Guest Post at Lori's Reading Corning!

[Monica]

Music as Inspiration

I always spend a lot of time listening to music. Music, for me, paints pictures for the scenes that I see happening for my characters. I have certain stations on Pandora tailored to each character and certain ones tailored for the mood I need to be in for each scene.

Most of the time, when I’m writing in Zane’s POV, I’ll listen to my Nickelback or Seether stations. There are a few exceptions for specific songs/scenes that I’ll get to later but for the most part, those two stations can get me in the right frame of mind for Zane.


When I’m writing Lili POV, it’s P!nk and Avril Lavigne. Most of my Lili scenes are the kind of feel I can find in those songs. Christina Perri also became a big influence in Unforgivably Broken for specific scenes.


There are a few songs that made it onto the play list because they brought a few important moments to life for me. The first one that comes to mind is Next Contestant by Nickelback. Chapter Three has a scene that came to me when this song played on my Pandora. I was struggling to figure out where to go in the story and that song blends exactly with the scene.

Excerpt
The whole bar erupted into cheers as Heaven blew the whistle and Lili held up a bottle of Cuervo. I took the last shot in front of me as I watched the line form in front of the girls. The alcohol felt heavy in my stomach but the nearly constant ache I’d grown used to in my chest was now nonexistent, replaced with the burning mixture of alcohol and jealousy.


Yeah, I could admit that I was jealous. I could also control it. I was a grown fucking man for shit’s sake. I was convinced I’d made my point about her flirting to piss me off. I watched her carefully pour the liquor into the mouths of the people in the line as they shoved cash at Heaven who was trying desperately to keep up with the flow. It wasn’t until the prick in the white hat was up that I realized how wrong I was.


He stepped in front of Lili and her eyes flicked up to mine. Her smile dripped with wickedness before she looked back down at him. She snatched his hat, causing the crowd to go crazy as she strutted along the bar seductively. Pulling it low over her eyes, shielding the light from her expression and leaving her face in shadow, she lifted her head toward me again. She sauntered back to the prick and bent down, grabbing his shoulders and turning him away from the bar before leaning him backwards against it. It wasn’t until she straddled his head, her spiky heels on either side of his face, giving him a clear view up her skirt, that I lost it.

The other that was very specific to this book was a Lili POV that happens in Chapter Twenty-Two. This part of the book was hard for me because I’m a character driven writer. I like to get completely inside their heads, at least, as much as possible. So, when they’re hurting, I’m hurting. The song Arms by Christina Perri was a big part of this scene. I can’t give as big of an excerpt without spoilers but here is a brief piece of a very emotional moment for Lili.

Excerpt

“Pix.” At that, I turned, knowing I’d heard it. It only took a second for my eyes to meet his as he tried to wind his way through the maze of bodies between us. I gasped, nearly choking myself as I broke out of Tish’s grip and pushed through the people between us. I slammed into him, harder than I’d planned, and he immediately wrapped his arms around me tightly.
I could feel it in that moment — the connection between us. It was a separate entity, something outside of just him and I. Something good and pure and perfect. I nearly sobbed in relief at the feeling.

While music plays a huge part in all my stories, even inspiring some ideas for books altogether, I’m very focused and set in my ways when it comes to writing. I actually can’t have any music playing while I’m writing or I get distracted. The only exceptions happen when I’m really stuck on a scene and usually I’ll have music on but I’ll only be staring at my screen instead of writing!
I have play lists for both books that will soon be posted on my website so make sure you check them out.

(You can find the post here: http://www.lorisreadingcorner.com/201...)