Musings of 2013: Leila Sales

I don't even know how it happened, but I managed to get Leila Sales on this event. How cool, right? ...I still don't know how it happened. This Song Will Save Your Life is probably one of the best books I've read. It's also probably the most inspiring book this year! Whee! So give it up for Leila Sales.

In this case, I'm posting book info first...

Title: This Song Will Save Your Life
Author: Leila Sales
Pub Date: September 17th 2013
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Page Count: 288

Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.

Told in a refreshingly genuine and laugh-out-loud funny voice, THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE is an exuberant novel about identity, friendship, and the power of music to bring people together.

Buy Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Now to the post...

Because the protagonist of my newest novel, THIS SONG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE, becomes a DJ, a lot of people have asked me if I am a DJ, too. The answer is no--I don’t know how to work DJ equipment like Elise does. To write about the technical aspects of what she does, I read a book called HOW TO DJ RIGHT, and I talked to a number of my DJ friends about their techniques. I may not DJ myself, but I have a lot of friends who do, which is part of how I got the idea to write Elise’s story in the first place!

 

Even though I don’t have the technical skills of a DJ, I do love choosing music to make people dance. When I was in college, in the pre-iPod days, I used to go over to people’s apartment parties with mix CDs tucked in the pockets of my coat. When I thought the host wouldn’t notice, I would quickly stop his or her music and slip in one of my mixes, instead. Sometimes whoever was hosting the party would complain, which I understand, because it’s pretty bratty to show up to somebody else’s party and enforce your own musical tastes. Especially when the “somebody else” throwing the party has never met me before. But a lot of the time everyone would start dancing and singing along to the song I had put on, which made it hard for the party hosts to mind.

 

Here are some of my fool-proof songs for getting people up and dancing. In my experience, these work at pretty much any party, though I guess if it was a party of, like, septuagenarian occultists who fancied themselves famous rap stars, these recommendations might not work so well. In all other situations, though, I suggest that you carry around this fail-safe party-starting playlist. Just in case a host’s back is turned, and it’s suddenly your responsibility to get this party started.

 

“I Want You Back,” by the Jackson Five

“Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” by James Brown

“I Want to Dance With Somebody,” by Whitney Houston

“Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems,” by the Notorious B.I.G.

“Dancing with Myself,” by Billy Idol

“Come on Eileen,” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners

“Bizarre Love Triangle,” by New Order

“Blister in the Sun,” by the Violent Femmes

 

It doesn’t matter whether you know how to work turntables or Serato or a DJ controller, or whether the only thing you know how to do is press “play” on your computer--either way, you’ve got exactly the tools you need to start a dance party any time you want. 

 

So what are you waiting for? Now let me know in the comments: what are your favorite party-starting songs?

 

Author Info

Leila's Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Website |

Leila Sales grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts. She graduated from the University of Chicago in 2006. Now she lives in Brooklyn, New York, and works in the mostly glamorous world of children's book publishing. Leila spends most of her time thinking about sleeping, kittens, dance parties, and stories that she wants to write.