Resetting the brain...

My debut releases in less than 38 days and it’s made me really think about things. The short explanation—I freaking love my job. How many people can say that? Really say that? 1 in 100? 1000? I’m one of the lucky ones.

It took a while and a ton of crappy jobs to get here. I’ve been a Real Estate agent—go ahead…you can laugh (I do). I’ve trained horses. That was actually fun since I love to ride. I did the whole retail thing (in a book store of course) and even was a nail tech for two years (SO not my thing). But I’ve but I’ve finally made it. Found my true North. I get to make stuff up for a living. It seriously can’t get better than that. And if it does, don’t tell me. I’m not sure my brain could handle it…

It’s because I love what I do so much that I sometimes forget there’s an actual world out there. One with live people and obligations, and most of all, fun stuff to do! Well, fun stuff other than torturing characters, hooking people up, and kicking some bad guy ass. Who’da thunk it, right? Downtime is good. Resetting the brain helps get the creative waves flowing!

So what’s my pastime of choice when I need a brain reset and finally walk—or get dragged as the case sometimes is—away from my characters?

*looks around*

I—well—I kill stuff.

*backs away as a crowd brandishing pitchforks and zip ties closes in*

In games. I kill stuff in games. Seriously people. Do I seem like a Jack the Ripper type? Wait. Don’t answer that.

So there you have it. My dark confession—and obsession. I’m a gamer. Specifically WoW (World Of Warcraft for those not in the know) I’ve been playing since right after beta rolled out. A little over 6 years now. I’m an achievement whore who hoards pets (Still fishing for Mr. Pinchy!) and mounts (oh turtle mount, why do you mock me?) with multiple level capped toons and bankfulls of outdated armor and various vanilla junk. I play with my husband, friends, and a few family members. We raid 3 nights a week. Granted, some might argue that it’s technically not walking away since the game is played on the computer, but it’s a mental break. For me, a great way to relieve stress, unwind, and this might surprise some, come up with new ideas.

In TOUCH, there’s a scene with a bear. The idea actually came from my time playing WoW. Selkie, my little resto Druid, is a bear magnet. If there’s a bear within a 50 mile in game radius, it will come along and NOM on me. Munch my limbs like Twizzlers. From level 1 to level 85, it’s been a disturbing and inescapable trend. This is actually amusing considering Druids, as a race, can turn into bears. I even wrote up a short background on the character explaining her bear-fear which I won’t go into because it borders an entirely epic level of gooberdom on my part...

*ahem*

Anyway, gaming gets the creative wheels in my brain turning. It helps me reset. WoW is full of awesome back story and evolving story lines.

So for those of you who play WoW—what’s your favorite loading screen tip? Mine currently is Don’t stand in the fire! Because, even though that seems like it’d be common sense, someone always stands in the fire. Remember what Buffy said – Fire bad…tree pretty!

For the non-WoWers—how do you unwind? What makes the stress melt away after a long day at the office?

My Muse Is Of The Musical Mentality…

If there was a soundtrack to go with my life, it’d be pretty damn diverse. Everything from Elvis – I can’t help falling in love with you (my grandfather’s favorite song) to Marilyn Manson – Personal Jesus. Other than books—and food—music is my thing. Oh. And animals. And the outdoors…

Okay. I have a lot of things.

Seriously though, music is a huge part of my existence. I can think back to most of the crucial events in my life and tie them to a song. Sometimes it’s a tune from that particular time period. Other times it’s something newer. Something that reminds me of the event. It could be anything from a single line or chorus, to the singer’s voice. Disturbed – Inside The Fire reminds me of a very dear friend. Not only does the laugh in the beginning of the song sound just like his, but he took his own life two years ago.

When I think about my husband, it’s Vain – Without You. He played it for me one of the first few times we hung out. When I hear Loudon Wainwright – Dead Skunk—and yes I have this on my Zune—I think of the trip Hershey Park my family took when I was twelve. There was a skunk, a Nun, and some candy bars. Don’t ask.

When I hear Muse – Supermassive Black Hole, I think of vampires. Playing baseball.

Come on. You know you do, too. No one’s judging. Promise.

This applies to my writing as well. Scenes play out in my head like a movie. And everyone knows all good movies need a killer soundtrack. A playlist for perfection. For my latest fight scenes, it’s been Marilyn Manson – Ka-Boom and Limp Bizkit – Break Stuff. Buckcherry – Bliss is all about my hero and heroine. And Ke$ha – Blow helped me write an awesome chase scene revolving around a rave. (PS if you haven’t seen the video—watch it. Funny as hell)

If a scene isn’t working for me, it’s usually because I haven’t found the right music to go with it. Eight times out of ten, if I don’t find a suitable tune, I scrap the scene. Sounds drastic, eh? But it’s seriously how my brain works. I did NaNo a few years ago and it wasn’t until recently that I figured out why the manuscript never worked. Every word was forced, and when I went to revise, I found myself wanting to guzzle the stuff under the sink rather than work on it. I was never able to come up with a decent playlist. I never felt the characters.

Which digs deeper. To create a playlist for a WIP, at least for me, I need to get into my characters heads. I need to know them. If I don’t know them, and I can’t feel them, then I sure as hell can’t pick out music for them. If I can’t pick out music for them, then I can’t write them.

What about you guys? Do you write like this? Live like this?

Share so I don’t feel like such an incredible goober :)