The Music That Inspires Us

by Trish Milburn

As writers, we're always trying to evoke emotions from our readers. Love, heartbreak, fear, longing -- you name it, there's some piece of music out there that can evoke it too. Though I'm not one of those writers who typically listens to music when I write, there are artists and music that inspire my storytelling. I'm a great collector of movie soundtracks because I think they do such a wonderful job of evoking emotion -- that's their job. My current favorite is Avatar. Love it! Here's a medley of several of the songs someone put together.



The music that inspires us doesn't have to be something we listen to while writing. Sometimes an artist's lyrics or the type of music they create over many songs can speak to the type of story we want to tell. I found this to be true while writing Winter Longing, my second young adult novel due out in August. The heroine of this book, Winter Craig, has to go through some really heart-wrenching things, and I found myself listening to a lot of Breaking Benjamin, particularly songs like "Breath" from their Phobia album. It was lyrics like "You took the breath right out of me, You left a hole where my heart should be" that really summed up the feelings I was trying to evoke. Several songs from that album really worked, so much so that I worked it into the story that Winter listens to the album a lot.



I decided to check in with the rest of the Banditas to see if and how music relates to their writing. Here's what they had to say. See if you see any favorite songs/artists among their inspiration.

Christine Wells:

I find that songs set the mood for particular moments in my books, not necessarily the entire book--a couple I'm listening to now for a seduction book are "Only When I Sleep" (The Corrs), "Take My Breath Away" (Berlin), and "Sexy Back" (Justin Timberlake). My hero thinks he's such hot stuff!"

Cassondra Murray:

"For me, it's Stevie Nicks. Specifically, right now, it's the Trouble in Shangri-la album. I was listening to it on the interstate while I thought about one of the manuscripts I was working on and BAM. There it was. It was perfect. It encompassed the dark, murky, elusive sense that I want for this book. I got ideas for several scenes as I was thinking about it. As it turned out, that CD was right for the entire series I was working on."

Tawny Weber:

"Peter Paul & Mary. Love them. Gordon Lightfoot, vintage BeeGees, heck, the Monkees ballads. I listen to them all while I write, mixed in with Pink, Taylor Swift, Britney Spears (yes, I admit it – but wait, it gets worse), and The Spice Girls. The mainstays, though, are Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Guns & Roses, Savage Garden, etc..."

Nancy Northcott:

"I can't write to music that has lyrics. I write my spy books to the theme from Alias -- so that's already a soundtrack--and the historicals to period music. It's okay if the lyrics are in Italian or Latin since that's just so much noise to me. I have to focus to do any kind of Latin translation anymore and have lost most of my vocabulary there. Soundtracks like the Fellowship of the Ring or Pirates of the Caribbean or other orchestral pieces work because they're mostly
lyrics-free."

Anna Sugden:

"A band whose lyrics speak to me is Chicago. Each song tells a story. Tim McGraw also has songs that tell a good story and some of the older Billy Ray Cyrus. Then again, with some songs, it’s just the feel of the music."

Caren Crane:

"For me and my work I would choose Kings Of Leon. You can tell they're Southern, for one thing, and their music is infused with passion, longing, angst, the joy of youth and a hefty dose of melancholia. They perfectly encapsulate how I felt when I was a 20-something, and I want to get all that into my books. I wish they had been around when I was their age."

If you're a writer, tell us what type of music or particular artists inspire you. If you're not a writer, is there an artist whose music really speaks to you?

Intelligence Report

Code Name: Golden Rooster

Day 467 in the Bandit Lair

This assignment has been the most taxing of my undercover career thus far. These women ("Banditas", as they are locally known) are exhausting & elusive creatures. My efforts to ingratiate myself to them so as to better observe them in their natural habitat have been slow to render the sort of intimacy my research requires. As a group, they seem to have an inordinate fondness for sweet biscuits ("Tim Tams") & luridly colored alcoholic beverages. My ability to observe them individually has been severely curtailed by their implausible habit of raffling me off to early risers for 24 hour periods.

I have made every effort to make these out-of-Lair sojourns productive, however. There was an extremely edifying 24-48 hours of explosives & firearms training, which may come in handy during the next Party in the Lair. "Launch parties" in particular have been known to provoke a most extreme demonstration of enthusiasm & joy, during which time Tim Tams & pink drinks are consumed in alarming quantities, chandelier are swung upon & largely unclothed young men wander unchecked, offering anything from drinks to personal massages. I have escaped molestation by luck alone.

That said, however, I have managed to glean a few bits of classified information which I will now share with you. I will use code names, as this line is most surely monitored. Use the following data as wisdom permits:

Bandita A: Carries an enormous satchel in which she smuggles large quantities of junk food into movie theatres. Also stockpiles DQ Blizzards in her freezer so as to conceal the number she chooses to consume in a given day.

Bandita B: Despite being a "Southern girl" and, as such, bred to prize personal grooming above all else save good manners, has no compunction about appearing in public in grass-stained jeans, a messy ponytail, and an ancient t-shirt, smelling of lawn mower.

Bandita C: Though ostensibly a "medical professional" has a well-documented addiction to State Fair corn dogs.

Bandita D: Nothing chocolate is safe around this Bandita, though in an effort to balance the scales, she consumes equal amounts of Diet Coke and Diet Dr. Pepper.

Bandita E: Has a disturbing love of cooking & cooking-related TV. Treated me to a horrifying phenomenon known as the (shudder) “National Chicken Cook-off” show during a brief stint under her supervision. Seems to have an unnatural obsession with chicken-cide evidenced by her forcing me to bet on a trifecta at Churchill Downs where Who’s your Colonel, Passingravy and Finger Lickin Lady were running. Regretfully, I won.

Bandita F: Forced me to partake of a delicacy known as Underwood Deviled Ham - a canned pork product that contains an entire day's allowance of sodium, I believe. I suspect this was part of a pagan ritual of sorts as she consumed the entire can while wearing Birkenstocks with socks and dancing to ELO's "Turn to Stone".

Bandita G: Engages in an odd ritual in which she reads the first quarter of a book, then the ending, then the remaining 3/4s. I suspect it could be the influence of a neon green beverage she mainlines labeled "Mt. Dew."

Bandita H: Maintains that while she doesn't drink anymore, she "certainly doesn't drink any less." Avers that, though the Aussie girls can drink her under the table, she does "love a cocktail." [A term I find offensive, if I may register a personal aside.]

Bandita I: Secretly uses her "writing time" to cruise the most scurrilous of celebrity gossip websites. Paris Hilton is a dear friend of hers.

Bandita J: Actually prefers instant coffee to the real thing. This is not surprising given her other feeding habits. I personally witnessed her eating Potato Gems dipped in Thai sweet chili sauce straight off the oven tray.

Bandita K: Has an extreme footwear fetish--countless pairs of shoes litter her quarters--but she seldom actually wears them, preferring to go barefoot most days.

That is the extent of my current intelligence. I regret I have failed to glean more from my time here. I have been forced to adopt the habits of the natives so as to avoid suspicion. This has resulted in enduring a few massive hangovers & the addition of perhaps 5-10 lbs in Tim Tam weight.

I await your instructions.

Sincerely,

GR