“The Hero Takes a Fall” by The “Bangles”

“The hero is exposed when his crimes are brought to light of day.”

Whoa! Sounds like Sir Richard. But I can’t quite agree with: “And I won’t feel sad at all, when the hero takes a fall.” I really did feel sad for Richard. He pulled a doozy on Iris, but it was with the best of intentions…

“Left of Center” by Suzanne Vega

“When they ask me, ‘What are you looking at?’
I always answer, ‘Nothing much, not much.’
I think they know that I’m looking at them.
I think they think I must be out of touch.”

Like every other Gen Xer who wasn’t the most popular girl in school, this song was my high school anthem. It came on the radio while I was writing The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy and it was like a light bulb going off. It could be Iris singing the above lyrics. Absolutely.

“Out of My League” by Fitz and the Tantrums

Iris thinks that Richard is out of her league, and that’s why she’s so suspicious when he seems to fall in love with her so quickly.

“Riptide” by Vance Joy

I love this song and listened to it repeatedly while writing this book.