‘Demons, frustrations and betrayal’ – The Undercover Soundtrack, Scott D Southard

My guest this week is making a return appearance to the series. Last time he wrote about how he’d driven his wife bonkers by playing certain albums that evoked the souls of his characters. This good spouse will surely be donning the earplugs again as his musical choice for his current novel is a striking album by Fiona Apple, which consists of drums, close-up vocals and percussive piano. He describes the pieces as having the feel of a therapy session, all raw emotion and obsession – and perfect for his characters who are all connected by an act of betrayal. He is Scott D Southard and he’s on the Red Blog with his Undercover Soundtrack.

And there’ll be a slight hiatus in my posting schedule this weekend as I’m teaching at WriteCon in Zurich. (This is tremendously exciting as it’s the first time anyone’s flown me anywhere to teach!) So I’m tied up preparing for that at the moment, but I’m anticipating some interesting issues to share afterwards.

‘Pictures in melody’ – The Undercover Soundtrack, Aaron Sikes

You could divide my Undercover Soundtrack guests into those who aren’t put off by lyrics and those who are. My guest this week is one of the latter. He says that music with lyrics is too domineering when he’s trying to write – but that orchestral or ambient electronic music sets his imagination free to roam. His novel is a quirky noir of dirigibles, automata, back alleys and a hardboiled hack (the bipedal journalistic sort, not an equine), and his central character was honed by long hours simmering with Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack for The Dark Knight. He is Aaron Sikes and he’s on the Red Blog with his Undercover Soundtrack.

‘She and I were both fast nothings forever in the same big lonely dream’ – Michael Stutz, The Undercover Soundtrack

My guest this week has been noodling with music for as long as he’s wielded words. When he needs a break from the keyboard, he picks up a guitar and plucks a string. He describes his novel as ‘the story of a guy who grows up on line’, a world in which music is an essential part of the landscape, haunting the scenes as they come to life on the page. He first released it as a serial, which means he and I have something in common – indeed he sent me an email that prompted a recent post here on the Purple Blog. He is Michael Stutz, and he’s on the Red Blog, talking about the Undercover Soundtrack to Circuits of the Wind.

GIVEAWAY You can also win either an e-copy or a print edition if you comment or share Michael’s post! Details at the Red Blog…