Goodreads asked Anne-Marie O'Connor:

How do you get inspired to write?

Anne-Marie O'Connor I listen to a lot of rock and roll when I write. A good writing album for me is "The Joshua Tree" by U2, it's energizing, calming, and really well-written. It's stimulating but meditative. Music carries me along, from sentence to sentence. I also exercise when I'm writing intensively; it calms me and pulls a lot of things out of my psyche, I get insights while I'm exercising, and it moves me out of a rut, clears my head, and relieves any anxiety. Writers say they get some of their best flashes while driving on the freeway, or when they're resting in bed, so make sure to have a notebook where you can jot down your thoughts and go back to them when you sit down to write. Good conversation with friends is inspiring to me--and I love writing with my dog curled up at my feet.

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