So as I sit here, very impatiently (one of my greatest traits) waiting on Amazon/CreateSpace to officially approve the publishing of my next book,
Enlightened: Evaline's Journey, I can't help but think about the musical influences behind them. As I've said before, I'm now married to a jukebox that never unplugs which should mean many more story ideas will be stirred up with him singing all the time and me finally making writing a priority once again. It's a good, slightly strange, team that we have going on here.
When I started
The Remedy Files five years ago, I actually had the document saved under the title of the song that inspired it: "God of Wine" by Third Eye Blind. Anyone who has known me for a good chunk of my life is aware that was a very life-changing album for me which I held closely to my heart for many, many years. The "God of Wine" song was always one of my favorites. I can't believe it took as long as it did for a story to finally be born out of it, but that's how
The Remedy Files: Illusion came to be. That song is one where every single time it plays, I have to stop everything I'm doing and listen because it fills every ounce of who I am. My mind shuts down and I'm 100% emotions, all heart, and have no willpower whatsoever to put up any walls. Yes, it's that powerful and with that sort of instant dramatic effect. "God of Wine" and "Motorcycle DriveBy"... ahh.. writing the titles alone gives me goosebumps. Greatest songs off that album and I would argue some of the best songs ever written.
Enlightened: Evaline's Journey (hopefully will officially be released here shortly!) was a coping mechanism to help me deal with some of the things that I was going through in my life. So it's a little different in the sense that a song didn't necessarily inspire it right off bat. But 3 1/2 years after I started writing it, I was sitting with my husband (only my boyfriend at the time) and he played Josh Ritter's "Change of Time". My heart stopped. I think I may have had him replay it over and over again several times afterwards. As soon as I heard it, it was the motivation I needed to start writing Enlightened again. It is definitely the soundtrack of the book as I couldn't imagine another song more fitting. In fact, as I'm writing this post and waiting for the book to get up on Amazon, I have it playing. Amazing song and I'm so grateful of my husband's (mostly) good musical tastes because I'm not sure I ever would have picked up Enlightened again if it wasn't for "Change of Time" reigniting the feelings that link to it again.
Aside from the musical inspiration concept tonight, I am quite excited that I was able to complete the 2nd book that I started on 5 years ago. It was incredibly tough trying to pick up stories that I started so long ago in order to complete them, but I also didn't want to totally scrap them because there were some great concepts that I wish I had completed when they were still so fresh in my head. I feel way better about Enlightened, though... it was much easier to re-enter that world since it was based on so much of my real life in a very exaggerated sort of way. Although I absolutely love
The Remedy Files for different reasons, Enlightened may be the one I'm most excited about because there's more of a personal connection to it.
And, I completed my final goal of finishing both of those before the start of 2015! (I'm not counting CreateSpace's delay in holding me up on officially getting them out to the public.) Although now it looks like the release date will be January 2, 2015 instead of January 1st. Ahh, small details. But it mentally feels amazing that I was able to push both of them out and start 2015 with a renewed passion for writing again and with a clean slate to start on all these new ideas rolling around in my head.
Today I was able to start on the next one. I won't give anything away about it yet except what inspired it was Taylor Swift's "Wildest Dreams"... Yes, I love her. And this one is good... real good... I'm enjoying writing it. ;)
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My 1st Book release of 2015! 
