Katya Armock has stopped by today to talk about the top ten songs she likes to listen to while writing – and how they tie into her novel, [amazon_link id=”B00FY3FN1O” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]To Growl or Groan[/amazon_link].
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Here are ten songs that I like to listen to when I write. They have some relation to my current novel To Growl or to Groan.

1. [amazon_link id=”B00150U8DS” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Mr. Self Destruct[/amazon_link] by Nine Inch Nails: Chloe feels like she is losing control of her psychic ability, and this song could be from the point of view of her ability when Chloe is viewing it as a threat.
2. [amazon_link id=”B0017QJN8G” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Sour Cherry[/amazon_link] by The Kills: Chloe and Jorge’s relationship gets tested in this book, not necessarily in the way this song implies, but I like the song’s vibe.
3. [amazon_link id=”B000W18LPI” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Right in Time[/amazon_link] by Lucinda Williams: This is such a great love/sex song.
4. [amazon_link id=”B000WIPZ28″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Metal Heart[/amazon_link] by Garbage: Chloe has to face a lot of her inner demons in this book. A line from this song sums up her feelings in many ways: “I want to understand so I can forgive and be willing to love.”
5. [amazon_link id=”B000004AT7″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Most Beautiful[/amazon_link] by Frente: “The most beautiful thing is when I hear your heartbeat.” The Happily Ever After moment in a nutshell.
6. [amazon_link id=”B000UCEJDM” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]And Darling[/amazon_link] by Teagan and Sarah: A short song that always makes me think about the nature of relationships.
7. [amazon_link id=”B00136O0AG” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Sweetest Decline[/amazon_link] by Beth Orton: Such a beautiful, haunting, hopeful song. “What’s the use in regrets? They’re just lesson we haven’t learned yet.” Kind of like the sun will come up tomorrow but a bit more my taste in music. J
8. [amazon_link id=”B000EHQ7L0″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Turn Into[/amazon_link] by Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs: It’s so hard to open yourself up to someone.
9. [amazon_link id=”B002B31B84″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]You Shook Me All Night Long[/amazon_link] by AC/DC: I don’t think I need to explain. This band is not known for its subtlety. 😉
10. [amazon_link id=”B0092MKH82″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Demons[/amazon_link] by Imagine Dragons: Just to prove I do listen to some contemporary music. J Plus, this is a song I listen to over and over.

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| [amazon_link id=”B00FY3FN1O” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Amazon[/amazon_link] | BN | ARe | Amazon UK | Amazon CA |

Blurb:

Her gift could save a missing girl…or destroy her relationship forever.

After receiving a troubling Tarot reading, Chloe just knows something big and bad is about to happen. Her ability to communicate with animals and shape-shifters is going awry, and her growing psychic abilities are beginning to scare her. Despite her unease, she won’t let anything interrupt her trip to Scotland to spend the holidays with her shape-shifter boyfriend’s family. Jorge is everything she’s always wanted, and the fire between Chloe and the passionate panther-shifter burns hot. But meeting his family has her nerves in knots.

When Jorge’s sister goes missing, Chloe’s psychic abilities might be the only thing that can help them find her. But things don’t go as planned, and with confusing psychic visions clouding her judgment, Chloe makes a mistake and an animal is injured. And Chloe fears she might hurt Jorge as well… 

Excerpt:

“Which deck are you drawn to, Chloe?” The tarot reader lays out three decks before me and waves her hands over the decks. “Feel free to pick them up, look at the artwork.”

Her booth is toward the back of a new-age shop called The Abacus, not far from where I used to work. She wears jeans and a T-shirt that reads, “Tarot isn’t a matter of life or death. It’s more important than that.” I’d place her at about forty, wisps of gray intermingling in her near-black hair.

I look over the decks of cards. The first has Renaissance-type drawings. Boring. The second is purple and features whimsical faery creatures. It’s pretty and ethereal. The third is dark. On the back of each card, two serpents eating their own tails are entwined on a black background. I flip the deck, thumb through the cards. The pictures are raw and vivid; they suck me in.

“This one.” I hand the third deck back to her.

She nods. “Very good. What is your question? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want.”

There is no reason for me not to tell her; she of all people should understand. “I want to know about my gift.”

There’s not an ounce of judgment or question in her eyes before she holds the cards to her chest for a moment and closes her eyes for a few deep breaths. I watch the rise and fall of her chest, trying to claim her calmness, but I remain fidgety and anxious.

She opens her eyes, looks at my hands tapping on the table. “It’s OK to be nervous, but there is nothing to fear. All is as it will be.”

Oh, platitudes. If I ever become a Zen master, hallelujah. In the meantime, I try to quell my inner cynic and smile at the card reader.

She laughs, as if she can read my mind. Perhaps she can. “I’m going to do a three-card reading for you. The first represents the past, the second the present, and the third the future.” She shuffles the deck, then lays it neatly on the table between us. “Cut the deck with your left hand.”

I do, and she lays out the first card. It’s The Devil, which can’t possibly be good. At least it’s my past card.

Her face is unhelpfully blank. “Tell me your impressions of this card. It can be the name, the artwork, whatever.”

I pick it up for a closer look. The drawing is in shades of purple. At the top, a face, featuring lazy yellow eyes and downturned lips, sprouts four horns. A web of string seems to be wound among the horns and crisscrosses to form a pentagram on the devil’s forehead. From the neck down, he appears to be submerged in water and wearing some sort of vest with intricately interlocking clasps. “It is a dark picture, but it almost appears as if the figure has an angelic halo. As though all is not lost.”

She tilts her head to the side, revealing a small black goddess tattoo under her ear. “That is interesting. The Devil represents the shadow side of things. It can be lies and illusion, but it can also remind us to focus on using our power for good—to make our fate.”

Well that certainly fits and is a whole lot better than my first impression that my past must be filled with evil. Until recently, I had repressed the little I knew of why my mother left my father and me when I was ten. Now I know she left to go back to her mother to get help. I am certain it had something to do with her having a gift, just as I can telepathically communicate with animals and shape-shifters. And that means that my gift was inherited. What I don’t know is how far back in the family tree the genes go or where these gifts come from. I’m not sure I want to know.

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I like books that are funny and fun to read (and hot!) but also make me think or look at the world in a new way.

These days you’ll find me writing, pet sitting, juggling a number of freelance gigs, and reigning as my home’s domestic goddess. I live in the Midwestern U.S. with my husband, dog and cats. Alas, I have, as of yet, been unable to teach my husband how to purr.

Website: http://katyaarmock.com/

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