Music For A Dark Frame Of Mind

Is this it? Can it really be over? Today I wave a sad farewell to the Noble Romance Authors Blog Tour – there'll be tear-stained handkerchiefs all over the blogosphere.

But first! Let's be of good cheer, because I have a truly terrific guest to welcome today, and I know you're going to agree with me. I'm thrilled to welcome the lovely Bianca Sommerland, who is going to talk about the relationship between her stories and music. Welcome, Bianca!

Sometimes, when I'm writing, it seems impossible to get into the right frame of mind. Music helps. Like most authors, I have playlists to suit different scenes. Lovey dovey songs for romance, tear jerkers for sad scenes, and–my favourite—songs that get your blood pumping for action scenes. These playlists work no matter what story I'm writing, because romance is romance and a brawl is a brawl.

But when things get real dark and intense, the tune changes. Because, in my mind, the emotions involved in those scenes are never the same. I can spend hours, even days sometimes, searching for the right song because nothing else will get me in the right mindset to write.

Then I find a new song and it's like the last puzzle piece snapping into place.

For one story, the song was Counting bodies like sheep, by A Perfect Circle. It's dark and kinda creepy. On repeat it made the words flow like the tears of lost souls. The prose was disturbing, as intended. I hadn't been able to get that into character in awhile.

Another story had me hunting until I discovered Within Temptation. Sharon den Adel, the vocalist, has a voice so haunting you feel chills up your spine as she holds a note and hope dies. It's very hard to write a happily-ever-after when I've written a scene that's required her particular brand of darkness. Quite often I need to take a big step back from the story and listen to something upbeat before I decided killing the entire cast is a very good idea.

To me, good writing is like method acting. How do you write a truly emotional death scene without feeling a thing? How do you write love between two characters if you're indifferent about them? How do you write fear if you've never experienced it, or–at very least–don't find some pleasure in making victims of your characters.

I don't think you can. I could be wrong, I mean, some actors manage to front emotion on a whim.

Most of their scenes are pretty transparent though. Scenes in books written by writers who pump out books with no heart don't bleed like the books of writers who really care. I love those books. I want to write books like that.

In the end, I believe music speaks to me in the same way I want my scenes to speak to my readers. If a song can make me smile, laugh, scream, or cry, then I can transfer that emotion to my characters.

So I'd like to take a moment to raise my glass to those talented singers out there that use melodies to move us all. I wouldn't write half as good without them. Cheers!

For more of me, go here: http://imnoangelauthorsblog.wordpress...

For the next stop in the tour, click here: http://sarahballance.wordpress.com/

Thanks, Bianca, for a fascinating post. You've made me want to check out Within Temptation. And here, for all you interested people, is the cover and details for Bianca's latest story.

Lydia awakes, bound and blind, to the whispered urgings of a man who has his hands on her. His words confuse her at first, but she soon understands they are both in the middle of a performance that will determine whether she remains in captivity or dies. The crowd must be entertained, and her cellmate makes sure it is.

Forced submission is not the only horror Lydia endures. She has no memories of life before her imprisonment, and Joe, her cellmate, is her only comfort as the powerful creatures that hold them captive torture and debase her. Together, she and Joe cling to the will to survive long enough to break free and seek revenge. Their desire to sustain one another triumphs over their wardens' efforts to destroy them. There is no pain, no suffering, that can tear them apart.

Beyond their cell, their love is tested. Can they hold strong in the face of the challenge of the new powers they have gained along with their freedom?

Special Content Alert: BDSM, forced sex, graphic violence, menage, dark erotica

Comment away – you could be one stop away from winning that hundred dollar Eden Fantasys voucher – then head off to Sarah Ballance's blog, where you'll find Mindy Mackay. And thank you for all your support!