The Maps Private Value thriller series was created to provide visibility into the arcane software industry discipline of “value engineering.” Value Engineers, or “VEs,” work with salespeople to gather customer data and create compelling stories of transformation and value to share with customers seeking to drive change. VEs share a common passion for problem-solving, research, communication, and understanding what value means to a customer.
My recent book playlist-building experience included assembling three playlists on Spotify supporting themes in the Maps Private Value trilogy. The effort resulted in lists of favorite songs loosely organized around each plot. I wanted to invoke moods suggesting change, loss, chaos, and the Hero’s Journey, while highlighting exotic global luxury travel experienced by our plucky team of value engineers:
- Daughter of the Cloud evokes locales where the action takes place in St. Lucia, Madeira, Steamboat Springs, Paris, and New York, including a track called Toronto, from vocalist Snoh Aalegra:
Daughter of the Cloud on Spotify: 40 songs, 2 hours, 45 minutes
- Daughter of the Storm drives an environmental sustainability theme with songs about climate, like Michael Jackson’s Earth Song. I envisioned this list as a soundtrack to an immersive multimedia climate exhibit my characters build in Barcelona, part of a doomed effort to inform the public of the looming disaster.
Daughter of the Storm: 37 songs, 2 hours, 45 minutes
- Daughter of Mars demanded a mood appropriate for our future world of 2029 wracked by fentanyl, as well as a few tracks suitable for a lengthy trip to Mars. It made sense to include sci-fi film scores from Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, and more mixed with jazz, celtic bagpipes, and world music. In the final chapter, protagonist Rave Maps peers out to sea from her finca overlooking Port de Soller, Mallorca, laughing and crying while listening to Des’ree’s I’m Kissing You from the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack, followed by Memphis saxophonist Kirk Whalum blowing a version of Dan Cette Vie (In This Life). I love how this turned out and have been listening for months on repeat.
Daughter of Mars on Spotify: 57 songs, 4 hours
