I created a playlist on my iPod of the theme songs for all my stories and I listened to it yesterday. One of the things I found really interesting was how the song could pull up memories of the book for me.
Now you're thinking, well, duh, it's the theme song, right? It should call the story to mind.
True--to an extent.
A couple of the books just grabbed their theme song as I was writing them and wouldn't let it go. Seriously, I wasn't looking at music for any of my books, but the story decided it for me. On the other hand, a couple of other books didn't pick any song--I had to figure one out because the other books had one. And as I listened yesterday, those songs didn't make me think of the book very much.
I tried to figure out how to add this playlist to iMix so that I could share the link with the world, but my iMac didn't have the symbol that the instructions said I needed and I gave up.
So what's my playlist?
Girl U Want - DEVO Ravyn's Flight (This one is the book that got me started on theme songs. I was working on the story when the song came on and it demanded to be associated with the book.)
Never Surrender - Corey Hart The Power of Two (This is another song that was chosen by the book. Every time I was uncertain where to go, I'd think of this song and it guided me.)
T-R-O-U-B-L-E - Travis Tritt Through a Crimson Veil (Not much association here. I needed a song and since Conor always thought of Mika as trouble, this seemed to work.)
Never Tear Us Apart - INXS Eternal Nights (Moderate association. I needed a theme song, but this one fit so well that it kind of took over.)
Need You Tonight - INXS Dark Awakening in Shards of Crimson (Zero association here. I just picked a song.)
Here I Go Again - Whitesnake In the Midnight Hour (Moderate association. The lyrics fit Ryne, the heroine.)
On the Dark Side - John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band In Twilight's Shadow (Weak association. Only slightly more relevant than "I needed a song" :-)
Drops of Jupiter - Train Edge of Dawn I think that's going to be the title of the book--I don't have confirmation yet. (Weak association)
Iris - Goo Goo Dolls This is for the Work In Progress (WIP) (I had this song while I was working on EDGE OF DAWN so the association is strong for me and it absolutely fits both the hero and the heroine. Now if I could just get that synopsis written....)
Anyway, after listening to the playlist yesterday, I really wanted to just sit down, read all the books, and visit with my characters again. No time, of course, but it was oh, so tempting. I've mentioned before that when my characters leave, it's as if my best friends are moving across the country. Reading their book is my way to "keep in touch" with them, so to speak, and the music evokes the memory (sometimes) of the hero/heroine and their story