almost there.....

So I kinda sorta finished tLBE, and sent it to my publisher last night. But you know what they say: we don't so much finish things like books and paintings rather we abandon them. And I'm not ready to switch off my targeting computer and trust the force just yet.

So, in the meantime, while my editor (I will never, ever get sick of saying 'my editor') looks over the latest draft, I thought I'd look at another famous quote about making stuff.

"Write drunk; edit sober."

Good solid advice that is Mr. Hemingway.

And in the spirit of that idea, Lets talk about what to listen to when writing in siad state of sobriety

Personally, I've got a playlist of about 30 film scores that have kept me going for the past 5 years. It has everything from John Williams and his well known masterpieces, to Vangelis and his Bladerunner soundtrack. And yes, there may even be a little Howard Shore in there too, for what fantasy book could be written without the music to middle earth? Sometimes, for a really rousing battle scene, I'll skip to some James Horner and his Braveheart score, but then for an intimate moment, I'll scroll back to Clint Mansell and his Fountain soundtrack. Then, if all else fails, its Jerry Goldsmith's Alien to get back into the right erie mindset. 

I tend to skip over all the Harry Potter songs though -- sorry John Williams, it wasn't your best work.

But the thing is, I can't edit to film scores. Turns out, I need something with more of a beat to stay focused, and so its classic hits of the 70's 80's and 90's for me. And when things have gotten really desperate, the Beatles are always there to hold my hand as I delete all those superfluous adjectives and add more interesting dialogue tags. 

"Just as long as you stay sober," reminded Ernest Hemingway, with a voice of reverberating authority.

T.B