Guest Post: Kate Avelynn author of Flawed

Today I’m pleased to welcome author Kate Avelynn to the blog. Kate’s debut novel Flawed is set to release next month, it’s a dark contemporary YA romance and in Kate’s own words it’s a book which blends “first love, betrayal and danger”. I remember when I first read the blurb I just knew that I had to read this book. Today Kate will be sharing her playlist for Flawed.

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Flawed by Kate Avelynn 

Publisher: Entangled Teen  
Publication Date: July 2012 (tbc)

Sarah O’Brien is alive because of the pact she and her brother made twelve years ago—James will protect her from their violent father if she promises to never leave him. For years, she’s watched James destroy his life to save hers. If all he asks for in return is her affection, she’ll give it freely.

Until, with a tiny kiss and a broken mind, he asks for more than she can give.

Sam Donavon has been James’s best friend—and the boy Sarah’s had a crush on—for as long as she can remember. As their forbidden relationship deepens, Sarah knows she’s in trouble. Quiet, serious Sam has decided he’s going to save her. Neither of them realize James is far more unstable than her father ever was, or that he’s not about to let Sarah forget her half of the pact…

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Thank you for having me on The Reader’s Den today, Jasprit!

Music is a major part of my life and factors hugely into my writing. I’ll be driving down the road with the stereo blaring when an awesome lyric I’ve never heard before catches my attention, and then BAM—the entire vibe of a new book hits me upside the head. Resident Hottie is used to me careening into the nearest parking lot and scrambling for a pen and a scrap of paper to write it down before the song—and the idea—float away. From there, I dash home and build a playlist so I can plot out what I’m seeing in my head. It’s complete musical chaos until the book is written.

FLAWED has an angry, haunting vibe, so the playlist reflects this. It’s hard to imagine the book feeling any other way once I read the lyrics to You Are My Sunshine? This is a story of obsession, betrayal, and how easy guilt and misplaced loyalty can destroy your life. While Sarah is the narrator, for me, this has always been James’ story. That might explain why so many of the songs on the playlist are about him and how his life spirals out of control.

The first song is Lie to Me by 12 Stones. The acoustic version of this song is James’ anthem in the beginning of the book and reflect his sadness. So many lines in this fit what he’s going through when his sister, the girl he destroyed his life to save, starts to pull away. He doesn’t know how to stop what’s happening and would rather believe the lie than face reality, however twisted his reality may be. 

I gave my soul to you

You cut me from behind

Nowhere to run and nowhere to hide

You’re scared of the truth, I’m tired of the lies

‘Cause who I am is where you wanna be

You said you were there for me

You wouldn’t let me fall

All the times I shared with you

Were you even there at all?

So lie to me once again

And tell me everything will be alright

You left me broken and betrayed

It’s s the same old story

Second is Lithium by Evanescence. This is Sarah’s song. She’s desperate to break free of the hell she’s been living, but she’s trapped by guilt and tied to her brother out of the fierce love and loyalty she feels for him. 

I wanna stay in love with my sorrow

Oh, but God I wanna let it go

Come to bed, don’t make me sleep alone

Couldn’t hide the emptiness, you let it show

Drown my will to fly

Here in the darkness I know myself

Can’t break free until I let it go, let me go

Darling, I forgive you after all

Anything is better than to be alone

And in the end I guess I had to fall

Always find my place among the ashes

Next is Passive by A Perfect Circle. This song inspired two specific scenes in the book—one between James and Sarah, the other between Sarah and her mother. When you read the book, I wonder if you’ll catch which ones!

Wake up and face me

Don’t play dead ‘cause maybe

Someday, I’ll walk away and say

“You f-ing disappoint me

Maybe you’re better off this way”

Leanin’ over you here

Cold and catatonic

I catch a brief reflection

Of what you could and might have been

It’s your right and your ability

To become my perfect enemy

Why can’t you turn and face me?

And finally, Lies by Seven Wiser. If Lie to Me is James when he’s hurting and only just beginning to see what’s happening between Sarah and Sam, Lies is James once he’s snapped. None of their lives will ever be the same.

I’m the one that was there for you

When you cut yourself and started to bleed

I’m the one that would dry your tears

Every time you’d come crying to me

Sick of the games that you played on me

So I walk alone and suffer in need

You’re the one that will cry the tears

When you see what you’ve created of me

Additional songs that made the FLAWED playlist include I Stand Alone by Godsmack, Closer by Burn Season, Regret by Seven Wiser, and Together Again by Evanescence (which is like my closing credits song—so extremely creepy!).

So that’s what it’s like from the author’s perspective. I’d like to know whether you, as a reader, like having access to an author’s playlist, or if you prefer to associate your own songs to the story you’re reading. I know I’ve been jarred by some of the songs on playlists in the past—what about you?

Author Bio: Kate Avelynn lives in Central Oregon with her husband, whom she fell in love with at eighteen after realizing he shared her obsession with music, sports, and psychoanalysis. When not devouring Stephanie Perkins and Jennifer Echols novels, holding down her editing gig, or attempting to coax life out of the weed patch she calls a “garden,” Kate writes dark, young adult romance that blends first love, betrayal, and danger. 

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Thank you so much for your awesome post Kate! I seriously can’t wait to get my hands on Flawed. I definitely like having access to an author's playlist, I can't wait to see how this playlist fits in with the book. Who else is excited for this book?