Sea of Twisted Souls – Soundtrack

Though I almost always have some kind of music or background noise playing while I write, Sea of Twisted Souls was the first book for which I compiled a proper playlist. Prior to writing this book, I just turned on a song that suited the character or scene I was writing. It turned into part of my pre-writing ritual: pick a song that suits the mood and turn it on. The memories and emotions the music evoked always helped me get deeper into the scene.

But I wanted to minimize the amount of time I spent preparing to write, and get into the habit of starting right away. Otherwise procrastination bites deeply into my writing time. So I created a proper soundtrack for Sea of Twisted Souls, songs that would suit the mood no matter which part of the novel I was working on. As you can see from the screenshot below, it’s a fairly random list, ranging from Celtic folk music, to Dio, to Broadway and spanning 80’s to early 2000’s pop. But it inspired me.

The first song I added was Madonna’s This Used to Be Our Playground from the A League of Their Own soundtrack. It’s a quiet, mournful piece looking back over a life that didn’t turn out according to plan. And since our story opens with Morulin sitting in her favorite tree-top thinking place, reflecting that her life has spiraled out of control, it fit perfectly.

This used to be my playground (used to be)
This used to be my childhood dream
This used to be the place I ran to…

This used to be my playground (used to be)
This used to be our pride and joy
This used to be the place we ran to
That no one in the world could dare destroy

From there, I chose songs which encompassed some of the story’s major relationships. For Damian’s perspective of Catilen, for example, I turned to Best of You by the Foo Fighters. In contrast, Catilen’s perspective of Damian came from Phantom of the Opera‘s Think of Me. But the ultimate song for the two of them was Journey’s Separate Ways.

Here we stand
Worlds apart
Hearts broken in two, two, two
Sleepless nights
Losing ground
I’m reaching for you, you, you…

Troubled times
Caught between confusions and pain, pain, pain
Distant eyes
Promises we made were in vain
In vain, vain

With my character’s moods covered, I moved on to setting and atmosphere songs. Magic, specifically surrounding the island’s movements, plays a much larger role in this novel than in the two previous. So I wanted music that would evoke a mystical feeling and get me imagining the truly epic things magic can do. For this I turned to songs like Nightwish’s Wishmaster. I also turned to Heather Alexander’s Web of Light (which was written for a fantasy series I’m particularly fond of). Blackmore’s Night filled out the remainder of this portion with songs like Ivory Tower and Cartouche:

If I share this with you never speak a word
They would never understand if they ever heard
Gemini, Capricorn, rising in the east
Dancing through the witchwood we began to sing…

In between dark and light in the underworld
Wrapped around your finger like a string of pearls
Smiling face, empty hand, 7 golden rings
Dancing through the starlight we began to sing

But of course no story, and no soundtrack, would be complete without a tiny bit of character development. So to bring the list full circle, I picked a song that fit Morulin at the end of the story. It turned out to be Sara Evans’s Born to Fly:

My daddy, he’s grounded like the oak tree
My momma, she is steady as the sun
Oh you know I love my folks
But I keep starin’ down the road
Just lookin’ for my one chance to run

Yeah, ’cause I will soar away like the blackbird
I will blow in the wind like a seed
I will plant my heart in the garden of my dreams
And I will grow up where I’ll wander wild and free

I hope you’ve enjoyed this whirlwind tour of the final novel in the Mystical Island Trilogy, and I hope you’ll check out the paperbacks!

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If Morulin’s family can’t heal their fractures, they might lose their dimension-hopping home…

It’s been sixteen years since Damian disappeared. Morulin’s twin brothers are preparing to take over the island while she struggles to find her place in its future. The last thing she needs is the emotional hurricane caused by Damian’s return.

Morulin isn’t interested in making amends. She’d rather spend her time with the enigmatic Pilgrim, a dimensional traveler with information critical to furthering her personal studies. Until someone attempts to assassinate the island’s new heirs and Damian lays the blame squarely on the Pilgrim’s shoulders.

Is Damian trying to frame an old rival? Or has something more sinister come to visit their island paradise?

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