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Girl is a Gun
So sometimes when I write a character I find it helpful to find a little theme song. Sometimes it’s about the lyrics. Sometimes it’s about the general vibe. When I started thinking about the woman who would become Drake Radcliffe’s happily ever after, I knew I needed someone who could kick a little ass. A sweet, shy girl wasn’t going to do it for him. After all, the man lost his virginity to Sandra Croft. Drake was my young genius operative, his whole life revolving around work, and so it seemed right that he would fall for another operative.
While Taylor Cline had a name early on, I didn’t really know who she was until right before I started writing No Time to Lie. I will admit, I was a little panicked because one should know one’s heroine inside and out before one starts to write. Well, it doesn’t work that way for me much of the time. I tend to learn a lot about characters when I write them as secondary characters. So when I’m writing a completely new character, I can feel a little lost at times.
I often take walks, and if I’m not with my bestie, I listen to music. At the time I was preparing to write No Time to Lie, Halsey had recently come out with her brilliant album, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. The first time I listened to “Girl is a Gun,” Taylor formed in my head. While the lyrics likely refer to Halsey’s own problems with feeling good enough for motherhood, the song itself has an action-sequence feeling. And the song is basically about how hard it is for a woman to live in the world, and that sums up Taylor’s existence.
So check out this wonderful song. It’s produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross—if you’re my age you know them as Nine Inch Nails. Hope you enjoy one of my favorite artists. The whole album is magnificent, and I’m sure at some point I’ll talk about how much “Darling” means to me.
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