Ken
From the novel entitled "The Playlist".
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Ken from the Playlist was an easy character to write, because Ken was me! Sort of.
One of the things about me is I relate music to just about anything. Certain songs make me think about certain events and people in my life, and the whole concept of The Playlist was me reminiscing about all the crushes I had growing up from a 12 year old boy, to a twenty year old. I laughed when I relived these stories in my head while writing this book, and it’s one of my go to stories when I want to get a taste of nostalgia.
The ”sort of” part I mentioned is due to the fact that there were creative liberties taken in writing this story. Every story happened, but things were changed to either hide identities or spruce up the tale a little bit. What’s crazy is one of the more outrageous tales in the book that you’d think was me indulging actually happened as it was written (chapter 7)!
The songs selected actually match some of the crushes in my life as written, and till this day, when I hear those songs, I think of the people associated with it. While I didn’t keep an actual notebook like Ken does, the concept is still the same where I can hear a song and transport myself to when that song became relevant. From “Please Don’t Go Girl” to “If I Ever Fall in Love”, each song has a special meaning to Ken as it does me. While some of the crushes aren’t exactly as they are in real life (one being a composite of 3 different people) the love for them are as genuine as I could write it, which I think brought an authenticity to the work then if this was just a truly fictional work.
My goal was not only to give folks and insight to my life, but show the journey that I went through growing up. I wasn’t the “lady’s man” or anything like that. I struggled to find my way at times, especially when moving from Colorado to New Orleans. I opened up in a way I thought I never would, and between this book and “13”, I think I was finally able to let go of a lot of things in a past I yearn for. This is probably my most intimate book, so if you want to learn more about me, just read about Ken!
"New Kids on the Block, Please Don't Go Girl. But not for a good reason, trust me.” Ken when asked by Hilary of a song that reminds him of his old girlfriend.
