At dinner the other night, a friend asked what I was working on at the moment. I ran through my project list, which includes both YA and fantasy, and he asked how I was able to work in two completely different genres at the same time.
It’s a good question, too. I’ve never had trouble working on two projects simultaneously — it’s a necessity for authors, after all — but switching gears from YA to fantasy is a different matter entirely. Suddenly the characters and the plot aren’t the only things that change. The mood and the voice (heck, even the WORLD) changes in fantasy, and sometimes it’s kind of hard to get my head around it all. But I think I’ve managed it, even if I wasn’t aware of HOW I managed it.
Well, about ten minutes ago I moved from my YA project to my fantasy one. Instinctively I changed my iPod mix from “rock” to “classical,” and it hit me that (yet again) music is the way I access certain moods and states of mind. I’ve always been amazed at how music acts as a trigger for all sorts of things, and it’s so cool to be reminded yet again that even though I’m no longer making a living as a musician, music continues to impact everything I do.
Now I should get back to writing again, before the mix ends!
