Last weekend at my critique group, we worked on Surface, and my cps said the emotional stakes weren't high enough. My characters are estranged, but they didn't have a really good, clear reason. One of my cps mentioned that Surface reminded her of an Audioslave song, "Doesn't Remind Me." Being the obsessive person I am, I bought it from iTunes and put it on my Surface soundtrack. I was driving home Tuesday, listening to it over and over, and got this visual of my heroine sitting in the office of an infertility specialist, waiting for Adrian, who forgot and didn't show up. This is the straw, the last promise broken that she's able to endure and her reason for leaving. He thinks her reason is a whole other thing, though they fight about the appointment.

I don't think I would have come up with that if not for the zone I was in for that song.

The other song on that soundtrack that hit me yesterday was Tom Petty's "Running Down a Dream." I've heard that song thousands of times - my brother used to play it every morning when he lived at home, it was his wake up song. But yesterday, the words, "Running down a dream/it never would come to me" hit me right between the eyes. I'd put the song on there because Adrian is chasing his dream. But yesterday it spoke to my dream.

What music has impacted you or your writing?