If you have walked the streets of Brazil or been to a Brazilian beach you can see how the people are full of energy, music is in their blood, in the way they walk, talk, dance and love. Wherever you go in Brazil you will find people playing, signing and dancing to many different forms of music. For most Brazilians, music is more than just listening to a song. It accompanies them everyday in a variety of things they do. The potent power of music to evoke time, place, and emotional connection served to inspire and inform the creation of 23 Degrees South. I have included a healthy sample of the particular pieces I listened to while outlining, writing, re-writing, re-writing, and then, of course, re-writing the novel.