Please welcome to my blog and the Character Playlist feature, fellow Crescent Moon Press Author Avery Olive. But first, a little bit about her novel, now available:

A Stiff Kiss

Who knew kissing a corpse would change everything?

Death always hits Xylia Morana too close to home, but she likes it that way. She hangs out with the terminally ill, attends random funerals, and every so often, when the weather is right, she sleeps in open graves.

But after Landon Phoenix, the high school hottie, dies in Xylia’s hands, she sneaks into the morgue to say goodbye. How could she know stealing a kiss from his corpse would wake him up?

With Landon returned to the living and suddenly interested in Xylia, life has new meaning. But what Xylia doesn’t realize is that by kissing Landon back to life, she’s thrown Life and Death off balance. The underworld demands a body, and it might just have to be Xylia’s this time.

Now, let me turn it over to Avery:

To be honest when I was writing A Stiff Kiss, sure I had a constant stream of music playing, but I never really sat down and thought about a playlist.

I have pretty much the same eternal loop of songs on my iPhone that I listen to over and over… until now. Now I use 8tracks, which gives me a plethora of new and old music to fall in love with. If you don’t know what 8tracks is, or do have a sound track for your novel, consider checking out my post about it.

So basically what I’m trying to say is… This is a really hard post to write… But I am not a quitter. So what I’ve done is pick one song for each character, I’ll give you a little background about the character and why the song fits and then… well we shall see what happens.

Now on with the show…

Xylia Morana—Her theme song would be “Bad Reputation” By Joan Jett

She’s dark, mysterious, a little quirky, but her lifestyle suits her and she really doesn’t care what people think. Xylia is a little rebellious, likes a challenge and likes to get into trouble. But don’t forget she isn’t your normal teenager. She doesn’t go to house parties, vandalize property, or experiment with alcohol. What she does is sneak in to cemeteries. Instead of crashing weddings, she’ll crash a funeral just to imagine what her own, or her mother’s would be like. She’s knows she’s odd, maybe a little obsessed with death, but she “marches to the beat of her own drum”

Landon Phoenix— His theme song throughout the novel is “To Lose My Life” By White Lies

I stumbled on this song completely by accident while researching songs for another post (it was a while ago, and some of the songs I’m mentioning today came from there) If you’ve had the chance to read A Stiff Kiss, listen to this song, or simply read the lyrics. This describes how Landon is feeling, what he is thinking, and shows how much he loves Xylia. This song brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. It feelings like I’m right back with Landon doing the most difficult things he had to do over the course of A Stiff Kiss. He’s your normal, average, ever day teenager, but don’t let him fool you. He is deep, filled with love, and urgency, and worry, he cares with his whole heart and puts himself before others.

Dr. Doug Morana—“Tears in Heaven” by Eric Clapton

He’s never gotten over the loss of his wife. He carries her with him always, and expects, even though she’s gone that she will find him again. Though he doesn’t always think he’s doing the right thing, he was a wonderful husband, and is an amazing father. At times he has separated himself from Xylia, looking at her brings back all the pain of his broken heart. What allows him to go on is the hope that he will meet his wife again in heaven, if there is one. Since he’s a doctor, he’s not sure what he believes in when it comes to life after death. He is the polar opposite of Xylia but together they make life work.

The Soul Seekers—“Enter Sandman” by Metallica

There are two villains in this story. They go about their business, doing work for an unseen force. I think “Enter Sandman” describes their eerie presence, that one should be afraid of them, that they are the monsters you wouldn’t expect to take control of your soul and decide its fate.

Of course each book has a few central themes. A few songs can describe those last moments. So here they are.

“I Forgive You” by Kelly Clarkson –Everyone in the novel who plays a role (aside from the Villains) realizes by the end of the book they need to forgive something or someone. This song represents that.

“In Love with You” by Jared Evans—I think this is a fun song to describe Xylia and Landon’s love. It’s sung with almost an urgency, and upbeat and powerful version of something that should be romantic and soft. It plays well with how Xylia and Landon move through the novel.

“Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica—This is another one of those great songs that describes how everyone is feeling. That love extends and rises about everything no matter if the person is standing right next to you or a world separates you. Love knows no distance.

Hmm… Alright, I think that’s about it, for now. I will be paying more attention to the songs I listen to the next time I write I book. I had never realized that just like for a movie, there can and should be a soundtrack for your novel!!

Thanks so much for having me Constance!