First off, let me thank the wonderful Kim
Fielding for hosting me here today. Sins of Another, my second publication
(first full-length novel!) was just released yesterday, and I’m still
incredibly excited!
One
morning Padrig Kennedy comes home to find his partner, Nick Glenfielding, in
bed with another man. Shocked, hurt, and vulnerable, Padrig flees and meets a
stranger who seems to offer comfort—but he force-feeds Padrig a steady diet of
drugs and prostitution instead. When he finally surfaces from his hell, it’s to
another system shock: he’s now HIV positive.
Nick descends into darkness as well. Devastated by losing Padrig, he finds no consolation in the legal career he doesn’t love and tries to find solace in alcohol, spending his days in an ever-deepening haze.
Padrig and Nick find each other again, but their relationship can never be the same. If they’re to stand any chance of a future together, they must do the improbable: make sense of the past and learn to cope with new burdens they’ll bear for life.
Nick descends into darkness as well. Devastated by losing Padrig, he finds no consolation in the legal career he doesn’t love and tries to find solace in alcohol, spending his days in an ever-deepening haze.
Padrig and Nick find each other again, but their relationship can never be the same. If they’re to stand any chance of a future together, they must do the improbable: make sense of the past and learn to cope with new burdens they’ll bear for life.
To celebrate the release of Sins of Another, my post today is the “soundtrack”
to Sins and why I chose each song.
Without further ado…
Valio La Pena – Marc Anthony
As Padrig’s story opens, he is just returning home
from a week’s holiday with his mates in Ibiza.
They would no doubt have hit a few Latin dance clubs while there. A loose translation of the song’s title is
“it was worth it all;” it’s a fun, danceable song, but it’s also just ever-so
foreboding.
Holding Back the
Years – Simply Red
This is a song I remember from way back when I was a
sprog. Generally, the song’s sentiment
and tone fit rather well with the drug-induced malaise (physical and mental)
Padrig suffers.
Believe – Elton John
One of my all-time favourite Elton John songs, an ode
to the real human power of love. That
deep and abiding belief in love may have been the only thing that preserved
Padrig’s life through his ordeal.
Dreams – Quench
Classic techno/trance stuff. There would be a fair amount of this sort of
thing heard at Form when Padrig used to go there with Freddie and Archie and
when they all go as a group for Archie’s welcome home party.
Bizarre Love
Triangle – New Order
I once said, walking into an after-afterhours club,
that you could always tell it was going to be a good night when this was the
first song you heard in the place. Much
as the tone of Holding Back the Years
felt right for what Padrig was going through, the tone of Bizarre Love Triangle speaks well to Padrig’s improving situation,
but also “comments” on his feelings for Nick that remain.
Can You Feel the
Love Tonight? – Elton John
All the trials, all the tribulations, they just slip
away when you’re with the right one.
Life to Lose – And One
This is Krist’s theme.
The first time I heard this was when I was doing my own initial edits
and I knew immediately this one could only be for the Kristof Anders. http://youtu.be/pdufSGGdRb0
These Are the
Days of Our Lives – Queen
One of the great Freddie Mercury’s last, a beautiful
reflection on living life. Freddie’s
last videoed words, “I still love you.”
Y Como El Es? – Marc Anthony
I included the video with the English translation
because you’ve got to understand the song if you don’t speak Spanish. I don’t, but I know just enough that I ball
my eyes when I hear this one. First time
I heard it, I assumed it was about a man who’s found out his girlfriend is
leaving him. Then I realized what it’s
really about is a dad whose daughter is getting married. Here, however, I use it as a metaphor for Death
and dying. “He’s stolen a piece of my
life. He’s a thief who’s stolen
everything.”
I hope you’ll enjoy listening to these
selections while reading Sins of Another.
Giveaway line for blog posts
Between now and May 29, 2013 I’ll be
including clues in my blog tour stops and my own blog entries to references
made within Sins of Another.
Here’s how it works: You get the clue from
the blog posts and keep track of the answers on your own. After the last clue has been posted (May 29,
2013), email me at jessicaskyedavies@gmail.com
Make sure you follow the blog tour over the
next couple months as I’ll be giving away swag bags, a goodie hamper, and a copy
of Sins of Another.
This week’s clue:
In the
story, there are several TV programs mentioned, a couple which Krist brings to
watch when he comes to take care of Padrig and one which Padrig and Krist watch
while sharing dinner. Krist seems to
enjoy programs set in Manchester, despite warning Padrig “how
much worse [his] life could be—and would be if [he] ever dared travel
north of London.”
Two are late 90s comedies and one is a long running soap. What are the three programs?
When I look back at pictures of my parents in their youth, I can't help but ask, "What were they thinking?" Bell bottoms? Plaid? Bouffant hairdos? My parents went through middle/high school in the 60s. Two decades later, it was my turn to embrace the current fads, and boy did I think I was trendy with my leg warmers, my Swatch watch, my high bangs, and my earcuffs. The photo on the left is me in 1985. I'm sporting capris with scrunchy socks and a cutoff shirt. And the perm. Oh, my, my, the perm! Lol! It's all rather embarrasing now, but I do have fond memories of 80s pop culture, particularly the music and movies from that time period.
Music has a way of conjuring up memories. When I hear an old song, I often recall where I was, what I was doing, or how I was feeling when I heard it in the past. For example, when I hear Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", I see a vivid picture of me sitting in my old kitchen listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 on the radio (I lived in Germany at the time, and we only had one American radio station, so it was always a treat to listen to his show on Sundays). Cyndi Lauper was so outrageous and, well, unusual at the time; I loved her! Michael Jackson, Sting, Duran Duran, Madonna, Huey Lewis & the News, and Bruce Springsteen were some of my other favorites.
And the movies! The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Ghostbusters, Overboard, and Beetlejuice are among my top picks. My absolute favorite 80s movie was Splash, in which Alan (Tom Hanks) meets and falls in love with a mermaid named Madison (Daryll Hannah).
To celebrate the release of Play Me, I'm Yours, Madison Parker is hosting a giveaway. Enter to win your choice of a free copy of Play Me, I'm Yours or a $10 gift certificate from Rainbow eBooks by leaving a comment below along with your email address. For multiple chances to win, comment at each stop along the tour. 