Funny thing about writing this book. I needed to get into the right frame of mind to allow myself to experience Samantha Owens loss on a visceral level. One can imagine how horrid it must be to lose one's family, but to really feel it, you need an anthem. I latched on to Johnny Cash's version of Hurt, by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, right away, and lived inside that song for the three months it took me to pound out the draft of this book.
Strangely enough, I'd only ever heard the Cash version. In a spooky coincidence, when I went to D.C. to do research, I was sitting at a stoplight at the steps to Georgetown University, which figures prominently in the story. The radio was on, and I suddenly heard the strains of music I'd become so familiar with, but they were different somehow, wrong. It was the original version of the song, the one I'd never heard. Coming to me as I sat, taking mental notes on the feel of the Georgetown campus.
Now that's an anthem.
The remaining songs fell into place as well, and this soundtrack became my daily prayer, my north, my south, my east, my west. Each song built on the next, telling the story of Sam, and her loss, and her revival, and ultimately, her happiness, touched by sorrow as it is, and always will be.
I hope you enjoy it!
Here's the Line-Up:
Hurt - Johnny Cash
My Immortal - Evanescence
Three Wishes - The Pierces
Hero - Regina Spektor
Life - Josh Rouse
Romeo and Juliet - Dire Straights
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Never Talk About It - Tift Merritt
The Rat - Dead Confederate
Alone And Forsaken - Neko Case
Marilyn Dean And James Monroe - John Kilzer
Wherever You Will Go - The Calling
Brothers in Arms - Dire Straights
Bring Me To Life - Evanescence
An End Has a Start - Editors
You Can't Always Get What You Want - The Rolling Stones
Winter Sleep - Antonio Vivaldi Elements: Four Seasons ( V ) 18
I Had a Farm (Out of Africa) - John Barry
