People often ask me where I got the inspiration for my story. I usually answer, while taking a bubble bath and listening to jazz music. Although that’s true, it’s only part of where the inspiration came from. The original spark or idea did come to me in the bathtub listening to jazz, but as the story progressed I got other parts of the story from different places. I dreamed about the jazz club in vivid detail, which is likely why they’re the most descriptive scenes and were the easiest for me to write.
Image courtesy of Pixomar at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I’m a big fan of Billie Holiday and always imagined what it would be like to sing on stage the way she did or see, or rather hear her live. I’ve seen the movie, Lady Sings the Blues more times than I’ll admit. I’ve listened to her music until I know every dip and weave of her voice in each song.Like my hero Josie, I’ve felt connections to her and her songs. To channel the scenes with my character singing, I set my playlist to jazz, turned up the volume and listened to each song as it started to play and sang every word as though I had lived them for myself. What a wonderful experience. It made writing the scenes easy and enjoyable and gave me a greater appreciation for jazz music and the people who sing it. It also influenced the title of my book, For the Love of Jazz.
Today is Jazz Day, so I’m sharing one of my favorite songs by Billie Holiday that was not only my inspiration while writing, but it a favorite of my character, Josie, and one that connects her to the hero, Patrick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=iATd2iyFRqg
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