Is music important to your writing?

Rediscovering music is one of my favorite things to do. Recently on Pandora I started listening to the Malice Mizer station, and every time one of their songs or Gackt's or Klaha's or Moi Dix Mois comes on I go through this whole cycle of squealing and flailing, and then tears, then The Sighs (a chronic illness at times), and then regret when the song is over, regret that I don't listen to these songs more often.

And this is all within the span of one 4 minute song. It's like the seven steps of grieving or something, except not. The whole experience for each and every song is something along the lines of

Not to mention Pandora does the  whole thing where, if I listen to this Japanese music, I should listen to the rest too, right? Simple and Clean comes on every five songs in its variety of remix flavors. Some Cowboy Bebop, some L'Arc. And I'm a sucker who listens to all of it.

ALL OF IT!

Certain songs also just have that nostalgia for me, things that don't mean the same to others as they do to me, and I'm sure that goes for you too. For me personally, it's a lot of Japanese music, because that's what I listened to in high school, and it's the bulk of what I still enjoy.

Why Japanese music?

Because!

But I find I just don't have the time to listen to music as much as I used to. Either I'm at work or Sarah's at my side scowling at the music I choose. Most of the time my very serious music moments are when I'm writing, and then it's absolutely crucial to have the precise song and genre type picked out. If I'm writing that gut-wrenching scene that's pivotal to the plot and makes my readers sob with angst, I need a song that makes me sob with angst! Or action scenes need music that gets my heart pumping, like movie scores. Movie music works so perfect for this, the epic kind that gives you shivers and chills and such.

In fact, if my books are ever legit published, my website will probably contain a soundtrack for each novel. Stupid, right? It is. But I wish more authors would do that. If I could know what music Suzanne Collins listened to when she wrote The Hunger Games, or the songs that just make Gail Carriger stop and pictures her scenes or characters, that's a whole new perspective! Isn't it?

What do you think? Do you listen to music while you write? Do you have any music to share? Let me know!