Inspiration for the Tamisa in "Solace: Lost"

I was asked where does inspiration come from?  My answer: Everywhere.  Sometimes it's as I walk through the woods, or a small event that I witness and I think what if, or while I practice Tai Chi  - the moments after, or while I'm exercising, and sometimes it comes from a song I hear.   Music is a huge inspiration for me just as much as being outside away from the business of life.

Today I decided to share how the Tamisa was created that is in the 2nd book of Solace.  I was driving to Stoney, listening to a CD I had copied from my playlist when this song played through.  I could feel everything.  The air around Karissa, the energy that moved tried to envelop her, Karissa's curiosity that she didn't want to listen to, her untrusting nature.   However as the rhythms began to play she allowed the music to move through her.  I could visualize the way the universe would thrust her away from those that would never give her the answer she sought.  (Of course I replayed this song over and over getting a little more of the scene that I was about to write) Visualizing the others around her, the way they disappeared, the way they fade but didn't disappear as they avoided the shadows around them.  I could sense Karissa's fears, and beliefs, how they all faded from her as his hand slid onto her side.  Her tears as she refused to believe what she knew deep inside her to be true.  As the music continued to play through I saw Astaza move herself closer to him and how he looked away from Karissa.  Then as I allowed my CD to play into the next song the scene continued as Karissa ran from him, from what she wouldn't allow to happen.  Tears that ran down her face.  How she couldn't understand how the universe did not see that he would die if he continued to stay with her.  How could the universe want him dead?  He was all that was good, the opposite of her.  The music brought his gentle touch,  her refusal to let him be close to her, the fight that she began against him.  She needed him to live.   His arms embraced her and he explained how he felt, forcing her with gentle words, to see the truth.

Here are the two songs that inspired the Tamisa scene in Solace: Lost. (Click on the titles if you want to hear the music.)  The first song is Santa Maria by the Gotan Project.  The second song is Secrets by OneRepublic.