I love it when cool people drop into my inbox, and sbr martin is one of those cool people. She and I also share a cool Pittsburgh connection: the cover artist for her book, Pig, is (was? I can’t keep up) a member of Pittsburgh-based Rusted Root.

… and so, once again, music and books collide in Susan’s life. You know I’m loving this.

Anyway, let’s get to the post ’cause that’s what you’re really here for, not my babble.

What song makes you think of your book?:

“Piggy” by Nine Inch Nails – and it’s not just because of the similarity in title! If “pig” were ever made into a movie, I’d want “Piggy” to be on the soundtrack, as the series of dark, disturbing, and sensual sounds that opened the flick.

“Pig” is about domestic abuse, sexuality, reflection, and loss – and so too seem to be Trent Reznor’s unassuming lyrics.

The book’s main character, Lily, has been called a lot of things in her life – Lilith, Mom, Flower, and Pig, for example. Pig is one of the clever, thoughtful nicknames her husband gave her, and when Reznor bellows “Hey Pig,” it reminds me of the ill-intentioned, mocking way Lily’s husband might greet her, “Yeahhh you.”

“Black and blue and broken bones | You left me here, I’m all alone,” Reznor sings, though these words could very well have come out of Lily’s lips. Yep, Lily’s husband, Bender, liked to hit her sometimes; and, Lily sometimes hurt herself, in drunken accidents and the like. Too many times she wound up black and blue, with broken bones. And, too many times Bender left her there all alone – including the last time he left her, the night of his own unfortunate “accident.”

Lily was an accomplished lady when it came to enjoying the company of men. She settled for her husband, thinking he might be the one to tame her. But, instead, he caged her in a volatile relationship from which Lily could not, or did not want to, escape, and about which she could have borrowed Reznor’s lyrics: “Nothing’s turning out the way I planned… What am I supposed to do? | I lost my shit because of you.”

And as per Reznor’s refrain, “Nothing can stop me now | I don’t care anymore | Nothing can stop me now | I just don’t care” – well, that too has much to do with “pig.” But I ain’t gonna tell you about that. You’ll have to read my book to figure it out.

Read it. Live it. Love it. sbr martin. pig.

Ready for the blurb?

A troubled woman sits alone on a couch in a crowded funeral home, in wake of her husband’s “accident.” In her right hand, she holds a scrap of paper she refuses to reveal, and, in her heart, she holds a lot of secrets, including a big one she’s keeping from herself. As the familiar faces of funeral home patrons stir in her a lifetime of memories, her story and her secrets unravel in a narrative of domestic abuse, sexuality, motherhood, and loss.

And a buy link, too.

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