Last time I wrote about soundtracks for my books (and I have a couple up on my Worlds page on my website), but lately I’ve been thinking about how we write sounds. The culture in my Luna books is AURAL, they access information and think about sounds. For instance, some people may say “I see what you mean” (visual), or “I’m listening/I’m hearing you” (aural).

But what of sounds themselves? There are words for sounds: “they clapped, they applauded” and everyone knows the sound referenced, but it doesn’t actually describe the sound. Another example. Plink-plink-plink. Now that could be rain, or piano keys or dripping blood — but I think splot-splot-splot sounds like a creepier dripping blood… Or my keyboard sound click-click-click, or snick-snick-snick….but again, for me, “snick” means guns. “Snick. She snapped the safety off her weapon.” So there’s a problem with different meanings…BUT I think that “sounds” can add a lot to the texture of a book — if used in moderation. WHOOSH! ZING! TSK, TSK! EEWWWW!

And, for me, I keep trying to describe the ever-popular cat “speaking” — meow, mrrrowww, mrumph! One of my cats actually went MEOW this morning, that was a definite, but usually their language isn’t so simply described. I have one very vocal cat (obviously the model for Samba in Heart Thief). Lately I’ve been away and she has this loud, long, demanding hrrrhhh-OW-WOW-RAU! for WHERE ARE YOU? Kay Hooper, in her old romances, gave me some other sounds Prrrrp. Wah! Waurr.

So I have an aural society and I do things like “the notes of her personal Song intertwined with his”… and everyone can fill in the tunes, which is cool imagination-wise for the reader, but still…I’d like more sound words.

Any thoughts?

May your reading be multi-sensual.
Robin