By Sam K MacKinnon, author of The Body Riddle. 

In the early stages of writing The Body Riddle, I found it helpful to create playlists for each major character as their individual personalities began to form in my mind. The playlists acted as the auditory embodiment of each character. Since all the characters in the novel are queer and most are also trans, queer and trans artists were in heavy rotation. 

The protagonist, Lex, has the most significant emotional arc of the novel, so their playlist needed to reflect this. I wanted music that would both acknowledge the despair Lex experiences at times, while comforting them in moments of struggle. Melancholy tunes like “Talk to Me” by Cavetown and “summer depression” by girl in red made the list. I also needed songs to reflect Lex’s anger and frustration at not being affirmed for who they are—songs that I imagined Lex dancing to as they moved their anger through their body: “See Me” by Mal Blum; “It’s Okay to Cry” by SOPHIE; and “True Trans Soul Rebel” by Against Me! Then, I considered songs Lex might listen to as they’re falling for someone new. The songs “Pussy Is God” and “Holy,” both by King Princess, speak of queer sex as a spiritual experience, something Lex would relate to as they begin to reexamine their relationship to their own desire. Taylor Swift’s “august” is a nostalgic tune of a summer romance, and “more than i should” by Kehlani and Jessie Reyez aligned with how Lex understood their dynamic with Ada contrasted to their dynamic with Sadie.

Lex’s best friend, Thom, was inspired by Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream—mischievous, loyal, fun-loving, a bit ridiculous. RuPaul, Peaches, Scissor Sisters, and ABBA all made his playlist. Lex and Thom regularly send playlists to each other, and I imagined Thom sending Lex songs like “Fuck the Pain Away” by Peaches, “Supermodel (You Better Work)” by RuPaul, and “Let’s Have a Kiki” by Scissor Sisters—a collection of queer dance music to lift Lex’s mood. Thom’s nickname for Lex, his way of reminding Lex of their value, was True Trans Lex Rebel, so “True Trans Soul Rebel” was on both Thom and Lex’s playlists.

Sadie’s playlist needed to evoke lightness and hope, since their entrance into Lex’s life comes at a major shift in how Lex understands their sexuality. When the group of friends are at a neighbourhood pub to celebrate Ada’s promotion, a song comes over the speakers that Lex has never heard before, but Sadie loves. Lex is overcome by warmth, seeing their chosen family together in celebration, and is thrilled by watching Sadie dance, entranced by the way they move their body with such freedom. I purposely didn’t state the song in the book to allow readers to imagine their own favourite pop tune in the scene, but the song I imagined playing was “Killing Desire” by Madisyn Whajne, a spirited indie-pop song with fast, buoyant guitar. Sadie is often in charge of the music at Toast, the fictional restaurant in Osborne Village where they work and first meet Lex. I thought of songs that would be on Sadie’s Toast playlist: “She” by Dodie, a song of unrequited love, might softly play in the background during the day; “cliché” by mxmtoon, a sweet ukulele song that tells a story of falling for someone unexpectedly; “Nights” by Frank Ocean, to welcome the evening patrons. Kehlani’s “melt”—an intimate song about appreciating the sameness of one’s queer partner—illustrated Sadie’s inclination towards T4T sex and love.

Ada is confident and secure in who she is, staunchly independent, but vulnerable when she needs to be. I knew she would be a Tegan and Sara fan, so I included three songs of theirs on her playlist. “Bravado” by Lorde helped situate that Ada’s confidence was both a natural aspect of her personality, and occasionally a coping mechanism she used at different points in her life. Ada is decisive, direct and upfront with Lex about her needs and fears—"I Feel it All” by Feist felt like a celebration of Ada’s best qualities while acknowledging her vulnerabilities; its cheerful melodies reflect Ada’s cheery nature. I included “Home” by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros for that same reason, but also to describe the space Ada and Lex hold for each other in their lives.  

While the text makes references to several real-life musicians, I wove fictional music into The Body Riddle, too. That’s one of my favourite parts of writing fiction—grounding a story in reality while making things up. When the characters go to the Winnipeg Folk Festival, I wanted them to have a shared experience as fans of a queer band, seeing them live in concert. I needed a band that would sing lyrics that would speak directly to the group, that would animate them. I invented a band called the Denym Dykes and made up lyrics to their hit song. I imagined the Denym Dykes to be a girl group somewhere in the arena of Tegan and Sara and The Beaches. Their fans would don denim for their shows, creating elaborate outfits to demonstrate their love for the band and their queer sense of style. In the book, there are contentious moments while the group attends the concert—boundaries are blurred and relationships shift before Lex’s eyes. Coming up with fictional music was both fun from a creative standpoint, and helped create the exact atmosphere I wanted to set for the characters.

The characters in The Body Riddle use music as a way to connect with each other, to discover themselves, and to self-soothe. Creating playlists for each character pushed me to think beyond words, to sense personalities, and, best of all, to play.