I don’t normally play music when I write. I need silence. I need a vacuum. I need my mother to stop talking to me about errands and my cat to stop purring on my lap (though that’s really very sweet of the cat. I’m sorry, I take that back).
When I get stuck though, I turn to music. And usually, the music plays in my head. Sans iTunes, YouTube or Spotify. For Blossom Among Flowers, I was writing a story set in Japan about bishounen–beautiful boys or flower boys, and the spunky, manga-addicted, high school girl caught between them. So it made sense to me that my in-head playlist was composed purely of J-pop/J-rock (albeit vintage) hits. These would be the following:
Arashi. Love So Sweet
Arashi. One Love
L’Arc~en~Ciel. Link
L’Arc~en~Ciel. Stay Away
Hikaru Utada* Flavor of Life,
Hikaru Utada Traveling
Ai Otsuka. Peach
Photo and video credits to owners.
*Yes, I named my Hikaru Saito after this wonderful, glorious woman.
