Hello! My name is Angela. I am a writer from the Lake Superior area and the purpose of this blog is to share my progress through my writing journey, wherever that may lead.
Being a personal slave to a six pound Yorkie, I don’t take anything too seriously on here because I feel like creativity is to be explored, not scrutinized.
I am a graduate of three college programs: Medical Assisting, Bachelor’s of Science in Health Psychology, and most recently I earned my Master’s in Organizational Leadership. While these degrees aren’t traditionally related to writing, I have found inspiration every step of the way.
“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”
― Terry Pratchett
Something I’ve come to realize is that navigating life is similar to writing a book. In order to get things right, you frequently have to do a lot of things the wrong way first. Then, you spend spend time in self reflection, cultivating the path that you intend to take, before executing it to the best of your ability. Because even doing what you love takes time, patience, and practice.
Books, Writing, & A Whole LOT of Music…
I think there’s a right kind of music for every situation and I’m happy to say that music, car rides, (and showering oddly enough) provide a foolproof source of inspiration for me. I’ve always found God in music and get an intense level of inspiration in music as I try to navigate all the different direction my mind will go while developing a storyline.
“Music is a language that doesn’t speak in particular words. It speaks in emotions, and if it’s in the bones, it’s in the bones.” ― Keith Richards
Music. What I listen to changes sometimes at the drop of a hat. I hear something knew, I get sick of a song. Things change. WE change. So does my music.
A specific time of day seems to play a big role in the music I listen to. If I get up early in the morning when it’s quiet and still, I listen to wordless, comforting, somewhat random music. The later in the day, the louder and more creative I find myself and my music!
Great music calls for repetition. I find myself listening to a lot of the same music over and over and over. A lot of time, when a specific scene resonates (especially with a new song I’m really FEELING) I can listen to a single song on repeat for hours.
I like to branch out and find new music from various social media platforms, as well as Pandora, and the local Christian Radio station. That being said, most of my music comes from the songs I download from Itunes. I wish I had a tendency to buy physical records, but unless I’m at a concert and getting it signed, it’s all digital, all the time. I might regret that one day
Consideration for where I listen actually has a big impact on what I listen to and how much work I get done. Obviously, I’m not writing while driving, or showering, but popping my headphones in over my lunch hour at work with my little purse notebook and favorite pen lets me hash thing out on the fly!
My Music
I can’t speak for everyone else, but I feel like each story has it’s own playlist. Each book I’ve worked on, I find myself listening to a different kind of music that helps me set the tone.
The Red Rebel Extravaganza Playlist
A lot of songs came and went. This book saw at least 7 drafts over 3 years, so as you can imagine, the music changed a lot over the years! These are the songs that moved me in one way or anything and inspired portions of this story, or simply got me through several late night edits. This book was a party and a power trip of the imagination and I’m just so happy to share the music that was involved!
- “Bones” Imagine Dragons
- “The Blessing” Kari Jobe
- “Still Rolling Stones” Lauren Daigle
- “River” Bishop Briggs
- “In Over My Head (Crash Over Me)” -Bethel Music & Jenn Johnson
- “Great Are You Lord”- One Sonic Society
- Sneha
- “Water for Elephants” Movie soundtrack
- “The Greatest Showman” Movie Soundtrack
- MercyMe
- AJR
- “Sharks” Imagine Dragons
- Lady Gaga
- Devon Cole
- A whole lot of random broadway songs…
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” ― Plato
Angela Kay Writing 