Music is a big part of my writing experience, along with dancing, whenever the mood strikes. My playlists are an eclectic mix of genres. Hip-hop, pop, rap, reggaeton, jazz, country, classical—they’re all part of my music selections. The perfect song can put me in the right headspace and drown out any competing thoughts that get in the way of my productivity. I become lost in the music as well as the story while I’m writing. From a practical standpoint, it also blocks out my upstairs neighbors when they get too loud. A killer playlist becomes the soundtrack for my story and often reflects the attitudes of my characters, along with the ups and downs they face. For instance, in THE FIRST RULE OF HOOK-UPS, as I thought about Alexa and her friends at the Breakup Bash—a party held at Club Escapade to help women get over one man and move onto a better one—a few of Beyoncé’s songs about women and empowerment came to mind. And in the book, when the DJ cues up a line dance song and Alexa joins in, the “Cupid Shuffle” was playing through my headphones. Music also helped in imagining Raphael, a retired male dancer…