea. I was out for Mexican food with my husband for our anniversary when I asked him to tell me some interesting science-related topics that I could include in a YA sci-fi. He listed several, like solar flares and and nuclear fallout, but the last idea about someone being able to travel between the multiverse really sparked something for me. I immediately pictured Piper and thought of ways she could travel through universes.

Sometimes these ideas come to me fully-formed and are easy to turn into a story, but other times I really have to think about them. STRANGE ATTRACTORS came together fairly quickly. I almost immediately knew Piper was a teen spy, but her motivation wasn't always the same. THE TREASURE HUNT, on the other hand, took a lot of pondering. I mean, initially it started out as a sci-fi. But when I couldn't think of a way for the characters to send love letters through time, it became a historical romance involving a treasure hunt instead.

What's your craziest story inspiration? Do you involve other people in your brainstorming?

The Writer's Voice Entry - STRANGE ATTRACTORS (YA sci-fi)

STRANGE ATTRACTORS

Query:

Dear Writer's Voice coaches,

With the weight of the multiverse on her shoulders, it’s a wonder that seventeen-year-old Piper Newton doesn’t have to see a chiropractor.

As a corporate spy, Piper uses her unique ability to travel between universes to obtain lucrative information for her father and his company. But when she discovers that a parallel version of her father’s most-hated competitor is experimenting on the veils between universes, the gravity of her next spy mission threatens to break her back. 

Her father asks her to infiltrate the company through the competitor’s son, Calvin James. Dating--even for a mission--is the last thing she wants to do. Guys lie and cheat and are more destructive than superluminous supernovae. But because Piper and her father believe the damage caused by Calvin’s father’s experimentation will create a black-hole-like-void, ultimately destroying both universes, she knows she has to do something--even if that means hooking up with a cocky jerk like Calvin James.

To Piper’s surprise, Calvin quickly disarms her with his intelligence, quesadilla-making-skills, and butterfly-effect-smile. She’s soon sneaking off to the parallel universe to see Calvin behind her father’s back and neglecting to tell him everything she learns. She rationalizes that his father is more mad-scientist than sinister-villain and wonders if they were wrong about Calvin’s father. He’s only studying the veils. He’s not trying to be malicious.

But when red flags start appearing and lies begin unraveling around her, Piper’s shocked to learn she put her trust in the wrong person.

And she’s going to need the help of a former enemy to exact revenge.

STRANGE ATTRACTORS, a young adult sci-fi, is complete at 80,500 words. It is a standalone with series potential.



First 250 words:

THE POLLUX UNIVERSE

 OCTOBER 4th, THE PRESENT DAY

I couldn’t find anything on Michael Silverstone’s desk because it was a complete disaster, like a hoarder-snuck-into-an-office-building type of disaster. As I looked through the receipts, hand written notes, half-eaten food, and coffee-stained papers, I wondered how someone so messy could be organized enough to run New York City’s most successful financial advising company. This extreme amount of junk was like an inexpensive theft-deterrent or more like an inexpensive Piper-deterrent.

What the Hell? I thought, touching a still-wet, soiled napkin. There were words scrawled across the napkin, but “purch-dia-glass” didn’t really tell me anything. I had a knack for remembering random bits of information and passwords, so I made a mental note of the phrase in case it was important.

Beep!

I cursed under my breath before turning off my stopwatch. Time was up. I quickly stacked all the papers with numbers or percentages in the hope that something important made it into the pile. Since Silverstone’s desk was such a mess, I didn’t worry about him noticing a few missing documents. He would probably assume he’d misplaced them.

I paused, thinking I’d seen a flash of light, and listened. The muffled sound of footsteps on carpet soon followed. Someone was in the hallway! My heart hammered as I slipped beneath the disordered desk. I pulled a knife from my pocket and held it in front of me. 



Thanks for your time and consideration!