Nothing inspires me more than a summer rainstorm. I adore the rain – a product of my desert upbringing, I’m sure – and I especially love it in the summer when it comes in and cools everything down for a while. It’s a nice break from the oppressive Texas heat.

As I mentioned in my post before last, I had been blocked and unable to work on revising my novel. So I’m quite relieved to have a) finally a free day of rest, b) rainstorms out my window, and c) new music to listen to – all of which are a recipe for writing.

Music is a huge source of inspiration for me too. I can’t write without it. Whenever I listen to a song, I get all these images popping up in my head like my own personal music video, and oftentimes these images form together to create a story line or a very vivid scene. I would say that I came up with 90% of my story while using music.

I always make a playlist when I’m working on a project that captures the mood and theme of whatever I’m working on. Today, I thought I’d share part of my A Mouth Full of Teeth playlist with you…just because I feel like sharing!

A Mouth Full of Teeth Playlist:
“Above the Clouds” – Slightly Stoopid (I used this to come up with the first chapter. This song makes me feel like I’m up to no good.)
“Hang You From the Heavens” – The Dead Weather (This song is bad ass, used for action scenes and fighting.)
“Angel” – Massive Attack (Dark and dangerous, this song is great to use when building tension)
“Phenomena” – Yeah Yeah Yeahs (This song is just plain sexy…I think it speaks for itself)
“Put Your Dukes Up John” – Arctic Monkeys (good for a fist fight, used in Gabe’s fight scenes)
“Running Up That Hill” – Placebo (this song seems to be about a person who wishes they were someone else, which describes Jade perfectly)
“Sweet Dreams Are Made of This” – Marilyn Manson cover (I used this for when shit hits the fan, the whole song is an epic crescendo – love it)
“Gaston Ave” – Astronautalis (Used to calm things down after shit hits the fan, and everyone needs to process what just happened)
“Howlin’ For You” – The Black Keys (this song warms me up for stepping inside this world of werewolves I’ve created)
“Butterflies and Hurricanes” – Muse (Pretty much anything Muse does is good for writing a lot of action)

I just want to say that I know that last week I got off my posting schedule quite a bit, and I apologize for that – but last week was a very busy week for me. Sunday was the Railroad Revival Tour, Monday was the drive home, Wednesday I went to see Charlie Sheen’s “Violent Torpedo of Truth” show (my friends won tickets at work), Friday I woke up at 4am to watch the Royal Wedding live (don’t judge me) and then went to bed after dinner at 8pm and slept until 6:40am the next morning. I’m not used to that much action. But this week should be back to normal…unless David Beckham spots me in the crowd at the soccer game tonight and decides to leave Posh Spice for me.

Thanks for reading! =)