Ironic by Alanis Morissette
All my books are written with a heavy dose of 90s witch nostalgia (Hocus Pocus, Charmed, Sabrina The Teenage Witch…), so the playlists that I pull together for each story always include some 90s classics. Ironic was a no-brainer for main character Sage Hemlock’s personal soundtrack, as she is perpetually grumpy, extremely sarcastic and somewhat skeptical of the world and its so-called magic. The fact that she is secretly a witch who has turned her back on her powers - but still runs the Witchy Walking Tour at her local small-town museum, complete with hat and cape - is the ultimate ironic cherry on top.
“Life has a funny way of sneakin' up on you when you think everything's okay, and everything's going right…”
I Could Write A Book by Harry Connick Jr
Sage works alongside her best friend, academic peer and lifelong annoyance Casimir Everald at the small-town museum, where they both specialize in magical study and supernatural history. They’ve been inseparable since the university days where they started out as rivals before realizing that they were destined to be a strange sort of soulmates. This song is such a lovely, charming summation of their friends-to-maybe-lovers journey, while the bookish reference makes it extra suitable, and the big band vibes help me to imagine their scenes together as a 90s rom-com while I’m writing.
“Then the world discovers as my book ends, how to make two lovers a friends…”
Fairytale from Shrek (Original Motion Picture Score)
Okay, hear me out… When I first pitched the very early spark of an idea for this book to my editor, my weird brain described it as a “witchy Shrek”. She was skeptical to say the least, but I think it’s a pretty accurate summation of how the story goes! An anti-magic witch is suddenly, through no fault of her own, surrounded by fairytale magic and absolutely loathes it, until she eventually learns to embrace the love, joy and whimsy that it teaches…
Sadly, there’s no talking donkey in DISENCHANTED, but I can offer you an equally loveable talking witch’s familiar instead. This beautiful piece of movie music was something that I listened to on repeat while writing to help conjure as much fairytale fun as possible. I love the mysterious tone, shifting tempo and truly magical build.
Concerning Hobbits from The Fellowship of the Ring (Original Motion Picture Score)
Another movie soundtrack that featured heavily in the DISENCHANTED writing process. This book takes place in a sweet, small town called Port Sylvan, where everybody knows everybody and the local committee take their themed celebrations far too seriously. It’s a warm, welcoming place but a little overbearing at times, and undergoes a storybook transformation as it slips into a mysterious fairytale curse that Sage must come to understand.
This has always seemed like the perfect cheerful, warm and pastoral piece of music for the beginning of that strange magic unfolding across the town, before things take a darker, more sinister turn at the hands of a historic figure.
Today Was A Fairytale by Taylor Swift
It wouldn’t be one of my playlists without at least one Taylor song in the mix somewhere (there’s usually several…) I’m very much a visual writer and I see the whole book playing out in front of my eyes like a film while I draft, and this was the track that immediately felt like the soundtrack to the closing scene as the credits would roll.
Of course there’s plenty of apt fairytale references about princes and magic in the lyrics, but it just has such a suitably nostalgic feel as well. The romantic, dreamy sound is the perfect finishing note to this cozy fantasy with a sprinkle of romance, and Sage’s journey to allowing more love and joy to run free in her life.
“Well, can you feel this magic in the air? It must have been the way you kissed me. Fell in love when I saw you standing there, it must have been the way today was a fairytale…”
A reluctant witch must confront the magic she's always denied after accidentally triggering a curse in this delightfully cozy fantasy from the author of Rewitched and Uncharmed.
Sage Hemlock has no interest in embracing her witchy side. Magic has betrayed her before, bringing nothing but heartache, and she will not let something so foolish happen again.
Instead, Sage has thrown herself into her work and studies, running the local museum and largely preferring the company of her library and her cat to other humans. Her one goal is to fly under the coven’s radar so that she can finally shed her blasted powers forever.
But when a strange historical book accidentally sets off a curse, Sage’s quiet small-town life is suddenly overrun and magic is running rife. A beanstalk grows in her garden, and her friend and coworker Casimir starts to look an awful lot like a handsome prince. Fairy tales are coming true. . . .
Now, with the threat of the coven on her tail, Sage must confront the magic she’s always denied to solve the mysteries of the book and save everyone she’s come to love from being lost to a fairy tale forever. The question is, can she finally learn to be her own happily ever after?
Mystery Cozy | Fantasy [ Ace, On Sale: September 8, 2026, Paperback / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9798217195312 / eISBN: 9798217195329 ]
Lucy Jane Wood is an online content creator, avid reader and cosiness-seeker from the Wirral. These days, you’ll find her living in London, giant coffee in hand, and being headbutted at any given time by her cat.
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