Friday, September 20, 2013

Top Ten Guest Post by Author Leah DW – Her Playlist for The Runaway’s Secret

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Today author Leah DW is sharing with us her playlist for her debut novel The Runaway’s Secret. I love the songs and the reasons behind it. And if you have read The Runaway’s Secret you will be nodding all the way. So sit back and dance with Leah DW.

 

Top Ten

          

Leah’s top ten playlist for The Runaway’s Secret

Britney spears – Cinderella

“Oh Cinderella’s got to go”

I picked this song because of the main character in this novel. Piper is a runaway, it is what she knows how to do best and so her ‘always wanting to be on the run’ attitude matches this song.

Kelly Clarkson – because of you

“Because of you I find it hard to trust not only me but everyone around me, because of you...I am afraid”

This song is how Piper feels toward the ‘bad guy’ of the novel. The mistress, a cold hearted woman with the taste for breaking Piper’s spirit, was the one who made Piper’s life a nightmare.

Evanescence – bring me to life

“Wake me up inside,

call my name and save me from the dark,

bid my blood to run,

before I come undone,

save me from the nothing I’ve become”

Most of this song sums up how Piper feels about being in this new world of the paranormal and how she needs someone to save her before it is too late. Being a new kind of vampire is disturbing for her, a curse she hates to bear and so she wishes to be human again. She wants to be saved from the nothing she has become. The problem is that because of what she has been through, she won’t allow herself to be saved.

Fergie – big girls don’t cry

“I hope you know, I hope you know
That this has nothing to do with you
It's personal, myself and I
We've got some straightenin' out to do

And I'm gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket
But I've got to get a move on with my life
It's time to be a big girl now
And big girls don't cry”

This song is basically how Piper and Solomon’s relationship started. He is seen as her rescuer from what she has become, her complete opposite and the one thing stable in her life, but because she keeps her past and secrets to herself it also internalizes what she truly feels for him. Piper hates showing weakness in front of someone else so instead of talking about her nightmares or expressing herself she would rather hide her tears and just move on with life. This frustrates Solomon, but he would never give up on her.

Bon Jovi - Wanted dead or alive

“It's all the same, only the names will change
Everyday it seems we're wasting away
Another place where the faces are so cold
I'd drive all night just to get back home
I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride
I'm wanted dead or alive
Wanted dead or alive”

The journey Piper has taken to run away from the creature out for her blood is similar to this song. She is wanted by the monster that had taken the life of someone she loved and so she travels through countries and years in order to stay alive. She doesn’t stay for long in one place and never makes friends. This routine is the same, of running and hiding then running again. Only the name of the place changes and because of her blunt and sometimes rude attitude the people don’t want to be friends with her or help her. She wishes to go back home, but only death waits for her there so she must carry on being one step ahead of her killer.

Katty Perry – roar

“I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath
Scared to rock the
boat and make a mess
So I sit quietly, agreed politely
I guess that I forgot I had a
choice
I let you push me past the breaking point
I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything”

This part of the song is Piper’s life under the mistress’s rule; being a servant to an abusive master and too afraid to stand up for herself or those around her.

“You held me down, but I got up
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, your hear that sound
Like thunder, gonna shake the ground
You held me down, but I got up
Get ready cause I’ve had enough
I see it all, I see it now”

This part is when Piper gets pushed to the breaking point. The mistress did something that just made her snap (those who read the novel would know) and so she finally fought back, finally realized that she was strong enough to defy her abuser.

Skillet – Monster

“The secret side of me
I never let you see
I keep it caged
But I can't control it
So stay away from me
The beast is ugly
I feel the rage
And I just can't hold it”

It is called The Runaway’s Secret for this reason. There are vampires roaming the shadows, werewolves howling at the moon and fairies stealing shiny trinkets, but what Piper has become is something not normal of the paranormal world. She is different and she knows it all too well. She never tells anybody about what she truly is, or how she had become such a creature, but she can’t control it. That darker side of her being escapes at times and what it is capable of scares her so much that she keeps to herself and away from others, especially humans. She sees herself as a monster throughout the novel, a monster that can’t be controlled and is always hungry...

Imagine dragons – Demons

“When you feel my heat
Look into my eyes
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide
Don’t get too close
It’s dark inside
It’s where my demons hide
It’s where my demons hide”

Definitely number one on this list. It is similar to the previous reason for this song choice plus the line about “look into my eyes, it’s where my demons hide” is the important part. I love describing my character’s eyes in all my novels; it truly is ‘the window to their souls’ and this line is the perfect fit for Piper because her eyes would reveal to the reader when she is...well Piper, and when the beast inside shows itself to everyone. She has beautiful green eyes, but once that monster is hungry...her eyes turn blood red. So her ‘demons’ are really in her eyes like it says in this song. (I love this band as well)

Fall out boy – The Mighty Fall

“Whoa, how the mighty fall
The mighty fall
The mighty fall”

This part explains the end of the novel. It concerns the mistress as well as Piper. Not only the bad guy loses in the end...

Avril Lavigne – Here’s to never growing up

I had to add a ‘happier’ song to this playlist haha this symbolizes Piper’s immortality (being what she is) and her friendship with the quirky werewolf, Vee. The hyper active girl with the nasty habt of turning into a giant wolf becomes Piper’s only real friend in the novel. She is always there for her, even if she isn’t a huge fan of vampires, and her ALWAYS positive attitude and fun way of looking at life is like a breath of fresh air for Piper. Piper is much older than anyone in the novel (expect one person) but refuses to act her age. She is still like a ‘kid’ that doesn’t follow the rules and annoying those she doesn’t like is always a fun time. I think Vee is actually an anchor for Piper, because she is sooooo over the top it gives Piper the opportunity to mature in order to look after her new found friend. If it wasn’t for her being like the little sister Piper is glad she never had then Piper would never have grown as a character in the novel and actually showed everyone, including the reader, that she is strong enough to handle her life.

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