Guest Post – Top 10 Shadow Keeper Songs By Abi Elphinstone
Today I am completely over the moon to be hosting a fab guest post and super giveaway from lovely author and brilliant friend Abi Elphinstone!
Abi’s second book, The Shadow Keeper, was released on the 25th February 2016 and throws us into Moll and Gryff’s magical world for a second time!
Myself and my son adored the first book in the series, The Dreamsnatcher last year and we have been craving The Shadow Keeper ever since!
You can find my review of The Dreamsnatcher here or Corey’s review of The Dreamsnatcher here
So today Abi tells us about the Top 10 Shadow Keeper Songs and there may be a few special surprises along the way!
Also don’t forget to check out the amazing giveaway at the bottom of the post where you could win a set of both books!
Moll Pecksniff and her friends are living as outlaws in a secret cave by the sea, desperate to stay hidden from the Shadowmasks. But further along the coast lies the Amulet of Truth, the only thing powerful enough to force the Shadowmasks back and contain their dark magic. So, together with Gryff, the wildcat that’s always by her side, and her best friends Alfie and Sid, Moll must sneak past smugglers, outwit mer creatures and crack secret codes to save the Old Magic. With more at stake than ever before and the dark magic rising fast, can Moll and her friends stop the Shadowmasks before it’s too late? Perfect for fans of J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman, Michelle Paver and Eva Ibbotson
Top 10 Shadow Keeper Songs
When I’m concentrating really hard I don’t write to music. It’s just me and my writing shed. But most of my thinking time takes place on the move with a lot of background noise: kids yelling about One Direction on train journeys to literary festivals, people taking business calls on buses to school events and, if I’m very, very, very lucky, killer whales leaping out of the water on ‘book research boat trips’ (!) in the Arctic. So, I’ve picked out a bunch of songs that got me fired up while thinking about smugglers, secret caves and cliff jumps. Here’s The Shadow Keeper playlist:
The Phantom Of The Opera theme song by Andrew Lloyd Webber
My favourite musical – and the song I listened to while inventing extremely awful things for the Shadowmasks to do…
Sail Away by Enya
I grew up listening to Enya (she’s my Dad’s favourite artist) and I remember hearing this song just before I wrote about the Tribe’s kayak journey to find the last Amulet of Truth.
Hurt by Johnny Cash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt1Pwfnh5pc
Anything by Johnny Cash is incredible and I loved this song so much I borrowed a variation on a lyric for Moll to use right at the end of the book: ‘I want to start again, a million miles from here.’
No One Is Alone from Into The Woods by Stephen Sondheim
The ending of The Shadow Keeper came to me before the start. I knew exactly what was going to happen, even though every time I thought about it I got a lump in my throat, and I listened to this song on repeat before I wrote the final scene.
The Lion, The Witch and Wardrobe theme, original BBC version by Geoffrey Burgon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D34QpxcA9sM
I watched this series with my family one Christmas (up in Scotland with snow lying thick on the ground outside) and it is one of my happiest memories. Nothing, absolutely nothing, has been more magical to me than listening to this song as Lucy Pevensie opens the wardrobe door. And any time I want to write magic into a scene, I listen to this song before hauling out my laptop.
Concrete Schoolyard by Jurassic Five
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeN9c2GYJkk
When the edits are getting crazy, when there is paper strewn about the house and I feel like I am going to mad, I listen to this song and it chills me out :-).
Hold Back The River by James Bay
In The Shadow Keeper you find out who Alfie really is but when I sat down to write the book I had no idea. I just knew that his past was shady. And then, when I was walking down the street to teach a writing workshop, it came to me. I didn’t have a piece of paper on me so I wrote his story on an oak leaf – then I listened to this song.
Grey or Blue by Jaymay
The lovely Louise Corcoran (bookseller extraordinaire at Foyles) sent me a playlist last year and I fell in love with this song. I listened to it when thinking about Moll’s friendship with Alfie (though in the song there’s a lot more kissing and hopping into bed with boys than books for 8-12-year-olds might allow!).
Septimus from the Stardust movie by Ilan Eshkeri
I plan EVERY chase scene (and I plan a lot of chase scenes) to this song. I feel like I, and my characters, can fly while doing multiple leg-kicks and somersaults when this is playing.
The Gael from Last of the Mohicans by Dougie Maclean
When I imagine Moll, Siddy and Alfie with their bows and arrows (and catapults) I see them tearing across the coast with this song blaring around them.
And presenting ……Abi Elphinstone
And not forgetting the author herself in a starring role….. with some of her favourite Disney songs….. move over Taylor Swift!
You can buy The Shadow Keeper here or why not visit your local independent bookshop.
For The Dreamsnatcher playlist, click here.
Check out my review of The Dreamsnatcher here
Or Corey’s review of The Dreamsnatcher here
You can also check out The Research Behind The Dreamsnatcher here
About Abi Elphinstone
Abi Elphinstone grew up in Scotland where she spent most of her childhood building dens, hiding in tree houses and running wild across highland glens. After being coaxed out of her tree house, she studied English at Bristol University and then worked as a teacher. THE DREAMSNATCHER was her debut novel for 8-12 years and is followed by THE SHADOW KEEPER this year. When she’s not writing, Abi volunteers for Beanstalk, teaches creative writing workshops in schools and travels the world looking for her next story. Her latest adventure involved living with the Kazakh Eagle Hunters in Mongolia…
Twitter: @moontrug
Instagram: @moontrugger
Giveaway
Would you like to win 1 of 5 signed sets of Abi’s books The Dreamsnatcher and The Shadow Keeper?
The lovely Jo at Angel Publicity has kindly given me 5 sets of these fab books to giveaway…and they are signed too!
Enter below to be in with a chance of winning!
Do check out the terms and conditions…..
UK & IRE Only
5 sets = 5 separate winners winning 1 copy of The Dreamsnatcher and 1 copy of The Shadow Keeper as a set.
Books will be sent straight from Angel Publicity / the publishers so the winners will need to provide there name and address details to myself to pass on.
Giveaway ends 3rd March 2016
Winners will be announced on here and on twitter.
Good Luck!
A huge huge thank you to the lovely Abi for asking me to be part of this wonderful blog tour!
And a huge thank you to Jo at Angel Publicity for the awesome giveaway!
You can catch up or follow the rest of the blog tour at the following stops!
Are you excited for The Shadow Keeper? Have you read The Dreamsnatcher? Do you love Moll and Gryff? I would love to hear from you! Why not leave a comment by using the reply button at the top of the page or tweet me on twitter using @chelleytoy !
I loved reading this post!! I have listened to the Dreamsnatcher playlist so many times and I was talking about how music makes us feel with the children in my bookclub recently. Thank you Michelle and Abi for this fascinating post!
Oh, and I’d LOVE to win the signed copies. I would give them as a gift to a HUGE Dreamsnatcher fan, who loves Moll and Gryff almost as much as I do.
I would *love* to win a copy of these – and the covers are so pretty too!
Thanks for sharing. The original BBC The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is one of my absolute favourites too.
Fab music choices, my book group loved Dreamsnatcher!
Never thought about writing to music. I guess it helps the imagination flowing. The world ? of the dreamcatcher is one I would love to venture in with my little guy though. Great post by the way ?.
I’m so excited! Just entered the giveaway, thanks so much for doing this and for a fabulous post! xx