Guest Blog – Jack Kilborn, Joe Konrath and the Importance of Playlists

I have the privilege of welcoming series author J.A. Konrath, author of the Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels cop novels, to join us and entertain the masses.  Today’s topic:  Joe’s alter ego, Jack Kilborn, whose first novel, “Afraid” comes out at the end of this month, gives the perspective on how music influences writing.

Check out Joe and Jack’s mutual musical interests below….

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My name is Joe Konrath. I write funny thrillers under the name JA Konrath, and horror novels under the name Jack Kilborn.

The new Konrath book, Cherry Bomb, comes out July 7. The new Kilborn book, Afraid, comes out March 31. You can read about both of my personas at www.JAKonrath.com, where you can also get a bunch of free stuff.

I grew up in the 70s and 80s, listening to cassettes. The mix tape reigned supreme for almost two decades.

Then CDs took over, and the mix CD never really caught on. Probably because it was so easy to just copy the whole album. Why fool around with changing fifteen CDs just to make a mix?

So those of my generation, with the gift to make mix tapes, became somewhat obsolete, like VHS players, and the Republican Party.

Then iTunes arrived on the scene.

Lots of celebrities began to post their mix tapes on iTunes, except they called them “playlists” and charged you 99 cents a song if you want to listen to the same music as, say, TV chef Alton Brown.

Hell yeah you do. Alton Brown rocks.

These playlists can often tell you a lot about an artist, and a person, because music is intensely personal. So if you want to know what inspired JA Konrath when he was trying to get published, or want to hear what classic metal tunes Jack Kilborn has queued up on his iPod when he’s writing some horrible murder scene, here are their selections:

The “Struggling to Become a Writer” Playlist of JA Konrath

No Rain – Blind Melon
Beautiful World – Devo
Long Gone Long – Rainmakers
You May Be Right – Billy Joel
Boys of Summer- Don Henley
Solsbury Hill – Peter Gabriel
I’ll Stand By You – The Pretenders
Paperback Writer – The Beatles
This Frog – Kermit the Frog
But I Was Cool – Oscar Brown Jr.
American Music – Violent Femmes
One Thing – Finger Eleven
Rockstar – Nickleback
Hell Yeah – Neil Diamond

The “Evil Thoughts and Evil Deeds Classic Metal” Playlist of Jack Kilborn

Brutal Planet – Alice Cooper
Angel of Death – Slayer
Whiplash – Metallica
Thunderstruck – AC/DC
Dragula – Rob Zombie
Freewheel Burning – Judas Priest
Hell Patrol – Raven
Captain Howdy – Twisted Sister
Run Like Hell – Tank
Twist of Cain – Danzig
Free For All – Ted Nugent
Burning – Accept
Overkill – Motorhead

Division – Hunt
The Torture Never Stops – WASP

So there you have it. Two playlists that represent two sides of me. While I can’t guarantee listening to these playlists will make you a successful thriller writer, they worked out pretty well for me.

Now it’s your turn. Share your fourteen song playlist. What songs best exemplify you, or a specific mood you’re in, or state of mind you occupy? What playlist would you give to that special someone? What playlist do you put on when your depressed, or angry, or thrilled to be alive?

And remember–the order counts just as much as the songs. Any good mix taper knows that…

Joe

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