One of my favorite pictures from the many temples in around Angkor Wat, Camboria. Taken a little after dawn at Ta Prohm Temple (AKA the Tomb Raider Temple).
iTunes Playlist Challenge!
(image from http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/blogs/blog-on-the-tracks/8634881/The-greatest-music-quotes-of-the-last-75-years)
One of my biggest creative writing fuels is music. I need to have music all.the.time. Riding Singapore’s amazing public transportation system, washing dishes, running, writing, shopping at the grocery store— music all the time. I create my own soundtracks for my books, with songs for different characters and events and setting. It helps me connect with the world I’m creating. This morning I conducted an experiment. I put my iTunes on shuffle and wrote down the first ten songs that came up. I did not let myself skip any.
Here they are in all their glory:
- “Terrible Lie (Sympathetic Mix),” Nine Inch Nails
- “Hey Brother,” Avicii
- “Marry Me,” Jason Derulo
- “Party Hard,” Andrew W.K.
- “Body Movin,’” Beastie Boys
- “Sister of Night,” Depeche Mode
- “Searle Finds the Crew of Icarus/Floating Free/Searle’s Last Blast,” Underworld & John Murphy (Music from the motion picture Sunshine)
- “No Sleep,” Wiz Khalifa
- “Always,” Blink 182
- “Big Sur Moon,” Buckethead
That actually was not as random as expected. Plus I rediscovered some songs I forgot I even had. Bonus! Guess I’ll have to do it again sometime. Maybe I’ll make it a weekly thing, so if you’d like a peek into my thousands of songs (and my random psyche) follow me and wait with bated breath!
Try it for yourself and see what happens. Post your results here!
Good morning, Singapore!
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It’s 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday. Why am I up at dawn? I’m squeezing in a morning run before 90 degree heat coupled with 90% humidity strikes here on the equatorial tropical island concrete jungle of Singapore. I get some of my best inspirations for thickening plot, fleshing out characters, and enhancing settings while I’m running and NOT thinking about my novel. Not kidding, I often stop several times to write my random thoughts in my notepad app. What do you do to get your creative juices running?
Hey writer friends….
14I’ve got my novel all written and many, many times revised. I’m looking for a good book on revision and grammar rules for writers to make sure I’m bringing my A-game. My brain is struggling with commas; I’m realizing I don’t need as many as I thought. Any resources that have helped you?
Scotland Sheepies–first oil painting in a year!
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Sooooo….. My novel is in the middle of being reviewed by my writer’s group (Singapore Writer’s Group, amazing people) and an editor in Belfast, which means I shouldn’t touch it! Gahhh what do I do with my time? Guess I’ll get back into oil painting. For funsies, I’ve included my most recent painting, showing my progress layer by layer; it’s based on one of the many, many pictures of sheep I took while on the Isle of Mull, Scotland near the ruins of Shiaba. Acrylic background and oil paint.
Grazing sheep on the Isle of Mull, off the the west coast of Scotland near the ruins of a town that people were forced from to make room for grazing sheep.
Sarah J. Carlson 