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.
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 Yearsfelt 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?