Musical Inspiration

It's spring cleaning time around our house, and that means it's time to put some CDs in the stereo and crank them up to fuel the work. Turns out I had trouble finding my usual cleaning music yesterday morning, so I ended up popping Loreena McKennitt's "The Visit" into the player. It's a little slower than I generally like for get up and go type of music, but it's a lovely album.

I was introduced to Ms. McKennitt by my favorite English professor at Athens State University. She played title four, Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott," set to music.

I'd already connected to the poem during our study of it, going so far as to make a note of a particular line I still intend to allude to nine or so books into the Yekara series should it ever take off enough to develop into the full series I have mapped out. McKennitt's version is a lovely piece, haunting in spots, and I enjoyed it enough to go out and find the album.

I won't go so far as to say "The Visit" inspired any particular scene in Right of Succession or anything in "From the Ashes" or the following novel I have planned, but I have had it playing in the background on a regular basis while writing. The sound and mood of the album works extremely well with the fantasy genre.

* The picture is the front jacket of "The Visit."