Life Emulates Art, and Emulators Emulate in my Bedroom

In the past week I have downloaded an NES emulator, as well as a Super Nintendo emulator, and I have close to 2,000 classic games from my childhood to work through.  Though it won't be much work -- not in the traditional sense of the word, anyway.

Lately, I've been easing through my normal routine.  After I finish a major project, I wander aimlessly for a while, picking at new ideas like they were scabs in the recesses of my brain (brain scabs are nasty).  While I do this, I need to keep my mind occupied with fresh material and concepts.  So I consume.  A lot.  Any creative input will due.  Emulators are at the top of the queue at present.

The most eagerly-tackled game in the bunch, by far, was the original, the classic, the most awesomely awesome, "The Legend of Zelda."

Hear that Overworld theme playing in your head.  Relish it.  Bathe in its epic tonal quality.  Now do some more relishing.  Mmmm.  

I admit that I'm using a walkthrough for this one.  Because, even though I played it incessantly as a kid, I'm not entirely convinced I ever really knew what I was doing.  And therefore, I can't be sure I ever actually beat it.  And I really, really want to.  The sequels, and games I can reasonably figure out on my own (things are mostly handed to modern gamers these days, or at the very least, are extremely intuitive), I'll play through without any extra help.

Like this one.  I'm already a decent way through it.  And things are coming along well.  It's amazing what you remember from when you were seven (in cases that aren't Zelda).  

The cool thing about emulators is save states.  So you don't ever have to lose your place in a Nintendo game again and start all over.  Unless you mess with the F keys by accident... I still haven't figured out how to fix that mistake.  Oh well.  Project nostalgia is well underway, with zillions of classic titles poised to meet the sweet bioelectric feedback from the tips of my gaming thumbs.  This on the heels of the 125th anniversary of the founding of Nintendo.  I'd say that's an awfully cool coincidence.

Anway, I hope you all have a successful writing routine (or general work routine) that works for you.  Something that helps you optimize production.  And, something that's just plain fun.  Takes the stress out of life for a while, and helps to further your goals at the same time.  So, to this point, I say emphatically, happy birthday Nintendo.

Every Book Has a Soundtrack. What's the Soundtrack to Your Book?

Every novel has a soundtrack.  It's true.  If you're a writer, you probably already know this.  I'm sure some writers don't listen to anything at all while they write, but I generally consider them to be mutants and exempt from this conversation.  Most of us need to pull inspiration from a variety of sources, and one of the most inspiring pools around is that whole auditory sensory perception jiggy (<== official technical name).

Music is hella great.  I've known this my whole life -- I've been performing music since the summer before fifth grade, when I picked up a trumpet for the first time under the watchful eye of my teacher, the late Ray Detweiler.  He molded me into quite the musician, capable of living comfortably in an expansive, magical new world.  Because music is magical.  It brings out emotional responses like nothing else.  It can be inspiring, uplifting, even terrifying.

A lot of people are terrified when they see things like this.  #TabCulture
Image Credit: melintelinas via deviantart

Currently, the novel I'm writing has no soundtrack.  This makes me terribly sad.  I plan to remedy this in the near future, so that I can increase my odds of crafting it into the killer story I know it so rightfully is.  My next novel, however, has such an epic soundtrack that has never before been heard by man nor angel.  It's a combination of Sir Christopher Lee's first operatic metal album (yes, this is a thing), and assorted music from Two Steps From Hell.  This particular lineup is what you call a surplus of epic.

Music is so influential that it even has the ability to irritate the shit out of us, as is the case with my upstairs neighbors producing a criminally monotonous, half-baked rap album above my head as I write this.  The most powerful part of music, however, is that it inspires other art.  It can also be inspired by other media as well, but the quality of art created while under the influence of music is powerfully profound.  And remember, if you or someone you love is under the influence of music, and can't seem to find their way back to a normal life, I have a twelve-step program to sell you.  It involves buying my books.

For now, I'll continue to search for an appropriate soundtrack to my current project.  It must needs be inspirational, hopeful, tragic, but with an air of uncovering a new dawn.  Recommendations are welcome.  Do you have a soundtrack for your book or other art?  If so, what is it?  And how did you come by it?