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Awkward Blog Tour and Playlist

27 Mar, 2012 by in marni bates, playlist Leave a comment

Fire and Ice is one of today’s stops on the official blog tour for

Awkward
by Marni Bates

Paperback, 300 pages
Published January 1st 2012
by Kensington Publishing Corp.
ISBN 0758269374
Book Summary: Mackenzie Wellesley has spent her life avoiding the spotlight. At Smith High, she’s the awkward junior people only notice when they need help with homework. Until she sends a burly football player flying with her massive backpack and makes a disastrous – not to mention unwelcome – attempt at CPR. Before the day is out, the whole fiasco explodes on YouTube. And then the strangest thing happens. Suddenly, Mackenzie is an Internet sensation, with four million hits and counting. Sucked into a whirlwind of rock stars, paparazzi, and free designer clothes, she even catches the eye of the most popular guy at school. And that’s when life gets really interesting…

Here at Fire and Ice we had  author Marni Bates come up with a playlist of songs she feels fit Awkward. She says…”I love finding music that fits my novels! And when I stumble across a song that connects to my life, I listen to it obsessively.

So here’s my playlist for Awkward:

Starz in Their Eyes ~ Just Jack. This song definitely inspired me to write Awkward because it’s about the way people can manipulate you when you reach a certain level of notoriety. I definitely see Mackenzie as someone with stars in her eyes when her YouTube video garners four million hits.

Solo Impala (Take the Money and Run) ~ The Fashion. I couldn’t resist referencing The Fashion in the book. I love the sense of energy and urgency in this song. I think a part of Mackenzie wants to take the money her newly acquired fame could bring and run. But beyond that . . . this song really has nothing to do with the book. I just love it.

Sideways ~ Let’s Go Sailing Okay, I always think about Mackenzie and Logan when I hear this song and not in a happy, bubbly way but in an I’m-about-to-bawl-my-eyes-out way. I listened to it on repeat when Kenzie finally figures out that she likes Logan . . . and thinks that he’s back together with Chelsea.

I Am Trying to Break Your Heart ~ Wilco Another heartbreak song. I always pictured Mackenzie listening to this during quiet moments on the bus with ReadySet and Corey. (Spoiler alert! It comes up in Jane’s book, Invisible.)

The Show ~ Lenka I think this song encapsulates Awkward so well! Here’s a sampling of the lyrics: I’m just a little bit caught in the middle Life is a maze and love is a riddle. I don’t know where to go, can’t do it alone. I’ve tried. And I don’t know why . . . It fit the story so well that I used it in my homemade book trailer.

Overboard ~ Ingrid Michaelson I almost used this song for the book trailer. In fact, I was tempted to use almost every single Ingrid Michaelson song. If you haven’t listened to her, you should remedy that immediately. Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles provide the soundtrack to my life. Both of them have wonderful songs with clever lyrics. In fact . . .

Gonna Get Over You ~ Sara Bareilles (or “Uncharted.” It’s so hard to pick just one song!) I think of this as Mackenzie’s victory song when she finally realizes that she doesn’t have to spend her life fearing the Notables. It’s also her anti-Patrick song. Love it! (Spoiler alert! If things hadn’t worked out with Logan, I think Mackenzie would have listened to this song and pulled herself back together. It wouldn’t have been easy, but she’s a strong girl. Although I’m still glad she didn’t have to do it!)

A Million Ways (to be Cruel) ~OK Go I totally geeked out when Awkward readers asked me if ReadySet was modeled on OK Go. The answer: yes! If you guessed this, you win major bragging rights!
I’ve been an OK Go fan for years so I guess it was only natural for them to spring to mind when I started to create my fictional rock band. Naming them ReadySet was an intentional homage . . . and I’m thrilled that people picked up on it!

For those of you unfamiliar with their work: YouTube the following: Here it Goes Again, White Knuckles, and This Too Shall Pass. You won’t be disappointed! I think A Million Ways to be Cruel might be the most fitting for Chelsea Halloway (the reigning Notable queen, Mackenzie’s nemesis, and the main protagonist of book four). She knows exactly how to use people’s weaknesses to her advantage but she still hasn’t figured out how to battle her own insecurities. There might be a million ways to be cruel but what Chelsea will have to face is a lot harder than high school!

Ben Fold fans? Chelsea listens to You Don’t Know Me on a very important airplane flight in Notable. And I imagine Go Places by The New Pornographers and Home by OK Sweetheart as part of her travel music. Sorry, I tend to focus solely on music for my work in progress. Which is actually calling my name right now . . .

Bye! ~Marni

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Thanks so much to Marni Bates for sharing all of her fun song choices with us and Chick Loves Lit for asking us to be a part of the tour! Be sure to check out the rest of the stops on the Awkward blog tour here

Author Bio: My autobiography MARNI (part of HCI’s Louder Than Words series) was on the New York Public Library Stuff for the Teen Age 2010 List. I then signed a four book contract with KTeen and my first YA novel AWKWARD comes out January 1, 2012. In my free time I can be found reading romance novels, rollerblading, singing really loudly (and off-key) in public and . . . watching copious amounts of television.

Find Marni Bates on Twitter / Goodreads/ MarniBates.com