These are the songs I listened to and sung in my mind when I was writing A Deep Dark Call
- The Hounds of Love, Kate Bush
Kate Bush’s songs have always had an intensity that I find simply irresistible. There are three versions of Hounds of Love by Kate Bush that you should listen to – and I love all of them. I would say that this song, with its passionate rhythm, and also with its self-aware, slightly ironic overtones, captures my whole book very well. Love does make hounds of all of us…And the instalove is a premise of my book, but, as those of you who might have read it had the chance to see, in the end, there is an explanation for it and for the all-consuming attraction my characters feel for one another. My book is fast-paced, just like this song, and I wanted it like that, in order to capture the sudden intensity of the characters’ feelings and a primeval atmosphere.
- Blood Roses, Tori Amos
Tori is not only a exquisite musician, but also an exquisite poet. Of course, there is room for interpretation, but to me “blood roses” is a symbol for sexuality, and for how we can become victims, of ourselves and of others, shamed by our own desires and denying our darker, sexual side. Lucy, the heroine in my book, undergoes a spiritual journey that is at times painful to her (And, yes, there will be blood and fear in the process), but in the end she will be able to overcome her fears. Also, the presence of the eerie harpsichord in the song creates that Old European Gothic vibe that I wanted to conjure up in the book.
- Aya, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
This is a very visceral song that I love, and that, again, stands for the deep, dark passion within ourselves. The lyrics are simple, but very intense, sung in a husky male voice that’s bone-melting sexy. These lyrics are exactly what they are: I wanna kiss you till they’re gone/Till they’re all gone…I realized it only after I reread my published book, but this song had actually seeped into one of my love scenes, where the heroine tells the hero that she wants to love him so hard until all his former lovers are completely gone from his mind.
- Gnosienne No.1, Eric Satie
You probably know this pretty well. It was successfully used in several movies, especially in one of my favourite romance movies, The Painted Veil… Satie wrote this in the 1890s as far as I recall, but since my book takes place in the 1880s, the period for it is approximately right. There is exoticism and strangeness in this piece. To Lucy, my heroine, Wallachia (the Romanian territory where her governess assignment takes her) seems very unfamiliar and exotic at first. So I think this captures her feelings and the late nineteenth-century setting. This gnosienne has a subtle, yet very deep melancholy to it that I also think goes very well with my brooding, Rochester-type hero.
- Ciuleandra, Maria Tănase
What is different about this book I wrote is that it is both classic romance (following the conventions of the genre), and something else, more unconventional (or at least this is what I wanted it to be)…Yes, and it does take place in the Romanian Principalities… It is a book that heavily relies on Romanian lore, and hence on a whole nexus of ancient myths. There is a dance that the hero (Ioan) dances along with his people in front of my heroine. The dance is stirring, but also timeless and oddly familiar to her. It is fictional, and I called it Imparatul Lup (Wolf Emperor or rather Emperor Wolf). It is however inspired by Romanian folklore and by real folk dances and customs. I blended several Romanian tunes in mind when I imagined the dance, but perhaps the best way for you to conjure up something similar to what I imagined is to listen to one of best versions of one the best-known Romanian folk dance tunes. It is called Ciuleandra and it is very old. It’s the Ciuleandra dance steps that I saw in my mind. Try it. It may be the first Romanian tune that some of you listen to.
