Playlist October featuring The Summer After You & Me by Jennifer Doktorski

I love music and I love books, which means I really love book playlists. So all through October I'm going to be posting book playlists. I've invited a bunch of authors to contribute, so hopefully we'll all discover some great new music and good reads.

Jennifer Doktorski is here today to share some of the resonant lyrics from her playlist for her new novel THE SUMMER AFTER YOU & ME.

Here's the book summary:

When Superstorm Sandy sweeps up the New Jersey coast, local shore girl Lucy Giordano is brought together for a few intense hours with her longtime crush/part-time summer neighbor, Connor Malloy. Lucy believes their connection is real, but in the hurricane’s devastating aftermath, nothing is the same and Lucy is left to pick up the pieces of her broken heart and home.

 And Jennifer's playlist!



“Crazy For You” Stars on 45

Every single word that you say
Every little thing that you do
Hits like a hurricane
When I'm secretly crazy for you


“Absolutely Still” Val Emmich

We were running from the same noise
We were stuck in the same pursuit
Now the door's locked
And I find that this dizzy madness is bleeding through
Promise me you'll never leave this room


“Every Breaking Wave” U2

Are we ready to be swept off our feet
And stop chasing
Every breaking wave


“Riptide” Vance Joy

Lady, running down to the riptide
Taken away to the dark side
I wanna be your left hand man


“Come to Me” Goo Goo Dolls

Fortune teller said I'd be free
And that's the day you came to me
Came to me

Find out more about Jennifer and her novels at her website: www.jendoktorski.com

Playlist October featuring IF YOU'RE LUCKY by Yvonne Prinz

I love music and I love books, which means I really love book playlists. So all through October I'm going to be posting book playlists. I've invited a bunch of authors to contribute, so hopefully we'll all discover some great new music and good reads.

Today, I have Yvonne Prinz talking about her playlist picks for her new novel, IF YOU'RE LUCKY.

First, the book summary:

When seventeen-year-old Georgia’s brother drowns while surfing halfway around the world in Australia, she refuses to believe Lucky’s death was just bad luck. Lucky was smart. He wouldn’t have surfed in waters more dangerous than he could handle. Then a stranger named Fin arrives in False Bay, claiming to have been Lucky’s best friend. Soon Fin is working for Lucky’s father, charming Lucky’s mother, dating his girlfriend. Georgia begins to wonder: did Fin murder Lucky in order to take over his whole life?

Determined to clear the fog from her mind in order to uncover the truth about Lucky’s death, Georgia secretly stops taking the medication that keeps away the voices in her head. Georgia is certain she’s getting closer and closer to the truth about Fin, but as she does, her mental state becomes more and more precarious, and no one seems to trust what she’s saying. 

As the chilling narrative unfolds, the reader must decide whether Georgia’s descent into madness is causing her to see things that don’t exist–or to see a deadly truth that no one else can.

And now, Yvonne's song picks!

1. Somewhere Down The Road- Feist

A sad, pretty song for Georgia and how I imagine she yearns for her dead brother, Lucky.


2. Poison Oak- Bright Eyes. 

I love these lyrics. I think that Oberst wrote this song to go with my story. That isn’t true, of course, but the song reminds me of my character, Georgia, and her brother, Lucky. Georgia has always been in awe of Lucky’s ease in his life. He brought the world home to False Bay with him when he returned from his adventures and he made it seem small and friendly. After he’s gone, Georgia doesn’t know how to look at the world anymore.

“I fell asleep with you still talking to me and you said you weren’t afraid to die”

3. Dearly Departed- Shakey Graves 

If You’re Lucky is part ghost story and this song seemed appropriate. I adore Shakey Graves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkDycke-u6M



4. Wild is the Wind- Cat Powers

This is a beautiful cover of a David Bowie hit. I played it a lot while I wrote about Georgia losing touch with what’s real.



5. Sailor Song- The Felice Brothers

The Felice Brothers are self-proclaimed slouching Hudson River Pirates. I think this song speaks to Georgia’s slide downward. Her delusions start to define her life as she slips away from reality. I love the sea shanty feel of this tune.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFFI_VZT6to


6. Shangri-la-Mark Knopfler

Lots of surf culture in this story. Lucky thrived in that life. He worked here and there and then followed the waves around the world. I’ve always loved the way this song speaks to that Gypsy life that Lucky embraced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsO-O8SG7yc


7. Oh, Lonesome Me- M. Ward featuring Lucinda Williams 

The coastline where I set the book in Northern California is one I’m very familiar with and this track is just how I feel when I drive that lonesome highway along the edge of the western world, overlooking the Pacific. There are lots of versions of this Neil Young song but nothing quite touches the soulfulness of this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MRysO58leA


8. The Riptide-Beirut

Georgia fears the water though it’s all around her while she’s awake and in her dreams. Beirut is a big favorite of mine. I love their rich multi-instrumental arrangements. I like this video too. It’s reminiscent of the scene where Georgia’s family scatters Lucky’s ashes into the ocean.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX7fd8uQle


9. Minor Swing- Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli

Sonia (Lucky’s girlfriend) and Georgia take a drive down to a small bar in Bodega (near where Tom Waits now lives, incidentally) to see a Gypsy Swing band. They’re surprised when Fin gets onstage to sit in with the band. He’s obviously an accomplished guitar player and neither of them knew anything about this. I loved building a character with a flourish like this, another dollop of intrigue, another layer to explore.


10. In My Sleep- Austin Hartley and Kendall Jane Meade

This one’s a weeper. I see Georgia is hanging on to her dead brother too tight and she sees him in her dreams, always in the water, always reaching for her.

11. Jayne’s Blue Wish- Tom Waits- A nice poetic note to end on. A touch of hope for Georgia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-hYKy62DZM

 Thanks, Yvonne - all these songs are new to me. How fun!

Find out more about IF YOU'RE LUCKY at Yvonne's website and look for it in stores starting October 20th! 

Playlist October! Among the Shadows Story: Panic Room by ... me!

I love music and I love books, which means I really love book playlists. So all through October I'm going to be posting book playlists. I've invited a bunch of authors to contribute, so hopefully we'll all discover some great new music and good reads.

First up, I wanted to share a few songs that go with my short story in the Among the Shadows anthology (out now - buy here). My story is called Panic Room and it's about a girl who has to adjust to life on a doomsday prepper commune before and after an EMP attack.

And here are 5 songs that you can rock out to while reading it:

Lights Out by Santigold

Lights out, shoot up the station
TV's dead, where's there to run?
Watch everybody come undone

Nightlight by Silversun Pickups

If we survive this (WE WANT IT)
We only want it with the lights out
If we say that (WE WANT IT)
We only want it with the lights out

Trip Switch by Nothing but Thieves

They put out the lights, they put out the lights
What we do when the power's out
What do we do when the lights go
Down, down, down, down, down

Bug by Alex G

and when you go there
you stay there
bug in the crosshair
you stay there

Shock to Your System by Tegan and Sara

You got a shock to your system

Pull yourself out of it

I know that shock to your system

Knocked your heart right out of sync