As frequent visitors to my site know, songs inspire me when I write. This is especially true with my full-length books, especially since they can take a while to write–usually well over a month for the first draft. If I can attach a song to a scene, it helps months down the line to simply turn on that song and immediately be able to put myself in the scene again. This is especially helpful during edits when there are some occasions when I haven’t seen the manuscript for 3 months.
As always, there is usually one song that is a standout on the list for a particular story. Despite the fact I am a rabid fan of heavy rock, alternative and the like, the song that worked the best for me for Ragged Edge was, surprisingly, a country song. Considering the fact the book takes place in a fictitious town an hour or so outside of Atlanta, Georgia, I suppose it’s fitting.
Live And Let Die ~ Guns N’ Roses
Trash ~ Korn
ISHFWILF ~ Disturbed
Resist ~ Melissa Etheridge
For Your Entertainment ~ Adam Lambert
Sooner Or Later ~ Breaking Benjamin
Bless The Broken Road ~ Rascal Flatts
Shed My Skin ~ Alter Bridge
Not Strong Enough ~ Apocalyptica feat. Brent Smith
When The Heartache Ends ~ Rob Thomas
Tear the World Down ~ We Are the Fallen
The first sentence of the book “Dalton was damaged goods.” tells you a lot about the main character in just four words, just as these eleven songs tell you so much about the story–and the character’s journey–as a whole.
A lot of the songs deal with reconnecting or remembering because that’s the case with Taran & Wallace. There’s a lot about ‘end of the world’ type things and “guns blazing” cause….well, you’ll find out. Unlike the playlist from Flash of Dark, there is no one song that I identify with this story the most.
