Today is exactly one month from the release of Charon’s Gold (Tuesday will be four weeks) and my paperbacks just arrived this afternoon.

So let’s do another Soundtrack Sunday!

This is a song I put on a few Livi soundtracks, and I’ll probably always have it on them: “White Flag” by Bishop Briggs. It fits well in Charon’s Gold, though, because of Livi’s single-minded pursuit of justice and obsession with doing right by someone she’s lost.

Take a hit, shoot me down, shoot me down
I will never hit the ground, hit the ground
Playing dead, I’ll never do
Gotta keep an eye on you
Patience is wearing thin, paper thin
Promises broke again, what a sin
But it only feeds my energy
So don’t expect no sympathy

Okay so yes, I originally heard it in a commercial for SOTTR, but Livi gets some of her DNA from Croft. So here’s a Tomb Raider vid to go with the post.

Put an X on my chest, on my chest
But I’m still standing ’cause I won’t forget
The hell on earth you put me through
I’ll save myself in spite of you

Yeah, those lines are 100% about Marta. Who, spoiler alert, does make an appearance or two in this one.

One of the reasons I keep coming back to Livi is her strength and resilience, and knowing no matter how dark it gets, she’s going to keep getting up and driving forward, because the situations that would terrify normal people fuel her rather than freeze her. She’s my hero when I need it, because of what she’ll do for her found family when it counts.

Even if it means quite literally going to hell and back.

Oh, won’t wave my white flag, no
This time I won’t let go
I’d rather die
Than give up the fight

Liv won’t wave her white flag ever because she doesn’t have one.

Charon’s Gold releases October 25 and you can preorder the ebook now!

Kindle | Kobo | iBooks | Nook | Paperback

All of my Soundtrack Sunday posts are now linked on a central page.

Sunday is for doing housework at Chez Skyla, and it only ever gets done with a lot of music playing loudly for motivation. This one comes up often and I like to sing along badly to it.

Last time I did Iluka’s song for Livi; this one is hers for him. It’s on both the Charon’s Gold soundtrack and Yampellec’s Idol. (Haters can deal with it!)

And oh, stupid things I do

I’m far from good, it’s true

But still, I find you

Next to me 

Livi’s in a pretty bad place in the new book–where Yampellec was about her finding her existing coping mechanisms no longer helping her anxiety and depression, in Charon she’s found a new way of dealing: obsession. She’s driven in a way she hasn’t been before as it’s the only way to keep her guilt and grief at bay.

It’s messy.

There’s something about the way that you always see the pretty view

Overlook the blooded mess, always lookin’ effortless

And still you, still you want me

But for at least part of the time, she’s got Iluka by her side, who is always quick to diffuse tension and smooth things out, and who keeps seeing the best in her even when she can’t see it herself anymore.

So thank you for taking a chance on me

I know it isn’t easy

But I hope to be worth it

Afraid for his life but terrified to also let him go, Livi’s only other option at this stage of the story is go to it alone entirely–and I’m glad that, for a while, she doesn’t have to. Friend, partner, lover, and a big part of her journey as she goes to very dark places (quite literally, including the underworld)–she might not always have the words, but this is her song for him.

Oh, I always let you down

You’re shattered on the ground

But still, I find you there

Next to me

Charon’s Gold releases October 25 and you can preorder the ebook now!

Kindle | Kobo | iBooks | Nook

Paperback coming in another week or two!

All of my Soundtrack Sunday posts are now linked on a central page.

Reminder: this is a pro-Iluka space because I love all my imaginary friends, and bitching about him to me will get your comments blocked. 🙂

So “Wicked Game” was one of the songs around the fire in Yampellec’s Idol–I linked when I did that soundtrack post, but here was the cover of this song for that book.

That’s pretty close to how I hear Iluka’s voice, though his is a bit rougher.

I never dreamed that I’d meet somebody like you

And I never dreamed that I’d lose somebody like you

Iluka loves his old rock ballads, and he’s musically inclined as you’ll recall from books where he’s a regular. I always kind of heard “Crazy” as his song for Livi, right up until I heard that above cover of “Wicked Game” and I was like Oh. Oh yes, that’s the one.

The world was on fire and no one could save me but you

There are a million fantastic covers out there–it’s a very versatile song, and that’s my favourite kind for a recurring theme song for characters (Livi and West is “Something I Need“, which I have a bazillion covers of and I would’ve posted at length about later on, were the series not ending prematurely). Of course the original is fantastic, but I listened to a lot of acoustic covers for the books.

In Charon’s Gold, I have another version on the soundtrack–a much more epic version I played on repeat for a thank-god-we’re-not-dead love scene with a female vocalist.

No, I don’t wanna fall in love

With you

Lots of heartbreak, and drama, and life or death stakes–it’s perfect for this book, which is all about difficult choices, and when being in love causes more pain than joy.

Charon’s Gold releases October 25! (I’m pretty sure lol) And you can preorder now!

Kindle | Kobo | iBooks | Nook

All of my Soundtrack Sunday posts are now linked on a central page.