Heather Joy | Updates

even fools are right sometimes

Heather Joy — Wed, 1 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Starting in May 2025, I submitted various poems and essays from my writing collection to online literary journals and magazines. It seemed appropriate that today, April first, a day for fools and playing jokes, I’d show you just how many of these websites declined my work. Because if you can’t laugh and joke about your own shortcomings, someone else will do it for you. On the upside, if you’re a writer too, this post can double as a list of ideas to submit your own work to (or at least give you more websites to check out and read other people’s talents). Either way, you’re welcome! (Those in BOLD font I’m still waiting to hear back, so there’s hope yet).

3 Elements Review 3Elements Literary Review || A Literary Journal

Apricity Press Apricity Press | literary magazine

Arcturus Arcturus – The Chicago Review of Books presents Arcturus, an online literary magazine of new perspectives in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and hybrid genres.

Baltimore Review The Baltimore Review

Beyond Words Welcome | Beyond Words

Big Whoopie Deal Big Whoopie Deal

Blood + Honey Blood+Honey

Blood Tree Literature Blood Tree Literature

Bullshit Lit (submitted photography and writing) BULLSHIT LIT

CALYX Home - CALYX

Catamaran Catamaran Literary Reader

Dadakuku dadakuku – microdadaism, nanononsense, minisurrealism

Door is a Jar Homepage | Door Is A Jar Literary Magazine

Five Minute Lit Five Minutes

Gooseberry Pie Home - Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine

HAD HAD :: Had

Hobart Hobart :: Home

HOOT HOOT – a {mini} literary magazine on a postcard – flash fiction, poetry, memoir, non-fiction, book reviews

In A Flash In A Flash | Substack

In Short Home - In Short: A Journal of Flash Nonfiction - We publish creative nonfiction of 1,000 words or fewer, micros of 400 words or fewer, and short-shorts of 100 words or less.

Ink and Marrow Ink & Marrow

JAKE: The Anti Literary Magazine JAKE

Literary Mama Literary Mama – Writing about the many faces of motherhood

Little Something Press little somethings press – a collection of small writings

Memoir Magazine Memoir Magazine - Memoir, Narrative Creative Nonfiction, Personal Essays, OWN stories and more.

Molecule (submitted photography) Molecule – a tiny lit mag

Mom Egg Review MER - Mom Egg Review - Literature + Art + Motherhood

Muzzle MUZZLE MAGAZINE - Home

Northwest Review (submitted photography) Poetry and “more” since 1957 - Northwest Review

Orange Juice https://orangejuicepoetry.wixsite.com/orangejuice

Passages North Passages North

Password password. very short poetry.

Pinch PINCH

Pithead Chapel Pithead Chapel – An Online Literary Journal and Small Press

Punk Monk Press (submitted photography) Punk Monk Press/Magazine

Rappahannock Review Rappahannock Review

Rejection Letters Rejection Letters

Rogue Agent RogueAgent

Rust & Moth Rust & Moth – A Journal Of Poetry And The Arts

Sad Girl Diaries Writing | Sad Girls Club

Salt Hill Salt Hill Journal

SCAB SCAB

Sixth Finch (submitted photography) Sixth Finch

Split Lip Split Lip Magazine

Stink Eye Stink Eye Magazine – A Poetry Magazine for the Good, the Gritty, and the Weird

Street Lit StreetLit

Surely surely

Susurrus (submitted photography) Susurrus

The Disappointed Housewife The Disappointed Housewife – fiction/essays/poetry

The Good Life Review The Good Life Review

The Shore THE SHORE

Under the Gum Tree Under the Gum Tree – Tell Stories Without Shame

Voicemail Poems Voicemail Poems Voicemail Poems

Wild Greens https://www.wildgreensmagazine.com/

Wireworm WORMWORMWORMWORMWORMWORMWORMWORMWORM - Home

WOW! Women on Writing https://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/

X-R-A-Y Home | X-R-A-Y

Y2K Quarterly Y2K Quarterly

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giving kudos

Heather Joy — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This blog is dedicated to the writing from others whom I don't know but have found inspirational on the Internet...in no particular order. (Note: This list will most likely be updated frequently.)

Amy DeBellis "Eight Weeks" https://www.neologismpoetry.com/April-2024/#adb
James M. Maskell "Overnight in the ER"

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bits, tidbits, and way too much money

Heather Joy — Tue, 3 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

What I learned from my book MMMM: and the music that made me.

I wrote it with the intention of having its readers find comfort in uncomfortable truths. It's all about perspective, though, right? What's obscene to one is tame to another. What’s crazy for some means normal to another. Etcetera. Nonetheless, I didn’t hold much back. Fun fact: Most bibliophiles (90% according to a recent survey) read fiction and my book is non-fiction. Whoops.
I started putting my collection of experiences together in November 2021. I submitted my first draft to BookBaby in November 2022. My final version was published in June 2024.
The original plan was to have my book title written in a gold mouth grill (grillz to some) on my cover. I'm slightly bummed this didn’t happen.
I picked BookBaby as my publisher. I strongly encourage you to do your own pros and cons list for what each publishing company can offer you. I think it’s different for everyone, hence why there’s multiple options.
My hardcover and eBook package through BookBaby was $2,544.22, paperback was $483.17, audiobook $237.68, and nine (yes, nine) rounds of edits totaled $3,191. Learn from my mistakes there, folks. Be sure you have the closest to final version before you submit because as you can see changes are costly. Note: My book is 388 pages, so a higher page count also meant a higher fee.
I used two editors on Reedsy as well for an outside perspective. That was an additional six rounds of edits that cost me $3,835. (Side Note: Yes, these prices are gross especially laid out in the open like this, but I'm including them to be transparent for the next ambitious self-publishing author. To help inform what you're getting into. You should also know I'm not rolling in the dough over here. I'm a single-mother, poor-working-class at best. I'm also a fool who was determined to publish their story, so I treated this project like another kid.)
The eBook is available to the public before the printed versions. Another unexpected fact. I still have not seen what my eBook actually looks like because I don't own a device to view it on. I know, ridiculous.
I used Synthya (free of charge!) and Movavi ($19.95 for a single month subscription) for my audiobook which ended up being 10 Hours and 44 Minutes long.
Advertising is stupidly expensive. I started a GoFundMe page with a dream to have my book advertised in Bust magazine. It's since been deactivated (sigh). For a more cost-effective approach I placed an advertisement in a local entertainment newspaper too.
Book reviews through notable literary organizations can run $100-$700 a pop. I bought a few (with the risk of them being negative, thankfully they weren’t), and snippets are listed on my website.
The United States Postal Service has a book shipping rate of $7.77. I shipped a copy of my book to local radio stations, my favorite actresses and authors (who knows if it actually got to them), and a local tattoo studio to gain some traction. Nothing came of it. Any of them. Sigh.
I purchased my author website (the one you're reading this blog on) from BookBub. It's $9.99 a month. What I love about BookBub is that they keep anyone’s to-be-read-list growing. Note: BookBaby also provides a website (for free) if you publish through them.
It’s important to find your book audience. Hint: It isn't your friends and family members. Shocker.
You don’t have to claim any profit from book sales on your taxes until you make over $400. I have not made this yet, so hey, IRS, please don't come for me. Also, BookBaby has a base price to sell your book (which I missed in the fine print), so I offer coupon codes to bring the cost down to my originally planned price.
Look into consignment opportunities for your book. I've sold mine in west coast bookstores and I live on the east coast. Talk to your local library about stocking your books too.
I purposely don't sell my book on any platform that's Amazon related (Goodreads, CraveBooks, Amazon itself) or have any social media accounts. This is a personal preference that honors my morals. Instead, I use word of mouth and place promotional information (a small business card referencing my website) in every book I read. It’s a little surprise for the next reader and doubles as a bookmark. Woo!
I think most book contests out there are a scam. Honestly, I wish I didn't enter as many as I did because, again, there are fees involved. Still, I’m humbly grateful to have won the 2025 Indie Reader Discovery Award for their Sexuality/Relationships Category.
Finally, I'm still finding songs I wish I had included in my book. Recently, a lot of 1970s funk. This upsets me terribly.

Helpful Websites

Submittable & Duotrope : Submits your writing to literary journals. Some have fees, some don't.
Chill Subs/Sub Club: Get on their helpful email chain.
BookCrossing: Leave your book behind for others to find while you travel.
Thriftbooks: They're my go-to when my local library doesn’t have a book in stock.

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Your beliefs don't make you a good person, your behavior does.

Heather Joy — Fri, 2 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Have you ever read something that stopped you in your tracks? For me it was The New York Times article: The Ritual Shaming of the Woman at the Coldplay Concert. I'm sure you've heard about Kristin Cabot's story or seen the many spoofs and replays of her jumbotron incident. It's crazy how quickly one persons experience can spread. More importantly, how quickly one persons experience can be ripped apart, dissected, and misconstrued into something completely false. Yes, everyone is welcome to have an opinion; yet I stress to make sure that opinion is based on facts and not media's interpretation of the truth. Although this is a 2025 story, I bring it into the new year to show how we can all do better.

The word bullying reminds me of the acronym THINK: Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it inspiring? Is it necessary? Is it kind? So, think about that when reading this article (because most people did not).

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/style/coldplay-concert-couple-kiss-cam-woman.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20251219&instance_id=168203&nl=the-morning&regi_id=293756069&segment_id=212499&user_id=f7ddf22bf8d20bf25df901b0dc7073a1

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a haiku

Heather Joy — Fri, 5 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I remember learning about haiku poems and their 5-7-5 syllables in grade school (mainly because my brain mixed them up with my area code 7-5-7). I was the kid who clapped out each syllable. Who am I kidding? I'm now the adult who claps out each syllable. Anyway, it wasn't until the haiku I wrote below where I realized most of my work has sexual undertones. Those close to me probably aren't surprised by this, yet for me, it seemed worthy to note. I guess it makes sense how writers are most valuable when they write about a subject they're passionate about. For more haiku related work check out the literary journal Prune Juice and their English Senryu poetry. https://prunejuicesenryu.com/

Knock On Wood

you touch me until

everything around us splits

into a void of splinters

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writing pep talk

Heather Joy — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Feeling apprehensive when turning in my last round of edits would be an understatement. The panic lingers even a year after it has been published (probably why my audiobook introduced more material). Once it’s out there for public consumption the critical lens widens. The material becomes a target and immediately gets snapped it in its dangerous jaws. Yes, rejection will always sting; that’s a given. For authors who write their life stories, though (like me), it is a little bit harder to stomach such criticism. In a way this rejection now means they’re outwardly rejecting the person too. Their life wasn’t a valuable read. Their life didn’t capture the right amount of attention. They weren’t good enough. Ouch! But people interpret art differently and my writing is no exception. I continue to tell myself this on a loop to self-soothe.

Also, I try to remember that in a world of no, lives at least one yes. And that connection is my end goal, folks. Unity is such a beautifully complicated thing when speaking about our shared messes of life. If you read my book, I hope you can relate to some of mine.

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survived another year

Heather Joy — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

My birthday is this weekend. *Commence singing*

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Camp John Waters

Heather Joy — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Pink Flamingos (1972), Polyester (1981), Pecker (1998). These are just a few films by John Waters. Some may know him as the Father of Filth or the Pope of Trash. I'd simply call him a man who has a way with words. Oh yes, it was through his books where I first learned about Camp John Waters.

The weekend of September 6, 2025, I drove eight hours with a gal pal of mine to attend Club Getaway in Kent, Connecticut for a weekend of "divine" debauchery at Camp John Waters. It was both our first times. The place was a celebration of misfits, and we loved every minute of it.

First off, the extreme creativity of the attendees was beyond admirable. Words can't describe the look of people's hair/makeup/and outfits and how they were flawlessly arranged. Seriously, the lengths some went to was truly impressive. The only costume I donned was Kathleen Turner's polka dot dress, dirty-blonde wig, bloody knife, and cherry pie from Serial Mom (1994). My favorite Waters flick. When meeting John he said, "I know who you're supposed to be!" which pretty much checked off every fangirl fantasy. Thanks, John.

Second, let's talk about the celebrity counselors you got to meet over your three-night stay. Each year new folks are added alongside John Waters himself. This particular weekend included Mink Stole - who has appeared in every John Waters film, Stephen Dorff from Cecil B. Demented (2000), and Amy Locane from Cry-Baby (1990). Fabulous! Especially Mink who was such a dear. My favorite interaction from the celebrity corner, though, was John's after dinner speech on Saturday night. It was well worth the standing ovation it received from the crowd. Cutting the Q&A short with Stephen due to a tornado warning and a mandatory evacuation to the Boathouse will also be pretty memorable.

Club Getaway is used for other events throughout the year, so it has several sport stations set up around the camp. An Aerial Park, Archery, Water Sports (tee hee) and more. I partook in the Sky Cycle, which consisted of riding a bike on a wire in the air - fun! I never got around to the Zip Lines. Maybe next year. Which according to John, will be the last year of this special camp.

The meals also exceeded my expectations. Each camper was fed breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a buffet-style. What a deal. Honestly, there was so much food. My notable favorite was the veggie burgers and crunchy circular pickles to place on top. Yum! I also took full advantage of the daily water coolers and coffee stations placed around.

There were dance parties into the wee hours at the Boathouse (still stoked the DJ played Nine Inch Nails "Head like a Hole"), themed competitions- "Is your daughter mulatto?" from Hairspray (1988) was one of the winners of the Nastiest Line Reading contest, karaoke (I sang Bjork's "It's Oh So Quiet"), arts and crafts (we painted a penis canvas), a swap meet (with so many sweet souvenirs!), and a talent show (the tomato dancer, Holocaust stand-up, drag lip sync-er, and the puppet tea bagging parody stood out for me). Phew!

Unfortunately, or fortunately because I'm still alive, I had too much fun Sunday night and by Monday morning I just wanted to go home. Causing us to miss the Closing Awards Ceremony and the Backwards Brunch. Bummer. Thankfully my gal pal saved the day by getting me breakfast, ibuprofen, and taking my place to drive us home. Bless her.

I look forward to seeing all the photos that people took. If you were there, feel free to send me yours through the Contact Me option of this site.

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conversation starters updated with answers in November 2025

Heather Joy — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Since childhood, I've always loved taking magazine quizzes that could tell me more about my inner self. Even if it was something silly like which television character I related to the most. As a teenager, I scoured every personality test out there to find my DISC profile and which Enneagram I had. Now as an adult I'm still fascinated by questionnaires; especially the Proust one in the back of Vanity Fair magazine. With this in mind, I hung a dry erase board up in my office kitchen for folks to anonymously answer weekly questions I posted. Below are some questions that were written and my answers to them. Feel free to use these questions with the people in your lives.

Note: My book gets brought up a lot because...well, this website is an advertising base for it. Maybe by learning about me you'll learn about you too.

Okay, let's get to know each other. Woo!

Looking at your bank account, what do you spend the most money on? -My kids (which is funny because they both have jobs).

What song lyric easily gets stuck in your head? -"Pink Pony Club" was the last actual song I heard on the radio this morning. The chorus easily gets stuck in my head. Then again, so does the catchy ditty on this Progressive Insurance commercial. https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=progressive+commerical&&mid=98FAE5ADBCC47DE96FB498FAE5ADBCC47DE96FB4&FORM=VCGVRP

Where do you buy your groceries? -Kroger.

What is the dumbest way you've injured yourself? -Probably emotionally, I rarely give myself enough validation.

What is your guilty pleasure movie to watch? -Home Alone! I could quote ninety percent of this classic.

How do you define success? -Having a roof over your head, food in your belly, clothes on your body, and people you love who love you back.

What was your last "do it yourself" project? -Does making an art collage count? Cool, then making an art collage.

What language would you like to learn? How many do you currently speak? -I've accepted defeat with learning a foreign language. I can barely speak English properly.

What is your dream car? -This is in my Motorized Vehicles chapter: G-Wagen, VW bus, Chrysler 300, or a raised truck with big ass tires. The Land Rover Defender is also pretty sweet. If you can't tell, I appreciate the boxier vehicles...that are way out of my price range.

If you had a day off from all responsibilities, how would that day unfold? -Alone time outside with a book until the sun goes down. Then a large dinner and dessert with Boops at one of our usual haunts.

How long have you known your best friend? -Since the first grade. I love you, M.

What's more important to you, love or money? -Meh, money. It can buy love, haha. Sigh.

What does family mean to you? -Loyalty and support.

What is your favorite thing about your current job? -My full-time job: the paycheck. My part-time job: the people.

What does religion/spirituality mean to you? -I'm still figuring this one out. Although my son recently suggested that we should attend church together. Wild.

What is the most useful skill you possess? -In the right environment, pop culture trivia.

What are your irrational fears? -Zippers. I'm terrified of getting my skin caught in them. Blech. Or anything coming towards my eyes. I can't even watch people put in contacts. It's gross.

What's the best thing that has happened to you this week? -My son sharing a personal story with me. It brings me immense joy that both of my kids can be open with me and I with them.

If your life had a theme song, what would it be? -"She's Always a Woman" by Billy Joel.

What are your hobbies? -I just started hot yoga again. I take long walks with my best friend every Saturday morning. Boops and I ride bicycles or take long walk in the evenings. I read a lot too.

Favorite junk foods to eat? -Ice cream, Gajar Halwa (a warm Indian carrot dish), apple crisp, strawberry shortcake, coconut cream pie, Sour Punch Straws, I could go on I'm a sucker for sweets.

What incredibly common thing have you never done? -I have never had an Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook account. Social media is the worst.

Have you ever been fired from a job? Explain. -Yup. This is in my Money Makers chapter. I was fired after ten years with a company and I'm still bitter about it.

How many sexual partners have you had? -You know how long a CVS receipt is? Yeah, combine a bunch of them together and my list is about that long. The actual number is shared in my Men & Sex chapter. Like Skittles, I have tasted the rainbow. Zing!

What outdoor activity would you like to try that you haven't done yet? -Bungee jump over a body of water. This is riskier for me because I can't swim.

Who is the most fashionable musician? -Rhianna. (non-musician, Colman Domingo).

What is the last new thing you tried? -My daughter's zucchini bread. I finished the whole loaf within an hour. Not only does she bake well, but I have little self-control when it comes to breakfast breads.

What would you change about your physical appearance? -My hips. Shakira said it best.

What material item do you consider a waste of money? -Having the latest cell phone or buying a piece of clothing that costs more than my rent. Sheer stupidity to me.

When you hear the word politics what words come to mind? -Riot inducing.

What subject should be taught in school that isn't? -Finance 101 (understanding stocks and bonds, the ins and outs of home buying, etc.).

Where's the perfect place to have a date? -Outdoors.

Besides essentials (food, clothing, people), what two things can't you live without? -My (semi-decent) health and music.

What is the greatest physical gift you have received? -My surprise 40th birthday party and all that came with it.

What is your favorite scent? -Philosophy Pure Grace.

What is the longest intimate relationship you've had? -Boops and I just celebrated ten years on the 13th. Goodness!

What do you normally dream about at night? -Someone is either naked or murdered which pretty much sums up the television programming I watch too.

What foods do you typically eat for a snack? -Frozen purple grapes.

Which cartoons did you watch as a kid? -I loved the theme song to Animaniacs and Duck Tales but don't remember watching them. I do remember watching Doug, The Simpsons, and Daria.

Finish this sentence: Back in my day we... -played outside until the streetlights came on. The best.

What is your favorite means of foreplay? -If I may be so bold to say, it's all about the foreplay! My favorite part though is simply the hot and heavy passionate kissing.

Where was your first job? -An ice cream franchise.

What are your favorite restaurants? -I'm known by name at the local Sakura (Japanese) and Saffron (Indian) restaurants.

What application gets the most use on your phone? -Does the calculator count? I don't download applications (spoken like a proper elder) on my phone.

Given the option, what would you change your name to? -Something silly like on that Friends episode. "Young Lady" would really give my aging self a fun facelift too.

What television show have you binged more than once? -Shameless (the U.S. version) and New Girl.

What personality trait must your friends possess? -A twisted sense of humor.

What methods of exercise do you enjoy? -See the answers to the hobby question above.

Best song to karaoke to? Worst? -Best, Bjork's "It's Oh So Quiet". Worst, Don McLean's "American Pie" (Sorry, not sorry, this song is too damn long for karaoke). Side Note: I recently attended Bingo Loco (look it up!) and learned Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" would also make a fab karaoke song for me because I remembered all the lyrics from when I played Barbie's as a kid and had them sing along to it.

How do you feel about stand-up comedy? -Yes, please! In fact, I already have tickets to see Michelle Buteau and Margaret Cho in 2026.

Which wild animal would you want as a pet? -Jellyfish. But not in a Will Smith Seven Pounds type of way. I just find them mesmerizing.

If you could be an extra in any music video, which one would you choose? -Seeing my animated self in a Gorillaz music video would be fun. I still think "Dare" should have been set in a roller-skating rink. Doesn't it put off that vibe?

What television show are you currently obsessed with? -How far back are we talking? I enjoy psychological thrillers like The Beast in Me, Task, The Sinner, The Undoing, Paradise, and Disclaimer. A ton of true-crime documentaries that all kinda run together (but currently Taking the Stand). And for balance a healthy dose of comedy like Abbott Elementary, Loot, Adults, Community, and Schitt's Creek.

What genre of movie do you prefer to watch? -Those based on a true-story always rope me in. Roofman was the last one I saw. I loved the comparison photo they showed during the end credits.

If you could trade places with someone for a day who would you pick? -Zayn Malik, to know how it feels to be the most handsomest man on planet Earth. Agree to disagree.

What clubs or sports were you involved in, in high school? -I wasn't, but I hung out in the hacky sack circle during lunch period.

What are you top five favorite music albums? -In no particular order: Pearl Jam's Vs., Fiona Apple's When the Pawn..., Tori Amos's From the Choirgirl Hotel, Nirvana's MTV Unplugged in New York, and Janet Jackson's Design of a Decade. "Hello, I'm Heather Joy and I was clearly raised in the nineties."

What book has influenced you? -The first book I remember having the greatest impact on me was Elie Wiesel's Night. It led to a period of overdosing on more Holocaust reading material.

Have you ever attended professional counseling? If so, for what? -Duh. For normal life reasons because life is bananas (Thanks, Gwen Stefani)!

What do you need to be in the mood for sex? -Feeling wanted and desired helps.

What are your favorite quotes or mantras to live by? -"This too shall pass" might be a cliche, but I dig it. "It's all about perspective" is another great one.

Give me a fun fact. -There are more bacteria in a human mouth than there are people in the world. Yuck, right?

What image is on your phone wallpaper? -My lover's foot. There's a funny story there, I promise.

Name a visual artist and your favorite piece by them. -Audrey Kawasaki, My Dishonest Heart.

How many hours of sleep do you typically get a night? -It hovers around five or six, but I rarely sleep through the night.

What are your favorite board games to play? -Catch Phrase, Blank Slate, Cards Against Humanity, Scattergories, Loaded Questions, Kings Corners...

If you weren't working your current job, where would you want to work? -An event planner for celebrities. I've been known to throw fun parties, why not get paid the big bucks for it?

Where do you generally shop for clothes? -Thrift shops (props to Goodwill for having fitting rooms) and Poshmark.

What are some memorable concerts you've been to? -Madonna with my daughter was awesome. What an icon. There's also a 90s cover band that comes here often called Saved by the 90s; they always put on a fun show.

Tell me your favorite joke. -What did one tampon say to the other? Nothing, they were both stuck up cunts. (You're welcome.) Or to be kid appropriate: Don't spell part backwards, it's a trap!

What are the top three beverages you drink the most? -Tap water (because I'm so adventurous), hot soy milk matcha with no foam, and plain hot green tea.

What recreational drugs have you taken? -It'd probably be easier to tell you which ones I haven't taken. Pssh.

Have you ever had major surgery? -Cesarian sections, twice!

What's your favorite song to dance to? -I could go on for days with this answer because there are so many different opportunities to dance. Driving? Ludacris “Move Bitch” At a wedding? ABBA “Dancing Queen” In your living room? Crystal Waters “100% Pure Love” A full-on rage dance? Rammstein “Du hast” Exercising? Outkast “B.O.B.” In your childhood bedroom? Technotronic “Pump Up the Jam” At a party? Chic “Good Times” A song with actual dance moves? Los del Rio “Macarena” If you find yourself on a bunch of uppers? Darude “Sandstorm” See? The possibilities are endless!

If you found a $100 bill on the ground, what would you spend it on? -Bills. Yes, that is a lame adult answer, but it's the truth.

What does the news talk about that you find overrated? -The Royal Family. Or influencers, which shouldn't even be considered a job. There, I said it.

What one food could you eat daily and not get sick of? -Heated salted edamame, which lately, I pretty much do.

Ever meet a celebrity? Who? -Questlove. He was such a dear.

Tell me something off your bucket list. -Attend a Burning Man festival. I really think I'd be in my element.

How do you protect your health? -By wearing sunscreen (finally), my seat belt, and a bicycle helmet. Oh, and I eat a shit ton of fruits and vegetables on the regular.

What is your favorite holiday? -Halloween!

What celebrity chef would you like to cook with? -I'm not familiar with many celebrity chefs, so I'll say the first one that comes to mind, Gordon Ramsay.

How do you feel about aging? -I feel like it's the pits! I wake up to random hairs on my body, more peach fuzz on my face, stray gray hairs on my head, hot flashes during the day, constant memory loss, arthritis in my wrists, and wrinkles on my face. So yeah, whomever said women age gracefully is a gahdamn liar. Ha.

What item in your house holds sentimental value to you? -All the paperwork (my kids school artwork, greeting cards from friends and family, letters, etc.). These things are priceless.

How many hours a day do you use your cell phone? -Probably under one hour. Yes, this does exist! Give it a whirl sometime.

What do you collect? Even unintentionally. -Clothes. And yet sometimes I don't want to wear any of them.

Out of all 50 states, what are some highlights of where you have traveled? -Garden of the Gods in Colorado, Zion National Park in Utah, and Highway One in California.

Who would you pick to be stranded on a desert highway with? -Juliette Lewis (the actress). Not only do I think we'd have similar stories to swap, but I feel like we'd just have a blast together.

What's in your junk drawer? -I have a junk cabinet in my kitchen. It holds recipes and cookbooks, Band-Aids and medicine, and office supplies like pens, tape, and batteries. Typical, yet useful, junk.

Do you have any allergies? -Nope (knocks on wood).

What's the last movie you saw in the theater? -Die My Love. Jennifer Lawrence did a phenomenal job portraying postpartum depression.

Name four things that make you happy. -A full moon, chunky babies, marching bands, and the pop sound jars make when you first break the seal. More of these are listed in my Manically Physical chapter.

What's the nicest thing someone had done for you? -Quoted a line from my book back to me in normal conversation. It left me speechless.

What genre of books do you tend to read? -Autobiographies.

Share a useful life hack with me. -Any hair that naturally falls out while shampooing, ball up on the shower wall to dispose of in the trash after your shower, that way it doesn't clog your drain.

What country would you like to visit? -Any of them! Outside of the United States, I've only been to Canada and the Bahamas.

In the movie of your life, who would play you? -Juno Temple.

Three places you would love to visit? -Alaska, New Mexico, Wyoming. Read my Motorized Vehicles chapter for the reasons why.

Which four celebrities (living or dead) would you have a dinner party with? -Adrien Brody to taste some eye candy, Anthony Ramos for an appetizer nibble, Gael Garcia Bernal to fondle for dinner, and LaKeith Stanfield for dessert. That's what you meant, right? Yum.

What random act of kindness do you commit regularly? -I always put back my "no thank you" items if I change my mind before purchasing. Anyone who works/worked in retail probably does this too because they know the annoyance of those who don't. Let's try to pay it forward and make lives easier, folks.

What makes you cry? -That one time I saw a psychic and they told me I'd die at a young age (the nerve!), That 2025 Hobby Lobby commercial where the little girl is cooking with her dad and mimicking his actions. I don't have a clue what it has to do with Hobby Lobby, but it pulls at my heartstrings every time. Oh, and bullies or online trolls. C'mon people, choose joy.

What are your work pet peeves? -Fakeness and those who "work from home" which could also be the same thing when you think about it.

Which would you rather have, a personal: chef, masseuse, maid, or trainer? -Masseuse. A daily foot and hand massage would be my fantasy come true.

What is the most expensive purchase you have made? -Does having children count? Let's be real; it's an expensive choice.

Which animated character would you befriend? -Trent Lane. We'd totally be friends with benefits. Wink, wink.

What name would you give your boat? -Wet Dreams.

What superpower do you wish you had? -Mindreading.

Where is the most beautiful place you have traveled to? -The crystal-clear water and white sand in Florida come to mind.

What is your most selfish character trait? -I can be a real stubborn bitch sometimes.

How do you relax? -By listening to that Frankie Goes to Hollywood song. I kid, I kid. Probably with a television series binge.

What's your favorite type of weather? -Sunshine. It definitely has an effect on my mood.

What is your go-to meal? -My meals are unique compared to the average person. I'll throw a bunch of beans, cumin, canned tomatoes, and corn in a pot and eat it for lunch all week, topping it with avocado. My dinners this whole week have been two packs of frozen edamame with a refrigerated Take 5 for dessert.

What is your love language (physical touch, words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time)? -Words of affirmation. I'm a total slut for compliments.

When you disagree with someone, how do you react? -A mixture of confrontation at high volume or the silent treatment. I go from one extreme to the next.

Have you ever been involved in illegal activity? Explain. -Read my book and find out. Insert evil laughter here.

What's the sexiest thing about humans? -Confidence.

What are a few of your pet peeves about driving? -This is also in my Motorized Vehicles chapter: Drivers who stop at yellow lights, don't turn right on red, don't use their turn signals, can't merge properly...yeah, I'm a total road rage hothead. I'm not proud of this behavior.

Which websites do you doomscroll the most? -Etsy, Temu, Poshmark, and the Virginia Beach public library catalog.

What word or phrase do you overuse? -"You got it!" Can you feel the people pleasing behaviors ooze out of me?

Best vacation you've had? -A Disney cruise with my kids and Boops. I think it was in 2018.

What is your favorite animal? -Giraffe. My daughter's cat is a close second.

How much influence do your friends and family have on your decision making? -A normal amount??

How often do you see your parents/siblings? -My parents and brothers only a handful of times a year, but my sister more often. They all live in the same city as me too.

What advice would you give to your younger self? -Don't marry him!!!!

Name something you've eaten that others may find strange. -I put yellow mustard on my cheese pizza. There's a NYC story about this in my Meals chapter.

Which game show would you be a good contestant? -Wheel of Fortune. I like word puzzles.

How much would someone need to pay you for you to eat a cockroach? -Definitely in the millions. Those janks are nasty, vile critters!

What view would you like to wake up to daily? -Somewhere with gorgeous architecture like the Taj Mahal or those gingerbread Willy Wonka looking houses in Europe. You know the ones.

If you could time travel, what period of time would you visit? -The late sixties for Woodstock.

Do you have a name for an inanimate object in your life? Explain. -Boops and I call condoms, jim-jams.

What sports do you enjoy playing? Watching? -I enjoy playing pickleball, miniature golf, and bowling. But Ted Lasso is as far as I go with regular sports watching.

Name a trait you inherited from your parents, for better or worse. -Being prompt from my father and repeating my stories from my mother.

What color is most reflected in your wardrobe? -Black, babycakes. There's so much black.

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giving myself vs. sharing myself

Heather Joy — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

**poetry from my Mixed Media Chapter**

in a room full of bad habits, juicy oral explorations, and cryptic signs / semen falls as dizziness injects its pain / close your legs honey; I can read you like an open book / the emotional bleed drips the longest / i wished without mercy tonight

i stole sips straight from the juice carton as you tiptoed behind me / both wearing nothing but a smile / twisting me around you pulled me in / kissing the spilt sticky liquid from my chin / you are my favorite orange crush

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greatest hits compilation

Heather Joy — Fri, 6 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Here it is! The condensed list of the 231 Cue songs and the 802 Footnotes from MMMM: and the music that made me. (Side Note: Other musicians and songs were mentioned in the book, just not as a Cue song or Footnote; therefore, aren't listed below.)

Footnotes in the hardcover and paperback

Murder Chapter

1. Mobb Deep, “Shook Ones, Pt. II”

2. Taking Heads, “Psycho Killer”

3. Cat Stevens “Wild World”

4. What Made Milwaukee Famous “Sweet Lady”

5. 50 Cent, Nate Dogg “21 Questions”

6. The The “This is the Day”

7. Delta Spirit “California”

8. Shaed “Trampoline”

9. Two Door Cinema Club “What You Know”

10. Flora Cash “You’re Somebody Else”

11. YK Osiris “Worth It”

12. Jason Mraz “You and I Both”

13. The Kinks “Sunny Afternoon”

14. Pop Smoke, DaBaby, Lil Baby “For the Night”

15. Eagle-Eye Cherry “Save Tonight”

16. Borns “Electric Love”

17. Fitz and the Tantrums “House on Fire”

18. Camila Cabello, DaBaby “My Oh My”

19. Curtis Mayfield “Pusherman”

20. 7 Seconds “Tied Up In Rhythm”

21. Outkast, Morris Brown College Gospel Choir “B.O.B. (Bombs over Baghdad)”

22. Phillip Phillips “Home”

23. Bear Driver “No Time To Speak”

24. Stereo MC’s “Connected”

25. Grouplove “Tongue Tied”

26. Dave Matthews Band “Two Step”

27. The Thermals “Never Listen to Me”

28. Third Eye Blind “Jumper”

29. Alkaline Trio “Enjoy Your Day”

30. Howie Day, London Session Orchestra “Collide”

31. Kid Cudi “Day ‘N Nite”

32. AJR, “Sober Up”

33. Charlie Puth “Attention”

34. Death in Vegas, Dot Allison “Dirge”

35. Superdrag “Sucked Out”

36. Soul II Soul, Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra “Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)”

37. Lit “My Own Worst Enemy”

38. Calvin Harris, Ne-Yo “Let’s Go”

39. Bad Religion “Sorrow”

40. Heart “Crazy on You”

41. Knox Hamilton “Work it Out”

42. Churchill “Change”

43. Three Dog Night “One”

44. Peter Gabriel, Youssou N’Dour “In Your Eyes”

45. The Black Keys “Psychotic Girl”

46. Pete Yorn “Strange Condition”

47. Erykah Badu “On & On”

48. Tool “Eulogy”

49. Colin Hay “I Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You”

50. Monsters of Folk “Baby Boomer”

My Family Chapter

51. Steppenwolf “Born to be Wild”

52. Passion Pit “Where I Come From”

53. Nirvana “Son of a Gun”

54. Mary J. Blige “Real Love”

55. Sugarcult “Memory” (acoustic)

56. The White Stripes “Little Room”

57. Tori Amos “Northern Lad”

58. ANIMA! “Blood”

59. Dionne Farris “I Know”

60. Audioslave “Like a Stone”

61. Alice Merton “No Roots”

62. Red Hot Chili Peppers “Warped”

63. Ani DiFranco “Gravel”

64. Local Natives “Wide Eyes”

65. Sofi Tukker, Alisa Ueno, Nervo, The Knocks “Best Friend”

66. Ryan Leslie, Cassie, Fabolous “Addiction”

67. Ariana Grande “Thank U, Next”

68. Cary Brothers “Ride”

69. The Fray “How to Save a Life”

70. Joey Purp “Elastic”

71. Broken Social Scene “7/4 (Shoreline)”

72. Seal (or the Yeasayer cover) “Crazy”

73. The Germs “Communist Eyes”

74. Peter Bjorn and John, Victoria Bergsman “Young Folks”

75. Ja Rule, Ashanti “Always on Time”

76. Mac Miller, Anderson .Paak “Dang!”

77. Supertramp “Give a Little Bit”

78. Fabolous, The Neptunes “Young’n (Holla Back)”

79. French Montana, Swae Lee “Unforgettable”

80. REM “Bang and Blame”

81. Sir Sly “&Run”

82. The O’Jays “Love Train”

83. City and Colour “Fragile Bird”

84. Julie London “Cry Me a River”

85. Green Day “She”

86. Fugazi “Merchandise”

87. Whitney Houston “I Have Nothing”

88. O.A.R. “Shattered (Turn the Car Around)”

89. The Specials “Gangsters”

90. Billie Eilish “Everything I Wanted”

91. Paula Abdul “Straight Up”

92. Open Hand “Time to Talk” (acoustic)

93. Jade “Don’t Walk Away”

94. Dinosaur Jr. “Feel the Pain”

95. The Pretty Reckless “Waiting for a Friend”

96. Drowning Pool “Bodies”

97. Natalie Merchant “Jealousy”

98. Page France “Dogs”

99. Fuel “Shimmer”

100. Donna Lewis “I Love You Always Forever”

101. The Von Bondies “C’mon C’mon”

Mates Chapter

102. Brandy “Sittin’ Up in my Room”

103. The Beatles “For No One”

104. Rod Stewart “Forever Young”

105. Candlebox “Far Behind”

106. Bahamas “Lost in the Light”

107. Thao & the Get Down Stay Down “Beat (Health, Life, and Fire)”

108. Leon Bridges “Coming Home”

109. Juice Wrld “Cigarettes”

110. Division of Laura Lee “Does Compute”

111. Ice Cube “It Was a Good Day”

112. The Breeders “Cannonball”

113. Pedro the Lion “Bad Diary Days”

114. Melissa Etheridge “I’m the Only One”

115. Jamie Cullum “Wheels”

116. Tame Impala “Elephant”

117. BT, Mike Doughty “Never Gonna Come Back Down”

118. The Urge “Jump Right In”

119. One Republic “Counting Stars”

120. Quavo “Galaxy”

121. Meek Mill, Drake “Going Bad”

122. Rumspringa “Musical Chairs”

123. Coolio, L.V., “Gangsta’s Paradise”

124. Lifehouse “Spin”

125. Tones and I “Dance Monkey”

126. Modest Mouse “Dashboard”

127. Veruca Salt “Volcano Girls”

128. Fleetwood Mac “Dreams”

129. Charlie Puth, Selena Gomez “We Don’t Talk Anymore”

130. Bastille “Bad Blood”

131. Nick Drake “Pink Moon”

132. Deftones, Maynard James Keenan “Passenger”

133. Vance Joy, “From Afar”

134. Lupe Fiasco, Jill Scott “Daydreamin”

135. Clubfeet “Edge of Extremes”

136. INOJ “Love You Down”

137. Blues Traveler “Run Around”

138. The Chi-Lites “Oh Girl”

139. Lo Fidelity Allstars, Pigeonhed “Battle Flag” (Radio Edit)

140. Dido “White Flag”

141. New Order “Bizarre Love Triangle”

142. Two Lanes “Drifting”

143. Destiny’s Child “Independent Women, Part I”

144. Dolly Parton “9 to 5”

145. Arrested Development, Dionne Farris “Tennessee”

146. Little Richard “Tutti Frutti”

147. Sausy Santana, Latto “Booty”

148. Pitbull, Ne-Yo “Time of Our Lives”

149. Fugees “Ready or Not”

Men & Sex Chapter

150. John Mayer “My Stupid Mouth”

151. INXS “Need You Tonight”

152. Zedd, Maren Morris, Grey “The Middle”

153. Luscious Jackson “Naked Eye”

154. Nina Simone “Feeling Good”

155. Angus & Julia Stone “Just a Boy”

156. Tristan Prettyman “Say Anything”

157. Ambulance LTD “Stay Where You Are”

158. Tate McRae “You Broke Me First”

159. Death Cab for Cutie “Passenger Seat”

160. Finger Eleven “Quicksand”

161. Patty Griffin “One Big Love”

162. Air “Sexy Boy”

163. The B-52’s “Roam”

164. Creed “My Own Prison”

165. The Verve Pipe “The Freshmen”

166. Au Revoir Simone “All of Nothing”

167. J-Kwon “Tipsy”

168. Doves “Kingdom of Rust”

169. The xx “Crystalised”

170. Mike Posner “Cooler Than Me”

171. The Dead Milkmen “Punk Rock Girl”

172. T. Rex “Get it On”

173. Vampire Weekend “A-Punk”

174. Josh Levi “What’s the Use”

175. Corona, Giovanna Bersola “The Rhythm of the Night”

176. The Foundations “Build me up Buttercup”

177. Lumidee “Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)”

178. Matt Costa “Mr. Pitiful”

179. Joan Jett “Bad Reputation”

180. Coal Chamber “Loco”

181. Operation Ivy “Knowledge”

182. Flunk “Play”

183. Tapes ‘n Tapes “Freak Out”

184. Sheryl Crow “Strong Enough”

185. Cypress Hill “I Ain’t Goin’ Out Like That”

186. The Revivalists “Wish I Knew You”

187. Odesza, Naomi Wild “Higher Ground”

188. Next, Vernell Sales “Too Close”

189. Linkin Park “Shadow of the Day”

190. Bush “Comedown”

191. Pras, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Mya “Ghetto Supastar (That is What You Are)”

192. MewithoutYou “Silencer”

193. Vola, Shahmen “These Black Claws”

194. Nelly, Kelly Rowland “Dilemma”

195. Stabbing Westward “Save Yourself”

196. Swear and Shake “These White Walls”

197. Phantoms, Verite “Just a Feeling”

198. The Miracles “Ooh Baby Baby”

199. Family of the Year “Hero”

200. U2 “One”

201. Redbird “Ooh La La”

202. Animal Kingdom “Strange Attractor”

203. Sam Smith, Normani “Dancing with a Stranger”

204. Aerosmith “Dream On”

205. Etta James “At Last”

206. The Big Pink “Dominos”

207. Wavves “Post Acid”

208. Blur “Girls & Boys”

209. Wild Nothing “Only Heather”

210. Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse, The Flaming Lips “Revenge”

211. Fergie, Ludacris “Glamorous”

212. Bright Eyes “Lover I Don’t Have to Love”

213. Montell Jordan “This is How We Do It”

214. Pitbull, John Ryan “Fireball”

215. Powfu, Beabadoobee “Death Bed (Coffee for Your Head)”

216. Coldplay “The Scientist”

217. Niki Black “The Other Man”

218. Bleu Chair “The Tempo”

219. Remy Zero “Save Me”

220. SWV “Weak”

221. Dink “Green Mind”

222. Avicii, Aloe Blacc “Wake Me Up”

223. Young MC, Crystal Blake “Bust A Move”

224. Steve Lacy “Dark Red”

225. Lipps Inc. “Funkytown”

226. Jesus Jones “Right Here Right Now”

227. O “Deepthroat Love”

228. Glass Animals “Gooey”

229. Rosemary Clooney, Perez Prado “Sway”

230. Zero 7, Sophie Barker “In the Waiting Line”

231. Iron and Wine, Sarah Beam “Naked as We Came”

232. The Smiths “How Soon Is Now”

233. Abra Moore “Four Leaf Clover”

234. Sean Carey, Shannon Carey “In the Dirt”

235. Rae Sremmurd, Gucci Mane “Black Beatles”

236. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers “American Girl”

237. Spoon “Small Steaks”

238. Iggy Pop “The Passenger”

239. New Ruins “Ships”

240. Jon Vincent III “Next to You”

241. Public Enemy, Stephen Stills “He Got Game”

242. Beck “Lost Cause”

243. Clockwork, Wynter Gordon “Surge” (Charlie Darker Remix)

244. Nicole Wray, Keli Nicole Price, Missy Elliott, Mocha, Timbaland “Make it Hot”

245. The Tallest Man on Earth “Leading me Now”

246. Sponge “Plowed”

247. Portugal, The Man “Feel it Still”

248. Them Crooked Vultures “Dead End Friends”

249. Barns Courtney “Fire”

250. Tom Haines, Christopher Branch “Brief Encounter (Full Mix)”

251. O.T. Genasis, Young Dolph “Cut It”

252. The Heavy, The Dap-Kings “How You Like Me Now”

253. Pixies “Where is my Mind”

254. Dirty Vegas “Days Go By”

255. Janet Jackson, Chuck D “New Agenda”

256. The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar “Pray for Me”

257. Estelle, Kayne West “American Boy”

258. Juelz Santana “There it Go (The Whistle Song)”

259. The Weeknd “In the Night”

260. The Bouncing Souls “True Believers”

261. Marvin Gaye “Inner City Blues (Make me Wanna Holler)”

262. Run DMC “It’s Tricky”

263. The National “Slow Show”

264. Poe, Mark Z. Danielewski “Hey Pretty”

265. C2C “Down the Road”

266. Frightened Rabbit “Nothing Like You”

267. Letters to Cleo “Here and Now”

268. Shout Out Louds “Very Loud”

269. Post Malone “Better Now”

270. The Lumineers “White Lie”

271. Major Lazer, DJ Snake, MO “Lean ON”

272. Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories “Stay (I Missed You)”

273. Papa Roach “Last Resort”

274. Fidel “So Hard”

275. Lynyrd Skynyrd “Simple Man”

276. Hole, “Jennifer’s Body”

277. Big Boi, Lunchmoney Lewis “All Night”

278. Ludacris, Pharrell Williams “Money Maker”

279. Kat Von D “Vanish”

280. Fedde Le Grand, Matthew Koma, Nicky Romero “Sparks (Turn Off Your Mind)”

281. La Bouche “Be My Lover”

282. Noah Cyrus, Leon Bridges “July”

283. The Cure “Lovesong”

284. Alex Clare “Too Close”

285. Phantogram “Fall in Love”

286. Mazzy Star “Fade Into You”

287. Elle King “America’s Sweetheart”

288. Eazy-E (or the Dynamite Hack cover) “Boyz-n-the-Hood”

289. Martin Solveig, Dragonette “Hello”

290. Peaches & Herb “Shake Your Groove Thing”

291. Gotye, Kimbra “Somebody That I Used to Know”

292. Phill Collins “In the Air Tonight”

293. Steve Miller Band “The Joker”

294. Bad Company “Feel Like Makin’ Love”

295. Sal-N-Pepa, En Vogue, Troy and John Mitchell “Whatta Man”

296. Jason Derulo “Want to Want Me”

297. Howlin’ Maggie “Alcohol”

298. 4 Non Blondes “What’s Up”

299. X Ambassadors “Renegades”

300. Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar “Goosebumps”

301. Ini Kamoze “Here Comes the Hotstepper”

302. Coco Jones “Fallin’”

303. We Are Scientists “After Hours”

304. Moby “Say it’s All Mine”

305. Vertical Horizon “Everything You Want”

306. Joyner Lucas, Logic “ISIS”

307. Saint Jhn, Imanbek “Roses”

308. Alice Deejay “Better Off Alone”

309. Jimmy Buffet and the Coral Reefer Band “Margaritaville”

310. Pantera “Walk”

311. Bob Dylan “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”

312. J. Cole, Miguel “Power Trip”

313. Daft Punk, Nile Rodgers, Pharrell Williams “Get Lucky”

314. Imagine Dragons “It’s Time”

315. Pat Benatar “Love is a Battlefield”

316. Arms “Shitty Little Disco”

317. The Cars “Drive”

318. Hi-Tek, Jonell “Round & Round”

319. Bill Withers “Lovely Day”

320. Portishead “Glory Box”

321. Mickey & Sylvia “Love is Strange”

322. Fink “Looking Too Closely”

323. Queens of the Stone Age “Better Living Through Chemistry”

324. Paul Weller “You Do Something to Me”

325. Hoobastank “Crawling in the Dark”

326. Lou Reed “Walk on the Wild Side”

327. The Bravery “No Brakes”

328. Skee-Lo “I Wish”

329. Royal Teeth “Wild”

330. Iggy Azalea, Rita Ora “Black Widow”

331. Atoms for Peace “Default”

332. Jack Harlow “Whats Poppin”

333. Jet “Are You Gonna Be My Girl”

334. Can “Vitamin C”

335. Bear’s Den “Agape”

336. Ashlee Simpson “Pieces of Me”

337. Big Data, Joywave “Dangerous”

338. When in Rome “The Promise”

339. Patti Rothberg “Inside”

340. Freddy King “Let Me Be (Stay Away From Me)”

341. Dramarama “Anything, Anything (I’ll Give You)”

342. Gang Starr “Work”

343. Citizen Cope “Left for Dead”

344. Bobby Brown “My Prerogative”

345. Milky Chance “Loveland”

346. The Almost “Say This Sooner”

347. Surfaces “Sunday Best”

348. Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Timbaland “Suit & Tie”

349. Nelly Furtado “Say it Right”

350. Ella Mai “A Thousand Times”

351. Big Brother and the Holding Company “Piece of my Heart”

352. Judah & the Lion “Take it all Back”

353. Saves the Day “The End”

Manipulation Chapter

354. Wilco “How to Fight Loneliness”

355. Justice “Genesis”

356. Halsey “Haunting”

357. Michael Kiwanuka “Love & Hate”

358. Frank Sinatra “That’s Life”

359. The Mowgli’s “Say it, Just Say it”

360. DRAM, Lil Yachty “Broccoli”

361. Aaliyah, Timbaland “Try Again”

362. Adina Howard “Freak Like Me” (Radio Edit)

363. Joy Division “Love Will Tear Us Apart”

364. J+1 “Desserted”

365. Godsmack “Awake”

366. Soul Coughing “Circles”

367. Lydia “This is Twice Now”

368. Buffalo Springfield “For What it’s Worth”

369. Harry Styles “As it Was”

370. Gracie Abrams “Stay”

371. Vanessa Carlton “A Thousand Miles”

372. Devon Gilfillian “All I Really Wanna Do”

373. Crystal Waters “100% Pure Love”

374. Khalid, Normani “Love Lies”

375. Johnny Cash “Get Rhythm”

376. Nine Inch Nails “Only”

377. Fiona Apple “Regret”

378. The Chiffons “One Fine Day”

379. Neverending White Lights “Liar”

380. Mondo Cozmo “Shine”

381. Stateless “Bloodstream”

382. Rick Astle “Never Gonna Give Your Up”

383. Jon Bellion “All Time Low”

384. Gnarls Barkley “Crazy”

385. The Mamas & the Papas “Words of Love”

386. Matchbox Twenty “How Far We’ve Come”

387. WOLFE, Emma Sameth “Through With You”

388. Santigold “You’ll Find A Way” (Switch and Sinden Remix)

389. Jonsi “Tornado”

Marriage Chapter

390. Adele “Rumour Has It”

391. House of Pain “Jump Around”

392. Maneskin “Beggin’”

393. Hootie & the Blowfish “Only Wanna Be With You”

394. Spacehog “In the Meantime”

395. Midtown “Waiting for the News”

396. Sam Cooke “You Send Me”

397. The New Amsterdams “Stay on the Phone”

398. Massive Attack, Elizabeth Fraser “Teardrop”

399. Kesha “Praying”

400. Dua Lipa, Silk City “Electricity”

401. KT Tunstall “Suddenly I See”

402. The Strumbellas “Spirits”

403. Pink “Sober”

404. Sean Paul “Get Busy”

405. Telepopmusik, Angela McCluskey “Breathe”

406. Regina Spektor “One Little Soldier”

407. The Radio Dept. “Pulling Our Weight”

408. Blu Cantrell “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops)”

409. Billie Holliday “Body and Soul”

410. Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Zero”

411. Ricky Martin “Livin’ la Vida Loca”

412. Angles & Airwaves “Spellbound”

413. Eve, Gwen Stefani “Let Me Blow Ya Mind”

414. DJ E-Z Rock, Rob Base “It Takes Two”

415. The Isley Brothers “It’s Your Thing”

416. Talib Kweli “Get By”

417. Mad Season “River of Deceit”

418. Eric B. & Rakim “Paid in Full”

419. Arcade Fire “Ready to Start”

420. 311 “I’ll Be Here Awhile”

421. Fat Joe, French Montana, Infared, Remy Ma “All the Way Up”

422. Rosa Linn “Snap”

423. Taking Back Sunday “MakeDamnSure”

424. Miley Cyrus “Wrecking Ball”

425. Placebo “The Bitter End”

426. Fall of Transition “Fabulous Liar”

427. Jane’s Addiction “Stop”

428. Soundgarden “Burden in my Hand”

429. NoNoNo “Pumpin Blood”

Motherhood Chapter

430. Fleet Foxes “Your Protector”

431. Rag’n’Bone Man “Human”

432. Band of Horses “The General Specific”

433. Cher “If I Could Turn Back Time”

434. The Folk Implosion “Natural One”

435. Tanlines “All of Me”

436. 5 Seconds of Summer “Youngblood”

437. Diplo, French Montana, Lil Pump, Zhavia Ward “Welcome to the Party”

438. Talk “Run Away to Mars”

439. The Naked and Famous “Young Blood”

440. Stone Temple Pilots “Pretty Penny”

441. Garbage “Milk”

442. Fleurie “Soldier”

443. The Coral “Dreaming of You”

444. Rise Against “Savior”

445. No Doubt “New”

446. Bell Biv DeVoe “Poison”

447. Danzig “Mother”

448. A Boy and His Kite “Cover Your Tracks”

449. The Airborne Toxic Event “Sometime Around Midnight”

450. Madonna “Secret”

451. Meredith Brooks “Bitch”

452. Bikini Kill “Capri Pants”

453. Bleachers “Rollercoaster”

454. Duran Duran, Tessa Niles “Come Undone”

455. Abandoned Pools “Monster”

456. Our Lady Peace “Clumsy”

457. Meghan Trainor “Me Too”

458. Vast “Touched”

459. Corrine Bailey Rae “Like a Star”

460. Natalie Cole “This Will Be”

461. Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats “You Worry Me”

462. Rufus Wainwright (or Jeff Buckley’s version) “Hallelujah”

463. The Subways “With You”

464. Azure Ray “Sleep”

465. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie “Look Back at It”

466. Faith Evans “Love Like This”

467. America “Ventura Highway”

Music Chapter

468. Snap “The Power

469. The Dresden Dolls “Sing”

470. George Ezra “Breakaway”

471. My Morning Jacket “Golden”

472. Cannons “Fire For You”

473. Dead Prez “Hip-Hop”

474. George Michael “Freedom”

475. Tracy Bonham “Mother Mother”

476. J.K. & Co “Fly”

477. Roddy Ricch “The Box”

478. Crystal Castles, Robert Smith “Not in Love”

479. Starsailor “Good Souls”

480. Rocky Votolato “Before You Were Born”

481. Motorcycle “As the Rush Comes”

482. Reel Big Fish “Beer”

483. Technotronic, Ya Kid K “Pump Up the Jam”

484. Troye Sivan, Tate McRae, Regard “You”

485. B.O.B., Bruno Mars “Nuthin’ on You”

486. Tiger Army “Wander Alone”

487. Adrian Roland “Gravitate”

488. MS MR “Hurricane”

489. Creedence Clearwater Revival “Have You Ever Seen The Rain”

490. Anna Nalick “Breathe (2AM)”

491. Animal Collective “My Girls”

492. Eagles “Peaceful Easy Feeling”

493. Bia “Whole Lotta Money”

494. Marshal Tucker Band “Can’t You See”

495. The Human League “Don’t You Want Me”

496. The Interrupters “She’s Kerosene”

497. Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Chris Stapleton “Blow”

498. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band “Dancing in the Dark”

499. Kendrick Lamar, SZA “All the Stars”

500. Glenn Miller and his Orchestra “In the Mood”

501. David Gray “Please Forgive Me”

502. CeCe Peniston “Finally”

503. N.E.R.D. “Rock Star”

504. Lizzo “About Damn Time”

505. Bombay Bicycle Club “Always Like This”

506. Sons of the Sea “Come Together”

507. Sampha “Treasure”

508. Department of Eagles “No One Does it Like You”

509. PJ Harvey “Joy”

510. Alana Davis “32 Flavors”

511. Kings of Leon “Fans”

512. Chic “Good Times”

513. Earth, Wind & Fire “September”

514. Goo Goo Dolls “Black Balloon”

515. Elton John “Your Song”

516. Metallica “Nothing Else Matters”

517. Psychedelic Furs “Pretty in Pink”

518. Arctic Monkeys “Dancing Shoes”

519. Lil Baby, Young Thug “Never Hating”

520. Person L, Aaron Marsh “Untitled”

521. The Chainsmokers, Rozes, “Roses”

522. Louis Prima, Keely Smith, Sam Butera and the Witnesses (or the Brian Setzer Orchestra cover) “Jump, Jive an’ Wail”

523. The Cardigans “My Favourite Game”

Mixed Media Chapter

524. The Avett Brothers “Slight Figure of Speech”

525. Alabama Shakes “This Feeling”

526. Aretha Franklin “Think”

527. The Head and the Heart “Shake”

528. Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto “The Girl from Ipanema”

529. Everything but the Girl “Missing”

530. Lil Tjay, 6lack “Calling my Phone”

531. Louis Armstrong “What a Wonderful World”

532. Punch Brothers “Dark Days”

533. Citizen King “Better Days (and the Bottom Drops Out)”

534. The Turtles “It Ain’t Me Babe”

535. Kriss Kross “Jump”

536. Alien Ant Farm “Movies”

537. Turnstile “Holiday”

538. The Temptations “My Girl”

539. Fifth Harmony, Kid Ink “Worth It”

540. Authority Zero “One More Minute”

541. Elliott Smith “Whatever (Folk Song in C)”

542. Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band “Turn the Page”

543. Blackpink “Typa Girl”

544. John Legend “Sun Comes Up”

545. Walk the Moon “Tightrope”

546. Field Report “Home (Leave the Lights on)”

547. Jay-Z “Public Service Announcement (Interlude)”

548. Atlas Genius “Trojans”

549. Peter Broderick “And it’s Alright”

550. The Struts “Pretty Vicious”

551. H.E.R. “Comfortable”

552. Franz Ferdinand “No You Girls”

553. Daya “Hide Away”

554. The Dandy Warhols :Bohemian Like You”

555. Ghostland Observatory “Sad Sad City”

556. The Swell Season “The Moon”

557. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Eric Nally, Grandmaster Caz, Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel “Downtown”

558. The Staple Singers “I’ll Take You There”

Meals Chapter

559. Mudvayne “Dig”

560. Mariah Carey, Puff Daddy “Honey”

561. Durand Jones & the Indications “Is it Any Wonder”

562. Temple of the Dog “Hunger Strike”

563. Living Colour “Cult of Personality”

564. Clinic “The Equaliser”

565. Bruce Hornsby and the Range “The Way it Is”

566. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins “I Put a Spell on You”

567. Awolnation “Sail”

568. Takako Minekawa “Fantastic Cat”

569. Capital Cities “Safe and Sound”

570. Tsunami Bomb “Lemonade”

571. Saint Motel “My Type”

572. She Wants Revenge “Tear You Apart”

573. Kelis “Milkshake”

574. Commodores “Easy”

575. Usher “Caught Up”

576. Orgy “Blue Monday”

577. The Brain Jonestown Massacre “Free and Easy, Take 2”

578. The 1975 “Sex”

579. Kiss “Rock and Roll All Nite”

580. Young Franco, Pell “Juice”

581. Flo Rida, Etta James, Avicii “Good Feeling”

582. Selena Gomez “Kill ‘em with Kindness”

583. Korn “Divine”

584. The Distillers “The Hunger”

585. Cage the Elephant “Cold Cold Cold”

586. Crash Test Dummies “MMM MMM MMM MMM”

587. DJ Kool, Biz Markie, Doug E. Fresh, “Let Me Clear My Throat”

588. Incubus “A Certain Shade of Green”

Money Makers Chapter

589. Psapp “Always in my Head”

590. Lissie “When I’m Alone”

591. Des’ree “You Gotta Be”

592. Misfits “Skulls”

593. Kaleo “No Good”

594. Depeche Mode “Enjoy the Silence”

595. Blondfire “Where the Kids Are”

596. Gloria Gaynor “I Will Survive”

597. Shakedown, Terra Deva “At Night”

598. Sia “Helium”

599. Neil Young “Heart of Gold”

600. Gabrielle “Dreams”

601. Slightly Stoopid “Waiting”

602. Of Monsters and Men “Silhouettes”

603. Hum “Stars”

604. Dashboard Confessional “Hands Down”

605. Carole King “It’s Too Late”

606. In the Valley Below “Peaches”

607. Banks “Beggin for Thread”

608. N.O.R.E., the Neptunes “Nothin” (Radio Edit)

609. TV on the Radio, Katrina Ford “Wolf Like Me”

610. Michael Sembello “Maniac”

611. Cave “Sweaty Fingers”

612. Jennifer Lopez, Ja Rule, Caddillac Tah “Ain’t it Funny” (Murder Remix)

613. James Brown “I Got You (I Feel Good)”

614. Santana “Black Magic Woman”

615. Jonas Brothers “Only Human”

616. Chris Brown, Drake “No Guidance”

617. Travis “Turn”

618. Cyndi Lauper “Time After Time”

619. The Killers “Smile Like You Mean It”

620. The Bucketheads “The Bomb (These Sounds Fall into my Mind)”

621. Guns N’ Roses “Patience”

622. Twenty One Pilots “Goner”

623. Summer Walker “Shame”

624. Jem “Just a Ride”

625. Elefant “Misfit”

626. Lenka “Everything at Once”

627. Polyphia “Playing God”

628. Everlast “What it’s Like”

629. Royal Blood “Figure it Out”

630. James “Laid”

631. Justin Bieber “What do you Mean”

632. Counting Crows “Round Here”

633. Tonic “If You Could Only See”

634. Devo “Whip It”

635. Anberlin “Breaking”

636. Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals “Faded”

637. Real McCoy “Another Night”

638. Len “Steal my Sunshine”

639. A Flock of Seagulls “I Ran (So Far Away)”

640. Cracker “Low”

641. Marcus Miller, Lalah Hathaway “Blast”

642. Jewel “Little Sister”

643. Cat Power “Sea of Love”

644. Cowboy Junkies “A Common Disaster”

645. Ben E. King “Stand by Me”

646. Bran New “The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows”

647. Tone Loc “Wild Thing”

648. Twin Shadow, Haim “Saturdays”

649. Against Me! “T.S.R. (This Shit Rules)”

650. 10 Years “Wasteland” (acoustic)

651. Jim Croce “Operator (That’s Not The Way It Feels)”

652. Petula Clark “Downtown”

653. Coleman Hell “2 Heads”

654. Leona Naess “Charm Attack”

655. DRGN King “Wild Night”

656. Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs “Stay”

657. K. Flay “Blood in the Cut”

658. Kristen Barry “Ordinary Life”

659. The Kooks “She Moves in her Own Way”

660. Porno for Pyros “Pets”

661. Adam Ant “Wonderful”

662. Robin Thicke, T.I., Pharrell Williams “Blurred Lines”

663. Tupac, Talent “Changes”

664. Rilo Kiley “Portions for Foxes”

665. Celtica Nova “Amazing Grace”

666. Rusted Root “Send Me on my Way”

667. William Fitzsimmons, Priscilla Ahn “I Don’t Feel it Anymore (Song of the Sparrow)” (George Raquet Remix)

668. Jimmy Eat World “Sweetness”

669. Future Islands “Seasons (Waiting for You)”

670. Magnet “Where Happiness Lives”

671. Snot “Snot”

672. Elsa “In Two”

673. Colbie Caillat “Brighter Than the Sun”

674. Briscoe “The Well”

675. Goldfinger “Open Your Eyes”

676. The Dodos “Walking”

677. Alanis Morissette “Wake Up”

Motorized Vehicles Chapter

678. Wolfmother “Vagabond”

679. Teddybears, Iggy Pop “Punkrocker”

680. Tracy Chapman “Fast Car”

681. Bloc Party “Blue Light”

682. The Wallflowers “One Headlight”

683. The Hives “Hate to Say I Told You So”

684. Morning Parade “Headlights”

685. Lorde “Green Light”

686. Shiny Toy Guns “You Are The One”

687. Ellie Goulding “Lights”

688. Beach Fossils “Face It”

689. Sean Kingston “Beautiful Girls”

690. Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five “The Message”

691. The Temper Trap “Fools”

692. SZA “Snooze”

693. The Vines “Get Free”

694. Eiffel 65 “Blue (Da Ba Dee)”

695. Dean Martin, Nelson Riddle’s Orchestra “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head”

696. Chet Faker “Gold”

697. Sarah McLachlan “Possession”

698. Secret Machines “Nowhere Lost”

699. Phantom Planet “California”

700. Kool & the Gang “Celebration”

Manically Physical Chapter

701. NF “Lie”

702. Drake “Right Hand”

703. Andy Grammer “Keep Your Head Up”

704. Andy Mineo, Lecrae “Coming in Hot”

705. Cam Cole “I See”

706. MEHRO “Hideous”

707. The Libertines “Horrorshow”

708. Jill Scott “The Way”

709. Lemaitre, Jennie A “Closer”

710. Ray LaMontagne “Empty”

711. Brent Faiyaz “Natural Release”

712. David Kushner “Daylight”

713. Cold War Kids “Miracle Mile”

714. Kansas “Dust in the Wind”

715. Thirty Seconds to Mars “A Beautiful Lie”

716. Jack Johnson “Breakdown”

717. Blink 182 “Not Now”

718. Rema, Selena Gomez “Calm Down”

719. Paramore “Misguided Ghosts”

720. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds “Red Right Hand”

721. The Preatures “Is This How You Feel”

722. Queen “I Want to Break Free”

723. The Contours “Do You Love Me”

724. The Cranberries “How”

725. Pentatonix “Imagine”

726. Teddy Swims “Lose Control”

727. White Lies “Death”

728. Dawes “When My Time Comes”

729. Diana Ross “Upside Down/I’m Coming Out” Remix

730. Feist “I Feel it All”

731. Shakey Graves “Roll the Bones”

732. The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations”

733. The Postal Service “Sleeping In”

734. Bjork “Human Behavior”

735. Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, Loleatta Holloway “Good Vibrations”

736. Kayne West, Syleena Johnson “All Falls Down”

737. Amy Winehouse “Back to Black”

738. U.S. Royalty “Sleepy Eyes”

739. Chaka Khan, Rufus “Ain’t Nobody”

740. Fall Out Boy “Dance Dance”

741. Stevie Wonder “Superstition”

742. Blue October “Hate Me”

743. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Teach Your Children”

744. Charlotte Lawrence “Joke’s on You”

745. Screaming Trees “Nearly Lost You”

746. Bishop Briggs “River”

747. Duncan Sheik “Barley Breathing”

748. Elvis Presley “All Shook Up”

749. Sampa the Great, Nadeem Din-Gabisi “Energy”

750. Yellow Ostrich “Marathon Runner”

751. Jamiroquai “Canned Heat”

752. Frou Frou “Let Go”

753. The Pack A.D. “Needles”

754. C+C Music Factory, Freedom Williams, Martha Wash “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)”

755. Coi Leray “Players”

756. Sublime “Same in the End”

757. Groove Theory “Tell Me”

758. Edwyn Collins “A Girl Like You”

759. Shakira, Wyclef Jean “Hips Don’t Lie”

760. Silverchair “Tomorrow”

761. Chamberlin “Dust”

762. Blondie “Call Me”

763. T.I. “Whatever You Like”

764. Indians “Somewhere Else”

765. Bizarre Inc., Angie Brown “I’m Gonna Get You”

766. Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”

767. Good Old War “That’s Some Dream”

768. Sleater-Kinney “Modern Girl”

769. Nat King Cole “L-O-V-E”

770. Black Coast, M. Maggie “Trndsttr” (Lucian Remix)

771. The Used “The Taste of Ink”

772. Childish Gambino “Redbone”

773. Too Many Zooz “Warriors”

774. Sufjan Stevens “Chicago”

775. American Authors “Best Day of my Life”

776. Doja Cat, Dionne Warwick “Paint the Town Red”

777. Eels “Fresh Blood”

778. The Emotions “Best of my Love”

779. Nas, Lauryn Hill “If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)”

780. Tears for Fears “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”

781. Dilated Peoples, Kayne West “This Way”

782. Black Eyed Peas “Pump It”

783. Nico & Vinz “Am I Wrong”

784. The Pains of Bring Pure at Heart “Young Adult Friction”

785. DaBaby, Roddy Ricch “Rockstar”

786. Shawn Mendes “There’s Nothing Holdin’ me Back”

787. Ry X “Only”

788. La Roux “Bulletproof”

789. M. Ward “One Hundred Million Years”

790. Natasha Bedingfield “Unwritten”

791. Robin S., Nick Nice, StoneBridge “Show Me Love”

792. Beasts With No Name “With You”

793. Violent Femmes “Gone Daddy Gone”

794. Demi Lovato “Confident”

795. Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls “Recovery”

796. The Youngbloods “Get Together”

797. The Script “Breakeven”

798. Young the Giant “Mind Over Matter”

799. Latto “Big Energy”

800. Damien Rice, Lisa Hannigan “Volcano”

801. De La Soul “Me Myself and I”

802. Pilot Speed “Alright”

Cue songs in upcoming audiobook

Murder Chapter

1. Chaka Demus & Pliers “Murder She Wrote”

2. Average White Band “Pick up the Pieces”

3. Gravity Kills “Guilty”

4. Tupac, Dr. Dre, Roger Troutman “California Love”

5. Chali 2NA, Talib Kweli “Lock Shit Down”

6. MXPX “Chick Magnet”

7. Kenny Rogers “The Gambler”

8. Kid Ink, Pusha T “Murda”

9. Animotion “Obsession”

10. Cheryl Lynn “Got to be Real”

11. Toni Braxton “Unbreak My Heart”

12. Edie Brickell & New Bohemians “What I Am”

13. The Sundays “Wild Horses”

14. Two Feet “I Feel Like I’m Drowning”

15. Faded Paper Figures “North By North”

16. 213 “So Fly”

17. Dionne Warwick “I Say A Little Prayer”

My Family Chapter

18. Train “Meet Virginia”

19. Radical Face “Welcome Home”

20. Beastie Boys “Live Wire”

21. The Posies “Coming Right Along”

22. Sade “By Your Side”

23. The Chordettes “Lollipop”

24. Camera Obscura “French Navy”

25. P.O.D. “Youth of the Nation”

26. Child Rebel Soldier, Thom Yorke “Us Placers”

27. Indigo Girls “Closer to Fine”

28. Thursday “Cross out the Eyes”

29. Breaking Benjamin “Wish I May”

30. Matthew Wilder “Break my Stride”

31. Mighty Mighty Bosstones “The Impression That I Get”

32. Aimee Mann “You Could Make a Killing”

33. Naughty by Nature “Hip Hop Hooray”

34. T.A.T.U. “All the Things She Said”

Mates Chapter

35. TLC “What About Your Friends”

36. Ahmad “Back in the Day”

37. Danny Brown “Grown Up”

38. Peach Tree Rascals “Mariposa”

39. Mike Federali “Be my Dulcinea”

40. The Police “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic”

41. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg “Nuthin’ but a G Thang”

42. King Harvest “Dancing in the Moonlight”

43. Alicia Keys, Jay-Z “Empire State of Mind”

44. Beyonce “Cuff It”

45. Alan Walker, JVKE, YUQI “Fire”

46. Fun, Janelle Monae “We Are Young”

47. Jimmie’s Chicken Shack “High”

48. The Strokes “I’ll Try Anything Once”

49. Zhane, Fam “Hey Mr. DJ” (Authors Note: I missed Vince Staples "Let it Shine" which was listed after The Strokes)

50. Sly and the Family Stone “Dance to the Music”

51. Joe Purdy (and mystery female voice) “Miss Me”

52. Husbands “She’s a Betty”

53. 702 “Where My Girls At”

Men & Sex Chapter

54. Lauryn Hill “Doo Wop (That Thing)”

55. Bloodhound Gang “The Bad Touch”

56. Puff Daddy, Black Rob, Mark Curry “Bad Boy For Life”

57. Kym Mazelle “Young Hearts Run Free”

58. Primitive Radio Gods “Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in my Hand”

59. Transplants “Diamonds and Guns”

60. PM Dawn “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss”

61. Matt Nathanson “Come on Get Higher”

62. Luniz, Michael Marshall “I Got 5 On It”

63. DaRude “Sandstorm”

64. Wheat “Don’t I Hold You”

65. Parliament-Funkadelic “One Nation Under a Groove”

66. Daniel Johnston “Tears Stupid Tears” (live at CBGB)

67. Jefferson Airplane “White Rabbit”

68. Unwritten Law “Seein’ Red”

69. Busta Rhymes “Don’t Touch Me (Throw da Water on ‘em)” (Radio Edit)

70. Stray Cats “Rock This Town”

71. Local H “Bound for the Floor”

72. Benny Benassi “Satisfaction”

73. War “Why Can’t We Be Friends”

74. Pennywise “Bro Hymn”

75. Harry Belafonte “Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)”

76. CKY “Flesh into Gear”

77. Starship “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”

78. Sum 41 “Fat Lip”

79. Staind “Mudshovel”

80. The Jackson 5 “I Want You Back”

81. Genesis “Invisible Touch”

82. Cam'ron, Juelz Santana, Freekey Zeekey, Toya “Hey Ma”

83. Ultra Nate “Free”

84. Cheap Trick “I Want You To Want Me”

85. M83 “Midnight City”

86. Corey Hart “Sunglasses at Night”

87. Semisonic “Closing Time”

88. The Church “Under the Milky Way”

89. Mya “Case of the Ex”

90. Simple Minds “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”

91. En Vogue “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)”

92. Class Actress “Let Me Take You Out”

93. Twisted Sister “We’re Not Gonna Take It”

94. Phil Kieran, Bush Tetras “Snakes Crawl”

95. Shemekia Copeland “Salt in my Wounds”

96. Rainbow Kitten Surprise “It’s Called Freefall”

97. AC/DC “You Shook Me All Night Long”

98. Okkervil River “No Key No Plan”

99. Matt Maeson “Cringe” (acoustic)

100. Dasha “Austin”

101. Tag Team “Whoop (There it is)”

102. KennyHoopla “How Will I Rest in Peace if I’m Buried by a Highway”

103. Lauv “I Like Me Better”

Manipulation Chapter

104. A$AP Rocky, ASAP Ferg “Kissin’ Pink”

105. Lil Wayne, Band of Thieves “Harden”

106. Gin Blossoms “Hey Jealousy”

107. Mark Morrison “Return of the Mack”

108. Band of Skulls “I Know What I Am”

109. The Raconteurs “Steady as She Goes”

110. Bobby Caldwell “What You Won’t Do for Love”

111. Patrice Rushen “Forget Me Nots”

112. DJ Shadow, De La Soul “Rocket Fuel”

113. Ella Fitzgerald “I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good)”

114. Eric Hutchinson “Watching You Watch Him”

115. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy “You and Me and the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight (Baby)”

116. Jhene Aiko “The Worst”

117. Florence and the Machine “Dog Days Are Over”

Marriage Chapter

118. Buckcherry “Lit Up”

119. Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj “Bang Bang”

120. The Pretenders “Brass in Pocket”

121. Matisyahu “King Without a Crown”

122. Tripping Daisy “I Got A Girl”

123. MGMT “Electric Feel”

124. Shai “If I Ever Fall In Love” (a cappella)

125. The Dirty Dishes “I Don’t Want to Fuck You”

126. Sisqo “Thong Song”

127. Space “Female of the Species”

128. Bakar “Hell ‘N Back”

129. Survivor “Eye of the Tiger”

130. Bodeans “Closer to Free”

131. Blue Oyster Cult “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”

132. Notorious B.I.G., Kelly Price, Mase, Puff Daddy “Mo Money Mo Problems”

133. Inner Circle “Bad Boys”

134. Soil “Breaking me Down”

135. Broken Bells “The High Road”

Motherhood Chapter

136. Nicki Minaj, Drake “Moment 4 Life”

137. Wale, Major Lazer, Wizkid, Dua Lipa “My Love”

138. McFadden & Whitehead “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now”

139. Foals “Mountain At My Gates”

140. Carly Simon “You’re So Vain”

141. The Go-Go’s “We Got the Beat”

142. RuPaul "Supermodel (You Better Work)"

143. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”

144. Queen Naija “Butterflies”

145. Kylie Minogue “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”

146. Dirty Heads “Warming Sun”

147. Nu Shooz “I Can’t Wait”

Music Chapter

148. Billy Joel “She’s Always a Woman”

149. Loreen “Is it Love”

150. Andra Day, Common “Stand Up for Something”

151. Big Sean, E40 “I Don’t Fuck With You”

152. Amber “This is Your Night”

153. Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Kelis “Got Your Money”

154. Ozzy Osbourne “Crazy Train”

155. Bobby McFerrin “Don’t Worry Be Happy”

156. Biz Markie “Just A Friend”

157. Billy Idol “Dancing With Myself”

158. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony “Tha Crossroads”

159. Hot Hot Heat “Middle of Nowhere”

160. David Bowie “Let’s Dance”

161. Wyclef Jean, The New York Philharmonic Orchestra “Gone Till November”

162. Sophie Ellis-Bextor “Murder on the Dancefloor”

163. The Buggles “Video Killed the Radio Star”

Mixed Media Chapter

164. Jesca Hoop “Animal Kingdom Chaotic”

165. Rage Against the Machine “No Shelter”

166. Lenny Kravitz “It Ain’t Over ‘til it’s Over”

167. K’s Choice “Not an Addict”

168. Yung Gravy “Magic”

169. Stealers Wheel “Stuck in the Middle with You”

170. Days of the New “Shelf in the Room”

171. Windsor for the Derby “The Melody of a Fallen Tree”

Meals Chapter

172. Barry White “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe”

173. Butthole Surfers “Pepper”

174. Chiddy Bang “Breakfast”

175. Zach Bryan, Kacey Musgraves “I Remember Everything”

176. Junior Senior “Move your Feet”

177. Crowded House “Don’t Dream It’s Over”

178. Def Leppard “Pour Some Sugar on Me”

179. Soul For Real “Candy Rain”

180. White Town “Your Woman”

181. Vanilla Ice, K. Kennedy, DJ Earthquake “Ice Ice Baby”

Money Makers Chapter

182. Bubba Sparxxx, Yelawolf “Put in Work”

183. The Flying Lizards “Money (That’s What I Want)”

184. Lil Dicky, Fetty Wap, Rich Homie Quan “Save Dat Money”

185. Warren G, Nate Dogg “Regulate”

186. 112 “Peaches & Cream”

187. Men Without Hats “The Safety Dance”

188. Bruno Mars “Money Make Her Smile”

189. The Ting Tings “That’s Not My Name”

190. Peaches “Boys Wanna Be Her”

191. Whitesnake “Here I Go Again”

192. Tim Hawkins “The Sound of Starbucks”

193. Coalesce “Blue Collar Lullaby”

194. Dire Straits “Sultans of Swing”

195. The Flys “Got You (Where I Want You)”

196. Bonnie Tyler “Total Eclipse of the Heart”

197. Cold “It’s All Good”

198. Silversun Pickups “Growing Old is Getting Old”

199. Matt Thomas “A Fall From The Stars”

Motorized Vehicles Chapter

200. Milkman’s Union “Emerald Flares”

201. Disturbed “Stupify”

202. KRS-One “Sound of da Police”

203. Tavares “Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel”

204. Geggy Tah “Whoever You Are”

205. The Primitives “Crash”

206. Jurassic 5 “What’s Golden”

207. Transcenders, Francci Richard “Better Know About Me”

Manically Physical Chapter

208. Toad the Wet Sprocket “Fall Down”

209. Neil Diamond “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon”

210. Monica “Just One of Dem Days”

211. The Soviettes “Paranoia Cha Cha Cha”

212. Elvis Costello “Watching the Detectives”

213. Highly Suspect “My Name is Human”

214. A-Ha “Take on Me”

215. Weezer “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To”

216. Christina Aguilera “Beautiful”

217. Village Green “Wrap Your Love Around Me”

218. Filter “Hey Man Nice Shot”

219. Weird Al Yankovic “Word Crimes”

220. Wang Chung “Dance Hall Days”

221. The Four Tops “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)”

222. Taylor Dane “Tell It To My Heart”

223. Alessia Cara “Scars to Your Beautiful”

224. Sir Mix-A-Lot “Baby Got Back”

225. Frankie Valli “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”

226. Sabrina Carpenter “Feather”

227. Jackson Browne “Doctor My Eyes”

228. Echo & the Bunnymen “The Killing Moon”

229. Powerman 5000 “When Worlds Collide”

230. Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts “Angel of the Morning”

231. Bob Marley and the Wailers “Three Little Birds”

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frequently asked questions

Heather Joy — Tue, 13 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

1. Your book is titled MMMM: and the music that made me. Describe why you picked that title and book cover.

The multiple M’s represent all the chapters within the book that start with the letter M. The word 'music' is in the subtitle because it’s practically its own character. The cover image shows a mouth wearing red lipstick. For me, it resembles power and lust (both what goes in and what comes out).

2. What are some themes explored in your book?

The book is a collection of nonfiction essays covering everything from sex and dark humor to pop culture and motherhood. It’s that journey of self-discovery we all go through, yet mine highlights more of the risk taking and resilience aspects. As I've said before, it might make the reader cry, laugh, and yell at the author for being an idiot all in one chapter.

3. Is your book suitable for all ages?

Nah, probably adolescence to adulthood. Being an autobiography slash memoir, that’s the age range I focused on in my writing and where I think the readers would find the deepest connections.

4. How was your book received by critics?

On the one to five scale, it hit a lot of fours and fives which comforted my doubts as a writer. My book is messy and transparent on purpose. It was important to show that it was okay that every story didn’t have a happy ending. Thankfully, most critics understood that concept.

5. When did you know you wanted to write a book?

I always favored English over Math. I feel like most of us either have a letters brain or a numbers brain. So, with that idea in mind, combined with my love for reading autobiographies, it gave me the push to write my own. It took me about five years from start to finish, and that's with writing nearly eight hours, five days a week.

6. What was the hardest thing about the writing process?

Leaving out people and stories for the sake of redundancy or forgetting to include other songs that I love, for sure. There’s also that thought of, “Does anyone even care?” (haha) but if I allowed myself to wallow in that chaotic spiral for too long, I never would have finished.

7. How do you market your book?

This is hard to do without appearing too desperate or showy. It’s weird to toot your own horn, you know? And without a social media or Amazon presence - a personal sacrifice I choose to make - it doesn’t help. Instead, I resort to leaving my business cards around town (that advertise my book), creating this author website, and having my book professionally reviewed (which then posts to their website) to get the word out. I'm also involved with BookCrossing, a website that allows me to print off special labels and have copies of my book travel into people's possession for free!

8. You cover some taboo topics (abortion, divorce, rape, etc.), some more explicit than others, how did those close to you react?

My sister gave me compassion. My daughter applauded my vulnerability. My friends gave me comic relief. That’s all I could ask for, really. Some didn’t even bother to read it, but I must respect their decision. You can’t please everyone.

9. Which authors have inspired you? And is there any book out there you wish you could have written?

For the first question: Goodness! This is like asking a bibliophile to pick their favorite book. But off the top of my head: Chelsea Handler, Iliza Shlesinger, Jenna Jameson, Mindy Kaling, and Samantha Irby have all written fantastic books. Can you tell I admire compelling and funny women? I could list more, but I’ll spare you. For the second question: Meh. There's plenty of room on the bookshelf for all of us!

10. What would you like the takeaway of your book to be?

To have my words and experiences spark a connection. Seriously. My aim is for someone to read at least one essay and say, “That’s how I feel!” or “This happened to me too!” Something along those lines because (as cheesy as it sounds) human connection is so valuable. This was my motivation to have my book published in the first place.

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Should art comfort the disturbed or disturb the comfortable?

Heather Joy — Sun, 20 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The following are works of art mentioned in MMMM: and the music that made me.

the vision board of sorts that I created for inspiration to write my book

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Audiobook rumor.

Heather Joy — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

It's true! I'm working with the startup company, SYNTHYA, on an audiobook to sell through BookBaby with the rest of my publications. Hopefully it'll be out before the end of 2025. Patience is a virtue.

**UPDATE** As of September 2025, MMMM: and the music that made me is available as a ten hour and forty-four-minute audiobook! Visit https://store.bookbaby.com/book/mmmm-and-the-music-that-made-me for more details.

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