My poor husband. Since I became a writer, I’ve put a few rules in place to ensure I have quality writing time. I work a full-time job, so my writing time is limited and uber valuable.  As any writer knows when you have that perfect sentence/word/paragraph/sex scene/etc. in your mind and frantically trying to get it on the page, interruptions can make those perfections disappear like dandelion seeds in the wind.  SO, if I’m wearing headphones, that means Do Not speak to me unless you want to lose a limb, or unless you’re bleeding.

My kids understand this. They text me knowing they won’t get a reply for hours. My husband-not so much. But over the years he’s learned to slowly move toward my writing space with the stealth of a panther. He observes from a distance. Checks his target. Did I reach for a Cheeto?  Sip of coffee? Glance out the window? Sigh? Or make eye contact that waves the green flag that I’m not writing the absolute best words of my life, and he can enter the perimeter of my danger zone.

I feel his presence. I hold up a finger. The sign to my impatient husband, he needs to wait. It’s not because I’m writing, it’s because I’m listening to my playlist. The one I created especially for my current WIP. And it’s on the song that speaks to my heart.

I love listening to all kinds of music. It helps me focus. It makes my characters kick butt, my hero studly, my protagonist hopeful, my sidekick dance on the table, and my villain…he gets all the rap songs to make him Super B-ass. (Gotta Love Nicki Minaj).

I have a special playlist for fight scenes- (mostly hard rock), love scenes (mostly 80’s music), break-up scenes (mostly country), and special lists built for each book. My favorite tool is Shazam to figure out the name of that perfect WIP playlist tune on the radio or playing in the coffee shop.

Here is my playlist from Book 1 The Shoes Come First. It’s Free today on Hello Books.

• I Can’t Wait – Nu Shooz
• Nothing Compares to You – Chris Cornell
• The Best of Both Worlds- Hannah Montana
• From the Ground Up- Dan + Shay
• Wouldn’t Change a Thing – Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato
• Shoes – Kelly
• Love Me Like You Do – Ellie Goulding
• Fast Car – Tracy Chapman
• You’ll be in My Heart – Celtic Woman
• Heat Wave – Linda Ronstadt
• You’re so Vain – Carly Simon
• Call me – Blondie
• It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me -Billy Joel
• Magic – Olivia Newton-John
• Lost in Love- Air Supply

Let me know in the comments!!!

She yearns for romance. She needs a job. If she travels through time, she just might find both…

Sunnyside, Texas, present day. Jennifer Cloud hates that she’s unemployed and brokenhearted. Again. Still struggling to figure out how to adult, things get worse when an inherited amulet hurls her back to 1568 Scotland. And though she’s enchanted by kilted hunk Caiyan, she stumbles onto a plot to steal devices that can alter the past.

Lost in a world that makes less sense than her modern one, Jennifer dutifully embraces her destiny to defend history. But when a Mexican revolutionary swipes her ticket home, her mission and future may have come to a dead end.

Can Jennifer recover her strange necklace without rewriting prior events and maybe even hook up with the savory Scot?

The Shoes Come First is the first book in the fun and frantic Jennifer Cloud time travel romance series. If you like magical portals, sassy heroines, and dashing defenders, you’ll love Janet Leigh’s lighthearted tale. Read The Shoes Come First to turn back the clock today!

Check out my playlists at JanetLeighbooks.com/Playlists