Musical Inspiration for Writers

I know I have talked about my writerly playlist in the past, but I will not deny the constant inspiration I have found in music. As I was reading through some of the work I wrote a few years ago, I was reminded how much the music of Sting had inspired several of my plotlines. While there was very little actual evidence for the average reader left in the story itself, I could clearly recall the mood and setting of certain scenes and the songs that I was listening to as I wrote them. It was as if the songs themselves had become associated with mine and my characters' memories of that time.

It reminded me of some of the earliest writing I actually produced, when I was about ten. That writing was heavily influenced by music I listened to at that time, and it seemed to become a trend I followed all through my youth. Many of the stories I wrote were responses to favorite songs which gave me a wide variety of interesting topics to write about, and it still does. Because a mood and atmosphere is already created by the song, I find myself wanting to reproduce the moment, or live through it myself in a way.

Music has been a huge element in my life since I was a little girl, and it seems that all along music and writing have gone hand in hand. I think that's something I need to bear in mind when I find myself frustrated with writer's block. To get the plot juices flowing, I need to find music that makes me feel connected to the story itself. For example, two of the novels I am working on the second drafts of now have soundtracks, if you will. One story is set in a small, farm town very similar to where I grew up and live currently. Finding myself in that place requires little more than queuing up Dierks Bentley and Toby Keith. The other novel is set in the Faerie underworld. Gary Stadler and David Arkenstone are just two of the atmospheric elements of my fantasy soundtrack. While I was writing about zombies, I found myself listening to a lot heavy music, dark, violent, but still atmospheric. I actually had a soundtrack I found on iTunes that was inspired by zombie films. It put me in the perfect mood to pull out the cricket bat and start whacking zombies.

Have you ever heard a song that compelled you to write? Has a character ever cried out from the chorus of a song and begged you to dive in and unearth their story?

Sting: When We Dance

Beer for My Horses: A Review

I grew up in the era of great movies like Smoky and the Bandit and Canon Ball Run. Even though Smoky and the Bandit was about bootlegging, it was still a fun film. I rank Toby Keith's Beer for My Horses right up there with those classic comedies.

Deputy Sherrif "Rack" Rackman (Toby Keith} and his goofy partner Lonnie (Rodney Carrington) find themselves in deep after they arrest a Mexican drug cartel's younger brother. When Rack's girlfriend is kidnapped and held for ransom, it's up to Rack and Lonnie to save the day. In a souped up pick-up truck, the partners hit to the road to Mexico with the silent and mysterious "Skunk" (Ted Nugent}. The group manages to get themselves into some hilarious situations, including broken down amidst a family of wandering circus performers headed up by Willie Nelson.

I probably would not have picked up this film if I wasn't such a big Toby Keith fan, but I'm glad I did. It was laugh out loud funny, romantic and had some great action scenes. Keith's sense of humor never fails in his music videos, and that same playful bad boy transfers well to the big screen. While there were definitely a couple of potty humor jokes, they definitely tended to be slightly more wholesome than many of the supposed comedies that pour into the box office these days. Ted Nugent's character was a fantastic addition to the Keith and Carrington comedy duo. The film also featured Tom Skarret, Barry Corbin, David Allan Coe and the beautiful Claire Forlani.

The film did a short stint in theatres before debuting on the Country Music Television channel (CMT) and then releasing onto video November 11. If you've got CMT, definitely check it out when it comes on, but I'd be willing to bet it's a lot funnier on DVD!

You can find out more about the film on the Official Site.