Noises in the Night

As a writer a lot of things can inspire you, and a lot of things can distract you. As a life-long night owl I've always found it difficult if not impossible to sleep at night like normal people. My family gave me grief over it when I was growing up, telling me over and over to do this or stop that, that there was nothing wrong with me that discipline would not cure. I thought that was laughable considering I was often the most disciplined one there. Also, they were battling against a lifetime of insomnia that nothing could cure and they didn't understand.

Fast forward to a lifetime later, and here I sit before my computer
at 3:30 a.m. working away on my latest book. It is quiet, dark and peaceful. My loved ones sleep, our pets are snoozing contentedly so what's not to love?

Oh, yeah. Noisy neighbors. We moved out of the big city, we moved out of the small noisy town, to get away from the damn noise! Yet here it is, following us like a stalker.

Every night, ah hem, morning there is the rumble of a large truck in need of a new muffler breaking the silence as it grumbles and splutters in the night. Sometimes this goes on for half an hour, other times it cuts off after a few minutes. It is often accompanied by the godawful racket of loud music with heavy bass jarring everything around it, literally shaking the house.

So tonight I hear this sound, as usual, groan a little and wait it out. After a bit the truck is silent, then twenty minutes later its rumbling again and driving off. At 3 a.m. Thinking that's it for the moment I hear--I swear this is what went through my mind-- a good sized blender driving up and down the dirt road in front of our house. The visuals give me a snicker or two, but as that fades the sound of a big motorboat passes by, making me shake my head. I live in a fucking cartoon! I swear it.

I'll admit that sound carries weird out where we live. Noises far off carry as though they are a few feet away, something a few feet away sounds like it is coming in from miles away.

But as a writer, you often put sounds together and let the story unfold in your mind. Sounds, smellls, colors, snippets of music all build into a tale in your head. In part, it is a good thing, but sometimes you wish the loud, noisy inconsiderate folk would have the decency to shut the fuck up at midnight. Some people actually get to sleep at night! Let them do so in peace.

As for me, now that it is quiet, I am going back to my writing where demons and angels war for possession of mortals and vampires are not always the bad guys. Yeah, it's fantasy and I love it! Also, with a dash of eroticism thrown in it's not at all bad calling it work!