The Song Stuck in My Head

When I sat down to write SWITCHCRAFT, I realized that conceiving the idea was much easier than writing it.

But then, one day, I overheard my husband watching, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, and the song BAD MOON RISING by Creedence Clearwater Revival came on.

Even though Switchcraft is hardly a horror story--then again, La Cacuy, Nely's mother-in-law will scare the pants off any woman!--the lines from the song, "I see the bad moon rising; I see trouble on the way," struck a gong in my head. Suddenly, I saw my characters, Aggie and Nely, best friends who have grown apart, roaring off in a white trashy Dodge Charger for their much anticipated girls-only weekend.

Inspired, I ran (or tried to because I was six months pregnant at the time) back to my computer and legally downloaded the song. When I heard, "Don't go around tonight; Well, it's bound to take your life," I felt Nely's emotional upheaval as she refused to leave her baby daughter for the first time, and then seconds later (when her husband was being a brat), practically camping on the sidewalk for Aggie to pick her up!

The line "I fear rivers over flowing; I hear the voice of rage and ruin." made me feel the twist in Aggie's gut as she woke up next to the last man on earth she should've gone to bed with!

Music is a powerful aphrodisiac for a writer, especially for one who has tied herself up into knots of insecurity. When writing a story like SWITCHCRAFT that can go from laughs to the heart in two point five pages, music was my key to braving the shifting emotional terrain.

For example, Elvis' YOU'RE THE DEVIL IN DISGUISE had me cracking up as I imagined Aggie trying to impersonate Nely while fending off the advances of her best friend's husband. (And yet, strictly out of curiosity of course, Aggie wonders what Nely's hottie husband looks like in the shower!)

BABY MINE from DUMBO (the movie) had me fighting tears as I wrote the pain that Nely suffers when she is rejected by her own baby, who doesn't recognize her.

When you check out SWITCHCRAFT, try the soundtrack at the end of the book. It might make you hum along, or better imagine Nely's hottie husband in a steamy shower!

Mary Castillo