A Sniper, a Soldier, and all of Craig’s Animals Walk into a Bar
And it’s a karaoke bar, because it’s time for another find-Sage-a-song contest, yay!
The Prize:
The winner of this contest will be receiving a copy of Hannah Moskowitz’s Gone, Gone, Gone, which, btw, is my favorite Hannah book. Here’s the Goodreads description.
It’s a year after 9/11. Sniper shootings throughout the D.C. area have everyone on edge and trying to make sense of these random acts of violence. Meanwhile, Craig and Lio are just trying to make sense of their lives. Craig’s crushing on quiet, distant Lio, and preoccupied with what it meant when Lio kissed him…and if he’ll do it again…and if kissing Lio will help him finally get over his ex-boyfriend, Cody.Lio feels most alive when he’s with Craig. He forgets about his broken family, his dead brother, and the messed up world. But being with Craig means being vulnerable…and Lio will have to decide whether love is worth the risk.
This intense, romantic novel from the author of Break and Invincible Summer is a poignant look at what it is to feel needed, connected, and alive
The Character:
And what do you need to do to win this excellent novel? Well, I need a song for the Taylor-Made soundtrack. Austin, my soldier Simulant and a pseudo-POV-character has no clear song, and I want him to have one. Justin has two and Taylor has a soundtrack-worth, but Austin is merely alluded to until the climax.
So here’s some info about Austin and his POV. He’s an android built to fight in this war for America so that human soldiers don’t have to die anymore. He’s aware he’s an android and he knows that he’s not going to get a parade when he gets home. They sent him and all the other Simulants because he’s expendable. Despite this, his loyalty to the U.S. is unwavering except for one brief moment where he questions it before his programming takes over. When the human commander in his unit is killed, he’s put in charge, so he does have authority, but we never really see him use it, so I might kill that bit. Halfway through the novel he meets a spy from the other side of the war, and she promises to help him get to the weapon they’re trying to get to and disable. He falls for her. He’s hard, he’ll shoot to kill without hesitation, he swears every fifth word, and until he meets this girl, he is entirely focused on the war. After he meets her, he dares to dream about life after the war, with her. A tease from his POV can be found here.
The Rules:
To enter, all you need to do is suggest a song that could be Austin’s character song. It might be about soldiers or war in general or freedom or anything you think matches the above description of him. Every song you mention is an entry, with no limit. The winner is the one who chooses the song that most fits Austin, which hopefully will fit him so well that I’ll fill that hole in my soundtrack. Even if no suggestion is perfect, I will still choose a winner. If you could link or embed a YouTube video or lyrics, that would be lovely, but it is not necessary. Just make sure the title and the artist are correct so I can find them.
Songs I do not need suggested to me are: “Citizen/Soldier” by 3 Doors Down or anything by Green Day. I have already considered these and rejected them.
The contest will go on until 11:59 p.m. April 16. On April 17, I will announce the winner and go out and buy two copies of Gone, Gone, Gone (one is for me).
Good luck!
Lots of love,
Sage
