By Stephanie Queen
Confession: I listen to music while I write. It gets me in the mood, if you know what I mean. (Myren, my chauffeur just rolled his eyes.)
What Do I mean? Music—the right music—enhances the emotional experience. Because let’s face it, what’s evokes emotion more quickly than a love song. Romance stories do a pretty good job although they make take a little while to sink their emotional teeth into you, to grab you and shake you up.
So I think listening to a love song that shares the same theme as the story I’m writing is a heck of a way to warm me up, to get me into the world and make me feel like I’m there.
In writing my latest, soon-to-be-released angsty college romance about forbidden love titled I Want To Know What Love Is (yes, of Foreigner’s hit song fame), I chose a play list that evoked the kinds of emotions I wanted you, the reader to feel. And listening to those songs as I wrote, the focused me on those particular feels.
The only down-side?
It’s gosh darn exhausting—emotionally speaking! Because I write angsty books and between listening to the songs and getting into the characters so deeply to get the words on the page, I get so steeped and overwrought that my heart actually pounds.
Good news?
You, the reader get the enhanced experience, the deep feels—and you can take a break any time you need to catch your breath. Unless you’re in emotional marathon condition, then go right ahead and read I Want To Know What Love Is all in one sitting.
Ready for some angst? (Myren’s getting the tissues ready now)
The Playlist to Cry For
- I Want To Know What Love Is by Foreigner
- (Everything I Do) I Do It For You by Bryan Adams
- If You Ever Change Your Mind by Calum Scott
- In Case You Didn’t Know by Brett Young
- Always Remember Us This Way by Lady Gaga
- Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley
- Desire by Meg Myers
- Love & Lust by Eric Bellinger
If you want to listen and read, you can pre-order the book at Amazon.
About USA Today Bestselling Author Stephanie Queen
A romantic at heart and a writer by nature, Stephanie Queen writes angsty-funny college and sports romance. She’s also written romantic thrillers and rom-coms and has published more than fifty books–so far.
Although she’s lost count of all the jobs she had before she settled on being a Novelist, her favorite was selling cookies as a Keebler Elf. She is a graduate of UConn (go Huskies!) and Harvard U and lives in New Hampshire with her family and her cat, Kitty.