Playlists

You know the song, the one you will forever associate with a certain movie or a scene from a show. For me, Beastie Boy's "Sabotage" will always link to Star Trek "Beyond", and I can't hear "The Boys are Back in Town" by Thin Lizzy without picturing Heath Ledger and Co in "A Knight's Tale". The nature of books, however, is that they don't come with soundtracks.

Unless you're weird like me.

I have a horror/supernatural book on the backburner that I can only write while playing America's "Horse with No Name" on an endless loop. The main character, a dead murder from the days of the Kent State massacre whose malevolent spirit now resides in the derelict prison bus he died in, won't speak unless that fucking song is playing. We actually had a Come to Jesus meeting, he and I, because that song wasn't released to a US audience in the year he initially said he died in. I suppose time passes differently when you're locked away in the Texas prison system.

Not every story requires a soundtrack. When I wrote "Disciplining Little Josey" I was an absolute tyrant in the house. I was the No Noise Nazi, losing my shit if anyone dared speak or bark let alone cranked up Led Zeppelin. "Evolution of Emma" was written in similar silence, but "Under Daddy's Protection" demanded a twisted blend of J Pop and Jazz. Babymetal for Nikki, while Gage preferred his untouched whiskey with a side of Diana Krall.

I am not ashamed to confess my love for Babymetal.

The book I'm working on now has taken a surprising turn to Hindi pop. Don't ask me how I ended up with a Bollywood party playlist for this story, it just happened. The fact that I don't know what they're singing is irrelevant. It has a beat and you can dance to it. Perhaps that's all it takes to make a song a hit in any galaxy.

Also, Neha Kakkar is hot AF in this.