I wanted to do something that’s never been done before. Essentially, Love Isn’t Always on Time is an experience almost like you’re watching an eccentric 80’s movie at home, but you’re reading it as a young adult paranormal romance-horror-comedy set in 1988 instead.
To fit with the “movie” theme, I put in a “soundtrack” with song titles as scenes moved along. In my last fit of editing before submitting my novel to Amazon, I finally decided against the song titles.
My intended audience is teens and adults who love young adult novels. What was making me question my choice of including song titles was this: not one person who read my novel before release knew every song reference without looking them up, and all of them are familiar with 80’s songs. When it comes to teens, especially, I didn’t want too many of the references to completely fly over their heads to the point it ruined their enjoyment of the novel.
When it came to including music for the “soundtrack”, I still mentioned band names in all places except two spots. It was a nice middle ground. I got to include my soundtrack (my mood-setters for the scene) and the band references will be good enough, but small enough to not annoy people if someone does not know the band. Also, it’s easier for the reader to put their own song from the band in the scene in case the reader didn’t like the song I originally wanted. Everybody wins. ๐
For kicks, here is my intended soundtrack for my novel (and if Love Isn’t Always on Time ever becomes a movie… in my dreams):
Prologue (Opening Scene/ Beginning Credits) – “Hold the Line” by Toto (this is the only song mentioned not released in the 80’s, but in the 70’s)
Chapter 3 as Sadie tries to fall asleep – “The Killing Moon” by Echo & the Bunnymen
Chapter 7 as Sadie leaves her bedroom – “Love Will Tear Us Apart” by Joy Division
Chapter 8 when Sadie meets Tristan – “The Promise” by When In Rome
Chapter 9 with Alice – “How Soon is Now?” by The Smiths
Chapter 10 at Galactice – “Into the Groove” by Madonna
Chapter 16 with Rella and Tristan – “Papa Don’t Preach” by Madonna
Chapter 18 in the kitchen with Tristan – “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper
Chapter 27 – “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears
Chapter 28 – “The Promise” by When In Rome again, followed by “Asleep” by The Smiths
Epilogue (End Credits) – “Just Like Heaven” by The Cure
I love this!!! So glad you were able to include the music and vibe you wanted ๐ My WIP has a seriously geeky MC, and the other is a prolific bookworm, and there’s some fairly scientific stuff integral to the plot, but it’s not a sci-fi novel so I’m worried how people will react to those things. But it’s all so important to my story, and I’ve realised there’s no point writing something if it’s not what you want it to be ๐
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Thank you! ๐ We have to stay true to our characters and ourselves. I’m very curious about your WIP now! ๐
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๐ Well that’s great! Glad to know it’s an intriguing concept at least ๐ thankyou ๐ I’ve been working on it for a couple of years, but I’ve really hit my stride with it this year and I’ve set myself a goal to try and finish it by my next birthday – which is March! So fingers crossed! ๐ค
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I’m sending you tons of writing magic!! ๐
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Thankyou lovely! ๐ I’ll keep you posted! ๐ Xxx
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