#MusicMonday Realize Colbie Caillat

I’ve written before about how my Muse plays games with songs and music videos that tie into what I’m writing. Here’s one example from Dolphin Girl, and I’ve still never told the story about the theme song for the Angel in Training series. But I will someday, I promise.

After I started writing the Denim Days series I would listen to the radio and jot down songs that seemed to capture Mel’s feelings and Duncan’s feelings. Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol is one example. Big Girls Don’t Cry by Fergie is another. These are great songs and I listened to them again and again while writing the books, but none captured my imagination like Realize by Colbie Caillat.

I still remember exactly when my Muse smacked me in the face with this song. One day I was on the way to the grocery store and Realize came on the radio. I was about half way through the first book, which was set at a lakehouse in Minnesota. The setting was such a strange choice for me. I never lived in Minnesota. And, while I spent time at a lake during my childhood, and felt very nostalgic about that time, I never had any romantic experiences there.

So back to my car. This song seemed to be the perfect choice, and even though I’d parked and needed to finish my errands, I stayed to listen to the end of the song and to make a note of the title and artist.

When I returned home, and after the groceries were stored away, I pulled out the note and pulled up Realize on YouTube.

Goosebumps.

My Muse was messing with me yet again.

Every time this happens it’s always been the same. The song, lyrics, and feeling match what I’m writing and then I watch the video and the images match, too. Coincidence? I don’t know. All I do know is that it spooks me and thrills me, strangely, at the same time.

Here’s a little trivia that readers of the series won’t know. Earlier drafts of these books had Mel as a blond. I changed her hair color to auburn because I’d found some images that I thought could work as a cover. But if you visit my Pinterest profile, you’ll see that I used Heidi Klum as the model for Mel. Mel was blond before stumbling on the video and also before I pulled out a box of dye and changed her appearance. One other thing you should know — the ending of this video is not how the series ends, so if you haven’t finished the last book, you don’t have to worry about spoilers.

If you’d like to find out more about Mel and Duncan’s romance you can click here —