The Sounds of Sleepwalking

Authors are often asked what inspired their stories, and sometimes songs can trigger ideas. Other times, authors will develop a playlist of music they listen to while writing a book. It can help them get into the vibe of the story. I had the opposite occur to me. The song came after I was finished with the book.

It was a really strange case of coincidence. I had just finished Dream Walker and was attending an outdoor art and music festival when a band started playing a really moody, dreamy instrumental. I asked somebody if they knew the name of the song, because I immediately fell in love with it. What was the name of the song? Sleepwalk.

I just about fell over.

The song was a hit in 1959 – before my time – by Santo & Johnny. It’s amazing how well the mood of the song fits the romance between my characters, Shea and Derek. Then again, both the song and the book had the same inspiration of sleepwalking. We just took different forms of expression.

Here’s a link to the song on YouTube.

Have you ever experienced a coincidence like that? Has a song come on the radio that exactly expressed your mood? Ever been facing a big day and been awakened by a song telling you that “tonight’s gonna be a good night”?