Most of the time, I listen to music as I write — which is not too surprising, as I typically listen to music all of the time. But usually, music plays a pretty big role in what I’m writing.

Once during an audience talkback/response session, someone asked who my influences were and in addition to a few writers, I also mentioned Elvis Costello and Tom Waits as being two of the strong voices in my head.

So, music is always there for me. Especially when I’m writing. In some cases, it’s just something that I listen to while I’m getting set up. In other cases, I’ll play it throughout a given session as background for the actual writing.

Sometimes it’s a particular album or artist. ‘The Odyssey’ was written almost entirely with the soundtrack from “The English Patient” playing in the background.

Other times, it’s just a single song. One play, twelve or thirteen years ago, was written entirely with a recording of Artie Shaw’s “Stardust” playing over and over again — and while I admit that’s perhaps a bit obsessive, it felt necessary at the time.

As I went through the process of putting together the first draft for this current project, a number of themes and songs kept cropping up. Eventually, I made a playlist in iTunes and would add the songs that showed up as I was writing a given sequence, over time creating a soundtrack of sorts for the book.

And, now that the first draft is done, I find that the soundtrack is more or less complete as well. I don’t listen to it while I’m writing, of course, but it does get a lot of car play (particularly when driving the kids to school).

I realize that I haven talked much here about the book — just little hints about the characters and themes. Sorry about that. You’ll just have to wait for the podcast of the third draft to understand what all of this is about.

Until then, here’s the soundtrack. I’ve included my titles corresponding to scenes in the book, along with the actual name, composer/artist for the tracks:

• “Family Portrait / Driving to School” — “Comptine D’un Autre Été: L’après Midi” from Yann Tiersen’s soundtrack to the film ‘Le Fabuleux Destin D’Amelie Poulin’.
• “Jimmy’s Coin” — “First Flute” from Zbigniew Preisner’s soundtrack to the film ‘Bleu’.
• “The Hallway” — “Run to the Church” from James Newton Howard’s soundtrack to the film ‘The Sixth Sense’.
• “The Boatman’s List” — “Zirkusmusik” by Laurent Petitgand, from the soundtrack to the film ‘Wings of Desire’.
• “Down the River” — “Fawn” from the album ‘Alice’ by Tom Waits.
• “River Dreams” — “A Retreat” from Gabriel Yared’s soundtrack to the film ‘The English Patient’.
• “Moontown Games” — “Epilogue” by Robin Adnan Anders, from the collection Telling Tales’ read by Neil Gaiman.
• “Annie’s Garden” — “ Justin At Mr. Chin’s” from Jeff Beal’s soundtrack to the television show ‘Carnivalé’.
• “Setting Edgar’s Table” —“Bathtime in Clerkenwell” from The (Real) Tuesday Weld’s soundtrack to the novel ‘I, Lucifer’.
• “Juniper in the Ashes” — “Doubt” from the bonus CD that came with ‘The Wilco Book’.
• “Seth’s Ride” — “Alech Taadi” by Cheb Maimi from the soundtrack to the film ‘The Fifth Element’.
• “Washing Dishes” — “Wouldn’t it be Loverly?” from the original cast soundtrack to ‘My Fair Lady’.
• “Sarah with the Top Down” — “Wadidyusay” by Zap Mama from the ‘Rip. Sample. Share. Smash.’ released by Wired Magazine in 2004.
• “The Fox Girl” — “Creepy Caper/Peek-A-Boo” from Elmer Bernstein’s soundtrack to the film ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’.
• “Crosswords / Meeting Juniper” — “The Story Of Grandmere” from Rachel Portman’s soundtrack to the film ‘Chocolat’.
• “Erebus” — “Rottnest” from the bonus CD that came with ‘The Wilco Book.
• “Following the Fox” — from Björk’s soundtrack for ‘Drawing Restraint 9’.
• “In the Foxhole” — “Suicide Ghost” from James Newton Howard’s soundtrack to the film ‘The Sixth Sense’.
• “The Winter Palace” — “Julie In Her New Apartment” from Zbigniew Preisner’s soundtrack to the film ‘Bleu’.
• “Tea with Winterly” — “Reprise – First Appearance” from Zbigniew Preisner’s soundtrack to the film ‘Bleu’.
• “Touring the Palace / Winterly’s Tale” — “The Battle Of Carnival And Lent” from Zbigniew Preisner’s soundtrack to the film ‘Bleu’.
• “Eyebright and Emeralds” — “His Name Was Michael” from Jeff Beal’s soundtrack to the television show ‘Carnivalé’.
• “Farewell to Winterly” — from Eleni Karaindrou’s soundtrack to the film ‘Ulysses’ Gaze’.
• “The Trouble with Cats” — from Zbigniew Preisner’s soundtrack to the film ‘Bleu’.
• “Edgar’s Bargain” — “Storm’s Coming” from Jeff Beal’s soundtrack to the television show ‘Carnivalé’.
• “Mirror Maze: Assam” — “So Long” from the Loose Fur album ‘Loose Fur’.
• “Mirror Maze: Darjeeling” — “Calliope” from the Tom Waits album ‘Blood Money’.
• “Juniper’s Fall” — “Hamami” from the bonus CD that came with ‘The Wilco Book.
• “The Plain of Tears” — “Nocturne” from the album ‘A Strange Constellation of Events’ by the band Remanence.
• “Backseat Drivers” — “Action at a Distance” by Matmos from the ‘Rip. Sample. Share. Smash.’ released by Wired Magazine in 2004.
• “Mother’s Day” — “Untitled” by Andrew Bird from the album ‘The Mysterious Production of Eggs’.
• “Farewell” — “Closing Credits” from Zbigniew Preisner’s soundtrack to the film ‘Bleu’.
• “Jee Drinks a Cup of Tea” — from Yann Tiersen’s soundtrack to the film ‘Le Fabuleux Destin D’Amelie Poulin’.
• “Assam and Darjeeling / End Titles” — “Main Title” from Elmer Bernstein’s soundtrack to the film ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’.

Working through the second draft has been, for the most part, done in silence — apart from the sound of running water.

When I need something more in the background, I usually go to ‘The Conet Project’ recordings.

And, yes, I know that’s crazy.