Many of my writer friends love working to sounds tracks. I wish I could say the same! I love old rap, the kind of country that tells a great story, and loud rock&roll. But I can’t combine those with writing because words create separate, competing music. They transmit their own rhythms and carry me along. When I reach for a master who creates the best mood (think key and melody), I reach for Donaldson’s fantasy. For best rhythm (think drums), Dick Francis mysteries.
My characters feel and sound like real people in my head. I think one of the best things is to live other lives inside of them. To see how their magical world lies in peril. Feel their divisions of mind. Divisions of heart. Understand how their choices can save or destroy what they cherish most deeply. When their shadow sides are locked away, those shades will find a way out, no matter the cost.
Even my lighter-weight stories hide something deeper.
It doesn’t matter which genre, I make stories to pull readers in and down, so they can’t come up and out of the story until the last page.
The best stories make me feel hypnotized when I step back out. I want readers to feel that too.
In real life I’ve been a trauma therapist. That’s where I learned how the secrets people hide will always fight their way out. Those stories struggle to find their voice. I have no doubt symbolic meaning lurks in all my stories, even when I can’t see it.
I’ve lived and travelled in Europe. Divided life between two coasts sometimes, when I had to. I can be found more often in mountains than plains, and more ruins than condos. If I thought a list of destinations and jobs would say everything I want to say, I’d add them. As it is, I’d rather meet people inside the stories. I see you, you see me. Pretty amazing.
Would you like to know when I have a book or story coming out? If you share your email address, I’ll let you know when something is ready for pre-order and share launch dates. If I have a giveaway, I’ll share that too. Thank you. Zero spam.
