"I had far more training as a violinist than as a writer, and the curious forms of my fiction and the rhythm of my sentences are best understood as coming from a musicality expressed through words."
Angela Woodward shared a playlist at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/03/15/a...
"The stories are filled with nostalgia for a simpler time, so this playlist reflects a ‘90s and Aughts sensibility."
Kim Samek shared a playlist for her story collection I Am the Ghost Here at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/03/13/k...
"Writing fiction has been surprisingly transformative to my relationship with music, though, because I use playlists to work through questions of character and theme..."
Avery Curran shared a playlist for her debut novel Spoiled Milk at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/03/12/a...
"So, if you’re heart-broken, filled with rage over your disappointing ex and his bad behavior, here’s a playlist to see you through."
Lisa Unger shared a playlist for her novel Served Him Right at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/03/11/l...
"Music is such a time capsule for me, and this playlist reminds me of the person I was in 2001, as well as the people I wrote about in my forthcoming book."
Jung Yun shared a playlist for her novel All the World Can Hold at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/03/10/j...
"Writing is a lonely practice. When no one is around to pump you up in the process, music will always be there. When no one else understands, music finds a way."
Jan Saenz shared a playlist for her debut novel 200 Monas at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/03/09/j...
"While those years can sometimes feel like a blur, when I stop and slow down, these are the songs I can still sometimes hear."
Timothy J. Hillegonds shared a playlist for his memoir And You Will Call It Fate at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/03/05/t...
"...Swan Lake, the full discography of Beach House, and the In the Mood for Love soundtrack have long been go-tos for me while writing, as music just generally swollen with drama and emotion."
Kim Fu shared a playlist for her novel The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts largeheartedboy.com/2026/03/04/k...
"The novel was inspired by my own working-class upbringing in Glasgow, and reflects my love of punk rock."
Frances Crawford shared a playlist for her debut novel A Bad, Bad Place at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/03/03/f...
"I did most of the writing of Mass Mothering in silence, as it’s hard for me to write with music on without getting swept up and unduly influenced by it."
Sarah Bruni shared a playlist for her novel Mass Mothering at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/03/01/s...
"Writing the Dollartorium was an exercise in anger which I hoped to temper with satire, absurdity and a sense of hope at the beginning and end."
Ron Pullins shared a playlist for his novel Dollartorium at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/26/r...
"During the year it took me to compose Mule Boy, I found myself going back to songs of longing, told like stories, and sung as though these might be the last songs a songwriter sings."
Andrew Krivak shared a playlist for his novel Mule Boy at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/26/a...
"'Every teacher’s story about a former student is unreliable by design, because the student is not there to interrupt."
Brian Platzer shared a playlist for his novel The Optimists at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/23/b...
"Neon Steel is a speculative collection of fiction set in Pittsburgh...I wanted this playlist to reflect the flavor of the post-industrial city and project a certain energy, futurism, and joy."
Jennifer Maritza McCauley shared a playlist for Neon Steel largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/23/j...
"I have to confess that I am not a music person. Paradoxically, I am very much a mix CD person."
Lillian Li shared a playlist for her novel Bad Asians at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/20/l...
I loved writing the playlist for Teen Queen Training (Janis Ian! Everclear! Miranda Lambert!) and I’m happy to have it up at @largeheartedboy.bsky.social's Author Playlists today <3
largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/18/k...
"'Deceptacon' by Le Tigre
Cleaner is told in one paragraph with no chapter breaks: this song is how I wanted and how I imagine the reader’s experience to be. Pure uncut momentum and insanity."
Jess Shannon shared a playlist for Cleaner at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/19/j...
"When you get to interview two dozen incredible women filmmakers, you get to watch at least 5 times that many incredible movies that offer up music , scoring a few memorable moments."
Kevin Smokler shared a playlist for Break the Frame at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/19/k...
"As I compose this piece on a long train journey, it occurs to me that the rhythmic, occasionally juddering, song of the rail below me is in spirit a musical companion to my novel."
Rahul Bhattacharya shared a playlist for his novel Railsong at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/18/r...
"Teen Queen Training is a book steeped in the lessons I took from Seventeen magazine during the late ‘90s."
Kristine Langley Mahler shared a playlist for her essay collection Teen Queen Training at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/18/k...
"I had a song or a soundtrack in mind for each of the nine essays in the book."
Lynette D'Amico shared a playlist for her memoir-in-essays Men I Hate at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/17/l...
"In public and in private, whenever I was writing something for On Sundays, songs would come to me..."
Yah Yah Scholfield shared a playlist for their novel On Sundays She Picked Flowers at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/17/y...
"Finding a song that aligns with the emotion or experience I’m trying to communicate helps me go deeper and stay in the moment."
Avery Irons shared a playlist for her novel Belonging to the Air at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/17/a...
"Berceuse Parish is a community record...a poetry book you can read as a novel, or maybe a broken novel you can read as a series of poems and other ephemera."
Burnside Soleil shared a playlist for his poetry collection Berceuse Parish at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/16/b...
"When I think about Red Girl Jumping – both the writing and living within — the music that comes to mind embodies states of confusion, longing for saviors and hope, and the da-da-dum heartbeat sounds..."
Kim Merrill shared a playlist Red Girl Jumping largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/13/k...
"Music helps me imagine the world at the moment of the story."
Lisa Slage Robinson shared a playlist for her story collection Esquire Ball at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/12/l...
"Clutch, a book about friendship and endurance and the ups and downs and trainwrecks of growing up and into midlife together, has a lot of music in it."
Emily Nemens shared a playlist for her novel Clutch at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/04/e...
"Whatever the case or occasion, music holds my emotional memory. Known songs aren’t just melodies but rather life’s bookmarks, bookmarks that evolve and change with each listen..."
Justin C. Key shared a playlist for his novel The Hospital at the End of the World largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/03/j...
"Novels take me FOREVER to finish. I keep a running playlist in my head that fuels the spirit or, as the kids say, the vibes of the book."
Lauren Sanders shared a playlist for the 25th anniversary edition of her novel Kamikaze Lust at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/02/01/l...
"I wrote If You Leave from a place of unknowing...What carried me were settings...with their textures of sounds and sights that I collaged into a character-driven novel."
Margaret Hutton shared a playlist for her novel If You Leave at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/01/30/m...
