Music is an integral part of my life but it is not part of my writing. I prefer my writing soundtrack to be that of the tapping of keys or the scratching of a pen. I love the depth of silence. I love my day-off-Monday's when the kids are at school and my husband is at work and I don't have to focus on anything but what makes me happy - how in the quiet I can pour out words for hours without being even remotely lonely.

It's a beautiful thing.

I know other writer's who only write to music. More power to them. I don't understand it - I get all muddled up in lyrics that steal focus from my own composing - it just doesn't work for me.

It never fails - no matter what the Project Of The Moment is - everything speaks to it. Conversations, radio interviews, movies, billboards, the acne constellation on the lisping coffee shop boy's face...EVERYTHING is about my book, my story, my idea.

That's just the reality of a writer's life. There's no avoiding it. No denying it. We are the center of our own universes and our work-in-progress is the eye of our personal storm. It is fed by EVERYTHING.

I adore the idea of creating a soundtrack for a project because it plays a beautiful role in establishing themes and invoking emotions. As I've plugged away at The Church In The Wildwood, I've kept track of some of the songs that seem to speak directly to exactly what I was trying to say in prose instead of poetry and I've gathered them into a Spotify Play List should you feel inclined to listen to all the feels of the tale I chose to spin.

It's a powerful way to let people get an audible glimpse of your story-feels.

And, for demonstration sake, here's my pretty little playlist for The Church In The Wildwood.