"Music plays a part in the story..songs about innocence, longing, connection, grief, hope, and the messy process of growing up." Emil Wilson shared a playlist for The Nightingales largeheartedboy.com/2026/08/05/e...

"First off, Upstate New York people rock together and you’re going to get that vibe throughout this playlist. We all came from those same woods where no one could see us." Sam Farhi shared a playlist for his debut novel The Sapsuckers at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/08/04/s...

"When I was writing Furious Violet, I made two different playlists..." Sarai Walker shared a playlist for her novel Furious Violet largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/29/s...

"I write to explore the texture of different emotions, and listening to music is another way to access those textures." Lizzie Buehler shared a playlist for her debut novel The Obsessed at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/28/l...

"My novel The Flayed Man is a monster story in a literal sense..." Chloe Lauter shared a playlist for her debut novel The Flayed Man at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/27/c...

"I make playlists for friends, family, moods, parties, road trips, and of course, I make them for my books. Nothing gets me into the world of a project faster than music." Rowan Beaird shared a playlist for her novel Tenderness at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/22/r...

"Included in this playlist are songs I was listening to while drafting The Moon Papers, as well as some lunar summer tunes the book evokes…." Emmalea Russo shared a playlist for her novel The Moon Papers at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/21/e...

"As I fashioned these documents into a book, the music of that era played nonstop in my head, often intruding on the narrative." Laura Kalpakian shared a playlist for her memoir Undesirable: The Vietnam War and a Father's Battle for Justice at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/20/l...

"I wrote much of Whole, Holy, Hot to full albums set to play on repeat...to let its atmosphere shape the space I was writing from." Chrissy Martin shared a playlist for her poetry collection Whole, Holy, Hot at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/17/c...

"The following selections by contributors to Black Summers reflect that tension between sentimental longing and racial strife. Mostly, they land upon Black joy." Desiree Cooper and contributors shared a playlist for the anthology Black Summers at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/16/d...

"While I was writing Paradise Pawn, I made a playlist of songs that make me feel emotional about change for various reasons." Meg Richardson shared a playlist for her debut novel Paradise Pawn at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/15/m...

"I often say that for indigenous peoples, the world ended once. We live on the other side of the apocalypse." Nephi Craig shared a playlist for his memoir Our Knives Will Save Us at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/14/n...

"…I want to highlight a particular type of Native American music. Tunes that are based in country, rock, or soul, not necessarily powwow or traditional..." David Heska Wanbli Weiden shared a playlist for his novel Wisdom Corner at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/13/d...

"When I was young, I used to play three or four albums in a row at top volume and sing along, also at top volume, to get out of my own head." Kate Christensen shared a playlist for her novel Good Company at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/10/k...

Here’s the end of my little series on the (generative, non-prescriptive) principles of plotting countercraft.substack.com/p/principles...

Principles of Plotting Part IV: Intersection and Redirection

The fourth entry in a series on figuring out plot and applying it to your fiction

countercraft.substack.com

"These songs and pieces reflect some of the themes, moods and ideas the book and its heroine are grappling with as the day spirals beyond her control." Lisa Owens shared a playlist for her novel Natural Disaster at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/09/l...

"I’ve found that music is one sure way for me to float across realities, to believe what my characters believe, and these are some songs that plunged me right into the heart of the novel’s atmosphere." 'Pemi Aguda shared a playlist for One Leg on Earth largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/08/p...

"My fifth novel, Man Overboard!, is a dark comedy—kind of a beach read about a guy who has no beach." Kathleen Rooney shared a playlist for her novel Man Overboard! at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/07/k...

“I try to craft everything I write for the ear as well as the eye, and the music playing while I edit shapes the rhythm of the text.” Colin Asher shared a playlist for his book The Midnight Special: The Secret Prison History of American Music at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/06/c...

"If I’m honest, I probably started writing around the same time I accepted that I couldn’t sing and would never be more than a noodler on the guitar." Kevin Powers shared a playlist for his novel Children of the Wild at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/02/k...

"When I lived in Austin, Texas, two things shaped the hours beyond my writing desk: books and music." Jules Wernersbach shared a playlist for their novel Work to Do at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/07/02/j...

"Here are thirteen tracks, set to Sourland’s ebbs and flows of love, loss, redemption, and weed." Ariel Delgado Dixon shared a playlist for her novel Sourland at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/06/24/a...

"The songs I’ve chosen are those which I’ve imagined appearing on a fantasy soundtrack for an imagine film about Carlos Castaneda, songs that evoke various people and places that appear in the book." Ru Marshall shared a playlist for American Trickster largeheartedboy.com/2026/06/24/r...

"When I was writing The Endling, music was such a significant part of the process." Keely Jobe shared a playlist for her debut novel The Endling at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/06/23/k...

"Because the book is about ancestors, I needed music that had a certain ritual vibe to it." Eleni Sikelianos shared a playlist for her memoir Memory Rehearsal at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/06/19/e...

"I build the playlist to set mood, to create a headspace where my characters can swim and dance and fight and do all the things complex characters do." Susan Donovan Bernhard shared a playlist for her novel Westerly at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/06/18/s...

"Before Vervain Hollow was a book, it was a playlist." Catriona Silvey shared a playlist for her novel Vervain Hollow at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/06/17/c...

"The Grief Shop and Other Stories from a Broken World takes place after 'the tragedy' kills ⅓ of the earth’s population, and renders the rest clinically emotionally numb." Alex DiFrancesco shared a playlist for their novel-in-stories The Grief Shop largeheartedboy.com/2026/06/16/a...

"For every project, I make a playlist. I rarely listen to it while I write, but I use it as a towline back into the mood, characters and world of the story." Meg Charlton shared a playlist for her debut novel Voyagers at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/06/16/m...

"Pulled from my own travels, these songs have defined pivotal moments at various life stages, from childhood to teen years and my emerging queerness..." Lindsey Danis shared a playlist for her book (Out) On the Road: The Radical Joy of Queer Travel largeheartedboy.com/2026/06/15/l...