Sonia M. Rompoti, MSc, Bsc

There’s this magical moment, just before I open my laptop, when the house is finally quiet. My kid’s off to school, the dishes are still judging me from the sink, and I’ve got approximately 1.5 hours before a client needs therapy or my characters demand I rewrite Chapter 12.. again. That’s when the question hits: What do I listen to today?

Because silence?
Absolutely not.
Not in this economy. Not in this brain.

I’m the kind of person who needs sound. Not just noise—intentional, curated, delicious sound. The kind that can drown out the thoughts like, “Do I really need to write this newsletter?” or “Should I learn TikTok dances to market my book?” (No. And maybe.)

Here’s what my work soundtrack looks like:

Movie Scores When I’m Writing Emotion:
Hans Zimmer, Rachel Portman, Alexandre Desplat. Their music has me sobbing into my tea or staring at the screen whispering, “Yes, this is how heartbreak feels.”

Indie Folk When I’m Editing:
Think: The Lumineers, Gregory Alan Isakov, Phoebe Bridgers, the entire “Little Women (2019) vibes” playlist on Spotify.
It slows me down, makes me pay attention, makes every word feel like it matters. Even “the.”

Dark Academia Playlists When I’m Pretending to Be Mysterious:
There’s something delicious about writing a spicy plot twist or an emotionally ruined villain while violins and rain sounds swirl in the background like I’m in a haunted Oxford library.

French Café Jazz When I’m Doing Admin Tasks:
Uploading to KDP, tweaking Etsy listings, or formatting chapter headers? I’m sipping virtual espresso under an imaginary striped awning in Paris. Am I still in my sweatpants? Yes. But mentally? I am très chic.

Murder Podcasts When I’m Tired of Everyone:
There’s nothing like hearing about unsolved crimes and red flags to remind me that maybe a slow launch isn’t the worst thing that could happen.
Bonus: it makes my characters sassier and my dialogue unhinged—in the best way.

Silence? Only During Mental Breakdowns or Client Sessions.
Even then, I sometimes sneak in lo-fi background beats. Or that one ambient playlist that sounds like “witch reads dusty spellbook in a thunderstorm.” Pure serotonin.

But here’s the real reason I listen to all this:
It’s not just about mood. It’s about identity. Music reminds me that I’m not just a solo mom, or a widow, or a therapist-turned-indie-author trying to make it.
I’m also someone with taste, with rituals, with imagination.
I’m someone who lets strings and piano tell me when to feel something, when to write harder, and when to rest.

So, what do you listen to while you work?
Tell me. Share a playlist (pleaaase!). Drop a song rec.
Or just admit that you, too, play “coffee shop chatter” on loop so you don’t feel like the last human standing in the writing trenches.

Because whatever helps you show up, write the words, design the printable, or dream the next book—that is your soundtrack.

And mine?
Mine is always on shuffle.
Just like this wild, weird, beautiful indie author life.

---