Paige Toon's writing playlist

Paige Toon has put together a playlist of songs which have inspired her writing.  Some of these are actually my own personal favourites too!  Check them out:

 

Ever since writing my debut novel, Lucy in the Sky, at the tail end of 2006, I’ve loved creating stories to music. Here are some of the songs that have inspired me.

 

‘When You Were Young’ by The Killers

This song will always remind me of Nathan from Lucy in the Sky. It was one of the happiest times of my life – I was ecstatic to have a book deal – and I played this recently-released song incessantly, even putting it on Nathan’s personal mix tape which he gave to Lucy.

 

‘Iris’ by The Goo Goo Dolls

I created a Johnny-inspired rock playlist when I was writing Johnny Be Good and I think my favourite song is still the first one on there: ‘Iris’. ‘Sex on Fire’ by Kings of Leon’s comes a close second. Radiohead’s ‘Talk Show Host’ and The Smiths’ ‘Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want’ are also favourites on my Johnny playlist; the latter is key to one scene in the book.

 

‘Someone Like You’ by Adele

I had two babies between writing my second book, Johnny Be Good, and my sixth, One Perfect Summer, so I hardly wrote to music at all as I was always listening out for my children to wake up. When my son went to school and I got a little childcare for my daughter, I was able to write again to music – and I had missed it. The whole plot behind One Perfect Summer was actually inspired by this Adele song, so it goes without saying that I played it a lot while writing. Kingmaker’s ‘You And I Will Never See Things Eye To Eye’ inspired me to make Joe wear a Kingmaker T-shirt…

 

‘Pull Me Down’ by Mikky Echo

I love this song so much and played it over and over while writing The Longest Holiday. It’s completely dreamy. Also, Kal Lavelle’s ‘Shivers’ is so sexy and brooding it reminded me of Leo. I purposefully chose it to write the end of the book to.

 

‘Jump Into The Fog’ by The Wombats

This song will always remind me of The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson. It’s my favourite song on the album ‘This Modern Glitch’, which I often wrote to. Black Kids’ ‘I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You’ and Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ ‘Maps’ both inspired scenes in the book.

 

‘Love’ by Daughter

I was walking near my home, trying to ease some writer’s block when writing Thirteen Weddings when this song came on my playlist. It reminded me so much of what wedding photographer Bronte was going through with the love of her life – a groom who’s set to get married to someone else. I wrote it into the storyline. I also loved writing this book to the soundtrack for ‘The Great Gatsby’. It’s completely brilliant. I have a lot of respect for director Baz Luhrmann.

 

Paige's new YA novel, 'The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson' is out now, published by Simon and Schuster.  You can read my review here

 

 

Review: The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson - Paige Toon

The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson by Paige Toon, published by Simon and Schuster on 30th January 2014

Goodreads synopsis:
My fifteenth birthday was the worst day of my life, and it's inconceivable to think that any single day in my future will ever be as bad. My mum was killed in a freak accident on her way to pick up my cake. Even when there was still no sign of her after two hours later, and my friends started to arrive at our house, it never occurred to me that she wouldn't be coming back.

 That was six months ago. My mum died without telling me who my real dad was. And for a while I hated her for it. I thought she's taken the secret of my father's identity with her forever. But she didn't. Holy hell, she didn't. Because three weeks ago I found out the truth. And I'm still reeling from the shock of it. My dad is none other than Johnny Jefferson, mega famous rock star and one-time serial womaniser. And now I'm on my way to LA to meet him and his family.

Review:
This is the first YA novel by author Paige Toon, who already has a successful adult following.  I haven't read any of her previous books, but many of the characters pop-up in the story which centres around Jessie Jefferson, daughter of the rock star Johnny Jefferson. 

Jessie is fifteen years old and her whole life changes when her mother dies and she discovers that her biological father is a famous musician.  I'll admit that I wasn't too sure about her character at the start, as she seemed quite immature and childish but she definitely grew on me throughout the story and I could eventually see that underneath her tough exterior she just wants to fit in and be part of a family.  Life hasn't always been kind to her but when she flies out to Los Angeles to meet Johnny and her half-siblings, she has a chance at building new relationships and making new friends.  It was nice to see Jessie gradually getting to know her Dad and I thought her new little brothers were very sweet. 

Both Johnny and his wife Meg have featured in Paige's other books so I didn't know about some of their history together.  This really didn't matter as many of the gaps were filled in but it has made me want to go and read some of her earlier titles about the couple now. 

'The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson' was a quick and easy read which swept me away to sunnier climes.  It's the perfect book to cheer you up during a dark and dismal winter and although I thought it was a bit predictable at times, I still thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading more about Jessie in the next in the series which will be published during spring 2015.