.:Dreams and Swords:.

Soundtrack of Our Lives

If my memory is working today I believe it was good old Dick Clark that threw out the line that music is the soundtrack of our lives. This is true for me, has been since before I came out of the womb. My mother loves to reminisce about how she used to play music while my brothers and I were in utero, but it was me who seemed to like to party it up whenever the tunes got interesting. Since then I listen to a plethora of artists, bands, genres, composers, and anything else you can throw in there.

What I find surprising is when my characters seem to do the same thing. The more I write, the more they take on their own musical tastes, some of which are not necessarily mine. It makes for intriguing writing.

For example, I'm writing/messing with a story that came to me a couple of days ago while reading a kick ass book by Holly Black. Since I haven't "adopted" the concept yet, I figured this would be a perfect opportunity to hack at a piece longer than a 1000 words.

Anywho, my character Hollis is a mix of Snowden, We Fell To Earth, Jimi Hendrix, and Tori Amos. What the other characters are, I have no idea yet. Usually, I give supporting character at least one song to call their own. Seems the fair thing to do.

Yet, my character Billie in a completely different novel loves all music as she's a wannabe composer. Again, intriguing. While Ashima (Yes, another separate character. Sue me.) will be based almost entirely in the work of Bat For Lashes.

What is comforting to know is that many of my favorite authors make soundtracks to their books as well. Jenny Crusie, an awesome writer of comedy, says that each of her novels takes on a tone which creates its own soundtrack. She even talks about one day might having a novel idea to fit some of the music she likes, taking what happens to me in reverse.

So, Mr. Clark, you're right. Just don't rub it in.