"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...

"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...

"The protagonists in both my fiction and nonfiction narratives—including my memoir—are almost always people who try to do the right thing and fail." Stephen O'Connor shared a playlist for his novel We Want So Much to Be Ourselves at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/06/12/s...

"In 1960s Cuba...Felix is careful about who he plays his American records with. It’s an element that runs through the novel and mirrors all the other things that Felix must hide...to survive." Chantel Acevedo shared a playlist for her novel Cages largeheartedboy.com/2026/06/12/c...

"This playlist is a collection of songs that brought me back to my spirit, my roots, and my resilience, which is so deeply rooted in the strength of the global majority. " Cinelle Barnes shared a playlist for her memoir A Way Home at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/06/11/c...

"…as I imagined writing this book, I went for comfort listens, feel-good familiar songs, that, when listened to closely, revealed an underlayer of death, destruction, loss. Apocalypse songs." Deb Olin Unferth shared a playlist for her novel Earth 7 largeheartedboy.com/2026/06/09/d...

The melody of thought, the soul of rhythm, the solidarity of harmony – all of it must be intrinsic to the functioning of democracy..." Ed Simon shared a playlist for his book American Elegy at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/06/07/e...

"The music and writing are in conversation. They’re conversation partners. One influences the other." Ross McMeekin shared a playlist for his novel Pepperleaf at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/06/05/r...

"Like good poetry, this song is slick, shimmering, heavy, metal, and reflective." Nicholas Goodly shared a playlist for his poetry collection Star Power at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/06/02/n...

"Music is always playing on the car radio, in roadside diners, on clunky boom boxes, and in the heads of many of the characters, giving context and texture to their lives." Hillary Behrman shared a playlist for her story collection Lake Effect at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/31/h...

"To write this novel, I built out a four-hour-long playlist that tracked the plot, beat for beat. Musical cues helped me escalate tension, or keep the energy at a simmer..." @Natalie Adler shared a playlist for her debut novel Waiting on a Friend largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/29/n...

"I remember lying back on my bed...listening to Simon and Garfunkel...and thinking, If I could express myself even a fraction as well as these musicians express themselves, I could survive." Nin Andrews shared a playlist for her memoir Son of a Bird largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/28/n...

"If you play these LPs while serving people huge amounts of good food and wine, guests cannot but let their hair down and disport themselves." Cat Fitzpatrick shared a playlist for her novel in verse The Dinner Party at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/27/c...

"Receiving a mixtape was the highest honor; making one, the greatest responsibility." Hugh Ryan shared a playlist for his book, My Bad: A Personal History of the Queer Nineties and Beyond at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/25/h...

"In true '90s fashion, at one point, I sent him a mix tape." Amy Crider shared a playlist for her memoir Catching an Orange at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/22/a...

"I listened to so much music as I wrote. I love music. And I included a lot of it, knitted into the writing. I can't imagine writing novels without music, honestly." Caitlin Shetterly shared a playlist for her novel The Gulf of Lions at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/21/c...

"This is a set list of brokenhearted love songs, so listen to it when you want exactly that" Rebecca Chace shared a playlist for her novel Talking to the Wolf at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/21/r...

"...when you’re looking for a certain entry point to your writing, a tone or mood or feeling (grim in this case), then it's nice to have a song that can ease you into that mood as into a warm bath." Nick Cutter shared a playlist for his novel The Dorians largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/19/n...

"In the days after I came out, I would sit in my small house, cut off from everything...Music brought me a lot of deep healing as I learned how to be okay." Chad Anderson shared a playlist for his graphic memoir Gay Mormon Dad at Largehearted Boy. largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/18/c...

"...the protagonist is a music lover, a concert goer, and music of a certain kind, in a certain register, can be imagined as floating around the edges of the story." Eric Beck Rubin shared a playlist for his novel Ten Clear Days at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/15/e...

"At the keyboard in the morning, I feel the pressure to perform. To sing. I love a musical sentence." TJ Fuller shared a playlist for his story collection Some Stupid Glow at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/14/t...

"Much of my book Afternoon Hours of a Hermit concerns memory and the techniques of fiction which I have tried to pass onto my students." Patrick Cottrell shared a playlist for his novel Afternoon Hours of a Hermit at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/13/p...

"The Coffin of Honey has an internationalist point of view, and this playlist inevitably reflects that." Geoffrey D. Morrison shared a playlist for is novel The Coffin of Honey at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/13/g...

"The playlist features songs from seductive Haiti, sexy and spiritual 1950s New York City and festive and soulful Brazil..." Dimitry Elias Léger shared a playlist for his novel Death of the Soccer God at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/12/d...

"I’ve always used music as a crowbar to access emotions that I usually hide from myself." Sam Beckbessinger shared a playlist for her debut novel Femme Feral at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/12/s...

"The book is full of songs playing in cafés and late-night bus stations, on tape decks in kitchens and living-room turntables, broadcast on pirate radio or performed by punk bands in sweaty, crowded rooms." Jeff Miller shared a playlist for Temporary Palaces largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/11/j...

"In 2017, when I was struggling daily with the growing desire to die, I made a playlist. The playlist was thirty-one songs, all by the Mountain Goats, titled simply: stay alive." Madeline Vosch shared a playlist for her memoir Undead at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/11/m...

“Music plays throughout my novel, Hidden River...its emotional heart is lodged squarely in the mid ‘80s to early ‘90s, when any Gen Xer could tell you: music was life.” Sara Lippmann shared a playlist for her novel Hidden River at @largeheartedboy largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/08/s...

"What follows is an eclectic playlist that could make you cry or dance or say 'what the fuck?' As with all good things, it ends with Cher." Alexa Yasemin Brahme shared a playlist for her debut novel Good News at Largehearted Boy largeheartedboy.com/2026/05/07/a...