When I write there's usually a particular song going round in my head, or which I play when I get a bit of writer's block and want to get back into the mood. For Falling for her Captor it was Intervention by Arcade Fire and with less than a week until release date I wanted to share the song that accompanied writing A Wager for the Widow.
Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen.
It's one of my all time favourite songs and one that whatever mood I'm in at the start, by the end I'm singing along doing bad harmonies (right around 1.42 on the video if you want to join in).
Before I'd even entered SYTYCW or dreamed I'd ever write more than one book I loved the romance of it. I saw Springsteen at Wembley a couple of years ago and it was one of the best concerts I've been to. He sang this as the encore, alone on stage with his guitar and it raised goosebumps and made my hair stand on end.
For me the lyrics perfectly capture Eleanor and Will's story of a woman who has withdrawn from the world (in Eleanor's case literally as well as metaphorically) and the man who loves her trying to persuade her to open up to him and give romance another go.
Life can be sad and bleak and lonely, and even though the narrator says promises will be broken and by his own admission he isn't hero material, the idea that taking the risk and stepping off the porch can lead to true love is a wonderful fantasy. You'll have to read the book to find out if Eleanor takes the chance. I think I'd be grabbing my bag by the end of the first verse if he turned up at my door. I'd love to know what you think. Now I have some singing to do!
The HarperCollins Romance Festival is taking place this weekend. Here I am being interviewed on their blog. There are lots of other authors to check out too.