Playlist of Italian Songs for each book I write

Everyone has a different style of writing and a different way of going about the creative process. When it comes to music—some listen to music while they write, and some don’t. I tend to fall into the latter category. During the day, listening to music while I’m putting words together is far too distracting. I want to sing along to the words of the songs and start thinking of other things.

Oh, I’ve tried! Believe me. I plug into some Italian music on my computer, but then after a few minutes, I have to switch it off because there is just too much commotion in my head.

Having said that, I do, however, listen to music when I am walking in the evenings when I am brainstorming new ideas or mussing over my storyline. I let my mind wander, sing along to my favorite songs and new ideas just seem to flow into my head.

Music and various music artists often mark certain periods in my life, and I have found with each new book I write I gravitate to certain singers. During the writing of my first novel “Dreaming Sophia,” I listened to many different Italian artists and I mentioned many of them in the pages of my book. In fact, I created a play list of all songs. But, of course, Francesco Renga was one of my favorites and his song “Il mio giorno più bello.” I like his romantic ballads and voice that have a quality that fit my mood perfectly when I wrote some of the romantic scenes between my protagonists Sophia and Lorenzo.

From a previous blog post
Francesco Renga Spotlighting Italian Singer new CD Guardami Amore

When I wrote “Waking Isabella” I listened to Modà. The popular Italian rock group has a mellow, yet still upbeat rhythm as well as a romantic vibe. I love the songs “E solo colpa mia” and “California.” They hit home and seemed to be songs my protagonist Nora would have identified with. That novel was fun to work on because as part of my research I tuned in to popular Italian music from the 1940s as part of the story takes place during World War II and the time of Mussolini’s State-controlled radio.

From a previous blog posts

Modà: muscia si sente tutta la volta sulla radio italiana

Swing Italiano – la musica durante il period fascista

During the writing of “Eternally Artemisia,” I listened for the most part to Noemi’s songs. She is a strong woman with progressive feminist ideas that I found extremely compelling, and I was drawn to the energy of her music. I really like her song “Non smettere mai di cercarmi,” “Passenger”, “Sempre in Viaggio,” as they seemed to speak directly to the themes of my book.

From a previous blog posts

Non smettere mai di cercarmi –Festeggiamo Women’s Day con Noemi

La luna è storta e alte espressioni

In the last couple of months of writing, however, I listened mostly to Ermal Meta’s album Vietato morire. There is something so lyrical and evocative about his music that fit my mood as I polished off my story.