Music plays a very inspiring role for me in writing. There's a movement dedicated to the music of Mozart as a tool to increase mental acuity and memory; I believe in this... except for me, the music of Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins have that effect. In my mind, the best jazz music takes strong skills of concentration to pick up on the subtle modal arrangements, and the layers of improvisation.

When I write, I often pop a CD into my computer CD-ROM drive. What I play often relates directly to the type/genre of writing I'm working on.

For example, I often write adventure fiction based in the pulp-era of the 1940s. For that, I play some Cherry Poppin' Daddies or The Royal Crown Revue. Swing music always puts me into the right frame of mind to write in that genre. One album by the Royal Crown Revue, Mugzy's Move, is very much a dime novel put to music; just what I need.

When I write something very emotional or sentimental, I play the soundtrack from the film City of Angels. The instrumental arrangements by Gabriel Yared move me, touching on a well of sorrow I don't often find elsewhere.

Currently, I'm listening to a collection of the best songs by the B-52s, Time Capsule. After I write this essay, I plan to work on materials for a comedy game called Space Scum. Wacky music... perfect.