When I talk to other writers, particularly other fiction-writers, I nearly always find that music plays a part in their creative process.  I know it’s always been that way for me.  From the time I wrote my first serious attempt at a novel, in high school, a long fiction project has always resulted in a ‘soundtrack’ of songs, some representing settings, elements of plot, and/or characters.  Sometimes, the characters ‘dictate’ song choices to me that I probably wouldn’t make on my own.

In the course of beginning The Children of Evohe series, specifically–Annah is a singer.  The art of her Shaping comes through song, and in fact, the ancestral language of her people takes the form of song– and so I knew music would be important, specifically, to her.  Over the course of writing Annah, I became aware of a young vocalist from New Zealand named Hayley Westenra.  Hayley’s musc isn’t the sort of thing I would listen to on my own, generally, but when I think of Annah’s voice–her singing voice at least–Hayley’s voice is what I hear (speaking voice is another thing entirely).  Here’s a song which is more well-known, probably, from Josh Groban’s version; this version, to me, is a song which might express Annah’s feelings about the First Ones, the progenitors and forgotten gods of her race, in whom she still believes although many don’t.  For those of you out there who read this blog, and are writers, what songs inspire your characters, and you?  Post links.  I want this to be a community, not just a monologue, if possible.  Anyway, here’s Hayley–and Annah.