I’m excited to be a guest on Colleen’s blog! Thanks for having me. There’s been a lot of interest in the music videos and original music that came from The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things. It’s interesting how I ended up collaborating with Alex Brouwer, the indie musician responsible for the melody that accompanies my lyrics, so let me tell that story first.

One afternoon I was randomly browsing on YouTube and I ran across Alex’s original song/video called Prim, inspired by The Hunger Games, check it out.

First I thought, wow, this song is haunting, then it struck me how much the artist resembled my mental concept of Shane. For most people that would probably be the end of that internet story but I immediately messaged Alex to see if he would be interested in a collaboration.

At first I think he must’ve suspected I was a weirdo but once it became clear I was making a legitimate business offer, we came to terms and started working together. He used my lyrics in conjunction with his original music and sent me multiple drafts via email. I can’t tell you how awe-inspiring it was to have what felt like a poem I wrote transform into an actual song. My creative input on the songs was minimal, to be quite honest. Beforehand, I gave him a list of bands that would have influenced Shane musically to give Alex a sense of how the songs should sound. Afterward, I had very light critique alongside a lot of fangirling because it was just that exciting.

Likewise, the video concepts were his too. Alex read the book early on, and the fascinating part is, when we started working on the songs, this was a book I’d written as a gift for my daughter. I hadn’t sold it to Feiwel and Friends yet. But I was so convinced it was special that I wanted this project done, no matter what. I figured I could use it for my own promotion if I went indie, so we pushed forward.

Alex worked so hard on the title song video; he did a stop-motion concept and I know it required tremendous effort. The first time I saw it, I melted a little. It’s so perfect for the romantic Valentine’s Day scene, and readers seem to agree. You can watch that video here. 

Isn’t it magical?

The second song and video are actually featured earlier in the book (Coffee Shop scene); it’s about his mother’s death and Shane’s struggle to come to terms with it. Once again, I gave him a concise rundown of my concept and then he ran with it. Interesting bit of trivia, though the book is set in the Midwest, the video was filmed in Scotland, which is where Alex’s real life girlfriend lives. She’s also featured briefly in the video playing Sage. And honestly, she’s not a bad physical match for the heroine either. Isn’t that interesting? How in the world did I find the one indie musician on the internet who both looks like Shane and has a girlfriend who looks something like Sage? Truth is stranger than fiction.

Anyway, here’s Bittersweet, the other song.

What do you think? I’m humbled to know that TQoB&ST has become this multimedia project capable of moving readers on multiple levels. The music really adds to an immersive reading experience if you listen at the appropriate scenes.*

Feel free to ask questions or leave comments about the book, the songs, or whatever you like! Thanks again for hosting me.

*You can buy the music here, all proceeds go to Alex Brouwer in support of indie music.