When I was a young-er single mom of two little girls, I would burn CDs of the songs that made me feel good, or just take me back to a better place. I called them “Power Girl Tunes.” We had 4 CDs, and we played them in the car all the time. Mind you, my youngest was about 16 months old. (True story, I picked them up from daycare and the assistant asked me ‘what is she singing? I can’t make it out.’ So, I leaned in and listened. My 16-month-old was singing I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor. Power Girl Tunes, #3).
Times changed and we moved to playlists, the Power Girl Tunes CDs got sucked into lists, my girls even got me to listen to some later artists (Lindsay Sterling, Geoff Castellucci – his Sixteen Tons is outrageous – y’all quit laughing at my musical tastes). But this is my writing list. It gets my creative juices flowing, the faster the music, the faster I type (not always good stuff, by-the-way, but words on the page, and that’s important). Plus, I never tire of these songs.
I imagine that Abbie, the protagonist of my book The Dead Won’t Tell, is more like me, liking older songs. I imagine other characters having different musical tastes: Joss liking newer bands, seeing he used to live in Los Angeles. I imagine that Loreen loved the Sex Pistols. And Maddie was more into Loretta Lynn. And I’ve listened to them all. -S.K. Waters
- Devil Inside by INXS
This was a favorite of my writing class at college.
- Paradise By The Dashboard Light by Meat Loaf
And this was what I listened to while writing my first epic masterpiece in junior high school.
- Enter Sandman by Metallica
How did I not discover Metallica in college?
- Shoes by Shania Twain
Okay, this might have been a post-divorce song that I played way too many times to my young children.
- Boom Boom by Macy Gray
This might have been another one….
- Black Horse and the Cherry Tree by KT Tunstall
…and then, one of my kids played this song for me…
- One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer by George Thorogood & The Destroyers
To my LBB, my BFF from school, this is the one that reminds me most of you
- Baby Likes To Rock It by The Tractors
Okay, I might have had a line-dancing period……
- We’re An American Band by Grand Funk Railroad
Oooh, 1992…..
- Rock Lobster by B52s
Too many weddings…not all mine…
- Too Much Time On My Hands by Styx
Oh, gosh, can you see the hand movements?
- Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry
This is one of my business friends’ ringtone, because I want to instantly recognize who is calling….
- Magnet and Steel by Walter Egan
Yeah, I still have the vinyl…
- A Horse With No Name by America
This one for my own momma
- When the Doves Cry by Prince
And this one for Ebbie….
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
S. K. WATERS grew up in New Jersey and still misses it. In previous lives, she was a technical writer, a database administrator, and a championship quilter. She writes mystery, fantasy, and a little in-between.
Connect with Waters at kianahwaters.com, on Facebook.com/KianahWatersAuthor, on Twitter @KianahWaters and Instagram @KianahWaters.
The Dead Won’t Tell is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
S. K. WATERS grew up in New Jersey and still misses it. In previous lives, she was a technical writer, a database administrator, and a championship quilter. She writes mystery, fantasy, and a little in-between.
Connect with Waters at kianahwaters.com, on Facebook.com/KianahWatersAuthor, on Twitter @KianahWaters and Instagram @KianahWaters.
The Dead Won’t Tell is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
