Writers are notoriously quirky creatures. James Joyce, I recently read, liked to write while lying on his stomach. Lewis Carroll preferred to scribe in purple ink. Agatha Christie fueled her inspiration with apples. Dan Brown reportedly cures writer's block by hanging upside down.
I don't do any of those things. When I turn thoughts into words, I sit in bed or a chair, stare at my laptop, and type. As a writer and an editor, I am as conventional as they come.
No so as a book plotter. When I lay the foundation for a work of historical fiction, I seek inspiration in movies, television, and especially music. Before writing a single word, I immerse myself in a historical era by listening to that era's music. I create an iTunes playlist that is as representative of the time as people who lived through it.
I have done so since the start. When planning The Mine, Mercer Street, Hannah's Moon, and Indian Paintbrush, my World War II books, I listened to a lot of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Big Band music. When plotting The Journey, set during the 1979-80 school year, I dug out the tunes I listened to in high school. When preparing The Mirror and Class of '59, I downloaded the Beatles, Buddy Holly, Elvis, and enough Motown to fill an American Top 40 program.
In January, I did more of the same. I added Chubby Checker, Sam Cooke, and the Shirelles to my vast music library and upgraded my Beach Boys and Four Seasons holdings. Using old Billboard charts as a guide, I created a virtual jukebox that would have been right at home in Boulder, Colorado, in 1962, the setting of my next novel.
I admit that building this playlist was a lot of fun. Some of the best American popular music -- including tunes immortalized in movies like American Graffiti and Animal House -- came out of the early 1960s. So did the some of the best dances and most memorable, if sometimes cringeworthy, traditions, fads, and fashions.
I hope to draw on least a little of that cultural heritage in creating the fourth Carson Chronicles book, tentatively set for an August release. Until then, I will turn the volume up and listen to some of the finest music from yesteryear. Quirky or not, it's a habit worth keeping.
