My stories tend to have soundtracks when I’m writing them — music I listen to over and over again when brushing my teeth in the morning and getting in writing mode, or pondering a difficult section during a walk, or on the way to pick up the kids, when I’m trying to transition myself out of writing and kick myself back into the world. Usually by the time I’m done with the story, months later, I’m sick of the songs–true, in this case, of the “The Reason For All My Sounds,” my story which is out now in the Kenyon Review’s Spring 2014 issue right now. Though they were great songs. Most were by Phosphorescent (specifically “Wolves,” “Song for Zula,” and “A New Anhedonia”) and I became slightly obsessed with the band for a time, as the songs portray a complex, dark and somewhat disturbing image of love (as does my story). Also Brandi Carlile’s That Wasn’t Me.

The soundtrack for the novella I’m working on now is Rachmaninov’s All Night Vigil by the Latvian Radio Choir. I’ve been listening to it for about 2 months and not sick of it yet, which is good, as the novella still has a ways to go. The All Night Vigil  is some of the most amazingly beautiful music I’ve ever heard and, for me, is proof that God somewhere exists, or at least goodness, despite all the mess of the world, which is kind of what the novella is about.