Music is a huge part of my writing process. I build a playlist when I’m in the early phases of drafting a new novel, using the songs to unlock the emotional truth of tricky characters and capture the mood of pivotal scenes. A great playlist helps me zoom back into the heart of the story after time away too. I added songs to my playlist for WHAT COMES AFTER as the story developed, and I love the resulting mix: There’s playful pop reflecting the story’s humor, heart-wrenching tunes that speak to Mari’s grief and healing, and gritty songs of rebellion that set the stage for major plot points that I won’t spoil here!
Here’s a quick sampling. Find the full playlist on Spotify.
New Soul (by Yael Naim): Mari is literally a new soul in a strange world, making every possible mistake. When she awakes in Paradise Gate—an experimental afterlife community— she’s in total shock. Her confusion builds as she learns about the bizarre rules souls must follow to process their pasts and move on. This song’s poppy, off-kilter energy reflects the campy, slightly creepy side of What Comes After. Each time I listen, I think of the Catherines, a band of yoga-obsessed “virgins” (think: Mean Girls outfitted by Lululemon) who want to claim Mari as their soul model. I still laugh out loud every time a Catherine speaks.
Freedom (by Beyoncé feat. Kendrick Lamar): Freedom is the goal in Paradise Gate. Every soul is trying get free of life’s baggage so they can ascend to the Ever After. Mari, in particular, longs to escape a fraught relationship with her mother, who—surprise!—is also dead. Mari takes on a hefty load of self-actualization classes at the Center for Postmortuary Progress, but each time she tries to meditate or journal about her past, she hits up against painful memories that make her want to run. She finds freedom from the intense assignments and haunting memories in a surprising place. And that brings me to…
I Will Follow You into the Dark (by Death Cab for Cutie): aka Jethro’s theme song. Mari meets Jethro—a fellow teen—during her first day of classes. Her new friend Larissa dubs Jethro a “literal deadbeat” and urges Mari to avoid him, but Mari finds Jethro’s sadness oddly compelling. And attractive? They form an unexpected connection and, soon, Mari looks forward to their mini escapes. Jethro introduces Mari to another side of the realm that she understands to be risky, but it’s too late to turn back. As the song says, “If there’s no one beside you when your soul embarks, then I’ll follow you into the dark.”
Team (by Lorde): Jethro introduces Mari to band of off-grid rebels with big questions about the true intentions of the Powers That Be. I don’t want to give too much away, but this was one of my favorite parts of the book to write. Lorde’s song captures the gritty energy of the rebels’ warehouse hideout, their f-u energy, and their collective commitment. When I listen to the song, I picture the group’s de facto leader Simone speaking before a packed room of rebels who hoot and stomp in response. And I think of the surprises that await Mari as she figures out who’s really on her team.
Rise Up (by Andra Day): Tiny spoiler. This book isn’t just about rising up again after death and disappointment. It’s also about rising up against rules that don’t fit and systems that don’t serve us. It’s a story about finding the courage to speak one’s truth, even if it means risking everything. And it’s a story about resisting corrupt leaders and knowing when to stand up on behalf of our neighbors and the people we love. Luckily, Mari isn’t alone in this struggle. (None of us are.) When she hears the call, “ALL SOULS RISE AND REPORT,” she’s inspired by those around her and knows exactly what she must do next. She’s finally ready to rise up and fight.
In this darkly comical, heartfelt novel, a cynical sixteen-year-old girl has only ninety days to remember how she died and finally make peace with her mother to escape spending eternity adrift in a vast nothingness. For fans of Adam Silvera and The Good Place.
No one could be more disappointed about Mari’s sudden death than Mari, herself. And if she ever thought about the afterlife, she certainly didn’t think it would be a suburban enclave called Paradise Gate or that the biggest problem to plague her in life would follow her into the great beyond: her recently deceased mother, Faye. But that is exactly who greets her when Mari opens her eyes in the In Between—where the newly dead with no religious affiliation come to work out the unfinished business of their lives so they can ascend to whatever’s next.
Mari realizes quickly Faye is her unfinished business and in order to ascend and join her loving grandparents, she’ll have to make peace with and forgive her dysfunctional mother for being no mother at all But there’s too much to forgive: never holding down a steady job, never having a stable home, Mari having to constantly change schools and in the end, Faye choosing her criminal boyfriend over Mari.
It's a lot to sort through, but Mari tries to keep her eye on the ball—attending classes at the Center like Youga and sending grief scarves sailing in Expressive Arts to move her vibe tracker from an angry unsettled red to an ascend-worthy green—all the while trying to remember how she died and deal with Faye, who, of course, is in danger of being kicked out of Paradise Gate altogether. But then Mari discovers in addition to mother drama, there’s even friend drama and boy drama to be found in the afterlife and none are good for her vibes. Even worse is the suspicion that Paradise Gate isn’t at all what it purports to be...and revolution may be afoot.
Young Adult | Coming of Age | Humor [Nancy Paulsen Books, On Sale: April 29, 2025, Hardcover / e-Book , ISBN: 9780399545283 / eISBN: 9780399545290]
When Katie Bayerl isn't penning stories, she coaches teens and nonprofits to tell theirs. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and has taught creative writing in schools and a variety of community settings. Katie has an incurable obsession with saints, bittersweet ballads, and murder. She is the author of A Psalm for Lost Girls and What Comes After.
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