Haunting Melody
by Chloe Spencer
Released: Oct 01, 2024
Genre: Young Adult / New Adult
Why this book and why now?
Haunting Melody was written while I was in treatment/therapy for my PTSD diagnosis. I wanted it to center on a girl with PTSD who was learning to adjust to every day life, and was trying to make a new path forward for herself. There are a lot of YA books that explore anxiety and depression as disabilities, but I wanted to write a book that was more specifically geared towards teens with PTSD.
What is a significant way your book has changed since either the first draft or the way you thought it would turn out when you first had the inspiration?
The title! We must have come up with a dozen different titles for the book. When I initially wrote it, Haunting Melody was called “Spirits and Sinister Songs.” We went through a variation of titles, including: Ghostly Songs, Supernatural Songs, These Sinister Songs, All These Ghostly Songs, The Spirits and Their Songs, We Know Where the Spirits Play, We Hear the Spirit’s Songs, The Blood of All These Boys, Songs of the Spirits, Song of the Spirits, Song of the Sea, Every Spirit, A Sinister Song/Every Spirit, A Song, Ghostsong/Spiritsong
Get Ghosted, and Unfortunately Opal. The main character’s name was Opal in the original draft, and we ended up changing it to Melody so we could have the title “Haunting Melody.”
What’s your main character(s)’s favorite book and why?
I think that Melody’s favorite book would be Leah Johnson’s “You Should See Me in a Crown.” As a character that’s eager to redeem herself, I think she’d relate to that character’s rise to the top, and would also appreciate the romantic subplot within the book!
One of your main characters is planning a romantic night. Tell us about it.
Melody would probably save up all her money to get orchestra tickets for Cyrus on the mainland, and if she could, also a nice hotel to say at overnight. Melody herself doesn’t appreciate classic music as much, but I know that she’d do it just to see the joy on Cyrus’ face.
What song does your character put on to start your book launch party?
Welcome to My Island: this is a song that talks about desire, and also has lyrics that very literally relate to Haunting Melody’s premise, which is that Melody, the ghost hunter, relocates with her family to an island called Murkmore. After arriving on the island, Melody discovers Cyrus, the ghost, and she desperately grapples with her feelings of desire while trying to solve this mystery.
