I live a very comfortable, fortunate life. My characters don't normally get such luxuries.
But the parts of their lives that I don't identify with are still able to flow from me almost too easily with a little day-dreaming, and with music.
Be warned, this song list has some harsh themes and language. It inspired a story about gang warfare, vigilantes and human traffickers after all.
My settings and characters often come to me in visions, as if I'm their oracle. On a walk, or on a drive, or when I'm trying to sleep, their images or their words flash before my eyes in stark snapshots or flurries of action. My dog whines impatiently while I step us off to the side to furiously text myself the bare bones of the 'vision.' My car rides seem to stretch on forever if I'm trying to hold onto what has popped into my brain - repeating key words to myself so I won't forget, or even just pulling over to get it all out. Perhaps many brilliant ideas have slipped away at the edge of sleep when I'm too well melded into the mattress to roll over to jot them down ... but more often than not I can't sleep as the visuals play over and over like a movie until I stop trying to ignore them.
Inspiration can hit at the most random times. I can notice something about a stranger, or hear the wind whispering sweet nothings. Once it was while I was half ignoring a football grand final; just popping into the lounge room for the traditional Grand Final Day meat pies and party food - and then there was the hyped, jittery nerves of the younger players about to march out. The quiet, sombre head nods or unwavering eyes of the hardened veterans. The passion of the crowds. The accute skill, brave rough and tumble or just sheer endurance on show. The devastation of the losing team at the end, slumping to the grass, heads in hands, and the effort to still give handshakes and pats on the back to the opposing players.
Yet most often the greatest spark for me is music. Specific words or phrases can get my brain racing off on a tangent, making me see a scene that could attach to the connotation of the language. Music can create a whole mood and tone for me, that my own life in no way reflects. It makes me see what other walks of life might be like, what emotions there might be and what places might exist.
There were some very sweet songs on repeat for Dom and Kiddo, some haunting songs for the snatchers, some angry songs for Seethe. Sensual chillers for the Wolf. Energised, determined songs for the whole gang. I would be fascinated to know if any of these songs makes you 'see' the world of Raze, or picture certain scenes or characters too.
Be warned, this song list has some harsh themes and language. It inspired a story about gang warfare, vigilantes and human traffickers after all.
Shelley Cass is an Australian author.
She is the author of the LGBTQ+ romance action series, Raze Warfare. She is the mother of the epic fantasy trilogy, 'A Fairy's Tale', and has penned eroticas, dystopian futures ... and Sleep Sweet children's books.
For information on her novels, visit BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS!
