A huge thanks, Catherine, for inviting me on to your blog today to tell you about my new novel, Revelation. I always listen to music whilst writing, and I choose songs that inspire me and fit with the mood of the story. My characters also love music, and I’ve compiled this playlist to include their favourites as well as my own.
Click on the songs to hear them!

REM – Losing My Religion
Dan, my male protagonist, is Jewish. He’s also gay. Not surprisingly, this creates a massive conflict within himself. He is also concerned about how people view him. Can he find a way to reconcile these two key aspects of his identity?

ABC – All of My Heart
My female protagonist, Becky, is in love with Dan. As you can guess from the above, this can’t end well for Becky. Although she wants to be a good friend to Dan, her unrequited love leads her into making some bad decisions.

Tears for Fears – Mad World
This song is about depression and fits Dan’s state of mind for a significant part of the book. His depression leads him into mortal danger. Will Becky be able to save him in time?

Carol King – You’ve Got a Friend
A strong theme running through this book is friendship. Despite her feelings, Becky tries to be there when Dan most needs her. There are other friendships in the novel too – some are strong and true; others are not. Can Becky and Dan work out who they can and should trust?

Queen – Who Wants to Live Forever
The book opens with a student being found dead in his room in Halls of Residence. That student is Rick, the object of Dan’s love. Stricken with grief, Dan goes in search of help – torn between wanting to grieve in silence, and a desperation to escape from his own thoughts. This is a song that brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it, particularly since losing a friend last year. It will be a long time before Dan will be able to listen this, even though he’s a big fan of Queen, and of Highlander (Highlander isn’t mentioned in the book, but in his character notes, it’s listed as a favourite film – second only to The Princess Bride).

Suzanne Vega – Marlene On The Wall
This is another song about unrequited love, and can apply to both Dan and Becky, but it also talks about changing destiny. Becky has some tough decisions to make during the book; dealing with harassment, family issues and betrayal – but her fate is in her own hands.

About the book:

REVELATION, by Jo Fenton

Manchester, 1989

A student, Rick, is found dead in halls of residence.
His friends get caught up in the aftermath: Dan, who was in love with Rick; and Becky, who is in love with Dan.
Their fraught emotions lead them into dark places – particularly a connection to a mysterious Kabbalistic sect.
Will Becky discover who killed Rick in time to save her best friend?

About the author:

Jo Fenton grew up in Hertfordshire. She devoured books from an early age and, at eleven, discovered Agatha Christie and Georgette Heyer. She now has an eclectic and much loved book collection cluttering her home office.

Jo combines an exciting career in Clinical Research with an equally exciting but very different career as a writer of psychological thrillers.

When not working, she runs (very slowly), and chats to lots of people. She lives in Manchester with her family and is an active and enthusiastic member of two writing groups and two reading groups.