There are many things that inspire me to write, yet there is one thing that more than inspires me to put pen to paper, and that is music.  Music propels every word, keeps the rhythm of writing, and  drowns out distractions of everyday life.   Music gives me the freedom to pour my heart out onto paper,  and helps me feel what the characters are feeling.  My music choices, though in the past have been a bit random, are now carefully chosen to go along with the story's flow and mood. This webpage is another way for you to peek into my creative processes, and take away from it what you want.

The Disk

When I originally wrote The Disk in 1997, there's only one song I remember listening to. That doesn't mean I didn't listen to more songs, I simply can't remmeber. The Disk is one those early works of mine that I was a bit lukewarm about. It was what I like to call a "compulsive write", meaning the idea came to me and I quickly wrote the book. At the time, I can't say I was very emotionally invested in it, but it kind of satisfied a desire to write a book which was very action-packed without a lot of emotional tie-ins. It was technically the second book I had written, so it fell between Going Down Memory Lane and Castle of Death. Coming off of GDML, I think any book I had written would've had a lot less emotionally investment and attachment because for one thing, I wasn't sure if I was going to able to write anything after GDML, and secondly even if I did write anything else, I wasn't sure if it would give me enough momentum to keep going. Looking back, I can see how The Disk was a bridge between Going Down Memory Lane which is a slice of life type story, and Castle of Death which is the complete opposite of that.

When I began editing The Disk, I realized how much I really did like the characters and the plot. The lukewarm feeling I originally had soon boiled into something more, and I put a lot more life into the characters, especially Virginia who is the storyteller for the whole book. Since I was fourteen when I wrote The Disk, and Virginia was 14 in the first part of the story, it was, dare I say, easy to get into the mind of a fourteen year-old, since I was one. The part for me which felt off was the grown-up Virginia who is telling the story. So when I went to edit the book, I re-wrote a great deal of her adult life and added a lot to it. I feel it added more depth to story, as well as the character.

Anyway, let me get started on the music. I'll start with the song I remember listening to when I first wrote the book: "Kentucky Rain" by Elvis Presley. The Disk is set in a fictional town called Brownwood, Kentucky, and to be honest I don't remember if I set it in Kentucky because I loved "Kentucky Rain" at the time, or if I listened to "Kentucky Rain" because the book was set in Kentucky. I believe it was former. But anyway, I liked the determination expressed in the song for seaching for something you may never find, and for me it became a bit symbolic for what the book is about. Even though the song is about searching for the woman you love who just up and left in the middle of the night, for me the song just illustrates the lengths someone will go to for someone or something they love. So even though the song is sung from a man's perspective, it always seemed fitting for Virginia who's always searching for something in The Disk, which is a bit illusive.

When it came to editing my book, I found an old mixed tape of songs which reminded me of the time period in which The Disk would've been written. Possibly, I did listen to some of these songs the first time around, unfortunately my memory of it is just very foggy. But either way, when I edit a book so extensively, it's almost like writing it for the first time, so the music on the tape is now what I associate with The Disk.

The first song on the tape that I'm going to talk about is "Walkaway Joe" by Trisha Yearwood. Though the lyrics aren't terribly applicable, I still really associate this song with Virginia and Dash. The sentiment of the song seems to apply more than the story it tells, if that makes sense. Virginia puts a lot of trust in Dash, without really knowing him very well, and I think anytime anyone puts a lot of blind faith they're setting themselves up for disappointment. I don't want to give away too much of the story, so I'll just leave it at that.

The next song is "Bad Reputation" by Freedy Johnston. I really like this song for how Virginia's life ended up. At the very beginning of the book, Virginia says that she's been in a cell for 14 years of her life, and again, without giving too much away, Virginia does realize she has a "bad reputation", and she's not denying what she's done, but realizing the problem doesn't fix the problem. The line "Seven years disappear below my feet, been breaking down..." really sort of sums up her time in the institution. The years have gone by, and she is sort of "breaking down" from the experience.

Next is "One Headlight" by The Wallflowers, which was used in the trailer. This song just has a very unique mood to it, and the lyrics are very poetic, almost abstract. The lines that always jump out for me is, "I sit alone, and I feel just like somebody else - Man, I ain't changed, but I know I ain't the same..." This really epitomizes Virginia when she's being hunted for the disk, and has no choice but to change in order to survive. She's still "Virginia", but probably a part of herself that she never thought existed.

The song "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House was another song I listened to. Though I believe this song is about a relationship, when I would listen to it, it made me think of how one shouldn't give up on anything they long for or dream about, even when people or situations stand in your way. There's a power in knowing what you want and going for it, no matter what the cost. Virginia's life was a series of doors slamming in her face and her dreams getting smashed, but there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. And even if everyone else gives up on you, that should never be a reason to give up on yourself. Only then is when the light fades. So this song always had a feeling of hope to it, that I really liked to associate with Virginia.

And finally the last song on the tape is "Show Me The Way" by Styx. There are parts of the book that have Virginia seeking faith in a higher being, which is sort of unfamiliar territory for her because she's a very scientific minded person. One of my favorite scenes in the book is when Virginia attempts to pray for strength and guidance, and this song really is perfect for the scene.

There were a couple songs I added to the playlist as I was revising, which I really just added for obvious reasons: "Meet Virginia" by Train and "Leave Virginia Alone" by Rod Stewart. Just a quick note on "Meet Virginia"...I always thought the line, "Pulls her hair back as she screams, I don't really wanna live this life." was extremely fitting.

Well, we finally reached the end. As always, I am in no way affiliated with the artists or songs that I have mentioned.  I'm simply an appreciator of good music.  If you are interested in any of the music mentioned, please visit the following links for purchasing information: