Upon a Twice Time

Music and storytelling have always been closely linked for me. Long before I know the specifics of whatever story I’m trying to tell, I can tell you what that story sounds like. Like I’m a bird hovering high above the ground, surveying the landscape below for any fledgling structure I can see at a distance—hills, valleys, plot highs and plot lows. This aerial-view plotting practice stretches all the way back to childhood-me acting out scenes music video style with my paper dolls, making mix tapes and homebrew soundtracks ripped directly from the radio, even interpretive dancing to Aqua while a scene unfolded inside my admittedly-very-weird head (my older brother, with whom I shared a wall, continues to have my deepest apologies for the last one).

When I found out my story Rule of Threes was going to appear in the Upon a Twice Time anthology from Air & Nothingness Press, I knew I wanted to do something special to mark the occasion. While music has always been integral to my own writing, I’ve never really tried to apply music to someone else’s. So when I got my copy (and finished hyperventilating about getting to actually hold my own words in my hands) I sat down to read with a playlist in mind…

AND Y’ALL. I HEARD MUSIC.

So, without further ado, I give you…

The Upon a Twice Time playlist and musical book review!

ARZADU AND THE SEA by Alex Hernandez
SALT AND THE SEA (The Lumineers)
The lyrical journey of a clever princess who moves heaven and earth to save her beloved—and discovers that her true love just might be adventure.

A DANCE OF BIRDS AND MEN by Jenni Meade
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE GIRL (Phildel)
A heartbreaking ode to perfection where an unwanted girl gives up everything to be someone else’s dream.

THE QUEEN OF HEARTS INTERROGATES PINOCCHIO by Gabriel Ertsgaard
HEADS WITH ROLL (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
The boy who can’t lie turns agent of revolution in this thoroughly delightful exchange, full of snarky asides and irreverence for an otherwise quite precarious situation. Vive la Alice révolution!

THE SWAN AND BELLEROPHON by Leo Otherland
REQUIEM ON WATER (Imperial Mammoth)
A swan and a monster find connection beyond physical form in a heartbreaking story that showcases the transformative power of love.

MEGAFLORA by Nathan Waddell
THE GARDEN (The Crane Wives)
A plucky, self-assured explorer makes her way up a beanstalk with nothing but her wits to carry her to the top—and into the unknown beyond.

THE FISHERWOMAN, HER HUSBAND, AND THE NEVER-DEAD NYMPH by Hari Navarro
THE SALT (Prairie Empire, Brittain Ashford)
As one life ends, another begins in a tale of duty, devotion, ravening appetites and atonement for what was lost.

TRAVELING SONGS FOR STAR-WARRIORS by Taylor Rae
BOY LILIKOI (Jónsi)
The magic of the earth takes to the sky for a tale of creation in the void of space, proving there is power in both the old and the new.

THE RED PRINCESS WHO WAS HIDDEN UNDERGROUND by L. P. Melling
THE HUNTED (Snow Ghosts)
A child struggles to make sense of impossible circumstances in a fairy tale that replaces black-and-white characters with real people, each nuanced, flawed, and trying to do the right thing while fearing for their own safety.

RESTLESS TREASURE by Kayla J. Espinoza
DEAR FELLOW TRAVELLER (Sea Wolf)
A weary immortal searches for a place to rest in this clever tale about a fish out of water—or, rather, sailor out of the sea.

SNOW BEAUTY OR STARFRUIT? by asch
THE LION’S ROAR (First Aid Kit)
It seems a person can have royalty or freedom—but not both—in a tale of a princess who longs for the simple beauty of making her own choices.

THE SELFISH JEEANT AND THE TWELVE DANCING ROBOTS by Evergreen Lee
HUNGER OF THE PINE (alt-J)
A collector learns that there’s only half-joy in being able to half-perform a function in a story that asks the question: Is it worth preserving ourselves if it means avoiding living fully?

TWICE IN THE TELLING by Carina Bissett
RIVERSIDE (Agnes Obel)
A water nixie’s good intentions sour—as good intentions so often do— as she recounts the familiar destruction of something she once swore to protect.

BATHED IN SILVER by Lex T. Lindsay
THE ELM (Suldusk)
Enduring forces vie for influence when two young lovers are torn apart—one locked in a tower, her life wasted as punishment for disobedience, while the other moves heaven and earth to save her.

THE GALA TEA CELEBRATION CAKE by Milton Rookwood
SOLDIER, POET, KING (The Oh Hellos)
A master baker’s deliciously spicy account, full of gingerbread, intrigue, and an unlikely cat claiming his crown.

THROUGH THE BITTER GLASS, ENTICINGLY by Sam Muller
IN THE WOODS SOMEWHERE (Hozier)
An isolated daughter faces the many restrictions of her life—the house that is Mother’s domain, the forest that is Father’s, the terrible pull of Grandmother—and finds her way to freedom.

WHEN APPLE WOKE by Sarah Lyn Eaton
TOUCH (Sam Clark)
Extreme empathy is both a blessing and a curse when Apple discovers her sheltered life is, perhaps, the opposite of the way she and her considerable gifts should be living.

FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE by Lark Cerulean
COME LITTLE CHILDREN (Erutan)
Grief hangs suspended in time, played over and over in this dark tale of obsession and ownership disguised as patronage.

THE GOLDEN FEATHER by Alexandra Seidel
THRONE (Saint Mesa)
What is real and what is clever fabrication? An exiled child plucks the strings of reality in a tale meted out through a series of increasingly cryptic letters.

SWEET AS HONEY by Henry Herz
SET ON FIRE (Magic Giant)
When three trolls accept a witch’s bargain, they learn that some tasks cannot be completed alone, a little kindness goes a long way, and happily ever after means never having to bathe again.

RULE OF THREES by Rebecca Hardy
GLITTER & GOLD (Barns Courtney)
You didn’t think you were going to trick me into reviewing my own story, did you? But in case Barns Courtney is wondering who listened to Glitter & Gold six thousand times on repeat… hi, it was me.

THE LEGEND OF MOON AND SHIP by Bettina Juszak
EMERALD STAR (Lord Huron)
When the last humans leave Earth, the goddess of the moon transforms herself into a spaceship to follow them into the stars in search of companionship.

Order your copy of Upon a Twice Time here.