We Got The Beat

Today I welcome Lynn Rush to Terry's Place. Lynn is a former Minnesotan currently living in the heat of the Arizona deserts who loves dreaming up unique, troubled characters who tug at your heart-strings as they take you on a ride through their lives. Her novels are paranormal romance adventures geared toward the twenty-something crowd sometimes called New Adult or Upper YA. She's giving away a copy of her book, Wasteland, so be sure to read through and leave a comment.

You sure see the younger crowd having earbuds stuck into their ears constantly, don’t you? Now, I’m no longer considered part of the “young crowd” but I love writing for them. So, I have to be up on their music.

At least that’s my excuse when explaining to my husband why I’m listening to some of the music I do. Or even watching some of the shows I watch.

Not everyone can read or write with music playing in the background, though. I sure can, especially when I’m reading or writing an action scene. The louder the better, too. And if there’s someone around, I’ll plug in the earbuds much like my youngster counterparts.

For some reason, it helps me dive into the scene. Fast beats, loud singing and sometimes, some serious drum and guitar solos.

Love it.

The Sounds of Inspiration

What I'm reading: Snow Blind, by PJ Tracy

And, thanks, Terry, for your great post. Wonderful bears!

Every writer has "ideal" writing conditions. Some like crowded, busy venues, others sequester themselves in closet-sized rooms. Some want to be outdoors. Some write in the early morning hours; others can't create until well after the sun goes down. Some like a cup of coffee, while others might prefer a more potent libation.


I find I tend to edit in the morning, and develop my full head of 'new material' steam in the late afternoon. I think it's a subconscious knowledge that I've done all the "real life" stuff and won't have any more interruptions.

I also have my writing music playlist. It runs for an hour, so I know how long I've been working when it's finished. It's familiar, so my brain doesn't pay attention to it on a conscious level.

I thought I'd share my playlist along with the 'why' of my choices, and how they relate to my work. I was trying to figure out how to get my iTunes playlist onto Blogger, but when blog crawling (Thanks, Mason Canyon!) I saw Playlist.com, another option and gave it a try. Fingers crossed that it works. I wasn't able to find one of the cuts from my Clannad album, and that's probably the only melody nobody would recognize, but I figured I'd give embedding the playlist a shot. And I've listed the songs as well, along with what they inspired.