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I am currently writing the next Anita Blake novel. Yes, the one after the June release, Bullet. The new book had been going along at a nice pace. I’d been doing about four pages a day which used to be my page count at the beginning of most books. It’s a comfortable pace while my Muse and I get our feet under us. Later the page count will pick up to between four and eight pages a day, and then sometimes ten to twenty, but you can’t count on that. I did my four pages early today, but the pace isn’t flowing. Why not? Not sure, but I think I need new music.

I always write to music. I used to pick an album to write to, but when the books began to grew from four hundred pages to between six hundred and a thousand, no single album could keep my interest. I’d change part way through the writing process. It usually meant that the album that came in late was the music for the beginning of the next book. Then the iPod and iTunes came into my life, and suddenly creating my own playlists was easy.

I’ve learned that the right music for a given book is absolutely imperative for me. I can spend days arguing with myself that I don’t need new music or a different order of older music, but in the end, I do. My muse runs on music, and so do I. So, I’ve been creating a playlist for the new book today. I wrote most of Skin Trade to Drowning Pool and that band is still almost useless to me, because it’s associated too intimately with that book, those characters, that plot. But Disturbed which came in just after that for me has come and gone as a favorite, but I’ve never been without some of their music on my playlist since a good friend recommended them to me. Daven, the friend in question, has a real ear for music for my muse and me. Drowning Pool had one album on Bullet’s playlist, but not this time. Still tired of their most excellent music for writing to, but Disturbed has come back in a major way. I’ve got most of their albums on the list. Korn which was my mainstay for the last book is nowhere to be seen. I’ve just overused them lately. Godsmack which came in at the end of Bullet is still on the playlist, but not every album. Flyleaf is the only girl fronted band right now. She does her own growling, I like that in a female singer. Though subsequent albums seem less hard edged and are not on my playlist. I’ve got one song from Hinder and Saving Abel respectively. I’ve got one Chevelle album, so far, but will be listening to more. I’ve got two albums by Hurt, and I think that will do for them for this book.

I’m still tweaking the playlist, and may add some harder stuff. I have a playlist that’s simply entitled, Hardcore which is Lamb of god, Killswitch Engage, and Chimaira. I may mix some of that in with the above playlist, or keep it for late night wake up call. But either way I have the beginnings of the music that will sing me through this next novel. I’m listening to the music as I type this, trying to decide if I want to keep the album order, or mix it up more. I’ll be rearranging for a few more days, but it’s there, the theme music for the book, the background music that will become so much a part of this book, these characters, this plot, that some of the songs will be forever wedded to it, and them. There are still songs that I can’t hear without thinking of scenes I’ve written, because the music simply is part of my writing process. Some writers run on nicotine, others on caffeine, for me, it’s music.