How I Got A Little Thing Called Connectivity

Greetings!

This is my very first blog here, and I’m so excited to talk with you all today. When thinking of a topic to cover, the first thing to come to my mind was to talk about how I wrote Connectivity. Or specifically, how I used music and scents to help inspire the writing of my debut novel with Soul Mate.

To me, listening to music while writing is instrumental in taking me to another place. For each novel I write, I create a custom soundtrack on Spotify of songs I use for inspiration for specific scenes in the story. For example, my hero in Connectivity, a British media mogul named William Cumberland, came to me while watching Sherlock on PBS. As I stared at actor Benedict Cumberbatch’s wild, wavy hair, William flashed into my head. I knew I wanted a British hero with dark, wavy hair. So when I wrote the first scenes between William and Mary-Kate (the heroine) I used the “Opening Credits” from the Sherlock soundtrack, and then a track called “Potential Clients” from the Sherlock Season 2 soundtrack. The “Opening Credits” just made me think of a beginning, a first meeting between William and Mary-Kate. The “Potential Clients” track is light sounding, perfect for their first meetings around each other, because they involve lots of humor.

Once I have my music set for the scene (and by using Spotify, I can list a track over and over so it plays on a loop), then I need the scent of it. Again, scents take me to different places and seasons. Because Connectivity opens in January in Chicago, I think of snow. So I used White Barn Home’s Winter candle to bring the essence of snow and cold into my office as I wrote the first few chapters. Later, when William & MK have a romantic evening drinking wine in front of a fire, I used their Fireside candle to take me to those crackling fireplace logs while writing. When they grew closer as a couple, both emotionally and physically, I would use Fresh Balsam because William’s skin smelled of pine cologne.  (And thank goodness they make mini candles so I have a lot of different scents in my Candle Library!)

But this is my routine when I write. I need sound and scent to make those scenes come alive in my head. So thanks to a few selected songs and some scented candles, I was able to create a little thing called Connectivity.