2 Days to New Release Day: Let the Music Play

I love all kinds of music: metal, opera, bluegrass, rock, oldies, movie themes, pop - anything with a tune. For me, music equates with emotion, mood, time and place. Ever hear a certain song and immediately think of that high school breakup or your first ride in a convertible? It’s a vital part of the creation process for each of my books to have a soundtrack. What kind of music my hero or heroine listens to tells me a lot about their personality. What type of music I listen to puts me in the mood for my story – a sultry blues beat to conjure the feel of New Orleans, the restless, yearning rhythms of a love song, aggressive guitar licks to stimulate the adrenaline of a good fight scene. I remember my oldest son groaning, “Why can’t you write a horror novel,” because of the wailing country ballads I was playing as a backdrop for my Western historical series.

For BETRAYED BY SHADOWS it was a step away from the more eclectic mix of SEEKER OF SHADOWS to the Cajun heart of Giles St. Clair (with a couple of blasts from the rock ‘n roll past to tie him to his memories). Brigit’s playlist was more glitzy and contemporary but at the same time held a hint of lonely sadness. The musical themes toy with loss, with trust, with hope, and I can picture some of them, like “Our Last Time”, as a summary of the scenes. When you read the book, see if you can guess which one. Plug in, close your eyes, and get a feel for BETRAYED BY SHADOWS.

As a sidebar, my son was thrilled while I was writing my next book in the series, PRINCE OF SHADOWS and came to him to ask what kind of metal music he’d recommend for my rowdy, tattooed rock ‘n roll prince Cale Terriot. I certainly got some funny looks driving downtown to work with the windows open, head bobbing, radio blasting Eisbrecher, Megaherz, Chrome Division and Five Finger Death Punch along with my favorite AC/DC. Mama’s rocking on.

Tomorrow is Day One – RELEASE DAY!