As I said last time, I’m not really a must-have-music kind of writer. But every now and again, a song screams to me. Throws me right into the head of a character and really gives me a solid hold on them. When that happens, I take advantage of it.
While writing Claiming His Beauty, I found myself doing a lot of thinking about my characters in the car. I actually used up my entire data plan playing certain songs on YouTube over and over again to keep me in the right place mentally for the character I needed to work things through for. Here are the songs I couldn’t stop listening to.
Beast’s Song: Take Me To Church by Hozier
This song haunted me for days. Every time it comes on, I think of my Beast and how tormented he was before Calla.
Calla’s Theme Song: Hallelujah by Kate Voegele
This song has been a favorite of mine for a while. I have six or seven versions on my iPod and always enjoy when one of them shuffles up. But this one…this version…tends to be the one that fills me with the sense of Calla.
Beast and Calla Together: A Sorta Fairy Tale by Tori Amos
Oh Tori…my love for her knows no bounds. I wrote a contemporary romance novel inspired by one of her songs, and I pulled from her vast playlist for the love between Beast and Calla. It’s not the most romantic song, there’s no grand gesture or proclamations, but there’s a feeling to it that I love. A rhythm. It works for me…and for Beast and Calla, apparently.
And for a funny ending, here’s another song that I played on repeat while writing Beast. No clue why…maybe he’s a Taylor Swift fan?
