This Isn’t An Accident: THE ACCIDENTAL BAD GIRL by Maxine Kaplan, Guest PostFor

Thank you for visiting Tales of the Ravenous Reader today as I am so excited to participate in The Accidental Bad Girl Tour for The Fantastic Flying Book club. Maxine has a great guest post here today with a soundtrack that is wicked cool and along with that we have a great prize pack that will go to one lucky winner so don’t forget to enter the giveaway.

GUEST POST with Maxine Kaplan for Tales of the Ravenous Reader

RR: As I read TABG I had this internal soundtrack of Joan Jett, Beyonce and The Glam Skanks playing in the background. What tracks would you select that would best represent everything about The Accidental Bad Girl and why?

MK: I am one of those people that need music while I’m writing. I need those moments of closing my eyes and singing along; of bopping to the beat. For The Accidental Bad Girl, I definitely had tracks that I kept going back to again and again. Kendall and her story will always play in my head with this soundtrack:

“Criminal” by Fiona Apple – This one is obvious. I even quote a lyric from it in my book. To me, this song epitomizes how Kendall sees herself. Apple calls herself “a bad, bad girl,” but there’s something sly and winking and brash and unashamed in it. It still feels as bold as transgressive as it did the first time I heard it, in middle school. And it’s just fun as hell.

“I Think I’m Paranoid,” “Stupid Girl” & “When I Grow Up”, by Garbage – For me, the first two albums from Shirley Manson’s 90s band Garbage is the ultimate angry girl party music. There’s nothing more galvanizing, and these songs instantly and always got me in the right frame of mind to write BAD GIRL.

“Dancing On My Own” by Robyn – Aching and clever, and irresistible. I needed this song in my life and in my writing. Just good, poppy joy.

“The Boys” by Nicki Minaj, featuring Cassie – At the same time I was writing THE ACCIDENTAL BAD GIRL, I got addicted to Nicki Minaj. This song in particular is such a good complement to the story, for me anyway, because of the sheer bad-assery and the hint of female comraderie. The video is also brillz.

“Teeth” by Lady Gaga – Sort of a deep cut for Lady Gaga, but one of my favorite of her songs. Scary and weird and hilarious and danceable—the perfect soundtrack.

“Boy Problems” & “Cut to the Feeling” by Carly Rae Jepsen – Smart and emotional. Edge comes in many forms and this music feels very lived in to me. Another writing additction.

Honorable Mention: Kesha’s Rainbow album – This album didn’t come out until I was done writing the book, but says so many of the things I wanted to say with my book and with an irresistible tone. Perfect soundtrack.

Thanks Maxine, this was an awesome soundtrack and I cannot wait to share this with everyone.

The Accidental Bad Girl

by Maxine Kaplan
Publisher: Abrams
Release Date: May 15, 2018

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Synopsis:

After getting caught hooking up with her best friend’s ex on the last day of junior year, Kendall starts senior year friendless and ostracized. She plans to keep her head down until she graduates. But after discovering her online identity has been hacked and she’s being framed for stealing from a dealer, Kendall is drawn into a tenuous partnership with the mastermind of a drug ring lurking in the shadows of her Brooklyn private school. If she wants to repair her tattered reputation and save her neck, she’ll have to decide who she really is—and own it. The longer she plays the role of “bad girl,” the more she becomes her new reputation. Friends and enemies, detectives and drug dealers—no one is who they appear to be. Least of all Kendall.

Maxine Kaplan was born in Washington, DC. She and her twin sister spent their early childhoods trotting behind their journalist parents as they traveled around the world, eventually settling in Brooklyn, NY. Maxine graduated from Oberlin College in 2007. Following a long stint in the world of publishing, she has worked as a private investigator since 2009. She lives in her adopted hometown of Brooklyn, NY, with her lovely husband and complex cat. THE ACCIDENTAL BAD GIRL is her debut novel. Follow Maxine on Twitter @MaxineGKaplan

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