Mood Music

My twice-weekly writing nights have been sporadically successful. Tuesdays seem to have settled into the schedule, but the second night has bounced around between Wednesday and Thursday. I had back-to-back nights this week, but only wrote on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I read an old short story to generate some momentum for today.

Working in Calista’s world has awakened me to an “I-never-thought-of-that-before”. The story is a period piece, so you would think that music from the period would provide an appropriately inspiring soundtrack. I blew the dust off of Joseph Haydn’s Jagdmusiken disc, but it’s only gathered more dust in my writing room. Instead, I started with the soundtrack to Eyes Wide Shut—a film that I have never seen (and apparently haven’t missed). The album was bought purely on the strength of Chris Isaak’s “Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing”. The rest of it is creepy/weird yet happily fit perfectly for the beginning of this story. Two-thirds in, I’ve switched to Sade’s greatest hits.

Jazz for the late 18^th century, you ask? All this time, I’ve unconsciously assumed that music sets the scene for what I am writing. Sometimes, that’s true. More often than not, however, when I look back at what I’ve written and what played as I wrote it, the music is geared toward a particular character. When I pull that character from modern day and plunk him into the past, the music stays the same. And why not?

My only modern day characters who have literally lived in the past are vampires, so it’s no stretch to write Darius Wolfe into a frock coat though I first wrote him wearing Bill Blass. He was developed in a present day setting, which called for a present day singer, so while it seems incongruous, I suppose it was natural to call on the same singer to support me while writing him in the past. The reverse is true of Julian, despite his original incarnation as a mortal rock star. Once he became my immortal beloved, Chopin was the prevalent aural accompaniment. Even when writing him in the present, it’s Chopin or bust.

Though he, too, is partial to jazz. And rock. And R&B. And pop. And maybe even some New Age. Julian is a musician first, a vampire second, and particularly nitpicky third. With him, I play what he wants me to play or he won’t play. Darius, on the other hand, was a born vampire; it just took him some time to make the physical change. I could probably play rap and he wouldn’t even twitch so long as I get the job done. He’s all about the end result.

Which is a huge relief actually, because he does enjoy opera. Not just the music, but the vocals. If he was as tyrannical about tuneage as Julian, I’d have quit working for him long ago.

Did I say “for” him? I meant “with”…